Sleep now, Wrath.
I put my hand on the window, feeling the cold glass through my digits as I gazed out to the white streets of East City. It was winter, and yet I felt warmer than how I had felt during the past summer. It felt as if it was yesterday, but I could no longer feel that emptiness or that blind feeling of revenge; I could still remember everything.
It was during one of my restless travels that I came upon this city. I remember wandering restlessly through these very streets with my mind blank, no thoughts roamed my head as I gazed into people's eyes, and they stared back with disgust, fright, and even curiosity. But I ignored all of them, too lost in my hollow reverie to even care. I did not maintain such posture for long though; my stomach growled in a meek attempt to feign normalness when I gazed at a vendor's cart full of apples. I knew I couldn't be hungry, such privileges are only for the mortals, and I did not fit into that category. But still, my mouth couldn't help but water at the sight of such delicious apples, all red and smooth waiting to be devoured by eager mouths like mine.
Without thinking twice I approached the vendor and using his moment of distraction as a signal for me to take action I snatched two, three, a handful—I was not sure how many, but both of my hands were full of them—and ran as fast as my leg and auto-mail could take me. I heard the merchant yell at me and instantly after I heard two persons running right behind me. I turned a corner to a dark alley and almost whimpered in disappointment as I ran further in and saw the dark, brick wall sealing me inside—a dead end, no good.
The thought of jumping across crossed my mind but that meant having to let go of the luscious fruits in my hands. I turned to face my pursuers—the apple vendor and another man (who I was later told was a State Alchemist known as Fatal Fragrance Alchemist)—and faced them, but in my moment of hesitation the State Alchemist waved his fan and soon I was falling into a troubled state of unconsciousness. The last thing I remember was seeing the apples roll away from my reach and then the darkness. When I woke up I had been put in an orphanage.
I saw the shadow of a dog weakly making his way through the cold street and I soon realized that he was trying to escape from a local gang of pranksters that were making it the sole reason of their amusement. I quickly removed my hand from the window and my body from the chair, I grabbed my coat and headed outside, not actually believing that I was going to aid an animal.
The dog collapsed to the cold floor and I quickened my pace. Soon, my body was a barrier between the pranksters and the dog.
"Oh! Look who came out, monster kid!" Their leader jeered at me. A zap of anger flashed through my body as they used their usual nickname towards me.
The others laughed and pointed their fingers at me. "He wants us to treat him like the dog!" A skinny boy yelled and a few enthusiastic 'yeahs' followed. Meanwhile I was having a personal debate on whether I should lunge at them or take the dog inside with me. My instincts were screaming for the former but I knew Joanne would be disappointed at me.
And so they began. They threw snowballs at me and I dodged them easily. This frustrated them so they attacked the animal instead, who was still weak and laying on the floor. I changed my tactics, I began punching and kicking the snowballs instead, but my anger snapped when the leader of the group threw a ball at my head and successfully hit my forehead. I stepped back and felt blood trickling down my forehead and down to my nose—the snowball had carried a stone inside.
No more holding back, I told myself. I wanted to break them, hurt them until they cried for their mommies and wet their pants. I jumped closer to them and punched my attacker square in the face, sending him flying to the other side of the street. His companions screamed and ran after their leader, to see if he was still OK and conscious. I was ready to run after them when a voice coming from the house stopped me; I knew I had disappointed her.
I didn't stay in that orphanage for long; a gentle woman took me to her home but I wasn't about to stay in that stranger's house neither. A day later I left to continue with my meaningless journey. I knew staying there would be best—I could get all the apples I desired—but I wasn't going to be tamed by that woman. But apparently I didn't learn my lesson and I was, yet again, stealing apples from the same vendor. I was caught again, although this time I was sent to the woman's house. Her name was Joanne, and when her sad eyes looked at me for the second time I was dared to feel some sort of remorse, but I didn't.
I left again and decided to leave the city. On my way out, as I was entering a nearby forest, I came across a camp the military had set up. I knew I had to avoid them, so I quickly changed my course, but Fatal Fragrance Alchemist quickly recognized me and captured me again, and guess were they took me?—to Joanne's house.
This time she wasn't sad, but amused that I had gotten into trouble again. And so I decided to say there, since Fate was so intent on bringing me back here. It was true, I could get all the apples I wanted; but I was also getting attached to this woman, Joanne.
Joanne held her back for support as she walked over to me, her swollen belly making it hard for her to walk at a fast pace. "Wrath… what did you do now?" She asked me sadly as if doing so pained her. Hearing her pain hurt me, too, and my eyes watered as I hugged her and pressed myself against her swollen belly, my acute ears listening to the faint heart beat emitting from the baby inside. I released her and noticed her attention was now focused on the dog. "Can we take him inside?" I whispered. She nodded and watched me as I carried the dog in my arms back inside, she followed after me.
The dog was soon taken care of, and I found myself enjoying my time as I fed him the remains of today's dinner. Joanne watched silently from the couch in front of the fireplace, laughing when the dog licked my hand and I grimaced in disgust. After a few bowls of milk the dog drifted to a much needed slumber.
I put all the stuff away and went over to the sink to clean my hands. Then I sat next to Joanne and put my ear against her belly once again, to listen to the baby's heart beat as she stroked my long hair. I remember how a few months ago I noticed how her belly grew and grew and I felt curious and wanted to know what was going on; the nun that often visits our house told me that Joanne had been abused by a man, and that what was in her belly was the consequence of the man's actions. I did not understand what she told me, so I shrugged off the curiosity. Later, Joanne explained that a baby was growing inside of her and I felt angry and jealous, and I even thought of leaving the house, but the apple pie she made for me later that afternoon told me she cared for me and was happy to have me around, I soon realized I felt the same way.
Following that, I was hesitant around her big belly, until one day she called for me, she told me excitedly to put my hand on her belly, hesitantly I did so, and was utterly surprised when I felt something pounding from within. She told me the baby was moving, kicking, and stretching. After that I tried to touch her belly whenever I got the chance, but the baby only moved when he wanted to and not when I wanted him to. Later on, as I hugged Joanne, I discovered that my acute ears could pick up the baby's heart beat, so instead of just touching her belly I pressed my ear against it. Laughing, she asked me why I always did that and I told her the truth—that I could hear the baby's heart beat—and she laughed again.
A soft pounding under my cheek brought me back to reality, I looked up at Joanne and she nodded with the same warmness and excitement as always. The baby was moving! I giggled a few times and tried to predict the baby's next move, and so time passed during our idle game and I felt drifting off to a welcoming state of unconsciousness. I heard Joanne whisper above me, "sleep now, Wrath," and her voice was like a lullaby for me, and I fell to a peaceful land where every apple was for free and every child had a mother, including me.
August 13, 2014:
Hello reader! I'm happy to see that you made it this far into my writing! I hope the story was entertaining to some extent and that you enjoyed it! Maybe you will enjoy this:
I am writing a novel, original fiction, and I am looking for a couple of people who will beta read it in its early stages. Now when I say "beta reader" I don't mean that I need help with spelling or grammar or plot elements or characters or writing or any of that stuff. I want to find beta readers who will be willing to start giving it a read (and keep on reading if it interests them) and tell me how they feel about it. Was it fun? Retarded? Boring? Would you recommend it? That sort of thing. I wouldn't want much, just some input here and there.
If you are interested, please let me know and provide a way for me to contact you back (email, PM, etc.) and I will happily give you more info on the story to see if it sounds like something you would like to do.
Thanks again for your time and attention, have a nice one :)!