Dance of the Damned

Breaking Reality

"Micah!" A woman with raven black hair walked to the boy in a field of nothing but golden wheat as far as the eye can see.

The sky is as bright as daytime though there is a large crescent moon in the sky. So big it seemed to cover the whole stretch of it as the boy stared up at it.

His eyes twinkled the same way the stars did as he looked at the moon, able to make out its shape but to actually see it is another thing.

The wheat tickled his face and hands as the wind blew all across the land.

Though everything seemed to settle as the woman sat beside him, placing his head on her lap, "What are you looking at my angel?"

"Wheat," he said, touching every inch of the plant. "It is so thin. Is it not fed properly?"

"That is just how wheat looks like, darling." She said, taking his hand in hers as she plucked the wheat off its stalk and placed it in the boy's hands. "What do you think?"

"I think plucking it was unnecessary." He said, holding the broken stalk in his hands. "Why did you do that, mother?"

"I want to teach you something, Micah." She said, holding his hand with the stalk to the broken half. "Try to put it back together."

The boy sat up, reaching for the stalk with both hands and, try as he might, he could not make one end stick back to the other end.

"I can't mother." He said, turning to the woman. "Why did you pluck it out? Now it is going to die."

"Every decision we make is like this wheat." She said, guiding his hands to feel it. "Sometimes, the choices we make lead to something irreparable happening.

"We hurt something whether it is by mistake on purpose, it happens. And ... sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to fix it."

"What are you trying to say, mother?" He asked, as her voice began to fade, slowly.

"Always think long and hard before you make any decision, no matter how small. Leave with as little damage done as possible."

"How much damage is as little as possible?" He asked, feeling around but no one was there anymore.

Micah sat alone in the field, broken wheat in hand as blood began to rain from the sky, the moon turning red as everything became washed in the liquid from the sky.

The wind howled at him as he sat in the field, unmoving.

"Mother?" He called out softly, voice rising gradually as the place around him became warmer and warmer, screams filling the place. "How much?! How much is too much!?!"

His voice fell silent as he allowed the rain and the kind to drown out his voice.

"How much?" He asked, defeated. "I- I just want to know."

___________________

"-ster. Young master?!"

Micah opened his eyes slowly as the groggy feeling of sleep remained and a pounding feeling on his head as well as soreness all over his body with sharp pains every time he moved.

“Nanny?” He called, voice breaking slightly as he rubbed his eyes. “Where am I? It smells different here.”

“We are still in the hospital, young master.” She said, trying to reassure the boy who held her hand tight. “And I am sure the smells are just the medicines.”

“Should I not be back home?” He asked, tilting his head at her. “Or … am I still dying?”

“NO!” Elise shouted, quickly covering her mouth with her hand. “I mean … you are as strong as ever, young master. We just want to be careful.”

Micah began to fiddle with the cloth in front of him, letting go of Elise’s hand. “Sorry, Nanny Elise.”

“Whatever are you apologizing for?” She gasped, horror written all over her face.

“I went out without telling anyone, I destroyed the carriage and I was not able to bring the parsnips back.” He began listing them out using his fingers. “I even got injured and worried you all. I was able to make Bradie angry too. I never saw him angry before and he was so angry.”

“I will have to give that boy a talking to when I see he comes back,” Elise said sighing. She sat beside Micah, holding his hand in hers and said this, “Young master, don’t apologise for something you could not control. Did I not tell you this before?”

“Pardon?” Briar walked into the room with a tray in his hands covered with a cloth. “I have your breakfast, Micah.”

“Thank you,” Micah said as they placed the tray in front of him. Elise watched as he struggled to eat, wanting to help him but she held herself back.

“Good. Only focus on eating and growing stronger now, ok, young master?” She said trying to smile at him. “The past is in the past now. I am just happy to have you with us.”

“But … it was the first time aunt asked something of me.” He said, chewing at the bread slowly. “And I could not do it right.”

“Aunt? You mean the Lady?” Elise asked as Briar walked to him.

“She was the one that sent you out, alone, was she not?” Briar asked, placing his hands on Micah’s shoulders gently.

“Yes, she told me that we were out of parsnips and everyone was too busy to go to the marketplace to get them,” Micah said, taking another bite of the loaf. “So I told her I would go. It is not her fault, I was the one that insisted it.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” Briar said, venom all over his voice. “Why don’t you concentrate on eating now, Micah? One of the nurses called Elise, let me just take her to her.”

“Ok,” Micah said, forcing a smile as Briar pulled Elise out of the room while the boy listened as they left, a smile forming on his face.

Thank you, Bradie. I knew I could always count on you.

____________________

As soon as they walked out of the room, Briar just stood there, blankly staring at nothing.

“Where is the nurs-“

“There is no nurse,” Briar said roughly, biting at his fingernail as he paced around the hallway. “Remember what that woman said yesterday?”

“About the Lord and Lady?” She asked, frowning slightly. “We cannot accus-“

He shook his head at her, “It is not an accusation. The reason I knew where Micah was is because a servant told me. He passed them on the way to the marketplace and said that it was driven by someone he never saw before.”

“That is suspicious,” Elise said, stroking her chin. “We should watch the Lord and Lady more closely now.”

“Leave that to me.” Briar said, “I will k-“

“No.” Elise stopped him. “I will need you to be with the young master. Do not keep an eye off him. I will not be able to be with him all the time so I need you to do that, can you?”

“I can,” Briar said while she stared intently at him. “I promised him too. That I would be with him.”

“Good.” She nodded. “I will find someone else to spy on the Lord and Lady. We will only be able to do something when the young master turns fifteen in the coming week. Until then, we will need to keep watch and make sure he is never alone.”

“Even as he sleeps?”

“Even as he sleeps.” She nodded. “That is the reason why I say that you should look after him. When the young master is preparing for bed, you will climb into the room through the window.”

“Wait, I will have to stay awake the entire night?” He asked, tilting his head to the side. “How will I look after him day and night?”

“You sleep lightly, Briar. Just a creek on the floorboards is enough to take you up.” She said, exasperated. “I will prepare a space for you to sleep so that you can sleep during the night an-"

"Why don't I just ask Micah if I can sleep with him until his birthday?" Briar asked, turning to the door. "I'll ask him."

"No, It might not be good for you-"

"Micah!" Briar shouted, opening the door as the boy turned to them, smiling softly while he held the last piece of bread to his mouth.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering, can I sleep with you for the next couple of days?" He asked, much to the chagrin of Elise. "We don't have to sleep on the same be-"

"Yes!" The boy shouted happily. "I have always invited you to sleep in my room but you refused every time. This is nice. Does that mean I am leaving tonight, Nanny Elise?"

"Not tonight yet. But maybe tomorrow." She said, quickly, ignoring a smug-looking Briar. "I will ask the nurses and doctors."

"OK! Can you ask now?" He asked, eyes pleading with her as she agreed and began to walk out of the room. "Bradie. Where will you sleep?"