Oh Mother
How I remember your sweet smile
“Mother knows best”
When was the last time you told me that?
I remember like it was yesterday. It was not.
I’ve been here for too long…
Too long…
TOO LONG
But back to a simpler time, I used to live with my mother. I just graduated high school. Trying to get into college, or maybe get a job so that she wouldn’t have to carry such a burden. I didn’t know my father, I used to bet he was an asshole. Mother said otherwise.
“He was a kind man. He helped everyone he could.” She would always tell me.
I’d always reply with a snarky remark, she didn’t like that. I couldn’t blame her, she loved him and unlike me, knew him. I only had a single picture to go off of. Their wedding picture, both of them looked so happy. They were.
When I was seven, some asshole was picking on me. He made some rude remarks and it started to get physical at one point.
“Gonna cry to daddy?” He asked, after he pushed me to the ground.
“Shut up.” I answered.
“What was that?” He retorted.
“SHUT UP!” I yelled at him, getting up and readying a punch.
That was all I remember of that day, mother told me that I beat him up so badly that two teachers had to stop me from ripping his skin out. He didn’t cause anyone else problems after that. I felt bad, but I was a naive seven year old and thought that he partly deserved it.
Flashback over..
I had a bad reputation at home and my mother was the one to receive the criticism. Questions like “Do you even behave your kid” and sentences like”I knew that man’s genes were bad” were thrown at my mother. She was just a single mother trying her best, while I was a burden to her and those around me.
I wish I hadn’t done this. I really do. Mother… I just want to see you again…
I don’t wish to get sentimental.
The woods were always a getaway for me, I’d go there after school, on weekends and holidays. I even made a little “hideout” for me to go to. On one fateful day, I was going on a path I never went on and I saw something strange. A rusted metal door etched into a cave. Strange, I’ve never seen that or maybe even heard of it. It gave me the creeps so I didn’t want to open it. I got home that night and told mother what I found.
“You found what?” was her response, she was in schock at what I’d found.
“A door.” I repeated.
“Don’t go there, some old tale says that anyone who goes inside enters a different world.” She said.
Maybe she was trying to scare me, but I definitely wasn’t scared. I wasn’t a kid anymore.
Weeks had passed and I grew restless I guess. I needed to see what was behind the door. I needed it. But first, I needed to know more. I went around town asking if there were any tales or legends around the town. They all told me the same thing, “The door to nowhere”. I was intrigued. I went to the library and searched for any kids books about it. Nothing. I then asked the librarian if she could tell me about the tale.
“You wouldn’t want to hear that, boy.” She told me in a serious tone.
“I need to know, please.” I begged her to tell me.
She sighed, and looked to see if anyone was listening to us talking.
“There was once a man, Andrew was his name. A prodigy, he outsmarted the brightest minds that he had the chance to meet, but he took no pride in that. He wanted more knowledge. In his pursuit of knowledge, he met a girl, she was poor and didn’t take any education. He decided to help her. Their bond became closer and soon, they got engaged. This dirtied his family name as his family was of high status and their own prodigy was going to get married with a girl that had no actual childhood was a shame that no family could bear, but they did. They cared about his happiness. And so they married. His pursuit of knowledge was second priority now, for his biggest priority was family. He and his wife were expecting a baby when the economy of this town was starting to decline. Having no hope left, the townspeople asked him to fix it. How naive they were, asking a soon-to-be father to fix a problem that they could have prevented if they cared. He did what he could, he saved the economy because he was told that the declining economy would affect his family. But that wasn’t enough for the townspeople. They wanted more. If he could do things that they couldn’t and would happily do it if it meant that his family would live happily, they could practically get whatever they wanted from him. At first, they wanted small things like items from other countries, but it soon got worse as they wanted things that were impossible for him. He had a lot on his hands and now that he’s a father, he couldn’t do those things without pushing aside family. They proceeded to badmouth him and told him that they knew he couldn’t do it. That he never could. That he truly was useless and worthless. So he shut himself in, never leaving his home. He helped everyone he could and even that wasn’t enough. One fateful day, a rapture of existence appeared in the woods of the town. It sucked in most things around it. The town would have been wiped out of existence if the townspeople didn’t go to him. They begged him to find a way to stop it. To get rid of it. They told him one last time that his family would be in danger and he went out. He made a door that could stop it but he needed something else. At the time it wasn’t clear but now we know that it was a sacrifice, someone or something that meant everything to the town so that their existence would continue. Andrew volunteered to be the sacrifice and the one to seal the door. He took a gun he had modified to stop anything from killing him as he sealed the door. When he was nearly done, he saw his wife. Crying as she was held back by the townspeople. He wanted to go back but he couldn’t. So he sealed the door, with one last smile to his wife. Alas, the town was saved and no one was lost. All except Andrew as he disappeared along with the rapture.”
That was the tale. A man of high status being controlled by those around him who made it seem like he was doing it for his family. A tragedy. How could they? They ruined a man’s life and even after that, had the audacity to come to him when their situation was dire. I couldn’t help but ponder, were they grateful that he saves them?
“Thank you, ma’am.” I told the librarian.
“Don’t boggle your brain after this, boy.” She told me as I left the library.
I went back and headed to bed right after eating dinner. What a tale. A tragic one at that, but sort of cheesy? It was a love story at first and it quickly turned.
I packed some valuables and went out the next day. I didn’t want mother to think I was running so I did it when she was busy. I got to the door and as I gripped the handle, I heard my mother. Somehow she knew. She told me not to do it. She didn’t want to lose me. She didn’t want to lose “another”. I tightened my grip. This was my destiny, I could finally be free from the unfair judgement of those around me.
I opened the door and saw it, a giant scratch with another world at the other end. Mother then grabbed me and started to pull but I threw her to the ground. I told her that I was sorry but I needed to.
I jumped in as my mother tried one last time to grab me as she cried.
I fell from so high up. I crashed through a resident’s roof. My back hurt so much from that but somehow I survived. I fell into a small village of sorts. The resident of the hose was more horrified than angry that I just fell through his roof. I attempted to run outside but couldn’t. The villager told me to stay in his house as I recovered from that fall. I spent days there, just getting better. The man thought I was strange but was kind to me. When I was feeling alright, I went out to see the world I was now in.
It was much darker than home, and smoke mostly filled the air but there was one looming structure, a tower on the top of a hill. It was ominous but I felt it calling to me. I went on the path that I presumed lead to the tower.
On the first day of setting out, I met some people willing to help me with directions. It was nice knowing that some people in this world were nice.
On the second day, I awoke to an animal staring at me, it’s cold stare was too much for me to handle so I left that spot and continued. It wasn’t long until I would reach the tower and I could finally know what this world was, what happened to that man.
I entered the tower but only saw a staircase.
“Fair enough.” I thought, as I started to walk up the stairs.
I walked up the stairs for what felt like hours until I got to the top. I was greeted with another door, now bigger and scarier. The architecture was like nothing I’ve ever seen before in this world.
I opened the door by charging into it a couple of times and I saw something.
A figure, mostly slender but with a stunted back. It wore what seemed to be a cloak that covered it’s back and had a hood. It held a gigantic sword. Too big for someone it’s size to be able to even wield with two hands and it was only holding the sword with one. In it’s left hand was a firearm, heavily modified, almost too advanced for the technology at home.
It was holding the greatsword to another figure that seemed to be afraid. It was trembling and backing up to a wall.
“Stop this Andrew!” The cowering figure said.
“You cannot go back! You cannot see them ever again! This is what you chose!” It continued as “Andrew” readied his sword to strike it.
In one slash, it was dead. He turned around, to see me. I don’t know why, but he was immediately hostile. Relentlessly charging at me with murderous intent. His movements were fast and rabid. Almost like he was a mad dog chasing it’s prey. He was fast, but more random so I was able to evade his sword but he was able to cut me in the leg. It hurt like crazy. The pain was short-lived as I had to run from him. I was able to use the environment to my advantage to put it in a way you would understand. Lights, poles and furniture would block him and he’d charge through them, hurting himself in the process. As I reached the door back down, I turned back to see him with his sword pointing in the air with this almost dark energy surrounding it.
I was entranced by it and couldn’t move. It was stopping me from moving. When he was done, he pointed his gun to his head and pulled the trigger. My fight or flight instinct kicked in again and I jumped to the side. His sword made contact with the floor and a vertical wave if darkness shot from it. I can’t explain it well but it’s like something from a video game. He didn’t seem phased from the shot to the head though, but he was exhausted and even dropped his sword. I ran towards him and grabbed the sword. He tried to grab me by the neck but he couldn’t move too much. I pulled up the sword and stabbed him. As I was standing there, holding him up with his sword, I could hear him muster words.
“I-it wa-s fo- tem-“ he kept saying. Over and over and over again.
I pulled the sword out from where his heart was supposed to be and he dropped. One last sentence came from him though.
“You- to-k evr-it-ing fr-om me”
And he stopped breathing.
Now I sit, on this throne of sorts in a tower in a different world with the bodies of an otherworldly ruler and the man a tale spoke of.
Was he my father? Mother said he helped everyone he could. The tale said he helped everyone he could. She didn’t want to lose another person. All I can do is ask myself questions.
Oh how I wish I could see mother again.
Her sweet smile.
The gun wielded by “Andrew” is looking rather nice now, how it would be nice to point it to my head and end it all.
No
I’ll find a way out.
And when I do, I’ll tell her.
I’ll tell her that she was right
(Note from Dreadwing: If this is a bad story, I’m sorry for wasting your time and I’ll try to get better at writing. If this isn’t counted as horror, I’ll take it down)