My chest felt weak as my body was jolted out of sleep by a few stiff taps acting on my shoulder, the hand that caused which, moved to rest on my scalp.
"Come on, Vormet! Surely you don't expect to be carried by me do you?" A sweet voice near my ear mocked.
My eyes slowly but surely opened, only to feel like it was never opened in the first place. It was nothing but darkness.
I slowly tilted my stiff neck down, in the midst of which, I pleaded the sweet voice for more sleep.
"…It's still night time th-" My plead was left unfinished however as my sight suddenly lit up, as if the sun just now decided to spawn in.
No, I think it did, to be honest. It came with a little makeover today it seems though, boasting a gracefully edged jawline, and a nice peach for skin, harmoniously paired with a blazing orange pair of pupils.
Oh wait… this is Emily. And it… is actually night time.
I thought as I looked up to the ink black blanket of a sky over us. It was so black that I felt like I could touch it, it felt like the air up there was no different to the air that was an inch above my head.
Tuning into my sense of hearing, I began hearing a mild amount of chatter, like the amount that would be in the late night market.
"Is this the City of Esavale?" I asked, tracing the length of the soaring stone wall in front of me from middle to top, almost sure the answer would be one of approval.
"Yup." Emily answered without much ado. She then grabbed my hand and helped me get off the carriage.
As we walked through the tall gates, I began hoping for an encounter with a wild city guard. I wanted to redo my main character moment so bad it was heart wrenching.
But of course, where are things when you look for them.
And so we past the gates, borderline tunnel, in silence, without interruption.
I breathed hard, taking in the urban air along with the silence deep into my nose. I wasn't sure if I would miss the fresh country side air or not, to be honest, but it was likely that I wouldn't. After all, I don't remember a single good moment in being outside. The only good moments I had were during reading time and rarely eating, which were both done inside, and most of the time with the windows closed.
But the air here felt better, for some reason, even though it was objectively worse. It felt like it was welcoming me to the best time I'll have in both of my lifetimes, with a hint of pride, maybe.
|
"Foo" Emily blew out the candle beside our kings bed, getting ready to sleep. The creaking of the bed intensified as she shuffled closer to my meagre body, pulling me gently in a hug. Her hands under the cover felt warm, and my body relaxed, as I curled up into a turtle position at her slim yet comfy stomach, hugging her waist.
After a few seconds, she also curled up with me, making her stomach a little plump, and making my position all to comfortable.
"Can you call me Mama?" Emily asked suddenly.
"I love you, Mama." I didnt wait for anyone, hugging her tighter as I dreaded the time we would need to leave this bed more than ever. I also wanted to call her my mother, but I couldn't find a time, so her just spoonfeeding it to me made me eager.
She hunched her back towards me, followed by me, again, tightening my grip on her even more.
"Thank you, Vormet." She tousled my hair gently with a warm smile that I could feel somehow.
"A-Also, can you change my name? To whatever you like, as long as it's your idea, I don't care." I also quite suddenly asked, after which a shudder was felt on my whole body, originating from Emily's.
…
Twenty minutes passed in silence, without an answer from Emily yet, but also without a single snore.
I wished my biological parents actually took the time to name me aswell, instead of naming me on an instinctive joke they made.
A short spanned inhale reached my ears, and Emily seemed to have finally decided.
"Do you like Adam? Adam Morningstar, it would be in full." She requested, without stutter as she was confident after thinking for so long. I wondered with a smile at how much she was overthinking, to spend this much time just to call me a simple name like Adam.
"Mhm." I grinded my head in a nod on her stomach, wondering with a smile at how much she was overthinking, to spend this much time just to call me a simple name like Adam.
So her last name was Morningstar, huh? It fits her.
With that, my name has now been changed three times in my life so far. One name change per year on average. Frightening…
The rest of the night passed in silence like the night breeze swimming in through the window.
And six years also passed, also like that same breeze.
|
In a brightly lit kitchen, a nine year old child could be seen sitting on a dining table, munching leisurely on freshly cut slices of an appetisingly glistening orange, reading a book with attentive round eyes.
His brown hair that was mercilessly ruffled into a bed head from a good nights sleep, didn't shy away from reaching for the boys nose, resulting in bangs that reigned over the top fifth of his eyesight, accompanied by trimmed burns that gave him a confident look.
His similarly brown eyes, despite being so round, had an unexplainable maturity to them, as they moved to slowly glide down the page of the book he was reading.
The dingling from a set of keys resounded throughout the room, as the unlocking of the door followed thereafter.
"I'm going, Adam!" An energetic voice called out to her son.
"Yup! Be safe!" Adam replied with matching energy, resulting in a weird exchange between a mother and son.
"I'm meant to say that!!" The mother scolded, as she left the house unattended, except for one handsome child who didn't take long to continue his breakfast, that he temporarily halted, still with his gaze tight on the book on front of him.
Minutes passed by, and the boy found himself mindlessly probing the porcelain under his chin for more oranges, only after giving in to look down at the plate did he realise the ruthless calamity that he made of the oranges that were cut for him.
Despite the harrowing sight of genocide, Adam pushed himself up with a smile on his face, as he looked out the window which allowed a swarm of sunlight to rampage in the room, looking forward to his day that he hoped would be similarly bright, just like the last six years of his life had been.
Noticing the book he was reading still tightly gripped in his hand, he took a second to close the book and put it down on the table beside the plate he had just eaten from.
The golden rimmed italics on the cover seemed to be highlighted under the sun, tracing a phrase that to this day, never failed to make the boy proud whenever he sees it.
'Advanced Optic Control', it read.
Pumped up for disturbing reasons, Adam hastily went through the corridor that his mom had just walked through, grabbing a pair of spare keys in the midst. About to leave the house, his steps suddenly halted, as he noticed a mirror next to the door, that reminded of something important.
He forgot to do his hair, of course. And so he settled down his pumping heart to give the time to the mirror that it needs, gazing at his new, more grown up look with admiration.
After finishing, his heart once again increased in pace, as it got in the mood to embrace its freedom. And he stormed out of the door confidently, rendezvousing with the warm winds of spring that tried their best to hold Adam from continuing his infamous daily life.
Hello, my name is Adam Morningstar. And I have developed the unexpected hobby…
…of borderline bullying children.