"Coo... Coo... Coo... Coo..."
The next evening, on a starry night, as they prepare to go to bed, the young mother is silently brushing her wet hair, in front of a mirror, after a nice warm bath with her daughter.
Meanwhile, the young daughter 'adjacent to her mom' is sitting beside the window, all set and dry, staring at the moon.
All of a sudden...
"Mom!... Mom!... Mom!..." The young daughter cries out! While panicking, as if she had seen a ghost.
"Swoosh!... Clack!... Swish!... Wha.what is it dear?!..." Being jolted by her daughter's sudden unnatural behavior, the young mother instantly throws her comb in shock and swiftly turns around, as she responds with a worried look.
"Look!... Look!..." The young girl loudly shouts and looks towards her mom, as she replies, while pointing her finger on something at the window.
"Thud!... Thud!... Oh come on child! Don't give me a heart attack, will you? Come on, what is it? Did you see something scary? Where? Where's the scary thing? Don't worry, your mom's plenty strong! Whatever it is, I'll smash it to pieces!..." The young mother hurriedly walks towards her daughter and quickly looks outside the window, as she maintains her composure and assuredly says so.
"Swish!... Swish!..." While swinging her right arm, as if she's ready to pound someone or something, at anytime soon.
"No! Not outside mom! look closely!... Squish!... Swoosh!..." The young daughter desperately says, while grabbing her mom's face with both hands, pointing it at the direction she wants her to see...
On the edge of the moonlit window pane, lies, a huge caterpillar, being relentlessly attacked by fiery red ants...
"Oh! The poor thing! It must have wanted to go towards the vines to make a cocoon..." Upon seeing, the young mother responds surprisedly, as she says with a sad look, eventually.
"Mom! Help it please! It's still moving!..." Feeling sad, the young daughter tearfully begs her mom to help, as she tightly grabs her mom's night gown, while pointing at the poor caterpillar.
"Oh, dear child, there's is nothing I could do, even if I try to help, it will eventually succumb to its wounds, such is the law of nature, I am sorry my child, but, it is already too late..." The young mother sympathetically says, as she responds with a flustered look.
"Hic... But, why, why must it die mom?... Hic!... Hic!... Did the caterpillar deserve this? Ants are bad mommy! They are bad!..." The young girl frowns her face, making a really sad look, as she tearfully asks why and makes a grumpy look afterwards, while ranting towards the Ants.
"No child, it does not, but, it is nature's law, we cannot do anything about it, Ants are also innocent, they need to hunt and eat and feed their young too, this giant caterpillar is enough, for them to survive..." The young mother replies and says with a calm face, as she looks her in the eye, while brushing her hair and wiping her tears with her hands.
She is trying to calm her poor daughter down, as she tries to explain to make her feel a little bit better.
But...
"Mom! Look! Look!..." So suddenly, the young daughter loudly calls out to her mom, while waving her tiny hands.
She's pointing at the caterpillar doing something amazing...
"Whoa! What a resilient fellow..." The young mother responds with a surprised look, as she replies with her eyes and mouth wide open.
The young mother and the young daughter are both looking amazed and surprised at what is happening in front of them.
Why? Because, the huge Caterpillar has an amazing defense mechanism to protect itself, where, whenever it feels threatened from any danger, it automatically secretes a thick and slimy mucus, all over its body, rendering any attacks 'from ants or any other insects' useless.
"Yey! Go! Go! Hehe... Thud!... Thud!..." The young daughter loudly cheers, while raising her hands in the air, as she jumps up and down, in excitement,
"Hahaha...! What a surprise! I did not expect that, btw, this is the first time i've seen such a caterpillar, a new species?..." The young mother laughs in her disbelief and says, while wondering what it might be.
"Yey! Mom! It's free! It's free! The bad ants gave up! They gave up! Hehe..." The young daughter says with a happy face, as she is filled with joy, while looking at the caterpillar.
The caterpillar 'now free from it's attackers' slowly goes up to a vine near the window and rests itself on its leaf...
Their house is actually already covered in vine roots, it sprang back to life over time, after the snow melted away.
"I'm gonna call him Chubby! Hehe... Hehe..." the young daughter suddenly and cheerfully says, while looking happily at her new pet.
"Pfft!... Hahaha!... Come on now dear, stop staring and let 'Chubby' rest, lets go to bed..." The young mother snorts and laughs in amusement after hearing what her daughter said and then says, while putting her hand on her head.
"Hmph!... Bleh!..." The young girl pouts her face and sticks her tongue out in reply, as she stubbornly refuse.
"Oh? Are you asking for it?... Tickle!... Tickle!... Tickle!..." Feeling a little bit annoyed and amused, the young mother warns and says and then proceeds to tickle her young daughter.
"Hahaha... Hehehe... Hohoho..." The young daughter giggles and laughs uncontrollably, while being tickled, unstoppably.
Sometime later, after all that drama and playing, the both of them are lying comfortably on the bed.
"Mom! It's story time!... Fwip!... Hehe..." The young daughter excitedly says, as she takes out the book they were reading and chuckles.
"Mmm... Mmm... Are you ready?" The young mother clears her throat and asks.
Seeing her daughter all set, she starts to read the story book...
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"Swoosh!..." Back to Ethan's story...
As the father and son walks back home...
Ethan's father 'John' runs as fast as he could, after seeing the smoke 'from a fair distance' coming from their village, as they get closer.
While Ethan is riding along on his shoulders, scared and panicked.
"Ethan... Swoosh!... Swish!... Fwip!... Kiddo, stay here and don't you dare move, I'll be back for you, okay?..." Halfway through, John 'for the meantime' drops Ethan off, along with the fish he caught earlier, as he says with a worried look.
He hides him inside a hunter's cave he usually use for hunting, located at the foot of a mountain, behind a waterfall.
"Pa wait! Don't leave me!..." while scared, Ethan grabs his father's hand, as he was about to leave.
"Ethan, do you trust me? I'm gonna come back for you okay? I promise..." John assuredly says to Ethan, while holding his son's shoulders.
"Nods... O.okay..." Scared Ethan nods his head, as he replies, while expecting his dad to come back for him.
"Good boy! Now wait for papa, I'm gonna go save mama and come back as soon as possible... Thud!... Thud!... Thud!..." John smiles, as he says and pats Ethan's head to make him feel relaxed and hurriedly runs towards the village.
Meanwhile, inside the village, an unforeseeable enemy 'numbering over a hundred men' suddenly attacked and eventually surrounding them with no way of escaping.
They scorch and capture everything they see, with their swords and shields, with their spears and metal armors, with a flag that bears a recognizable crest mark 'from a 'renowned family' on their backs, while riding on their horses, a cavalry, relentlessly subduing the powerless.
"Hic... Hic... Ahhh!... Please!... Stop!... Spare my child!... Have mercy!..." Being oppressed, the people are crying, as they beg for mercy.
"Burn all their homes to the ground, leave none standing, gather all abled men and women here in the courtyard, dispose of the old ones along with the fire, tie the children and put them inside the cages, make sure no one escapes..." A stern looking man in shinning armor says with an intimidating voice, as he gives his orders to his second in command.
"As you command! commander! Sir!... Hiyah!... Uwihihihi!..." The second in command snappily responds, at the same time, he kicks his horse, while on it.
"Swoosh!... Thud... Thud... Thud... Swish!..." As the commander turns around and walks, with his huge strides, his red cape sways in mid air in the fiery background, while removing his helmet slowly, at the same time, revealing a hideous scarred face.
A spine-chilling sight.
Suddenly...
"Slap!... Ugh!... Now, tell me lady, is there any of your kind left hiding somewhere around? It's pretty unlikely to see an Edenian like you this far off the grid..." He slaps someone across the face, as he seriously says with his deep and crooked voice, while grabbing that someone's hair up with his right hand... "Swoosh!..."
It was Anna he was talking to, with her hands and feet both tied seperately, while being tightly tied to a post and slightly injured.
"Ptoey!... In your dreams! You won't find any of my kind here, I'm the only one! Even if there were, do you think I would tell you? Haha!..." Fiesty, Anna spits on his face, despite of the man's ominous aura, while trying to hide the truth from him, as she desperately says.
"John, Ethan, please be safe, please, please be safe!..." Anna is thinking of her family's safety, with a worried look.
" Swish!... Hmmm... Fiesty aren't we? Seeing your face just now, doesn't quite sell out for me, you have to convince a veteran like me thoroughly, if you're going to sell out a lie looking all worried like that, you need to put up a lilttle bit better on your acting skills, or do you want me to teach you?... Shink!..." Intimidating, the commander 'face to face with Anna' grins and wipes the spit off his face with his hand and licks it off afterwards, as he just calmly responds, while pointing a knife to her throat.
"Just kill me already!..." Anna shouts, as she replies with a desperate look.
"This man, he gives me the creeps, it is as if he's done this sort of thing many times before, No! I can't let him find out about John and Ethan! I'm sorry dear I guess this is it for me..." Anna is thinking to herself, as she looks at the man in question, feeling disgusted.
Instead of getting scared, Anna is determined to keep her 'family' a secret, even if it meant her dying or getting violated.
"Oh don't give me that kind of look, it's not a look I want to see on someone who is about to spill on everything, come on, I may look like this, but, I'm a professional, in breaking you apart that is... Hehe..." The commander proudly says, as he smirks ear to ear.
Suddenly...
"Thud!... Thud!... Thud!... Ha... Ha... Reporting! Commander! There's someone fighting against our troops! Near the entrance! A tall man with white hair! He's pretty big and pretty strong! We can't handle him on our own! But, for a while, we managed to subdue him with numbers!... Ha... Ha..." All of a sudden, a worn-out soldier is hurriedly running towards them, to where the commander and Anna is and reportedly says while panting.
"Oh? Really now? Well this is a pretty interesting turn of events, who might this man with white hair be? Hehe..." The commander says with a villainous look, as he stares back at Anna with a smirk.
"Oh no! It's John! Why?! Why would you risk Ethan's safety going back here! You old buffoon!..." Shocked, Anna talks to herself with a worried face.
"Now that's the face I wanna see! Hahaha! Soldier take me to where this man is! And you! Woman! You come with me!... Swish!..." The commander mockingly says and gives his orders, while cutting Anna's binds off from the post and grabbing her by the hair, dragging her along, consequently. "Swish!..."
"Ah! Let go! Get your filthy hands off me!..." Anna painfully responds, as she struggles to let go with a scornful look,
With her limbs tied, there is nothing much she can do.
Meanwhile, at the village entrance, John is on his knees, exhausted, battered and bruised, unable to move, being pinned down by a dozen soldiers with their spears.
But, before he was taken down, with his barehands, John was able to take down two dozens on his own.
"Ho! Look! What do we have here! We have a pair of white heads!..." The commander says, while dragging Anna by the hair, with his right hand and forcefully points her head towards the man kneeling on the ground.
"Ah! Ugh!..." Anna shouts in pain, as she descreetly looks at John, as if she's telling him something with her fiery red eyes.
Her eyes are filled with worry, wondering if their child 'Ethan' is safe or not.
"Ah! Anna! Let go of her you scoundrel!..." Upon seeing his wife writhing in pain, John struggles to free from his bondage but was unable to, while shouting and staring angrily at the man holding his wife, eventually, he stares back at Anna with an assured look.
His eyes are telling her not to worry about that their child's safety.
"Ha! I assume this is your husband? Well I'll be, then you must have some offsprings hiding nearby..." The commander says with an evil look in his eyes, as he stares at Anna, still grabbing her hair tightly.
Anna, unabale to answer, she just stared back, out of her spite.
"I'll take that as a yes, men! Scour every nook and cranny! Inside and out! Look for a boy or a girl with white hair and red eyes! And bring him to me!..." The commander says with an evil look, at the same time, releasing her by throwing her hard on the ground, while shouting furiously, as he gives his commands.
"As you command! Sir!..." Soldiers quickly responds at the order given to them.
"If by noon no body shows up, we're gonna start killing somebody, one by one, until you guys fess up..." the commander seriously says, as he adds a warning as a condition.
"Ha! You guys can search all you want, but no one's gonna show up! If there is, he or she is already gone, far away from here!..." John says with a serious look, as he tries to bluff.
"Swoosh!... AAAAAARGH!!!...!
"John! No! John!..."
John suddenly shouts, as he writhes in pain, while being stabbed by the commander.
At the same time, Anna, looking worriedly sick, is desperately calling out to him.
"You know, earlier, your wife said the exact same thing to me and I am already full of it, my patience is growing thin, I'm warning you, don't try your best to test me! By the way, I've never seen a full grown man screaming like a woman, while being stabbed at the feet..." The commander sternly says, as he warns, while making fun of his situation afterwards and sheathing his sword subsequently. "Swish!..."
"Hahahaha!..." Soldiers laugh out loud, as they amuse themselves, with John's miserable state.
"Swish!... You savages!... You'll pay for this! You'll pay!..." In her binds, while lying on the ground, Anna angrily shouts, with her fiery red eyes, as crawls towards John.
"Swish!... Tie him in chains and put him in his cage, along with this woman, you see? I'm not as heartless as you think I am... Swoosh!... At the very least, I try my best to take care of my products, before I sell them off that is... Hahaha!..." He grabs Anna by the arm and throws her at John, as he says, while ordering his men and hysterically laughs afterwards.
Eventually, both Anna and John are sitting quitely inside their own cage, helpless in their binds, but, somewhat hopeful.
"Swoosh!... Swish!... Anna 'without wasting any time' attentively tends to his wounds, while tearing some parts of her dress to patch him up.
As of this very moment, afraid of the fact that the commander might take advantage of their situation, Anna and John didn't say a single word to each other, they kept silent, for they know the commander is watching with his watchful eye upon their every action and listening with his keen hearing to every word they might utter.
Sometime later, the soldiers came back exhausted from their manhunt, with no white haired or red eyed boy or girl along with them, as they came empty handed.
"Thud!... Thud!... Reporting! Sir! We have searched every house, turned every rubble, stone, rivers, bushes, caves, but, we have found no stragglers matching your description..." The second in command walks towards the commander and gives his vivid report.
"Swish!..." The commander suddenly turns and stares towards John and Anna, with contempt.
"Tsk!..." Upon seeing their apathetic look, in his frustration, he clicks his tongue, as he convinces himself that it's a waste of time and resource to continue and pursue such endeavor any further, he eventually decides to move out, for a lot of time has already been consumed and he doesn't want to waste anymore of his precious commodities by dying on some uncertain impulse.
Ultimately...
"Thud!... Thud!... Thud!... Men! Move out!..." The commander walks towards and mounts on his horse and loudly shouts, as he gives his order.
Then, they suddenly rallied in formation and moved out accordingly, bringing a bunch of prisoners along with them and among them are John and Anna.
At some point, while sitting together uncomfortably, Anna grabs the small chance of opportunity to talk, given their situation, as soldiers carefully watches over them from time to time.
"John! John! Is... Is Ethan safe? Is our child safe? John, please John answer me!... Hic..." Anna anxiously says, as she whispers, with a worried look, while being aware of her surrounding.
"Anna, don't worry about Ethan, he is somewhere safe, I know he is, and besides, he is a smart kid and also he is pretty strong, I know he can take care of himself..." John says with a calm look, as a facade, just to relax Anna down, at the same time, hiding his own worries and emotions.
"I. I know right? He is... He is a smart kid... Hic... He's... He is also a strong kid... He... He will be fine... He can take care of himself... Hic... Hic... I wanna see him one last time John, I badly wanna see him one last time... Hic... Hic..." Anna sorrowfully cries on John's chest, while wishing, as she prays desperately.
"Anna, Honey, be strong, in order for us to see Ethan again, we need to be strong, I know, Anna, in my heart, we are going to see him again..." Upon seeing Anna in her pitiful state, John looks at her in the eye and calmly says, as he assures her, with his gentle voice.
"He.Hey John, where do you think they are taking us?" Anna eventually calms down and says, as she silently asks.
"Most probably on the mines on the North..." John says, as he replies with a stern look.
"N.No!!! Don't tell me Mazzahari desert!..." Anna strongly says, as she responds in her shock.
"Bang!... Bang!... Bang!... Hey! No talking!..." A soldier loudly shouts, as he repeatedly bangs their cage, with a spear.
"Swish!... Swoosh!..." Startled, Anna wipes her tears in hurry and eventually goes back to her sitting position.
In the end, they quietly shut themselves along the journey, at this point, they are thinking it is better not to irritate them and just cooperate, creating a chance to prolong their survival, silent but determined to live.
Meanwhile, as time passes by and evening hastily came, all alone, still waiting inside the hunter's cave, the helpless and scared young Ethan has no knowledge of what has already transpired.
"Growwwl!... Dad I'm hungry, please come back soon..." Ethan says, as he touches his growling tummy, while lying sideways on the rock bed.
After some time, while enduring his hunger, Ethan eventually falls into a deep sleep with an empty stomach, while waking up 'inside' his dreams, as if all this was all just a nightmare.
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"Baam!..." The Book suddenly closed, as the young mother slams it shut, with both hands.
"Hic... Hic... Hic... Sniff... Sniff..."
"Awe... Why are you crying?..." The young daughter looks at her mom and pats her on the head, with her cute little hand, as she says, while asking with a sad look.
Hic... Hic... Swish!... The young mother continues to cry and suddenly hugs her daughter tightly, with both arms.
Hic... Hic... Awe... mommy you gonna mwake mwe cwy two! Uwaah!...
Eventually, they both cried and cried and cried, till they both fell asleep, while in tears...
Time goes by, until finally the sun breaks on the horizon...
"Cockadoodledoo!..." On this beautiful sunrise, Mr. Rooster wakes everyone early in the morning.
Then suddenly... Out of nowhere...
"Mom! Mom! Mom! Wake up! Wake up!..." The young daughter eagerly and hurriedly wakes her mother up, as she repeatedly tugs her with both hands.
"HrrmmmMm... He.Hey kid it's too early in the morning, go back to sleep... Hmmm... ZzZz..." The young mother whimpers with her puffy face, as she says, while feeling a little bit tired and sleepy, she dozes back to sleep.
This time, it's the daughter who's trying to wake her mother up, oh, how the tables have turned, like mother like daughter, indeed.
"Mom! Mom! Wake up! Wake up! Come and see! Come and see!..." Undaunted, the young daughter persistently wakes her mother up, as she repeatedly and loudly shouts in her ear.
"Ahhhh! Okay! Okay! I'm awake! I'm awake!..." Irritated, the young mother suddenly gets up, as she loudly shouts, while looking haggardy tired.
"Hehe..." Amused, the young daughter chuckles, as if she is just playing with her mom.
Ugh! You little dev! Ugh! If you aren't only cute! Ugh!... Woshaaa!... Now tell me what is the matter you desperately and loudly wish for me to see? Young lady?..." Aggravated, the young mother is suddenly filled with an irresistible urge to pinch and squeeze, upon seeing her daughter's sly behavior, but, eventually she manages to maintain her calmness, as she breathes in deep and consequently says, while asking with a bright smile.
"Swish!... Thud!... Thud!... Thud!..." Right away, the young daughter drags her towards the open window and points at something upon a leaf.
Immediately...
"Mom! What happened to Chubby?!..." The young daughter says, as she asks with a confused face, while pointing.
"Awe, honey, chubby is sleeping in his dreams, someday when it wakes up it will turn into a beautiful butterfly..." Shortly after, the young mother says with a bright smile on her face, as she stares at Chubby, while blushing.
"Really?..." All smiles, the young daughter says, as she asks in anticipation, while looking at her mom with googly eyes.
"Yes, honey, really..." With all smiles, the young mother replies back, as she assuredly says so.
"Really, really?..." Filled with excitement, the young daughter asks again, to sate her curiosity.
"Yes, really, really, really! Now go wash your face..." The young mother replies back, endulging her once more, as she assuredly says, while giving an order.
"Just like him?..."
"Yes, just like him..."
"Hehe..."
"Now go wash your face!..."
"Bleh!!! I dun wanna!..."
"Oh? You're asking for it?
"Tickle... Tickle... Tickle...
"Haha!... Hehe!... Hoho!...
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(To Be Continued...)
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(The Daughter's Cheer!)
Run! Dear Chubby! You Run!
Make Haste! Onward! You Go!
You Can! Chubby! You Can!
Merely! A Foot! To Go!
Fight Them! Chubby! Fight Them!
Don't Let! Them Ants! Get You!
Push Them! Chubby! Push Them!
Don't Let! Them Bugs! Bite You!
Homebound! Chubby! Homebound!
Into! The Vines! You Go!
Be Proud! Chubby! Be Poud!
Up! Up! The Leaves! You Go!
Farewell! Chubby! Farewell!
A New, Best Friend, To Gain
Be Well, Chubby, Be Well!
Until, We Meet, Again...
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