"But we cannot simply sit and stare at our own wounds forever."
- Haruki Murakami
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The sunset sky was a breathtaking sight, captivating one's gaze with its magnificent colors, akin to a masterpiece displayed prominently in a museum for all to behold. It was a sight like no other, As the birds that perched on electric wires watched it with great adoration like some humans who stood still to admire the sky's beautiful work.
The streetlights opened sequentially as the mother and child walked through the alley side by side. The young one watched as the sun dipped below the horizon, making way for the moon. At the same time, the mother watched her child in awe.
"Mama, Why does the sky change color during sunset?" The curious child asked as they turned their gaze towards their mother as they walked.
The mother thought to herself for a moment before she chuckled and playfully ruffled the child's hair. "Have you ever heard of the sky painter, Love?"
"The sky painter? What's that?"
"Well, The sky painter is a guy who painted the cloudy skies, golden sunsets, and starry nights. He was a marvelous painter, Using various techniques to make the most creative and brilliant colors come to life with one brush stroke." The mother responded to the younger one as she pointed to the array of colors in the sky.
The younger one's heart swelled with amazement and fondness from their mother's story whilst the mother's expression softened at the other's reaction. She continued to smile at them before she stopped walking to kneel to match the other's height then planted a small kiss on the child's forehead.
"However, As time passed, People no longer needed the sky and alas they would no longer look up to admire its magnificence and so it slowly disappeared. Except for children, Children just like yourself."
"Just like me?"
"Mhm. Just like you. When the sky suddenly disappeared, These children tried the best that they could replicate the painter's drawing of the sky until this painter arrived and showed them how to blend colors for the brightest sunsets, How to make fun of cloud animals, and told each child to paint a star so they could always look at them in the night sky. With the children's combined work, People started to admire the sky once more and soon realized that the sky was more beautiful than they last saw."
"I want to paint the sky too, Mama!" The young child spoke in excitement as the story ended. They felt inspired as if the colors of the sky were bursting within them from the short story alone. They always loved the other's story after all, It always contained an emotion they could never put into words as their mother would always look at them so lovingly as she spoke.
The mother only giggled at the young one's reaction. Her smile widened before she ruffled the hair of the child's once more then carried them into her loving arms. She stared at her child with affection, before the child spoke with even brighter eyes than the sunset in front.
"I want to create the most beautiful sky Mama will ever see! It'll contain colors no one has ever seen and cloud animals no one has ever imagined. It'll have the most brightest stars in the whole galaxy. No one could ever take their eyes away after I make that masterpiece!"
"Oh? Is that so, Love?"
"Mhm! I promise Mama. One day I'll be just like those kids in the story. I'll paint a sky. My sky!"
"You no longer need to paint your sky, Love. Your radiant glow, with colors unseen and eternally captivating, assures me that I've found the sky you wanted to paint. And it's you. It's your heart. It's yourself."
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…Tic…. Tok…. Tic…. Tok…. Ti- BANG
The right side of the wall shattered into pieces as their father… no… as a monster roamed through the hallways of the mansion that was hidden from the public eye. It was destroying everything it saw and killing everything that moved. Nothing was safe. Nowhere. Noone. It was only a matter of time before the monster made the mother and kid's life a nightmare. Though it seemed to have already been one even before it found them.
The lady held her child tightly against her chest and covered their ears as they hid under the kid's bed. Fallen plushies and bears were soaked from the pouring rain of the now-broken roof of the house, Which also soaked their clothes while they hid under the bed as anxiety filled both of their minds. They didn't know where the monster was right now, All they could hear or see was the pouring rain and the clock that ticked.
"...Mama…" The child whispered as tears rolled down their face, soaking the mother's clothes more.
The only thing that the mother could do was soothingly rub the child's scalp and whisper back, "Shh… Stay quiet. You're a good kid right, Ei?".
This made the others more quieter yet tears still fell on their face as they sobbed into the mother's chest. They were afraid... Terrified... Horrified… They didn't know what was happening. One minute they were sleeping and the next everything fell apart, Both figuratively and realistically. What should they do? There's no way they could ask for help and the child…. Oh. The child. They were only a child.
The mother was about to speak once more before they paused when they heard the scratching of the monster drawing closer…. Closer… and even more closer… until it stopped. Why did it stop? She didn't know why. She can't see anything, and she can't hear anything. She was hopeless, So hopeless. She wished she could do something to save her child yet all that she could do was hold on to them and shield them the best that she could. Pretend that this was all a nightmare... A horrid nightmare.
Then soon, before they knew it. The bed suddenly rose and was thrown to who knows where. The child screamed in agony as the mother instinctively held on to them tighter.
And in a flash, everything happened so quickly from the kid's perspective. The body that held them close was now limp on top of them. The hand that held their ears tightly was now loose, and the reassuring whispers now faded into thin air as there was nothing that held them as warm as before, and only coldness remained.
Everything was a blur, One of their eyes was covered with the cold body that slumped right in front of them until a white light appeared and brought darkness to the young one's uncovered eye. It felt as if they were trapped in the depths of hopelessness with the want to get out but no courage to do so.
Suddenly, Their chest felt tight, They felt as if they were screaming yet their voice was silent. They were grabbing onto something. Someone. Anyone to pull them up from the darkness and into the light. It felt as if the heavens above were listening to their prayers as they were pulled up from the darkness that is their mind with the help of a bucket of water that was splashed onto them.
"Hey… ..Hey… Hey! Kid? You alright?"
Their eyes were open yet their body still felt trapped. Chained and confined into nothing but the dark empty shackles that was tightly holding their body. They wanted to speak. Wanted to cry for help. Yet nothing came out, Nothing they could move, Nothing they could see. Their body felt sore, but their eyes felt more horrible. It felt as if it was ripped out from their skull.
Yet even through all the pain, just a little, they could feel a gentle touch against their own body. A cold wind against the burning fire that is their own. They felt like with their soft caress, They could drift into nothingness and free themselves from their minds.
Is this how the sky felt when the painter painted on them? How a dark bland sky could be so colorful and bright with some gentle brush of the painter's paint? They say too much paint could make it too bright and when it's too bright it might make them blind.