31 A Dream Of The Past

The smell of polluted air. Trash can be seen littered on the corner. The river on the side was muddy and green.

Houses around this area were made out of cheap material. Some have unfinished concrete covered by curtains or cardboard. Others were metal roofs used as walls, nailed in wood.

This area was filled with young pregnant women. Young teenagers that were on drugs. Gamblers and drunkards on the side of the road. Children ran around with a bundle of rubber bands on their arms, playing with it.

A boy, wearing his uniform that was starting to turn yellow, walked inside the slums of Bagahi. The boy knew everyone here, and they also knew the boy. Although they were all poor in these slums, they don't hate each other here.

Some people who lived here were doing shady and dishonest jobs, but their neighbors didn't judge them. They understood it because they all were experiencing poverty. And if they didn't have any other choice, they would also do shady things.

The boy arrived at a wooden house. He opened the door and greeted a woman who was cooking fish soup. A man sat on a chair beside the table, listening to the news on the TV. This was the boy's house.

The boy stood in front of his father, taking his hand and placing it on his forehead. He also did it with his mother, before heading back to their room and changing his clothes.

Inside the room, two small hammocks were tied on the corners of the room. Two twin babies were peacefully sleeping on each small hammock. The boy looked at them, pinching their tiny cheeks while silently giggling.

The night came and the family was having their dinner. The mother was busy breastfeeding the babies, while the father was buying soda in their neighbor's store.

Today was the boy's birthday and they were doing a small celebration. Her mother cooked his favorite fish soup, while his father bought roasted chicken. It was a simple banquet, but to the young boy, it was one of the happiest days.

The night was peaceful, and people were doing what they usually do. The mother placed her twins back in the hammock, swinging it to make them fell asleep.

While the boy was savoring his favorite piece of chicken, the moon above the sky turned blood red. People all over the region looked at the unusual phenomenon. There wasn't a single news stating that a blood moon would appear in the sky tonight, it was a sudden event.

However, the boy who was eating chicken suddenly had a seizure. He dropped on his chair, convulsing, and utensils rung as it dropped on the floor. A hexagram mark appeared on his back, seared in his skin. The mother rushed to his son worried, she hugged him and rubbed his back trying to calm him down.

When her fingers felt an uneven surface on his son's back, she turned to look at his back. What she saw shocked her to the core.

"This! Why does my son have this mark? Why is he part of this ritual?" The mother was distressed.

The mother was caught in a sense of urgency. She stood up and went to their cabinet. Under their clothes was a twisted branch of a banyan tree.

She returned to her son whose eyes were dilating. The mother pointed the twisted branch on her son's forehead, whispering something inaudible.

However, a certain force was resisting inside his son's body. The force was trying to fight back against her. She gritted her teeth, as tears were flowing down her cheeks. And the cries of her twins echoed inside her ears.

"I'm sorry. Son, I'm sorry. It's mom's fault, she was not strong enough. Forgive me," she whispered as she hugged her son.

The glow from her wand became intense, as it seeped inside his forehead. The invisible force blasted her, pushing her away from her son, while her wand crumbled to dust. And with her crumbling wand followed suit her mind and soul breaking.

The boy woke up from his seizures. His thoughts were cloudy as he saw his mother's deadpan face. He tried calling her name but she wasn't responding.

The boy stood up, and he looked at his mother's face. Suddenly, his mother's face was filled with horror when she saw her son's face.

"Arghh, help there's a demon. Help!" she screamed.

She looked at her son in disgust. Grabbing her son's hair, she beat his face with her fist. The cries of the twins became even louder.

The boy looked at his mother, confused. He was defenseless, both his eyes were swollen, and his lips were bleeding.

The sound of glass breaking rang outside their house. His father appeared, hugging his flailing wife in his arms. He was clueless about what happened to his family, and why his loving wife became so violent.

The boy sat there looking at his mother, his chest felt tight and his breathing became arduous. An inexplicable pain stabbed his heart, looking at his mother's disgust towards him.

The day after that, his father called the social workers. His mother was tied to a rope, while the social workers carried her inside a car. He heard that they would be bringing her to a mental asylum.

Ever since that day, the boy's birthday became his most hated day. Without his mother, he was forced to stop studying for 5 years. His father became a drunkard, while the boy was busy taking care of his twin sisters.

When his sisters started going to school, he also enrolled himself back in 3rd grade. All his friends were in high school, and his classmates were younger than him.

10 years later. The boy was now a grown man. He was studying at a state college as they provided free tuition and miscellaneous.

When he was young he dreamt of becoming a policeman. However, terrible news came. And this made his world turn upside down.

He slumped to his knees when he heard the news of his father's death. To add insult to injury, a member of a mafia came to his father's vigil. They informed him that his father had a massive gambling debt to them.

"Huh!" his vision turned black, as he sat up from his bed and woke up from his dreams.

His breathing was hurried, and beads of sweat were pouring down his forehead. Lorian tried to move his hand, but there was someone beside him. And her hands was clasping his.

Lorian turned towards his side. Rain was beside him, sleeping soundly. He blushed in wonder, not knowing why she was in his room. But he didn't want to disturb her, so he decided to lie back in his bed.

Lorian looked at the ceiling, feeling a sense of relief. Relief in knowing that his mother had never been disgusted with him. Knowing that his mother genuinely loved him. That it was because of an unfortunate circumstances.

Lorian closed his eyes, as he went back to sleep. After remembering the memories that he unknowingly forgotten, Lorian never had nightmares ever since.