A woman is seen with her face on her hands. She wore embroidered tunic, which was a stained with blood stains.
Tears trickled down her face into her palms.
WAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!
He let out a wail in sadness. Whatever was happening to her was really heart-wrenching.
THUD!
THUD!
THUD!!
She repeatedly hit her chest in an attempt to relief some of the pain she must've been feeling. She felt a strong wave of guilt washing over her causing her to bawl and beat her chest even more.
A man walked up to her and held her hand. She struggled to break lose but it was futile. All she could was to continue bawling and wailing, tears gushing out even more. Snot threatening to start trickling down her nose.
"Aunt Florisha, you can't continue to be like this? You've been crying for so many hours now. It is already night time." the man spoke to the woman. He said it in a soft voice trying his best to placate her.
"Talk to me. What is the matter? As the Village Head of this great village, I will do my very best to aid you? I practically owe you my life. Any request you have for me, I will fulfil it. Just speak. Tears will do us no good." he said putting his hand on her shoulder. He wanted to do whatever he took, just to appease her.
The tears did not stop but she was able to mutter some words. They were not audible at first, but her tone picked up.
"Can you bring back the dead? Can you take away the pain of losing someone you hold dear? Can you take away the guilt..." her voice trailed off, more tears threatening to burst out.
- - -
It all started with us patiently waiting for Arnold to come back.[1]
"Why is he taking forever? It will be night time before we know it." a kid said tapping his foot impatiently.
"I knew waiting for him will be a bad idea. He always takes forever to do anything. I wonder why he was chosen to be the heir." another kid said pouting.
"Don't be like that. We should all be happy with each other okay. No segregation is allowed. We are all one big happy family, no matter our status, no matter our age, no matter our height. Let's treat each other equally. We should be ready to do next to anything for each other. No exceptions." Aunt Florisha said with a smile. She stared at the faces of the kids and giggled. She squeezed the cheeks of the kids who spoke earlier. "Tell you what, why don't two of you scoundrels go get him. Then I will make your favourites and make sure I add extraasss..."
"Really?" Their eyes gleamed with excitement. They nearly drooled in expectation.
The other kids grew impatient. So, I decided to send James and Eliot to go get him if he might have wandered off.
"I wonder why the old man likes him so much. He is just a liability if you ask me." James said kicking a stone in annoyance.
"I know. But he is still our friend and like Aunt Florisha said, we are going to help him each step of the way." Eliot said shrugging his shoulders.
"True. Our best friend in fact. He is just a bit too slow at times. We can help we that. Now lets hurry up so we can eat. Aunt Florisha's cooking is always so good." James licked his lips picking up the pace.
"You said it. He must be on the farm. You know he has a strange obsession with watching beetles." Eliot said also picking up the pace.
"Okay, the last one there is a rotten egg." James said sprinting off quickly.
"Hey, no fair." Eliot followed right behind him trying his best to catch up and overtake James.
Who knew sending them to get him will be the second grave mistake I made.
The two arrived at the farm a little out of breath.
"I see you've grown a bit faster, Eliot." James managed to get out while panting.
"You are still hot on your heels as ever." Eliot responded also out of breath.
"Now where did Arnold run off to this time." the boys began looking around for any trace of Arnold.
"Come look at this." Eliot called to James. He pointed out a part of the grass that seemed wet, like water had fallen on it previously. "So he must be here somewhere..." They continued their search calling out his name from time to time.
They searched every nook and cranny of the farm but to know avail. Until...
'h-help~'
They heard a little whisper coming from an area of the farm. It was subtle and quiet. It gave the allusion of a mice squeaking.
'h-help~'
They heard it again coming from that same area.
"Did you hear that? It seems like someone is calling for help." Eliot said with a worried look.
"Nah. It must be Arnold trying to play another prank on us." James said pffting and walking to the area where the sound came from.
"I don't knowww.... It doesn't seem that way to me." Eliot said with a shake of his head following slowly behind him
"Come on. Let's keep going and you'll see. I want to see the look on your face when we find him safe and soun—"
WHOOOA!!
OOF!!!
James, being distracted, slipped over something and landed on his behind.
"Ouch! That hurt!" James rubbed his behind. He turned to look at Eliot who was staring at something behind him.
I wish I didn't ask them to go.
Fear gripped his eyes, his breath hastening and his heart beating much quicker. His eyes stared motionlessly not blinking.
I just wish I didn't.
James took his hand from his behind slowly, bringing it to view of his eyes.
"B-b-b-b-b- BLOOD!" he was frightening quickly shuffling away from where he was sitting and stood up quickly.
His eyes met what Eliot had been seeing. It was Arnold, but... not in one piece. The scene was too gruesome to describe. You can only picture it in anyway possible in your mind.
I just wished I f*cking didn't.
His body was mutilated, blood bleeding from every orifices and different areas of his body. It was as if he was attacked by a beast, a very hungry one. But his injuries were just enough to keep him hanging on the thread of life.
Sniff~ The boys saw Arnold in an awful gut-wrenching state. He was barely clinging to life. I wonder how much was the pain he was feeling. I pray it wasn't too much... I just pray... (Tears flow down her eyes in sadness. She wailed again and again)
"K...kill... me" Arnold said silently bloody tears dripping down his face.
The boys... the boys...
Seeing the pain there friend was in, the boys picked up a large stone, their hands trembling as they did so.
BANG!!
The boys... committed...
EUTHANASIA.
[1] Arnold is the name of the young boy that went to take a leak in the last chapter.