A day full of troubles had elapsed, and maybe that day was the worst day of my life because I got a wound from those bad boys, and my parents also fought because of me, although I didn't do anything wrong.
How could I stop other people's discrimination? Those who would rejoice when they saw others suffering from the pain they had caused. What was it in me that they were doing that? Perhaps it was because I was poor and they were wealthy; it might have been because I was nice and kind; or perhaps it was because I didn't fight back.I was sometimes discouraged from going to school because of those bullies, but I also thought that I could not be successful if I did not continue my studies. How could I help those people who were oppressed by wealthy and wicked ones if I could not be successful? I would rather hurt than feel nothing at all.My mother might be already in the kitchen. She woke up early every day to prepare our breakfast while my father was still lying in bed. I sprang out of my bed, rolled my sleeping mat, donned my white slippers, and walked towards the kitchen. I wasn't mistaken: my mother was preparing the vegetables to be cooked.She was in her old coat and fitted jeans. They seemed to fit, but I knew that she couldn't fit into her jeans anymore because she had worn them for many years. And if her size had not changed, then she wasn't human.I hoped that my mother would not go hard with the thing she did. Though I knew she had other loose clothes to wear, maybe she chose a very fitted rather than a very loose one. I walked near and hugged her from the back, to make her feel how much I loved her and to give her hope. Her untied hairs seemed to creep and tickle my face.I remembered when I was young and my mother was playing with me. Those games never disappeared from my mind until now. It was confusing to me if she was hiding something, because every time I played with her, her hair was creeping, and it made me laugh as it tickled me.At that time, I was playing with my mother's hair because I didn't have anyone to play with. When I grew old, it crossed my mind if it was possible that a woman like her could control her hair if she wanted it to do so.I wasn't an inquisitive boy. Though I had many questions about my family, I kept them in my mind, and after many days passed by, I could easily forget them, especially if there was an opportunity to ask.She removed my arm from around her and greeted me, "Good morning, son. Do you want to eat something?" She asked while groping the chopping board on the wooden lapboard above her head."Good morning, ma. I would eat anything you have prepared. I'm going to the bathroom to bathe myself first," I replied."Okay." She chopped the vegetables on the wooden chopping board.After a few moments, I went outside our house and started walking down the quiet street. My neighbors were cleaning their yards, trimming the tall weeds, and watering the plants.The street was shaded by tall structures, blocking the morning sunlight. There was a limited amount of transportation in our area: no vehicles, but carriages were going back and forth. Though we were not influenced by the modern world, everyone there didn't feel any difficulty in life, perhaps except for me and my parents.As usual, the bad bully boys were there again. I wasn't lucky that day, for they were many and large. Laterally, two of them got as close as I expected, then they began pushing me against the hard wall. I tried to punch one of them, but he was so big that he could not feel any pain.He was going to punch me back when I saw an old man going towards us. He was in old and porous clothes with some stains on them. I looked at him, as if he were mesmerizing me. But I came back to consciousness when the boy slapped my face."What are you looking at there, huh?" He furrowed his forehead. "Are you waiting for someone who can help you?"As I took a glimpse back to where the old man was, I saw him raising his hand, and then, in two shakes of a lamb's tail, the bad boys disappeared from the place. I tried looking for them. They were just around me, but then I didn't know what to feel. They were completely gone."Who are you?" I queried, stepping backward. "Please don't hurt me!""Don't worry, I will not," he replied. "I'm here for an important reason.""What is it?" I halted and grasped the straps of my backpack."Do you want to be a hero? Do you want to help those innocent people from the bad ones who are oppressing them?" He inquired.Hero? Can I protect others from the bad guys? "Are you joking?""Do I look like I'm joking?" He stared at me, and I saw the seriousness in his eyes. He opened his palm and ordered, "Look at this. This is the power that I'm going to give you."A bluish cloud appeared and floated above his hand, and it mesmerized me again. I came back to consciousness when he closed his hand. I realized he wasn't joking, that he had power, which could make my dream come true, which was to be a superhero!"Okay, I will accept your offer. I want to have that power. To become a superhero so that the bad guys won't bully me again," I replied.A devilish smile appeared on his face. His eyeballs were round and white, but he lacked two horns to become a real devil. "I will only give this to you if you agree with my condition," he added."I agree with everything. Just give me that power!" I exclaimed.The old man opened his palm, and the bluish air floated towards me. It entered my ears and nose. I felt pain and it made me look down and grasp my head. There seemed to be something creeping down my veins.After a few seconds, I felt no pain anymore. Instead, I felt like I was full of vitality. As I looked up, the old man had already disappeared from the spot where he was standing, and I didn't know where he went.KailaFrom the window of my bedroom, I could see that dusk had quickly arrived. While the darkness began to show, the moon and stars started to shine. It was already night, but I could recognize everything inside my room, for it was awash in the silver moonlight which would only disappear if I closed the windows.I could see the solid dark shadows that indicates the carriage house and the stables. The moon, like a thin wafer of pale lemon, hung impaled upon the slender shaft of a solitary pine standing on the grassy hill, but now covered with snow. Everything below seemed luminous, glowing dreamlike in the cold moonlight.The hither and thither movements of the cold air chilled me, so I closed the windows and lowered the pink drapes. I turned on the lights, took my pink backpack and notes to the desk, and answered my assignments.Though I had a wealthy family, I would never reckon with the servants and tutors. I wasn't an ambitious girl; I just wanted to live a simple life like anyone
I never found a way to fill all the silence. In the weeks that followed the greatest tragedy of my life, I jumped from my bed every morning, donned my pink sneakers, a black leather coat with a hood and went out of my dark room. Every morning, I would do a step-by-step move on the winding stairs and look at the paintings hanging on the wall.Whatever I would do, I could not forget my parents. Everything seemed gone from me: my happiness, my courage, and my weaknesses had scattered. The kind of life I had was meaningless; it did not had any destination; it was just flying with the cold breeze.Sitting on the concrete stairs in the front of the mansion, wist deep in thought because if I'd think of my parents, I didn't feel so alone. Looking at the groves and copses of trees came whip-crack sounds as the slight breeze moved their icy branches.The sunsets had changed. They were not as beautiful as they looked before. I had memories of my parents being everywhere around the mansion. I did
Lil"Help! Help!" I shouted.I sprang out of my bed and realized that everything was just a bad dream. My room's door screamed decrepitude, and I saw my mother walking towards me in her old pajamas.The wooden bed was cracking when she sat down on it."Why were you shouting? Is there something wrong?" She queried."Nothing, I just had a bad dream and it seemed real," I replied."Dream? It's the first time that you've had a dream."Perhaps I shouted because I had never experienced having any dreams before. I always slept well every night, and I sometimes took a nap in the afternoon. Was there something wrong with why I had a bad dream?I remembered the old man who gave me a bluish cloud. He was the only weird thing that happened. He told me it was a power, but it seemed to have no effect. He might be fooling me too, and that didn't have any connection with my dream.He could be insane and was only trying to turn me into a monkey. Did I look so weak that many people were underestimating
In my brain I screamed, "Yohoo—I can live forever!"I slightly shifted my hands on my chest back and forth several times. It was incredible! I could not believe that I had that kind of power. I didn't need to be afraid anymore. Even if someone tried to cut me into pieces, I would only laugh at them.Many impossible things have happened to me since I met that old, weird man. He was undoubtedly powerful, for he made my dream come true. I became a superhuman! But something crossed my mind: about the condition he wanted to tell me.I didn't know if I had that condition in order to become a superhero. I admitted it was my mistake. I didn't listen to what he wanted to say. However, I didn't worry too much, because there was nothing that could be hidden forever. I was pretty sure I would discover that thing soon.Though I already had the power, it never entered my mind to stop schooling. I wanted to see my classmates who were studying their notes, writing something on their papers, answering
KailaI was holding my chin on the windowpane, looking at the sky filled with low-flying snow clouds, though there was a break through which the sun shone. Some trick of prismlike crystal, some sun-and-moisture phenomenon, gave the falling snowflakes color, and as they materialized in the sunlight, twinkling downward, they seemed to vanish.I might have had a very long dream about the old woman who offered me a pinkish cloud. I didn't know what to believe. Perhaps everything was only a dream, because when I woke up, I was lying on my bed. Perhaps everything was only a dream and I fell asleep when I was having a conversation with my personal maid.I was feeling bored of sitting on the chair by the window. Just a while ago, when I woke up, I decided to open them so that the darkness would disappear. I realized that everything around me was not doing anything wrong to me, and it would be better if my bedroom wasn't dark, because darkness seemed to swallow me.Picture-perfect memories wer
Many days passed by, but I hadn't gotten any information about those merciless gangsters who killed my parents. I had already sent some men to find them. The police, too, didn't have any update regarding this. I should create posters telling people that they could receive a big reward if they could tell me anything about my parents' death.It was already night. I was alone in my room.I lie alone on my bed, listening to music and thinking of my parents until it hurts. But what else could I do? Tormented and torn apart.If my parents were not dead, I wouldn't be lying on that bed anymore. Perhaps I was playing outside the mansion, traveling to other places, sightseeing, and learning about how immense the world was. But everything that happened was the opposite of what I wanted.The light inside my room suddenly disappeared. I could see nothing but darkness. I could feel the cool air from the window's crack. The hairs on my arms and legs stood up as the diaphanous curtains danced with th
LilIt was a sunny day. I occasionally visit our farm or the market to help my parents with their work. I wasn't a hard-working boy; I was only doing the things I could and wanted to do. Why should I do something I couldn't? Especially if there was no good reason for doing it?The life of a sixteen-year-old boy like me was so monotonous. From Monday to Friday, I walked back and forth between home and school. Sometimes, I frown and shrug while sitting on the bench, looking at the blue sky, wondering when I could ride my silver plane and go anywhere around the planet.Change was inevitable. Everything might change. My dreams, my appearance and identity, my learning, preferences, my beliefs, and many other things had changed. If in the past, I let someone bully me, then I would never let them do that again. I didn't believe in magic, but without doubt, it existed. Teacher Jayne was right: "You would only believe in something if you had experienced it."I took the road to the farm where m
Death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, death, deathI was lying down on my wooden bed with my hands on my nape. I hadn't slept well thinking about the crime I'd committed. I remembered the way my hands punched the two women.Those happenings were so fast, and as always, the regret was in the last part. It was all my mistake that I was so weak and there was nothing I could do to stop my hands from doing that crime. Perhaps that thing was part of the power the weird old man meant. If I wasn't mistaken, that power wasn't called power anymore, but a curse.What did I do wrong that the old man gave me that kind of power? It was just stupendous at first, but I could not squeamishly see that I