Post by Sarin on Jan 25, 2009 17:45:10 GMT -6
((Ooh, this gets its own board. Why? Because I just started writing it earlier today and it's a work in progress. So it's special like that. ;D Anyways, comments and critique are welcome, and I hope you enjoy the story.))
His feet had become hardened through what seemed like eternities of walking. One step always followed shortly by another, though he never got anywhere. He might drift around the desolate lands, but somehow his steps always brought him back to that town. It was still the place that felt most like home for him, if such a friendly word like ‘home’ could ever be used. Only hatred awaited him there, but only solitude awaited him anywhere else; he wasn’t sure which was worse. At least the hatred proved to him that he was alive, that he had not faded into nothing. That he could still change the world, even if only by loosing more anger into it.
But he deceived himself. Not only pain awaited him in that little town. One house there had once been a safe-haven for him, in one house he had felt love when he still received nothing kinder than cautious glances from the rest of the town. That family, that girl… he could not accept that they had given up on him just because the other townspeople demanded it. Just because a quirk of fate had claimed a young man’s life. It was by no fault of his own, surely they of all people would see that. So he kept coming back to that small town, hoping that one day she would come running and smile at him like she used to.
It all came back to fault and misunderstanding, and in the end to mere ignorance. From the day he had been born, before he could even have done anything to lay sin upon himself, suspicious eyes watched him. As he grew, those looks grew in multitude. If he were to commit the slightest wrong, then caution would turn to anger, and he might find himself chased out of the city for tasting a piece of bread, while right across the street an old lady threw bits of the loaf to the birds, who cackled and disturbed the sanctity of the town far more than he.
So had he grown up, in an uneasy world that always felt as if it were trespassing on the world of dreams. He would take care to place each small step on the land that would least condemn him, and on troubled days he would seek solace in her house. There, he knew he could always find food and shelter, and warmth when night came or when the snows set in. But most importantly, there he could find a place where the eyes that watched him held no worry, no hatred, no fear. They held caring, and sympathy, and though many would burn at that he embraced. He did not wish to isolate himself as many in his situation did, so he needed that one place of kindness, the thread that led him always to tomorrow, that kept him from spinning away.
Yes, that had been his goal… to stay safe, do no wrong, drop no lower in the opinions of those who distrusted him and stay just as high in the hearts of those few who did. To not isolate himself from the world. Yet here he was, wandering a mile away from the town like a ghost; certainly he had failed in the latter goal at least. And from the hateful glances he received just upon being sighted, he was sure the first had been discarded as well. And he had met with the girl for so long now, he only had glances from afar to refresh his memories of her. But now he had not even seen her since he had last left, perhaps a month ago. His sharp eyes could just make out the shapes of people moving within the town, but he could not tell who they were. Was she there? Was she thinking of him? Wishing for him? Hating him?
His feet had padded on without his thoughts, and he stopped them. The people moved like ants in the town, and he could tell that none of them were her. He would wait, renew his will, and he would try once more to meet her. He must not let the ignorance of the town stop him, nor his own weakness, nor even the memories of the last time he had met her face to face, the cold, fogged window glass stealing her face from him.
He curled up behind a rock, eyes closed but mind awake, letting memories stifle the cutting noise of the winter winds as they rushed around the body of a forlorn Absol, the Disaster Pokémon.
Ignorance
[/font]His feet had become hardened through what seemed like eternities of walking. One step always followed shortly by another, though he never got anywhere. He might drift around the desolate lands, but somehow his steps always brought him back to that town. It was still the place that felt most like home for him, if such a friendly word like ‘home’ could ever be used. Only hatred awaited him there, but only solitude awaited him anywhere else; he wasn’t sure which was worse. At least the hatred proved to him that he was alive, that he had not faded into nothing. That he could still change the world, even if only by loosing more anger into it.
But he deceived himself. Not only pain awaited him in that little town. One house there had once been a safe-haven for him, in one house he had felt love when he still received nothing kinder than cautious glances from the rest of the town. That family, that girl… he could not accept that they had given up on him just because the other townspeople demanded it. Just because a quirk of fate had claimed a young man’s life. It was by no fault of his own, surely they of all people would see that. So he kept coming back to that small town, hoping that one day she would come running and smile at him like she used to.
It all came back to fault and misunderstanding, and in the end to mere ignorance. From the day he had been born, before he could even have done anything to lay sin upon himself, suspicious eyes watched him. As he grew, those looks grew in multitude. If he were to commit the slightest wrong, then caution would turn to anger, and he might find himself chased out of the city for tasting a piece of bread, while right across the street an old lady threw bits of the loaf to the birds, who cackled and disturbed the sanctity of the town far more than he.
So had he grown up, in an uneasy world that always felt as if it were trespassing on the world of dreams. He would take care to place each small step on the land that would least condemn him, and on troubled days he would seek solace in her house. There, he knew he could always find food and shelter, and warmth when night came or when the snows set in. But most importantly, there he could find a place where the eyes that watched him held no worry, no hatred, no fear. They held caring, and sympathy, and though many would burn at that he embraced. He did not wish to isolate himself as many in his situation did, so he needed that one place of kindness, the thread that led him always to tomorrow, that kept him from spinning away.
Yes, that had been his goal… to stay safe, do no wrong, drop no lower in the opinions of those who distrusted him and stay just as high in the hearts of those few who did. To not isolate himself from the world. Yet here he was, wandering a mile away from the town like a ghost; certainly he had failed in the latter goal at least. And from the hateful glances he received just upon being sighted, he was sure the first had been discarded as well. And he had met with the girl for so long now, he only had glances from afar to refresh his memories of her. But now he had not even seen her since he had last left, perhaps a month ago. His sharp eyes could just make out the shapes of people moving within the town, but he could not tell who they were. Was she there? Was she thinking of him? Wishing for him? Hating him?
His feet had padded on without his thoughts, and he stopped them. The people moved like ants in the town, and he could tell that none of them were her. He would wait, renew his will, and he would try once more to meet her. He must not let the ignorance of the town stop him, nor his own weakness, nor even the memories of the last time he had met her face to face, the cold, fogged window glass stealing her face from him.
He curled up behind a rock, eyes closed but mind awake, letting memories stifle the cutting noise of the winter winds as they rushed around the body of a forlorn Absol, the Disaster Pokémon.