"GO! GO! GET TO THE RIVER!"
Crackling flames. Roars that made my stomach vibrate. Black trees engulfed in the reddest fire. My mother's melody of a voice pulsed into a throat-burning screech.
Her jaw was so wide; unhinged as her words reached us, my brother Claus and I. She lay on the ground, blood sliding down her left leg. In my peripheral vision, my brother turned to me and his hand wrapped around my wrist. The skin was rough. His hand yanked me backwards and I fell to the ground. Dry leaves scratched my legs, providing an ounce of familiarity. I wanted to just roll around and play like I used to and stop running.
"C'mon, bro!" Claus's voice was barely a squeak. He tugged me harder from the ground. My legs didn't move. I gave up on standing and found comfort in letting him do the work.
Embers glowed around mother's ripped cloth dress. The flames around her rose with her screams. It took a few seconds to realize that she was screaming at me to get up.
"GO WITH YOUR BROTHER! SNAP OUT OF IT LUC-"
Her words ended before she could finish my name. Like a crane machine, a beast's head clamped it's jaw above her, removing her entire upper body from existence for that moment. The sound was a pickaxe against ore. Mother's bleeding leg eased. I still wonder if she got to the "C" in my name.
Claus let go of my wrist and wrapped my torso with his arms. Just over my ribs. He dragged me back.
The crane opened up and rose. Mother collapsed. ...It hadn't eaten her. I remember seeing the red flames through a few holes in her waist. It was so brief though; it could've been my imagination.
I stared at mother's hair, spread out across the ground. Face-down in the dirt, she was still, her back hunching twice and then settling back down. A sharp pillar sprouted from her back, releasing the rest of her blood. It was then when I realized how strong she used to look. Now, she was going to let the flames or this beast gobble her up and burp her out like the omelets she used to make.
And that's when the tears poured. That thought. The fact that someone so precious and strong could be licked off a plate with as much disregard as my favorite food.
The word 'pathetic' flashed through my mind, and I wanted to vomit. I felt dirty for that single thought I had no control over. In that fleeting second, I committed a sin that I knew I had to spend the rest of my life making up for. I vowed in that very moment to never be pathetic. To be strong, always. Maybe then I'd forgive myself, showing that mother raised such a strong boy with her own strength.
Then the beast's head turned to us. Claus let go of me and I heard him shuffle through the grass. I assumed he started to run. I tried to move, but I felt fuzzy. A weird sort of fuzzy; a drowsiness that settled my body into a peaceful buzz-like shiver. An acceptance. My legs were asleep in the bed of dry leaves.
The beast had its eyes on me for many moments. It was a drago, a dinosaur-like creature, but now, for whatever reason, it was half machine. The drago that my brother and I had often played games and tackled with before was now cyborg and crazy. I felt more stupid than betrayed. I would never let my guard down again, no matter how long the trust was there.
The drago's shadow blocked out the light of the flames. Until that instant, I never noticed how short I was. I never noticed how thin my arms were. Or how young 'seven years old' actually sounded. Until then.
And until then, I never noticed how the dripping blood from the drago's teeth made it look more intimidating. It was my mother's blood. That brought me comfort; I hate that it did, but if my mother's blood made the drago stronger, that was proof of her strength.
And that was good.
Even if that strength would result in my death.
My breathing cut short at that thought. I realized that I was actually afraid.
Steam leaked from the drago's nostrils and teeth. Each tooth was larger than I was, but… wait. One was missing. Straight in the middle. That sight alone gave me power and despair.
Whatever it was, I lost that hapless fuzz and my legs woke up. The dry leaves vanished from beneath me. I knew how to move again, and I was ready to flee.
Someone came running from behind me, screaming like a savage. My brother bolted pass and stabbed the non-robotic hind leg of the drago.
"Hey! Over here! Face me, you bitch!"
That was the first time I ever heard him curse. He had already proved his strength, and that's to say my mother's. He was my new goal.
The beast turned, and attention was off of me. Mother's body lay there. I was breaking down in tears, but now was not the time to wallow. My body and mind couldn't dictate my actions. Not anymore.
Cold, salty tears slid down my face from the breeze and dripped between my lips as I bolted for the river, screaming like how I imagined my mother had inside the drago's mouth. I heard Claus following close behind me.
"Faster! Faster!"
I screamed louder, cried harder, and let the flames fade into the background. The first stomp of the chasing drago made the ground tremble. I tripped. But I couldn't stop. I used my arms and legs to keep going. I focused hard on how my dog Boney ran. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Hand, hand, foot, foot. Hand, hand, foot, foot.
I heard the trickling water of a gentle river and dived. I hit the edge of the ledge and crashed into the water. My body was enveloped with ice. Water stormed up my nose and squeezed my brain. I was too overwhelmed to tremble.
Through the water I heard another splash. Claus, I prayed.
I was never a good swimmer and the ledge knocked all the air out of me. I thrashed my limbs against the thick water, trying my best to rise.
But I kept sinking.
I felt empty. With desperation, I breathed in. It was the stupidest thing I'd ever done. Water came flooding in. I became nothing but water inside; no more air, no more blood, no more bones to swim. I tried to push the water out but I couldn't. I was surprised that I was surprised.
Fingers grazed my back and kept attempting to grasp my shirt. I couldn't help out. I just sank. I wondered if I was still pathetic if I couldn't do anything.
And then I realized how much pain I was in, and how much I wanted to go back to sleep.