Part 6
//Poetry
of the mind. Thoughts.
Memories. Creating an
intricate ballet unique to the human race, yet completely random in all that it
is. Each one a completely different experience.//
~~I
wake feeling completely worn out instead of my usual rested vigor.
Mrs. Tinley had cleaned and dressed my wounds before my weary body
screamed it’s final request for rest. Hoping
that I would wake up to realize that the past day was only a terrible nightmare
was my only wish before drifting off into slumber.
I had fallen asleep curled on the blanket as the remaining light of the
day drained from the sky. Whoever
that great deity is watching over us failed to grant my request.
It
is still hours before sunrise, but I can’t return to sleep even if I wanted
to. I sit up as my stomach begins to growl. I hadn’t had a decent meal since the day before yesterday.
The Tinleys let me eat some of their military style food, but it tasted
like paper to me.
Mr.
Tinley must have been awake already, for when I stirred he immediately made his
way to my side. “How are you
feeling Milliardo?” he asks me.
“I…I
miss everyone.”
He
wraps a comforting arm around my shoulders.
“I know that you must. This
is your first time on your own is it not?”
I answer him with a nod. “You
are a brave boy, you know. When I
was your age I wouldn’t have been able to survive something like you just did.
You were roughed up pretty good back there, yet you kept on going.
I couldn’t imagine going through that, but you pushed your way through
it. It shows you how strong you
truly are. If you keep that up, you
are going to turn into a fine man someday.”
“But
Mayle…she went back in to help my family.
She ran into a burning building without caring.
She is the strong one, not me. I
ran away.” The memory from that moment causes my tears to run anew.
“Milliardo,
you must understand that you are still young.
The only thing it would have accomplish had you run into that building
would have been getting yourself killed. Now
what would that do? You should
never think of throwing your life away over something like that.
In time you can be that stoic person who fights, but not now.
It wouldn’t accomplish anything if you did it now.”
“What
if something happened to Mayle? What
if she’s dead? She risked her
life.”
“She
did something stupid.”
I
am shocked to hear those words come from Mr. Tinley’s mouth.
Mayle is a hero in my eyes, doing something even though she could get
hurt, or worse. “What do you mean
she did something stupid?”
“She
ran into a situation that she should have had no part of.
If she gets killed it will be her own fault.”
“How
can you say that? She is amazing
trying to save my family! You say
that, but look at you hiding in this basement.
She knew that she could die, but she did it anyways.
She couldn’t hide from what was happening; she’s not like that.
How dare you judge her like that.”
“Mayle
is refugee scum. She ran away from
the colonies when the going got a little rough.
How’s that for your wonderful nursemaid?”
“No! It’s not like that. It
can’t be like that! I don’t
care what you say, you’re wrong!” The
Tinley’s home never felt so unwelcoming as it does now.
“I’m leaving.” I
don’t give him a chance to reply before I dash up the stairs and quickly make
my way out the front door. I
stumble down the steps in a flash and am back through the gate before Mr. Tinley
has a chance to wake up his wife. I
travel the same path that I did yesterday, only the opposite direction.
I’m heading back towards the hell that I ran away from.
The
sky is clear and there is nothing menacing hovering above the ground.
It seems just like any other day in the kingdom except for one item; the
plums of black smoke that still emerge from above the tree line.
I
clamber over the fence marking the edge of the property and backtrack my way
through the woods. I pass over the
same fallen trees and push aside the wooden fingers reaching for my delicate
skin. I quicken my pace when I can
see the clearing in the distance. I
break into a run, avoiding as many natural pitfalls as I go, but am soon sent
sprawling on my face when my foot hits a large object.
Pushing myself off the ground, I brush off all the leaves and twigs that
stick to my clothes. Cursing under
my breath at my horrible luck, I am surprised by the sound of moaning.
What I had tripped over is now moving.
It takes me a moment before I realize who the moaning mound is, but my
heart swells as I make the connection.
“Mayle!” I rush to her side while she struggles to sit up.
I throw my arms around her and weep into her shoulder.
I tell her of all the horrible things that Mr. Tinley said about her and
how I ran away from them.
“Milliardo,”
she says weakly. “You need to
leave here. You shouldn’t have
come back.”
“I
couldn’t just leave you here! What
about my family? Did they get out
alright?”
“Your
parents, Milliardo, they…they didn’t make it.”
She puts her arm around my body and pulls me close.
“I’m so sorry.”
Her
words shock me. I was so completely
sure that Mayle would be able to run in and rescue them all, she should have
been the hero. “What about
Relena?”
“I’m
not sure. I didn’t see her
anywhere. I had to get out before I
could look for her more.”
“We’ve
got to get out of here, Mayle. You’re
hurt, someone needs to help you.”~~~