"What happened to you?!" My mom yelled.
"Nothing mom, I just need you to help me get this out."
"No, you are going to tell me what the hell happened!"
Her distress caused people to come out and watch. "Alright mom, I'll tell you," I said. "Just let me in, alright?"
She opened the door wide and let me in. I sat down on the couch, but immediately, she told me to get off the couch before I stain it with my blood. She directed me to the dining table and sat me down.
"This is gonna hurt, be ready." She said as she grabbed the handle. She then quickly pulled the knife out, and the wound started gushing blood. "Take the shirt off." She said, giving me a cloth as I took it off.
"Hold that on the wound." She said, which I complied. "Now push as hard as you can." Which I also did, but this hurt just as much as when I got stabbed, but I kept pushing.
My mom went to her pantry and got some oil. "Show me it." She said. I lifted the cloth to reveal the wound. "Lean back a little bit." She opened the bottle of oil, and poured a bit into it. "Now put pressure on it." She said giving me another cloth, and taking the other one she gave me.
The wound hurt like hell, even more when I put the cloth on it. "Maledizione... Com'è successo?" She asked.
"I was attacked in the slums." I lied in response.
"Really? Again?"
"Yeah."
"You gatta stop messin' with them Wolves." She scolded me. I looked down in guilt, knowing that if I told her the truth, she'd be horrified. I can't have her get involved.
"Ugh, non ti avevo detto di stare fuori dai bassifondi l'anno scorso?" She asked.
"Yes you did." I responded, not daring to even take a glance at her.
She went to another room to grab something. I leaned in my chair, trying to alleviate some of the pain, but each slight movement would cause indescribable pain. Luckily though, the knife looks to have missed any of my major organs, so I wasn't going to die.
"That potion must've worked!" The Phoenix, who was now on the table, said. "You got real lucky there."
"What are you doing in here?!" I hissed at it.
"That was one hell of a fight." It said, ignoring my question. "Is it a good time to say I told ya so?"
"Shut up!" I whispered. "My mom will hear you."
"You got bigger things to be worried about my friend." The Phoenix said before turning to ash.
I quickly swept the ashes off the table as my mom came back with bandages. She wrapped it around me a couple times and tied it, keeping the cloth on my wound.
"Change the bandages and cloth every 2 days. Repeat that for a month, and it should be healed by then." She told me. "Just in case though," she continued. "take this oil, and apply it if you feel it's needed."
"Thanks mom." I said.
It was barely 4 in the afternoon, and the sun had yet to set. Today went by in a blink of an eye. It went by so fast in fact I tried to retrace my steps in my mind. Woke up, left the house, passed by the 4 villages, bought a potion, got to my brothers house, got stabbed, and escaped. By all accounts, a lot happened today, but it went by so quickly.
I looked up and closed my eyes. I was tired. I didn't know what to do now. What could I do. I don't want to purposely go to the city and actively try to kill my brother. That would be a liability and a hassle, and I don't want that. Will I have to live with the fact he wants to kill me? Probably. What if he attacks me in public, or even at my home. I can't have that happen.
"What are you going to do about it?"
The voice. I heard it. I hadn't heard it since it told me I was going to die. It repeated its question. "What are you going to do about it?"
I didn't particularly have a plan, but I need one. But I'd rather think about this later. Concocting a plan to possibly kill or at least ruin my brother's life is hard to think about.
I got up and told my mom I needed to go, and I left. I got on my carriage and started to leave. As I left the village, the Phoenix appeared again.
"Hey!" It exclaimed.
"What do you want?" I asked.
The Phoenix frowned. "I don't want anything."
"Sure you do, if you didn't you wouldn't have appeared."
"And how do you know that?"
"You didn't have to tell me my brother was going to tell me."
"I was sent to tell you."
"Bullshit. I think you told me because you wanted to watch all of this go down. Remember when you encouraged me to go see my brother because you wanted to see a 'show'."
"Ok we'll I don't want anything right now alright? Jeez." The bird said exasperatedly. "Y'know winter is supposed to be real cold right?"
"Mhmm."
"Well I just wanted to let you know that I might not be able to appear as often."
"Good." I said, laughing, but that laugh quickly turned into a pained cough.
"Good?" The Phoenix repeated. It sounded almost offended. "If it weren't for me, you would be dead! You could show a little bit of appreciation."
"I guess." I said in a raspy voice, recovering from the painful cough.
"Oh yeah, that also means I'll be showing up in your house a lot more!" The Phoenix said quickly, and instantaneously turned to ash before I could argue.
As I rode home, I noticed road was bumpy. I mean it's always bumpy, but this time it stood out. Being stabbed gives you a sort of clarity, maybe an appreciation for life, and everything around you. I started to notice the little things. Birds in trees, the white clouds, and just the beauty of life. If I had died today, I'd leave behind all of this. Everything on this world never to be seen again. But this also brings me back to the same question. What happens after death? I came so close to finding out. I guess that's why I'm so grateful.
I'm glad I didn't die.