08-21-2018, 08:56 AM
He exhales and a plume of black smoke billows from his nostrils.
His eyes slowly blink, his slit pupils nearly seeing the heartbeats of those scattered just outside the treeline. Hunger doesn’t drive him forward; he fed enough while he was gone, grew even, and so his appetite is sated for now.
In the shadows, Castile mulls over his next decision. Truly, he shouldn’t be here. He has an innate ability to vanish, disappearing in a flurry of smoke and debris to leave behind confusion and chaos. Are the hearts he had stolen still broken? Did they mend as they rightfully should, or have they waited for his return? Did they have sleepless nights wondering where the father of their children has fled to?
The children are his main reason to be here again, pressed against an oak tree contemplating whether to step into the autumn sunlight or to remain masked by the darkness. If there was one thing in life he didn’t want to fail, it was fatherhood. He wanted to always be present, to guide his children and love them.
But he wasn’t there.
The heart that steadily drums in his chest cracks under his self-inflicted pressure and regret. It trembles under the weight of his failure and shortcomings. ”I’m sorry,” he whispers under his breath to no one as his mismatched eyes cast down to the bed of leaves at his feet. His remorse is the reason he doesn’t visit Hyaline or Loess or even Nerine. It’s why he finds himself here, at the edge of the forest looking across the open meadow. It won’t be long, he resolves, until he is found and shamed.
With a final exhalation of black smoke, Castile lets himself be blanketed by sunlight and exposed to the consequences of his past actions.
His eyes slowly blink, his slit pupils nearly seeing the heartbeats of those scattered just outside the treeline. Hunger doesn’t drive him forward; he fed enough while he was gone, grew even, and so his appetite is sated for now.
In the shadows, Castile mulls over his next decision. Truly, he shouldn’t be here. He has an innate ability to vanish, disappearing in a flurry of smoke and debris to leave behind confusion and chaos. Are the hearts he had stolen still broken? Did they mend as they rightfully should, or have they waited for his return? Did they have sleepless nights wondering where the father of their children has fled to?
The children are his main reason to be here again, pressed against an oak tree contemplating whether to step into the autumn sunlight or to remain masked by the darkness. If there was one thing in life he didn’t want to fail, it was fatherhood. He wanted to always be present, to guide his children and love them.
But he wasn’t there.
The heart that steadily drums in his chest cracks under his self-inflicted pressure and regret. It trembles under the weight of his failure and shortcomings. ”I’m sorry,” he whispers under his breath to no one as his mismatched eyes cast down to the bed of leaves at his feet. His remorse is the reason he doesn’t visit Hyaline or Loess or even Nerine. It’s why he finds himself here, at the edge of the forest looking across the open meadow. It won’t be long, he resolves, until he is found and shamed.
With a final exhalation of black smoke, Castile lets himself be blanketed by sunlight and exposed to the consequences of his past actions.