This road is getting longer with each step I take. They said it would take me 23 days on foot to reach the village, but they failed to mention all the obstacles. My back is aching from lugging this noticeable sized gem around. She is getting weaker and is almost unable to walk. She didn’t have to tag along, I mean I know she just wants some answers, but I could’ve sent her a letter. Even with no more obstacles, we still have 5 days to go before we reach our destination. Why did they choose me? I keep asking myself. I understand they have said it multiple times, “I am special”, but how? What is so special about a french farm boy?

“Stephen,” my name cuts me like a dagger. Her voice is hoarse and raucous from dehydration.

“Yes Cordelia?,” I force out the words. She doesn’t need to be speaking, please, save your energy.

“How long until the spring?” she asks with anticipation.

“If there isn't any more trouble, then I wanna say maybe 2-3 hours.” I wish I could give her more, but I don’t want her to get her hopes up.

She leaves it at that and goes back to sleep, each new breath not knowing if that will be the last one she takes. I wanna get upset with her, she, a princess, who had everything she needed and then some, comes with me on an unreasonably dangerous journey. Now she is almost on her last stroke of life, I wanna yell at her and tell Cordelia it’s her fault, that she didn’t have to do this. That is not in my system though, I get what it’s like to have those burning questions pick at you until you must do something about it.

In all the world I carry their pain

In all the world I struggle to mantain

In all the world it's ripping at my vein

But alas

I am still here

I can walk down the hallway

I open the door to a new world

One much better than this

Full of glee and joy

I laugh because

In all the world I am held by the chain

Thump Thump Thump

My brain is pounding

Thump Thump Thump

Louder and louder with each breath I take

Thump Thump Thump

Wouldn't it be satisfying to be in peace of this drumming

Thump Thump Thump

Everything is dark

Thump Thump Thump

Where am I?

Where has the pounding gone?

Who am I?

The peace of the pain is nice

I can't wait to take my first steps in the mortal realm. My big dark wings are flapping with glee and they carry me up.

"Get down from there Hecate, you're gonna chip your horns," my dad says shaking his head.

I slowly drift back down, only to land gently on my back in a pile of bones.

"Now I know you're excited to go to the mortal realm, but you need to calm down before you hurt yourself, and humans are sensitive and dangerous creatures, so be careful when you're up there, do you understand?" He says in his best stern fatherly tone.

"Yes father I understand, but I just can't help it! I will take some deep breaths and calm down. I know they are fragile things, but were you being serious when you said I can only consume animal souls? Not even one human?" I bat all my eyes like a puppy.

"No Hecate, and if I find out you take a human soul, dying or not, you will never go back to the mortal realm. Taking a soul that is alive is ver different than consuming a soul that the host's body is dead. It can really mess with you and make you dangerous, I don't want that for you. Okay?" He is serious when he speaks this, so I take him seriuos as well.

"Okay, father. I love you." I say in hopes of lightening the mood.

"I love you too Hecate, now I have some work to do, go along now." He says with a soft smile.

Having the devil as your father has its perks, like...

No wonder people love coming here, I thought to myself. This place is absolutely incredible, with its natural environment and the food-- oh don’t get me started. I walk past a full bloomed eastern cherry tree and pick a blossom that landed on a smooth stone bench. Its delicate blush pink petals feel like heaven and the smell is so romantic, it reminds me of the love in “The Notebook”. I tuck it away gently in my shirt pocket so I don’t ruin its tremendous beauty. The smell of freshly cooked ramen fills my nose and puts me in a hypnotic state. I begin to drool thinking of it and my stomach roars like a lion. I guess a small bowl of ramen wouldn’t hurt right now. I go to the ramen shop where the smell is coming from, (just a few yards away) and place an order for a small pork ramen bowl.

“こんにちは (Hello)”, says this frail old woman with flocculent, ashy black hair who will be taking my order.

“こんにちは (Hello)”, I say as nicely as possible, but the smells stronger and I feel like i’ll die if I don’t have it now.

“どんなラーメンが好きですか。チキン、ビーフ、ポーク、ステーキ? (What kind of ramen would you like? Chicken, beef, pork, or steak?”, she says kindly, not knowing what i’ll do for a bowl.

“スパイシーポークしてください (Spicy pork please)”, I say already taking my money out and putting it on the counter, shifting it towards her.

“五百六十円 (560 yen)”, she says not noticing the currency in front of her.

I eagerly put the money almost directly in her face and she flinched. She gave me a funny look before taking the money and gave me my receipt. After that, she yelled something to the cooks and they got to doing their job. Five minutes later the woman comes back with a large bowl of ramen (even though I asked for a small) that makes my body wiggle with excitement. This looks delicious, with perfectly made noodles, a soft-boiled egg cut perfectly in the middle, the slices of thick, spicy pork, the handful of potent onion chives, and the thinly shredded leeks just to top it off. Before I can finally sink my teeth into this, I grab my disposable chopsticks and go sit on the level stone bench beneath the large tree. I quickly dip into my ramen and take the first scrumptious bite. My eyes go wide and I savor this dangerous flavor of pork broth, cayenne pepper, and wheat noodles. That was it for me, and I sucked it up like a vacuum to a dirty carpet. I then went to go get a drink at this place called “Yow’s Boba Teas” that was close to the ramen shop. I ordered a medium hazelnut milk tea with golden boba. It was a bit expensive but I am watching my money closely, making sure it doesn’t grow legs and walk off into too many cash registers. This soothed my stomach and gave a sweet, cold taste. The boba’s texture felt strange and gooey in my mouth, but it tasted like fresh honey. My stomach thanks me with a little rumble and settles well with everything. After my meal and drink, I walk along the edge of a lily pond and think about what I’m going to do now. I need to lay low just in case my parents report me, let’s just get a job Hanako and sleep in the car until the coast is clear. This is my plan for now until I can save up for an apartment if my parents tell the police anything. I can’t go back there, never, I think and shudder to myself. Since I don’t have a phone, I walk to a damp telephone pole and see if there is any “NOW HIRING” signs up. “Would you like to be a model and show off those amazing features? We are the Top Hat Model Co. and we are requesting models of any age, male or female. Call 012-345-5745 now!”. I laugh at that one, me? A model? No. I don’t see any that interest me or are in my skill level, so I decide to go to a vendors and food market and see if anyone is hiring. Hopefully this makeup is covering most of my bruising, but i’m getting hot in this long sleeve. I roll up my sleeve but I forget for a split second about my scars and healing bruises. I start to tear up looking at my arms and feeling my cakey face, Why did they do this to me? What did I do wrong? I wipe the small meaningful streams off my face and continue to walk, trying to go into my happy place.

By the time I got there, almost all the shops were closed so I have to make do with what I can see. I strolled past a butcher’s stand and the look of that hanging pig made me think of myself. All torn up and broken, left to the flys, and the face, ugly as ever. I wish I could stop thinking these thoughts, but they run through my head 24/7. I’ve never been to a therapist or a physiatrist for any of these thoughts, because my parents feared that they would notice something more going on. I’ve never told a single soul the real truth, not even my hamster when I was seven, I thought that he could understand me and I didn’t want him to feel sad. I accidentally run into a woman because I’m lost in my own head.

“ああ、それについてすみません! (Oh, sorry about that!)”, I say trying to catch my balance.

“大丈夫だ (it’s fine)”, she says in a perfect fluency.

She is american it looks like, but a mix of something else as well. She has a yellow and honey mixed skin tone that looks gleaming and as soft as a baby. Her jet black hair is marshmallow thick with soft unique curls. She is taller than me and has a masculine look to her. Her body is slim and lanky but has distinct muscle features. Her nose is long and thin in the middle but pointed like an upward nubian. Her lips are full with a pink gloss on that makes then look more naturally glamorous. She has big doey hazel eyes with long lashes and full almost untamed, dark brows. Her cheekbones are sunken in deep enough to be strong but not enough to look starved. She has a heart face shape with a tough looking scar on her lower right jaw line.

She reaches her hand out and touches my shoulder.

“大丈夫ですか？(Are you okay?),” she asks genuinely concerned.

She probably thought I was lost by the expression on my face.

“はい、ごめんなさい (Yes, i’m sorry),” I say as my face turns red.

She gives a gentle smile and removes her hand knowing it makes me uncomfortable. I look up into her deep eyes and I have an out of body experience. She cups my face and guides me to her. My face must be tomato red now and burning like an inferno with steam coming from my head.

“あなたは病気に見えます、あなたは大丈夫ですか？(You look sick, are you sure you’re okay?),” She says feeling my forehead.

I feel like i’m about to throw up, my stomach is going crazy. Like that feeling when you go down a steep slope on a roller coaster. Maybe it was something in the ramen, or the tea, I couldn’t figure out why I was feeling this way. I shake my head thinking there’s no point in lying when I’m clearly ill. She takes me to a curb while holding my shoulders so I can stay balanced.

Your words devour my soul and spit then out into a better place

You write with passion and the small details mean so much more

When you type, your keyboard spills out sweet liquid sugar in the form Georgia 12

Your were the mother to me writing

The backbone to my thesis

I hope you can feel how grateful I am that you are a person

Thank you @Undermeyou

Please stop, please stop, please stop

The drippining of their blood like a leaky pipe

Their reflection on the metal bin like still water

I couldn’t stop myself

I lost as much control as waves on a stormy night

I just swept them away like water clearing forgotten names in the sand

Without hesitation

Im sorry, but what’s done is done

He throws a punch, but this drunk man won't knock me out in front of my kids. I can hear them crying in the background while their mom is trying to settle them down. I am trying to aim for his cheeck, if only he will stop moving. I don't want to fight, but no one touches my wife like that except me. He may be a good guy, but his friends sure aern't, so I am not certain on that.

"Jason, it was just an innocent butt slap, you don't have to fight!", I hear Annette say behind me.

"Honey, just take the kids to the car, this will be over soon.", I say while focusing on this man.

I am not the one who picked a fight, I just told him don't ever touch a woman like that, especially someone elses. There is a crowd beginning to form, I must get this over with fast. He runs at me and tries to tackle me but I dodge him like an angry bull to a red fabric. I am getting real irratated now, but I wish to only make one move and be done with this. He stumbles towards me, attempting to make another shot but--BAM! He falls slowly to the concrete and his friends come to his side. They give me dirty looks, but I just stand there and watch them drag him away. My knuckles will be bruised for a few days, but he got what he deserved.

I walk back to my car while the crowd dissapears, and I open the drivers door. The kids are asleep and my wife just looks at me.

"Annette, why are you looking at me like that? I am not the one who started that little mis-hap.", I say starting the car.

"I know my love, It's just... I wanted to enjoy a night with my family, and it seems like I always mess it up.", she says with tears streaking her face.

I grab her by her shoulders and pull her close to me over the console. I embrace her tightly and she weeps onto my chest.

"You never mess anything up, you're an amazing mom and an even better wife, I love you so much.", I say hugging her tighter

"I love you too, thank you.", she says pulling away.

I put on my seat belt, look back at the kids one more time, then to my wife, and start driving to our home.