A Mother's Instinct
Written by: Miradeathnote
"Who knew in such a small amount of time a flower, once thought to be a weed, grew."
The lady reading the story smiles down at the small boy in her lap. Her hair was dark, recently cut short, and her eyes matched the set on her son's face. The boy and his mother sat outside a small balcony off of their apartment building. The boy was at least four years old, and he was already showing great prospects for himself. The mother, still clutching the book in one hand, lifts herself off the ground. The boy follows pursuit, jogging alongside his mother. Inside is the rest of his family, mostly brothers (and one sister).
Though only four, he was already suspicious about who their fathers were. The eldest, Wang, came back after getting his masters in child development and care; he came home to help his mother raise his siblings. The twins, Im Yong and Im Eun, were quite the spiteful bunch. They often fought about who got to date which girl at their high school, or over who was smarter (Im Eun always winning that argument). Then you had quiet Mei, who often wore pink dresses to her middle school, and passed her classes with perfect scores. Last brother of the group was only in third grade and his name was Leon. Though the family could get quite loud and brash Kiku still loved them very much.
That day was just like any other; he stayed home and helped mom out the best he could. The siblings came home from their afterschool activities, the eldest coming home from work at a local daycare. Then his family sat down to have his favorite, sushi. That's when it turned strange for him, someone began knocking on the door. His mother looked alarmingly at the door before saying something foreign to Wang. Wang look twists from curious to fear in a blink of an eye. He stands up, the pounding on the door getting louder. Wang shuffles every child into their room, telling them, "Don't come out tell I say so!"
What he had forgotten was that Kiku was laying on the couch, plate of sushi untouched, taking a small nap. Kiku never woke up, not even as his mother's blood and his brother's splattered all over his food.
Hercules never liked his mom, in fact he could do without her. His sibling wasn't any better (good thing he moved out). His mom often spat at him, called him names in various languages. He didn't mind it much, other than he got teased for it a school.
"Your mom is a drunk!"
"You're going to be drunk too!"
"Hahaha, crack baby!"
His only friend was a small orange tabby, the runt of his litter. Hercules always went to his secret place to take care of the small creature, loving it with all his heart. The adventures they would go on always made him chuckle.
Like the time Hercules tried stealing medication for his mom. The tabby knew better about it, and got him caught. Not only did he get slapped that night, but he also got to keep the tabby in his decrepit home. Things were looking up for him, and he was beginning to feel his life start to glow with reason. Then he came into his life, sick and as disgusting as his mother. Though he always came close to, he never laid a hand on Hercules.
Then Hercules came home from school one day to hear his mother yelling again at the man. Hercules completely ignored them and went straight up to his room, excited to tell his best friend about his day. When he opened the door to his room however he found another thing waiting for him. He found silence, and stains all over his floor.