Months later, I became someone completely different. Everyday after school I trained myself in the forest, improving it just so I could protect the ones I cared about. I did everything I could think of for the rest of the day: pushups, sit ups, weight lifting using rocks and wood, running, pull ups, and so many other things that I can't even list. It really turned out for the best, too, I went from someone with no courage and power, to someone who could make a difference, which was something everyone needed.
People pretty much stopped bothering me after that. They stopped picking on me, they stopped call me names, and stopped beating me up. If anything, I was the one more capable of beating them up now. But I chose not to; I wanted to be different from everyone else.
It was a sunny day, and I chose to oversleep. I was fourteen now, and had graduated from school all ready. I began to stir in bed as light poured in from the window with ragged, old and stained drapes. Consciousness began to drift back into my body as my eyes opened, feeling the hot warmth of the sun on my face. My legs struggled to get out of bed, tangled in the covers. My sense of direction was faded, and the late morning cool crept around my legs, awakening me a bit more as I walked to the mirror and pulled on my clothes.
I looked at my reflection wearily, rubbing the sand out of my brown eyes as the broken and cracked piece of silver coated glass mimicked me. I widened my eyes to try and get used to being awake, and yawned. Still feeling drowsy, I took the red bandanna I always wore from the uneven and wobbly nightstand and tied it around my head, wrapping around my brown hair. I walked half heartedly across boarded room to struggle with a white T-shirt, my arms entangled in their cotton midst. I uttered a low cry as pain shot through my left side as I stretched out my arms to fix the shirt. I had pulled a muscle from the day before during running since I had been to lazy to warm up first because I had been late to start.
I took a sharp breath and held the pain back. Things like physical pain were only minor, after all. I got completely dressed and was about to head out the door until my mother stopped me. She was a fragile woman, and never afraid to show her feelings and opinions to me. She was small and old, her face completely wrinkled and saggy from age. Her eyes always seemed to be dozing off, her body weak and slow. Her gray hair was long and tied back, giving her a kind of hippy look. She never said much, only questions.
"Going out to exercise again, Eric-chan?" she said in her weak, groggy voice. She cleared her throat as she sensed me open the door to exit the house. She sat solemnly at the living room mat, doing her late morning meditations.
"Yes, mom," I answered directly with nothing but a T-shirt and worn out sweats on, the wooden door handle gripped tightly in my normal sized hands. I gave her back a quiet look, as if I was waiting for something.
"You work too hard, my son," she gave her opinion, still sitting on the mat. Her voice crackled with every word, as if she were struggling to speak. "Just what do you aim for?" she said groggily.
I closed the door to block out the cold breezes that took away the little heat that we had. The wooden door closed with a creak. I sighed and waited as I thought hard for the answer. "I guess…to protect you guys," I said finally and with confession, opening the door wide with a louder creak, and then headed outside, my footsteps wandering away in my mother's ears. Inside, I could tell that my mother smiled a weak grin that she struggled to make, her eyes closed and crinkled.
I walked outside and past the town houses, all made of whatever material the people could find like hay, sticks, sometimes even decaying logs with large holes punctured into them. The pale sun warmed the back of my neck as I walked away from it and toward the forest. The clouds above waved slowly and steadily, snails of the God's will. The ground was dirty and infested with weeds that towered two feet high.
As I was inches away from the forest, I passed by a group of kids my age watching as I walked past. They gave jealous and scoffing smirks, looking down on me in their place on the floor, sitting lazily and wasting their lives. They held pipes and all sorts of street weapons they could find, but did nothing with them. I walked easily past, their presence the last thing on my mind. I just sighed and closed my eyes as I paced along. I soon found myself surrounded by pillaring, thick trees. Their damp state from last night's downpour filled the forest with a natural dew scent that would never wear off. The moist air felt swampy and cool around my body, the sunlit skies filtering through pierced holes in the forest green ceiling above.
I thought as I walked through the towering, wet grass. I thought about things like my future, my life, and my motivation to exercise for most of the day. Where would my future lead? I don't know, but I knew it would involve helping people, that I definitely knew. My life so far was surrounded by all these bad things happening around me, people robbing other people, and the cursing and wasting of lives. I felt like I was the only one who kept myself safe. Even my parents were pressured around by a few other adults. If only my life were as perfect as my appearance, I thought. I was looking really good for just a fourteen year old teenager.
My skin was toned and dark from being out in the sun so much, my body strong and endurable thanks to working out almost twenty four-seven. I was tall and confident, looking like nothing could knock me down. If only everyone knew…
I paced myself through the wet grass some more until I came by the forest's lake near the border of the town. I always kept my equipment there, having differential weights to lift made of carved wood. I had a pole made of rock connecting two adjacent trees for pull-ups that was hung eight feet into the air. More cool and wet air drifted from the lake as I got to work, wearing my plain clothes as I sat on a large rock while I lifted seventy pound weights. I felt my left side shoot up pain all over again, my grip loosening and my hand dropping to the floor. I clutched my left side and winced as I waited for the pain to wear off. I forced it to wear down, trying to wear off the pain mentally. I picked up the weight again from the ground, and tried hard to pick it up, the wooden piece of equipment lifting slowly from the ground. The only reason I struggled to get it up was because my left side immediately began to spread out pain when I even touched the weight. I gave a strained groan as I made on successful lift up, and began to try again.
Pain spread everywhere, but I refused to give up. I wouldn't let something stupid like pain get in the way of anything! I struggled as I made another successful lift, and carried it back down to try again. Three… I began counting. Four…Five…Six…Seven….Eight….Nine…I continued some more, the pain growing continually as time went on. Twenty…Twenty-one…Twenty-two…Twenty-three…
I kept up the painful cries and strained lifting until I hit three-fifty which was only a fraction of what I was supposed to finish. I set the weight heavily onto the ground, the wood rustling in the ground. I winced and began to breathe heavily, my arm feeling completely tired. I began to use my right arm instead, giving a chance for my left arm to rest. I didn't want to give up on it, but I knew that if I had continued, I would be without one arm. I had to use the other arm in the meantime.
About five hours later, I found my left side completely healed and my body perspiring all over. Sweat drizzled down the back of my neck and all over my face, trailing down my chest and back. I breathed heavily, trying to catch my breath, taking in and out the cold, damp air. It was mid afternoon now, and I knew that I should take a longer breather, but I didn't like to waste even the smallest amount of seconds. I sat on the rock as I settled for a seven second breather, and peered tiredly to the lake. It was glimmering with fading sunlight, all kinds of flowers surrounding it. It just happened to be the only beautiful thing in the whole town, and rarely did anyone ever come here.
A few feet away from me, I found something that I usually didn't see around the town. Something I haven't seen in years was laid right in front of my eyes, glimmering in the sunlight with drops of rain shining brightly like distant stars in the fabricant night skies. My eyes widened in bewilderment as I got up and began to walk slowly toward it. Cool air surrounded my perspiring body as I bent down to pick it up from the floor. Feeling its stem made me feel nostalgic, and I suddenly had a flashback:
I was but a child, about six years old walking with my mother by my side as we paced the forest grass for comfort. "Hm?" I muttered lowly as I spotted something in the midst of our direction. My eyes widened in acknowledgement as I raced forward to pick it up. It was backed up against a tree, like it was afraid. It had a long green and healthy stem, and had flower petals that looked like leaves hanging from the tip of it like big things of hair to humans. The petals were blue with certain streaks of yellow, the blue churning into purple at some points. Some petals were short and stubby, while others were long and hanging. I picked it up in my hand and held it delicately. I stared at it in amazement as it glittered in the sunlight.
"What's that you've got there?" my mother's creaking, groggily voice asked, pacing slowly towards me to meet me and the flower in my hands.
"What's this thing?" I asked her, holding it up so she could see, a little too close. My eyes were locked on it as if it were the most attractive thing I've seen.
She took it in her hands and examined it, her eyes three-fourths closed like she was about to fall asleep or faint or something. "Oh," she uttered a low cry in realization. "This flower is called Iris," she stated in her kind, aging voice that cracked like thunder.
"Iris?" I asked her, my voice high and childish.
"Yes, it's a beautiful flower that grows in the spring, and is said to bring hope to people who spot it full-grown," she told me, her voice actually weakening. She gave a small chuckle before she resumed speaking. "Could you imagine what kind of luck it would bring when it isn't spring?" she asked.
"No," I said, taking the flower from her greedily in my hands, keeping it all to myself. I had immediately become attached to it and smiled whenever I even looked at it. I held it close to my chest, the beautiful blue petals tickling my nose. "But…what's it doing here?" I asked watching the flower's stem sway slightly in a calming dance with the wind.
"Maybe it means it'll bring good luck to us. Who knows? Maybe it means we'll finally get to see your father again," she shared in her frog-like voice. She kept her hands behind her back as she smiled at me gracefully, giving a silent chuckle.
I said nothing and stared back in acknowledgement, not realizing just what looking at this flower could've meant. I stared back at it as it continued its peculiar swaying, smiling thoughtfully. Father…where did you go? I thought, making a wish with the flower on my side, hoping with all my will that I would get to see him again.
Eight years later, I found myself in the forest again during the summer time,
watching the very same type of flower sway with the wind in its place on the ground. Its blue petals were almost as beautiful as the first time I saw it, and it immediately piqued my interest. I smiled nostalgically and got up from the rock, my body suddenly feeling completely rested, I took the flower from its place in the ground delicately, making no noise as the wind began to pick up, as if a sign. I smiled the same way I did when I first held it, and put it against my chest. Sunlight pierced from above through a large hole in the forest ceiling. I decided to go home and show my mother, dropping all my things with the feeling of the least guilt imaginable. I can always exercise later, but for now, for some reason, I feel like I need to shower her this, I thought, smiling as I ran through the forest and into the town, practically rampaging home in happiness.
As I found my house yards away from me, a cloud above seemed to follow me, stalking me. It trailed behind me and covered the sun's light behind it, casting a dark shadow over me and the rest of the town. Something…I thought. Something doesn't feel right…
Small hints of panic began to pierce my heart as I flew the door open, the smile on my face still not worn out. "Mom!" I shouted in happiness. "Look what I found in the forest!" I looked around the room and couldn't find her anywhere. Where was she? "Mom? Where are you?" I uttered lower this time, suspicious. I walked past through the living room as panic took over my emotions little by little, second by the second as time went through its continuous loops.
My deep voice seemed to echo through the room as I walked into the small, moldy kitchen, not seeing her anywhere. Where had she gone? "Mom?" I asked again, my eyes beginning to widen in fear. I practically ran throughout the house in my panic, cool air brushing my perspiration away only to create more. I finally found myself in the midst of her room, trying to find a sign of her. I entered the room quietly as sunlight pierced through it, the doorknob in one hand and the Iris in the other.
I gasped immediately as the door was swung completely open. No… no way… I took in a deep breath as I felt my grip loosen as my eyes widen. The Iris flower fell solemnly to the floor, making its downfall delicate like a leaf's. It plopped to the ground like my fallen hope silently and unnoticeably.
"M…Mother!" I cried out, my eyes disbelieving to what I saw that was laid in front of my very eyes, my mind refusing to believe it. In the room, I found my mother…lying on the wooden floor…lying on her back while silent… and dead.