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The fire just keeps burning.———Xee———Somewhere in Texas, families and people begin to sleep. The area was a bit remote, close to a large forest. Suburban houses lined up with lights still open. In the neighborhood, there was a medium sized house mostly made of wood. The family living there plan on changing up the wooden walls, but Stone houses are hardly popular in US. The family starts to get ready for bed, or at least, the children do. "Rohan, take care of your brother alright?"Their mother tells the oldest child."I will."He does not look at his mother, continuing to play on his phone. The parents soon go out, planning to go on a date. It doesn't matter, they won't be home until tomorrow. They do this every other day, don't they get tired?Rohan hardly cares. His parents were negligent, hardly taking care of them. Half the time the responsibilities go to Rohan, and he has to take care of his younger brother.He gets a text from a couple of friends, inviting him to go out. "Amir!" He calls his younger brother, the boy coming down the stairs, wearing his hearing aids and a faded purple sweater. "I'm going out, get to bed." ---Just a few hours later, as midnight starts to creep in, neither Rohan or the parents have come home. Amir sleeps alone in his room, his hearing aids turned off. The rain pours loudly outside. It was a short downpour, slowing to a stop within two hours. Water leaks in through the shitty wood walls, dripping. The rain drops creep closer and closer to an electric socket. Sparks fly, a small explosion, and a chain of events start. ---Roel was one of Amir's neighbours, she had often seen the boy play along with her own children. In the middle of the night, the smell of smoke creeps into their room, alerting them of a fire. But it's not their house. One look out of the window, and she sees Amir's house, close to the forest's edge, burning away. Panic sets in. Amir can't hear the smoke alarms. Her husband calls the firefighters, and she calls the home phone, but nobody answers. That means their landline is dead. She calls Rohan, the older brother, no answer. She saw him walk out, he must be asleep or at a friend's house. Frustrated, she looks back at her husband who already called the firefighters. She calls his parents. Urging them to come home quick.---Its hard to breathe, Amir realizes. He slowly wakes up to the smell of smoke, confused. Smoke slowly flows into his room, the hallway being illuminated by the fire.
What was going on?
As he wakes up, fire creeps into his room.It feels hot and warm, it's so hard to breathe.Only then does the realization that the house is on fire sets in, along with the fear. He freezes up, right before backing up until he reaches the headboard of his bed. The windows are too small, and they're not even openable. The fire catches on the small rug on the floor, raging and rising more. He flinches back, he can feel a thud outside but he can't hear it. The floor shakes slightly as a roof caves in.
I don't want to die!
He flinches, curling up into a ball as the second floor slowly starts to cave in and fall. Debris on fire is all he sees. As he watches it slowly fall, he covers himself up, trying to not get hit as lungs struggle. The raging smoke builds up in the room, suffocating him.As he backs into the wall, curled up and afraid. The last things he sees are the flames that continue to spread in his room, boxing him in, leaving him no exit. The fires are reflected in his eyes as he slowly passes out due to hypoxia and having inhaled too much smoke.If the firefighters had been able to reach him in time, he would never know. If his parents, or his brother, ever regretted leaving him alone in the house, he would never see.The fire just keeps burning. ———End.
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Happy Birthday... To me...———Elysia———They were fighting again.Again and again, he locks himself in his room. He blasts music in his headphones, trying to drown out the sounds of yelling.He's used to it now. They've been unhappy for a long time, maybe for as long as he was born. Now he's just waiting for one of them to say that they're done.He's been expecting it, and he can't really help but feel numb about it now. His younger brother huddles close to him, hearing their parents' argue louder downstairs. Soon, he hears a vase crashing and falling to the floor as the yelling just gets louder and louder. "Stay here."Haru takes his headphones off, placing them on his brother's instead."Listen to the music."'Don't listen to the yelling,' he means.He gets up and walks to the door, slowly unlocking it. As he walks down the hall and down the stairs, he hears them."That's it! We're done!" Ah. Those dreaded words. But is it really dreaded when you've been expecting it the whole time? He's not even shocked.This has been a long time coming. He goes into the kitchen as his mother storms off somewhere. He doesn't know if his mother still cares about them. If she even did care. He fills his cup with ice and water, sipping it. A broken vase sits on the floor, shattered glass and water pooling around the red spider lilies."We're getting a divorce," his father tells him, staring at the walls. He seems so tired, and Haru knows that he is tired. He tries so hard to make Haru and his brother believe that he's happy, but he's not and they can see it."I know," his father only frowns at his answer. "I've been expecting it.""You'll be the one to tell your brother."Isn't he always the one to tell their brother about issues? It's not like their mother would, neither would their father no matter how much he loves them.He's so tired of everything.---The court hearing for the divorce was on his birthday. There was no celebration, just glares or pitiful gazes.They go to the court and leave the kids in the house. His brother falls asleep.
It's better if he falls asleep.
He packs up a small bag carrying rope, a lighter and a few other items. He leaves out the door hardly feeling anything anymore. He left a note and some food, that'll be enough.He takes a bus ride to Honshu, taking a couple hours to get there. The bus drives to the northern side of Japan. On the way, he contemplates if he should do this, or if he should go back home.But there's nothing to go back home for.He wishes he could care about his brother and love him like a normal older brother would. But he can only feel resentment at his younger brother.His mother doesn't really care about him. Maybe for his brother, but not Haru. Never Haru.He wishes she loved him.He wishes she loved him the way she at least loved his younger brother.He buys a small birthday music box at a shop after he gets off the bus. He walks around and buys a box of cupcakes and a birthday candle.He walks discreetly to Aokigahara, the birdsong and soft breeze comforting him as he keeps walking through the sea of trees.He comes to a stop as night falls and it's nothing but dark and cold now.He takes a seat on the forest floor, emptying his bags and taking the box of cupcakes out to eat. Sweets and desserts were hardly allowed in his household. He eats one, then two. He leaves one cupcake to the side, placing the birthday candle on it. He lights the candle, letting the warm light glow and light up the area. He winds up the music box, playing Happy Birthday, as he ties the rope together. He stands as he ties the rope to a high branch. "Happy birthday... to me..." It tightens and tightens, looping around his neck. The urge to survive doesn't surface as he lets the noose strangle him. He can feel air run out in his lungs, and he turns a bit blue from the lack of oxygen. There are no feelings felt, nothing but emptiness. No anger, no sorrow, no joy... Just the numbing ache of death.As the last few notes play, he stops moving. He hangs lifelessly as the candlelight dies out, and the music box stops playing. His death is dark and lonely, just as he expected.On that day, Haruko Yuutsu goes missing and nobody finds his body, hidden deep within Aokigahara, the forest of suicide.On that day in another world, Elysia was born.———End.
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The bombs that fell.———Sheldon———Loud booms thunder across the land, shaking the floors and pavements.Marko wishes it were fireworks, but there were no beautiful cascades of colors or cheers of people. At first, he believed it were fireworks. But nobody was happy. In fact, they were scared. They weren't pretty fireworks.The cites are in ruins. The apartment complexes are torn down, rubble and debris cover the pavements and roads. The trees are dead. A lot of things are dead.He saw people get crushed in the fallen walls of tall apartments, or get shot down by a soldier. The sounds of sirens blaring and tearful cries of people have become a common occurrence.They couldn't join the other refugees. Not when they still had family stuck in the city. At least, that's what his mother says.He saw people say they'll go out to get some supplies, and never come back. It seems hopeless. He's tired of crying each time a bomb falls and each time it shakes the ground like thunder. It shakes him and his group awake. He's one of the only children there and they struggle to keep the reality of war away from him. He knows.
He knows.
Marko knows. Even if he struggles to understand certain concepts. Even if they understood the same language, there are always some things he can't understand.He knows it's getting worse.He knows their city will be next, one way or another.---The days seem to stretch inside the bunkers.It's just bomb after bomb, they haven't stopped. But suddenly, we all started running. Marko doesn't know why. His mother grips his hand, pulling him to run beside him."Біжи, лисенятко."---
It's so hard to breathe!
Marko runs along, his mother holding his hand and pulling him faster as they run through the fallen rubble.He stumbles as another bomb falls, far away from them. The bomb's explosion sends out a shockwave that burns his skin, shaking the ground harshly."Mama–" He doesn't finish his words as a another bomb falls. His mother grabs him, harshly as she pulled him in front of her."Keep running." They both run, they don't know where but they need to run. He hears gunshots and another bomb falls again. Too close. It shakes the floor and a building collapses. He falls to floor, caught up in debris as his ears ring from the sounds of explosions and falling buildings.He looks behind him, still not having gotten up, and sees his mother trapped under rubble and collapsed beams. He can see as blood pools beneath her and the broken bones–"Keep... running..." He gets up, almost stumbling. He runs and runs, his heart beating too fast. He runs but he can't make it far. The smoke and debris suffocates him.He turns a corner, only to find a minefield. Small landmines set to deter refugees placed in between debris, with only the slightest pressure setting them off.Marko is cornered.He closes his eyes, not wanting to look anymore. He doesn't want to watch as the bombs fall.———End.
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One shot, then two.———Percy———They locked him in the shed again.He didn't mean to break the glass!So now, he cries alone in the dark and cold shed, surrounded by machinery and sharp objects. He cries himself to sleep, sobbing as the lights flicker.He has no name.He was a good for nothing that wasn't supposed to be born six years ago.That's what Mama and Papa says.He was hungry, and he knew that they're not gonna feed him until later or even tomorrow, so he thought he'd get some water.Is it his fault he couldn't reach it?Mama said it was.It always was.He couldn't reach the glass, only tipping it and causing it to fall. The shattering of glass woke his drunken mother up. "You good for nothing child."She breaks the glass bottle of beer on top of his head."Why were you even born?"He cries for her to stop."You worthless child, you ruined everything for me!" Her hand had a tight grip on his hair, pulling it. Shards of glass nearly stabbed his eye. He sobs, blood covering a part of his head."I used to be so beautiful, but since I had you," She pulls hard on his hair, making him stumble and cry harder. "You ruined my career." She looks at him with such resentful eyes.She wishes he were never born.He wishes she loved him."It's your fault everything was ruined!" ---He is awoken early in the morning by the shed's door slamming open.His father pulling him up, not even checking if he was awake or not. He wants to ask, but it's better to keep his mouth shut.He's pulled to the back of his truck, thrown at the back without a single word said, his father only muttering things that he couldn't understand or hear loud enough.They drive off as the sun starts to rise.They go to a dark, shady area. Tall buildings squished too close to each other and neon lights being hung up above certain doors.He's pulled, dragged into a dark alleyway. He's uncomfortable, head still covered in glass and he wants to shrink away in a corner. Too many eyes watch him as he's dragged someplace he doesn't know."Bastian!"They stop at a small group. Behind the small group he can see other kids, being loaded into trucks of some sort."Ah, Arlert." "Here," his father drags him forward and pushes him on the floor. "Now give me my payment." "He's young," one of them comments."I don't care what you do with him, he's your problem now." His father walks off as he receives his payment, a small bag of money.He looks back at him afraid as he's dragged to another truck, bigger and darker than his father's. He can hear as they whisper and talk."He can sell for a lung, maybe a kidney."They're gonna use him for parts."He's young, unless they fucked him up, his parts will sell for a good price."He's thrown into a truck with other kids, all looking worse for wear. Some crying, some angry. Some don't show emotion. It scares him.He doesn't know where he's going. He can feel as they're driving off somewhere, but he doesn't know where. He curls up into a ball, squished in between the other kids that crowd the truck. It's cold, and he's hungry.He's scared.---He hears gunshots.As they were driving, they got attacked. He doesn't know by who. They all thought that maybe since they were distracted, they could run and escape. But Bastian, their... Dealer, didn't like it.One moment they were running, and the next one of them collapses on the floor, a bullet piercing him. He chokes on his own blood, dying eventually. The older kids abandon him as he trips on a corpse. He tries to scream. Its like being stuck in a bear trap, especially as his leg gets trampled on. They leave, running."Tch, your parts would have sold for a good amount. The police just had to find us!"He coughs blood as a sharp pain goes through his chest, and he feels like he can't breathe. One shot, then two. In the end, a nameless child died.In the end, he'd have died anyways after they sold his parts.
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The Family stays together.———Chayanne, Tallulah, and Jake.———Chayanne and Tallulah are brought to Mexico to visit a family friend.They walk in the streets slowly making their way to their destination. Jake, their father, holding Tallulah's hand as they walk. The little girl rubs her eyes tiredly, yawning. "Daad.. I'm tired..." she drawls out, most likely just tired from the flight on the way here. Jake chuckles in slight amusement, smiling."We're almost there," he reminds. Chayanne walks ahead of them, running around excitedly and smiling. Locals chatter and hang around amongst themselves, a peaceful ambience in the background. Tallulah wasn't his real daughter. By blood at least, but he sure as hell treated her as if his own. He raised her with the same kindness and attention as he raised Chayanne. This wasn't the first time they've been to mexico, especially since it was Jake's birthplace, and even Chayanne's. It's been hard without Chayanne's mother, but he can make it with through. As a soldier and a pilot, he has duties to attend to, but that won't stop him from at least trying to be a father. They continue to walk, Chayanne far ahead of them. It was a normal day. Or at least, it was a normal day.Just as Jake opened his mouth to tell Chayanne to get back closer, a large explosion shakes the ground as a strong burst of wind and dust blows over them.They immediately crouch down, ducking for cover. Jake instinctively covers Tallulah, pulling her close to his chest and covering her with his arm. Tallulah screams before quickly silencing herself as her ears ring.A ringing noise stays in his head, before sirens start to blare and boom in the distance.He looks up to see Chayanne, crouched and holding his ears tightly. "Chayanne!" He reaches his free arm out slightly.Chayanne, even with the loud sirens and probably the ringing of his ears, manages to hear him and looks up quickly. Jake can see how afraid Chayanne was, how confused and probably shocked he was.He can see tears starting to roll on both his childrens faces. He can hear people yelling, afraid or screaming. He can hear sirens and the sounds of buildings collapsing.The ground shakes slightly, and he grabs Tallulah in his arms, running to grab Chayanne and pulling him along. They run alongside a crowd of other people and children, all running to try and save their lives. He nearly loses Chayanne in the crowd.People run, fearful for what might happen.As they reach the evacuation point, a small building closer to the edges of the city, he can feel something bad coming.He rushes his children inside. "Stay inside, stay together." He goes back out to help the others evacuate people. They can't stay here for long, only until they get everybody they can.He helps people inside, until guns started shooting at them.A mysterious van drives by, the person in the passenger seat jumping out as the van loses control, speeding. Jake watches in horror as the man pulls out guns. But that wasn't what his horror was directed at. No.The van crashes onto the wall of the building, exploding and bursting into flames and destroying the wall of the evacuation point. Even as the man pulls out guns and starts shooting, he does not look at him.Jake runs, gasping as he rushes inside even as the building collapses. He runs through, even as people scream and yell, some trapped under rubble or on the floor."Chayanne, Tallulah!"He screams, rushing as he finds them.He finds them, but only horror and devastation reaches him.Chayanne, half buried under rubble and Tallulah crying and screaming for her dying brother. "D-Dad!" She screams, broken and in tears. Jake holds her close as the floor shakes, he covers her as the building slowly caving and the ceiling collapsing behind him. They get trapped inside the building, surrounded by rubble and debris. As the building collapses, Jake gets buried in the rubble, covering Tallulah as the weight slowly collapses on him. He holds Chayanne's cooling hand and Tallulah's, he grits his teeth. He feels frustrated, wishing that maybe this could have ended differently.He wishes they could have a second chance.As the building fully collapses on them, everybody inside dies from the weight of the rubble and stone.Multiple families in Mexico are killed in the Terrorist attack, but there is one family that gets a second chance.Even in death, The Family stays together.———End.