Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I thought I would be done with chapter 2 sooner, but I forgot about it XD
AKA lazy*shot*
Thanks for the advice ^_^ I tried to chuck a few more thoughts and stuff in this time... and I've been working on my writing skillage... although I've been working on and off on this it should hopefully be a little better.
Chapter 2
~~
Music.
I love music.
I wish life was like a movie, with music introducing each scene, changing to fit the mood, like an unseen character.
Have you ever watched a movie without music in the background?
There is this mood that is missing. A feeling that only music can bring about.
But, in the silence of reality, I realized that life is really like a movie.
A child crawls onto the stage and takes his first breath. Intro the soft childish music as he begins to grow into a fine young adult.
The music changes, a bit more serious now. He has made mistakes, but they have all added to his character, to the complexity of his song.
But now he is an adult, the strange climax, and he sees the world as so terribly small…
Where is the place he knew?
The music that paved his childhood has faded and the harsh melody of reality hits him.
Then, wrapped up in his whole life- the pain, the joy, the tears, the laughter- he makes the most elegant exit into the greatest cliffhanger: death.
What a glorious end. No more emotions, no more burdens. The whole breeze that was his life is now concluded in a sigh, a soft requiem playing in the background.
But, I have become deaf to that music.
I wish to hear it, but only silence comes to me.
How I long for a day when I can hear the music in my life again…
But I fear I will never hear it again in these clouded ears of mine.
~~
Arms behind his head in a relaxing position, a young boy looked up at the clock on his wall. Long black hands pointed out that it was half past seven, which was no surprise to the boy who had looked up at it periodically for the last twenty minutes.
“Time sure seems to go by a lot slower these days…” He thought out loud, adjusting the sleeve of his grey hoodie.
He sat up, his legs crossed in front of him, resting his arms on his faded blue jeans. He surveyed his room one last time, his eyes resting on neglected pieces of paper on a desk, an empty bookshelf, a small, brown, circular rug in the middle of a tan floor, a small dresser and his backpack that was leaning against his twin sized bed. Jumping to his feet, he adjusted the shoe laces on his red sneakers and grabbed his bag. He walked slowly to the door and turned one last time to look at his room before opening his door.
“There you are!” A lightly accented female voice called from down the small hall, a red haired woman in her thirties coming into view. The boy glanced in her direction, leaning into his room to turn off the lights before closing the door.
The woman flicked a strand of dirty blond hair from the shoulder of her yellow summer dress and put another hand on the boy’s head, combing her fingers through his sandy hair. “I was wondering if you were ever going to leave that room of yours.” She smiled before walking past him toward a stair case on the opposite side of the hall, “I’ve made you somethin’ to eat before you go if you’re interested. Don’ be long.”
Her heavy lavender perfume lingered behind after she was gone, causing the boy to sneeze. “Go a little lighter on the perfume, Mom.”
“Oh, I guess I might have used a bit much, but it’s not too bad, right?” She asked, turning on the first step to look back with a curious glance.
“Define ‘too bad’.” He replied, shouldering his pack.
His mother smiled and continued down the stairs. “See you on ground level.”
The boy shook his head, also smiling.
At least Mom is in a good mood, he thought, watching her descend the stairs.
A sigh escaped his lips as he headed through the door in front of him and turned to face a mirror on his right over a metal sink. It looked like all his hair on the left side of his head had decided that it would rather be on the right, but could only make half the journey. Consequently, it was standing on end. Probably his mother’s doing, he thought, grabbing a comb and noting that she DID run her hand through it.
When he had fixed his hair into a more presentable position, he pocketed the comb and looked back at his face. It looked fairly normal except his slightly large nose and thin lips. Then again, what is normal? He frowned.
I guess there really isn’t such a thing as ‘normal’, he thought, picking up a toothbrush and shoving some toothpaste onto it.
A few minutes later, teeth clean and face washed, the boy arrived at the bottom of the stairs. He took a moment to look around his small living room complete with couch, entertainment center, TV, lamp, and rug. Light tans and browns dominated the room. He yawned as he entered the kitchen on his right, the smell of French toast floating to his nose. Smiling, he pulled a wooden chair out from a matching table and took a seat, dropping his bag on the floor. His mother was standing over a stove with her back facing him on the other side of the white and brown themed kitchen.
“Would you mind taking care of those?” she asked, looking over her shoulder and motioning with a nod of her head toward a sink filled with dishes on her right.
“Sure…” He got to his feet and made his way to the sink. He paused in front of it, staring down at it with a curious gaze, wondering if the sponge was underneath all the random cooking utensils his mother had been using.
I guess I’ll have to dig…
“So… today’s the day…” His mother began, her voice trailing off sadly.
He paused, a small bowl in one hand. “Yeah…” He replied quietly, looking down at his hands.
Why does she sound so sad? It’s not going to be THAT bad without me around…He looked over at his mother, unsure what to say.
She turned and smiled at him, “Don’ say ‘yeah’ all down like that. You’ve been ready to start off for a while now. So don’ you dare be sad, you hear?”
Hah! You were the one being sad. He smiled, then retorted defiantly, “Okay, but you can’t be either.”
“Of course.” She paused, “I can always get a pet to replace you while you’re gone.”
“Hey!” He placed the bowl down and turned to face her.
She laughed, placing her hand on his head again, “Don’ worry about me, you are the one goin’ out into the world. Alls I have to do is hold up the fort here. Now get back to those dishes, they ain’t goin’ to clean themselves.” She spun back to attend to the food, leaving him smiling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“That was great!” The boy complimented, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and leaning back in his chair. An empty plate sat on the dinner table in front of him, a fork lying neglected off to the side. He smiled up at his mother as she reached for his dish. “Thanks!”
She smiled back, walking over to the sink. A few seconds later, the sound of running water filled the air.
Awkward silence… He got to his feet, only to feel more uncomfortable and out of place. He sighed and grabbed his bag. “I’m going to go… do… something…”
His mother said nothing as he dashed back into the living room, glad to be out of that thick atmosphere. Tossing his bag onto the couch he walked over to the entertainment center and grabbed the TV remote. It was sitting next to a picture of four smiling faces sitting on the family couch. The boy stopped, letting his had with the remote relax by his side. A man in a white shirt and jeans and a small girl in a cure pink dress accompanied a younger version of the boy and his mother.
Sadness filled his eyes, but only for a second. He exhaled through clenched teeth, spinning around with a look of determination.
I don’t have time to be sad.
He flung himself onto the couch and turned on the TV, hoping that the noise would distract him, sorrow still lingering in his eyes.
“Everything in store’s on sale! Hurry before it’s too late!”
A commercial. He mashed a few buttons impatiently. Quick blurbs of audio took turns filling the silence as he surfed through the channels. Finding nothing interesting, he left in on the local news channel and tossed the remote aside. The news anchors seemed laid back that morning, and were laughing at something. As their laughter subsided, the red headed woman that sat on the right began the next story.
“As we approach the time of year when most children embark on their Pokémon journeys, an unexplained event has torn through Eterna Forest.”
The boy straightened, now interested.
Eterna forest? But…He pushed his questions aside, placing his full attention on the news report, a live video of a fire playing in the corner of the screen.
“A fire has burned more than half the forest, but is now about 80 percent contained. All routes leading to the forest have been closed off until the fire is extinguished. Authorities are not sure what started the fire, but most agree that it was probably not caused by a Pokémon.” As she finished, her voice trailed off with a sense of finality and she shuffled the papers in her hands before continuing, “In other news, the stray Pokémon that has been causing problems around town has yet to be caught, but now, as more sightings are reported, the varying descriptions is causing authorities to believe there is more than one-”
The boy slowly reached for the controller and pressed the power button.
Eterna Forest. I wanted to go there first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back in Eterna Forest, the Umbreon crouched halfway concealed by a small hole at the base of a large untouched tree near the edge of the forest. He was tired from running around for so long. It was easy to not be noticed, but even after the people in white were gone, he kept running, almost as if he was running from what had happened.
A little while ago a bunch of firefighters showed up in bright yellow to take control of the situation. They had already been where he was, he noted, feeling the wet ground beneath his paws as he laid down, his head resting on the ground.
Their presence relaxed him, but did not cause him to lower his guard.
The sound of a twig breaking to his right caused him to jump. Instinctively, he jumped to the other side of the tree, trying to avoid being seen. He had barely caught a glimpse of his guest, but it took him a moment to realize what he had seen.
That was a Murkrow!
He stole another glance. There was no mistake. About 10 feet away, looking around carefully, was the small, black bird with its broom-like tail and yellow beak. Its head was tilted sideways, as if to show off its yellow beak which resembles a witch’s nose and its feather crest that resembles a witch’s hat.
Suddenly it struck the Umbreon how foolish he was to assume he was the only Pokémon left in the forest. He stepped out cautiously to greet him. <Hey…> He said cautiously.
The Murkrow tensed, turning his head quickly to see behind himself. But as their eyes met, he relaxed. <Good grief, don’t scare me like that…>
<I could say the same to you.> The Umbreon retorted, smiling. The Murkrow smiled in response, so he continued, <Have you’ve been here since the fire started too?>
<Honestly, I wish I wasn’t.>
‘No kidding,’ was what he wanted to reply, but he had always been straight forward and a more important thought was on his mind. <Do you know if there are others who managed to evade getting caught?>
<Oh! Yeah!> The Murkrow brightened, <There’s a whole group! Actually, the reason I’m over here is to look for others…> He paused. <And… well… Yeah… You see where I’m going with this?>
The Umbreon nodded in response, noting that this character seemed slightly absent minded. <Where might they be?>
<Uh…> He spun around and looked over his shoulder, <This way! Follow me!> He said before taking off.
Great… At least someone’s optimistic and energetic about this whole situation… The Umbreon thought to himself before running after his guide.
Silence fell over them as they started off, ash filling their lungs and scorched trees now flying past them as they ran.
Flying about a foot off the ground, the Murkrow looked back, <By the way, I’m Kuro.>
<Nice to meet you.> He replied, trying to avoid the inevitable.
After a short pause, Kuro asked, <So-o-o-o, what’s your name?>
The Umbreon sighed, wishing that people would be content in not knowing once in a while. <I don’t have a name.>
Kuro looked puzzled, but when he opened his mouth to respond, he was interrupted by a tree.
WHAM.
The Umbreon stopped in mid step, watching his new companion slide comically to the ground.
Wow.
He paused for a moment, not sure what to say as Kuro twitched once, feet in the air. <You okay?>
Jumping up dramatically, Kuro turned back to reply, <Yep!> before taking off again, seemingly unfazed.
Shaking his head, the Umbreon sighed, starting off after him again. At least they were no longer on the subject of names.
As they ran, a breeze began to pick up, toying with the remainder of the trees, playing their soft melody they so often enjoyed on cloudy days like this.
But this day was different. Fire had destroyed the center of the forest. Thanks to the firefighters who were still struggling to keep things under control, the outskirts were mostly untouched. Their shouts echoed in the distance.
Everything was dead where they were now, eaten by the flames. Pitch black trees flew past them, some fallen, others still trying to stand as a last action of defiance against their death.
The breeze seemed solemn now. It could no longer play at the branches.
Its song was lost to the wrath of the flames.
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