Dear readers,

I wrote this as a school project and it became a part of me so I decided to share it with all of you. Please try to grasp the inner message of the story because it is very powerful. Thank you.

-fluffyisgod

The Boy and the Trial of Darkness

By Sebastian Milla

8-1

The darkness of the night enveloped the boy as he stood on the top of the grass-covered hill. His blonde hair rippled as the wind pushed it back and forth. A voice came from the darkness speaking in deep distorted tones," Child, why do you come to the Spirit of the Dead on the day of the Winter Solstice? Do you not know that this is the day where darkness has supreme power over the light? Today I can kill you without divine intervention."

The boy stood silently as if choosing his words and then spoke," You may be the hunter of innocent souls, but I have come for a different reason. On the day when the darkness overcomes the light you must give a trial to one mortal being. If the trial is completed, the mortal being is immune to your wrath and has one wish granted to him."

The darkness chuckled and then spoke again," You are wise young one. Very well, you may take my trial; however, you must choose your wish before you begin."

The boys eyes lit up as if ignited with a sudden hope," I wish that my mommy would come back to life!" he said boldly.

The darkness chuckled, laughed, and then roared with mirth. "You would brave death for a pitiful reason such as that? HA! You are weaker than I thought you were."

The boys eyes were suddenly ablaze with the fury of a thousand fires," Don't you dare make fun of me! Any reason is a good reason to take your trial. I don't fear you!"

The darkness paused for a moment, stunned by the boys powerful response, then it responded in a grave voice," Very well young one. You shall take my test. However, be warned that in my trials you will experience pain of unimaginable magnitude. You will see things that can wrench the fight out of the strongest of men and silence the boldest of mouths. Do you wish to continue?"

The boy stood tall with the fire still in his eyes," I do," he said in a frosty tone.

The darkness moved in and consumed the boy," Then let us begin," it whispered as the boy tumbled into a pit of darkness.

The boy stood on darkness and saw only darkness. He felt things move around him, almost caress him, then a voice spoke above him. " A brave boy," it chuckled," lets see just how brave you are."

The darkness turned into a room painted blue with many medical objects hanging from the walls. The boy recognized it at once, and swirled around to see a figure lifeless under hospital blankets. "Mommy!" he cried as he ran towards the bed. He reached its side, pulled back the covers, and screamed. There beneath the blankets was a skeleton, it's sockets lacking of eyes and its jaw hanging open exposing the yellow inside of the skull. The boy backed away as the skeleton clacked its teeth and rose it's torso from the blankets. It turned it's head towards the boy and said," I'm not your mommy, boy, but I can tell you where to find her. I can actually take you to her. Just come here and take my hand."

The skeleton extended its hand and held it there. Suddenly, like a soda can bursting from bottled up energy inside, the boy screamed," NO!" and ran to the door. He could hear the skeleton's bones clink together as it began to rise from the hospital bed while he twisted the handle on the large hospital door and opened it. He burst out into the hallway and began to run for where he remembered the exit was. He heard the clinking of the pursuing skeleton hasten as it began to increase its speed. He ran as fast as he could and noticed that there was more clinking behind him. He took a quick look behind him and wished he hadn't as 4 more skeletons entered his view. The boy began to run faster and harder, so much that he began to sweat profusely and gasp for air. He saw the exit door appear before him and tapped into whatever energy was left in him for a quick speed boost. He sailed through the open door just as one of the skeleton's hands scraped his ankle. The door shut with a deep BOOM! And darkness enveloped him once again.

The voice spoke to him again from the darkness in a sly voice," Hmmm, a brave boy you are. You did well back there, but that was just the beginning. Are you ready?"

The boy gasped a couple more times and then stood up tall and said," I am."

The voice giggled madly and said," Fool! You cannot survive the next test! Turn back now and maybe I will spare you."

The boy lowered his head and whispered," You are the fool if you think me a coward."

The voice composed itself and said," Very well then."

A path in what seemed to be a forest replaced the darkness. Trees stood as tall as mountains and lush green bushes lined the path. The boy began to walk up the dirt path keeping his eye on the road ahead. He walked for hours not looking at anything but what lay in front of him. He heard voices from either side speaking to his inner self, begging him to look, but he didn't. He kept walking until he reached an empty clearing. He entered it and stood there, waiting for something to happen. Then he gasped as a woman appeared from the trees. Her golden blonde hair swayed as she walked and there was a sparkle in her deep green eyes. "Come to me my child, come and embrace your dear mother," she said soothingly. The boy had tears in his eyes and began to walk forward, but stopped suddenly. Fear replaced his inebriated expression as another woman, identical to the first except for her misty blue eyes, exited the trees to his right. She called to him in the same soothing voice," No my child. Come to me. Come embrace your real mother."

He turned to his left to see another identical woman, except for her mixed sunny yellow eyes, approach from the grand trees. "They lie my sweet one. I am your mother, come to my loving embrace," she called. The boy stood mortified at the three replicas of his mother. His gaze fell on each one in turn, his mouth was pursed in stoned silence. Then he smiled and said," I will go with none of you for none of you are my mother. My real mother has chocolate brown eyes!"

The three women frowned and then began to howl. Their faces aged and their size shrunk until they had fully transformed back to three scrawny old witches. They screamed in rage and fled back into the dark forest. No sooner had they left that a door appeared in front of the boy. It opened and the boy entered it. Darkness enveloped him once again.

The voice spoke to him again in an annoyed tone," You're a persistent little bug aren't you? Well we'll change that! Prepare for the next test!"

The air around him burned and crackled with heat. The boy stood on a cliff alive with fire and heavy with the burning smell of smoke. The boy walked towards the end of the cliff and stood there. A gasp of horror escaped his mouth as the scene below seeped into his eyes. His mother crouched below on the burning rock; she was tied to a stake and cried as little red imps poked her with their pitchforks. Her eyes were bloodshot and black bags hung under her eyes. Her once beautiful hair was now gone and he only saw her burned scalp. Her body was a mass of burns and scars from all the torture she had bore. His heart broke seeing her like this and he collapsed on his knees and brought his hands to his face. He cried into his hands and felt things gather around him. Little imps gathered around the boy with wicked grins on their faces, they laughed and giggled at the sight of the crying boy. He sobbed as they closed in on him whispering things such as," We knew you'd break," or," You'll end up just like your mother!" They closed in a tight circle and advanced on him tridents extended in front of them. The boy wept into his hands, and suddenly a memory came back to him.

He was in bed and his mother had just read him a bedtime story called "The Lost Boy". He had begun to cry and his mother had taken him in her arms and asked him soothingly why he was weeping. He had responded through gasping sobs," I don't want to be lost, mommy. I don't ever want to be away from you."

His mom had smiled and told him that at some point he might get lost," But you do get lost, honey," she said smiling," you've got to be strong and brave. Never cry when you're lost because if you do, then you just make yourself more lost. Always be brave and you'll find your way through anything."

The imps pulled their pitchforks back in unison and stabbed hard at the boy. They cried in surprise when the pitchforks bounced back at them. The boy rose and removed his hands from his face to reveal a look of anger on his face. The flame burned great in his eyes as he whispered," Leave me alone." The imps smiled and charged again, but this time they didn't make it halfway to him before a powerful shock wave threw them back. The boy walked to the cliff and jumped off the edge. Darkness swallowed him.

The voice spoke to him again in a serious voice," You did very well young one. You have made it to the final challenge. This is the hardest challenge and has broken many determined people in the past."

The boy's eyes were still flames as he answered," Bring it on."

The darkness said nothing for a moment, then whispered," Very well"

The boy found himself on a platform of light surrounded by darkness. As he stood a voice spoke to him in his mind:

"He who is strong,

Will fight even his own wishes,

For those he loves."

He was puzzled for a moment, and then understood. His face twisted in pain as his mother appeared at the other end of the platform. Her eyes glowed red and she held a black sword in her right hand. "Come here you worthless brat!" she yelled to him with anger in her voice.

He was taken aback at her language and tone; she had never called him that before. She seemed to think he was ignoring her and uttered a bloodcurdling scream as she lunged at him. He quickly dodged her attack and backed away from her. "I don't want to hurt you mommy. Come back to yourself. It's me! Your son!" the boy cried at the raging woman. She turned to him and laughed a deep throaty laugh," I never had a son, just a worthless piece of trash who breathed and ate." She lunged at him again and this time he just barely dodged it. "Please mommy! Come back to yourself! Please!" the boy cried, he was on the verge of tears.

The woman laughed like a maniac," I am myself boy! I have never changed! Now die!"

He leapt to the side as her sword came down, her blade cut his arm slightly and he bounced away to avoid her second swipe. He suddenly stopped and stood still, looking at the cut, then he gazed up at his mother and the fire was back in his eyes. " My mother would never hurt me. Never," he breathed," YOUR NOT MY MOTHER!!!!!" He charged the figure hollering at the top of his lungs. The woman was stunned and that gave him enough time to jump up and extend his open hand into her surprised face. His palm glowed with a white light and then shot a beam directly into the woman's head, her entire body vaporized with it. The boy felt the floor give in and the platform disappeared leaving him to tumble into darkness.

The voice spoke in a soft voice now," Young boy, you have faced fear beyond human imagination and passed my test. You are free to go and your wish is granted."

A hole opened behind him and he stepped back out onto the grassy hill. Everything was just the way he had left it. He began to walk away when the darkness spoke to him again. "Boy," it said," before you go, may I ask one question?"

The boy thought for a minute then nodded his head. The darkness spoke questioningly," How did you survive my horrors with so little trouble?" it asked.

The boy smiled as if the question was the easiest in the world," That's easy. When I lost my mommy that was the biggest scare for me. Everything else was smaller compared to it because when she died I was lost. Nothing is scarier than being lost."

The darkness chuckled and then said," Very well. Go home young one, your mother waits."

The boy smiled and lumbered off the hill and down the dirt path that led back to his home. The darkness lingered for a moment, and then was gone.