Beware the Bones
Written by Nicole S..
The other relics:
The ones that made me weep;
The bits of burnt clothing,
The stopped watches, the torn shirts.
The twisted buttons,
The stained vests and drawers,
The charred boots,
The cotton summer pants the blasted boys crawled home in, to bleed
And slowly die.
Remember only these.
They are the memorials we need.
Extract from ?No More Hiroshimas? by James Kirdup.
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My mother's arms encircle my waist tightly, her hands rubbing my back. She takes them away and I can see the ruby red blood drip from her palms. Her tears fall softly onto my infant head, mixing with my own blood as she holds me close. I can feel her heart beating erratically, willing her to flee for her life as my father had advised before he fell to a harpoon in the chest. I know deep down that I will never see him again, that he is dead now, and gone for good but I don't understand how or why.
We stand in the center of a large cavern, hiding away from the main tunnels, taking refuge in our last safe haven. The screams of the dead and dying echo infinitely around the vaulted ceiling. Deafening, they seem to never end.
Suddenly, I smell the sharp tang of blood. I whimper and bury my head deeper into my mothers comforting presence, weeping into her rough shirt. Heavy footsteps approach us, sounding even louder than the screams which shred the air. I open my eyes to see a dark shadow laying heavily, fiercely, over the ground. My mother lowers me gruntingly to the floor, she is dying, I can hear it in her every breath, but still I am reticent to loose my comforting grip on her arm. I can feel her warm breath against my skin as she leans toward me, whispering in a painful, tear-choked voice. Two simple words. Words which are to alter the rest of my life. ?Sarah. Run.?
I don't want to. I can't leave my mother alone like this, but she pushes me away, and I run. Leaving her alone with the shadow I run as fast as I can, legs pumping furiously, adrenaline fuelled by terror. I can't turn back. I won't turn back. I must not, but I do.
I look back, stopping in place, feet skidding in the mud. I turn back and I see the shadow moving heavily toward my mother. I watch silently. The creature is as big as the wild bears I've been told about, with shaggy blonde fur covering its hulking body. Its great mane ripples in the stagnant breeze as it roars, razor sharp incisors sparkling. It approaches her steadily, reaching out one great hand to grab her magenta hair tightly and dangling her above its head, teasing her like a cat with a mouse. Then it strikes. Blood slicked claws rip through skin, muscle and sinew as the creature eviscerates my mother before my eyes.
My throat fills with bile as I watch, I am incapable of helping. All I can do is run and cry. Pain shoots through my hands as I hit the floor, three year old legs too short for such speeds. Stone scrapes bare arms and legs as I skid across the floor, and I feel a claw grab the back of my tee-shirt, tearing the fabric in two. My body shakes as the creature holds me up to its face, glaring at me from under bushy brows. It smiles, a smile that chills my blood, and tosses me across the cavern.
I land on hands and knees, feeling something slick and yielding beneath my fingers. Opening my eyes I scream in terror and disgust, realising where it has thrown me. My mothers blank, dead eyes stare back at me as tears trace silent tracks down my small, dirt encrusted face. Watching the beast approach me again I can feel myself tremble. I hardly hear the restraining voice drifting down, above the sound of blood pounding in my ears.
"Non!" I look up toward the gentle voice. A man stands behind me, towering over me. His features are veiled in darkness, long hair falling over his face and he wears a large trench coat sporting numerous worrying stains.
"Whaddid ya just say?!" The beast stops in its tracks, glaring at him malevolently. Forgotten, I creep away to hide behind a large rock.
"I said non mon ami. Ill not let ya hurt de chile." There is a sudden flash of movement and the loud thump of a body hitting the ground, the sound of splintering bones filled the cavern.
"Go screw yerself runt! How exacly ya plannin ta stop me?!"
The room is filled with a sudden illumination as the man climbed to his feet . His voice comes back small and chocked, proceeded by a gurgling cough. "Im gon," he chokes again and the light flickers, "Im gon run."
He releases something from his hand, an object glowing with stored energy. He is running even before it strikes the beast, feet pounding the ground as he lifts me into his strong arms. The wind blows through my short hair as we race through labyrinthine corridors, rapidly approaching the surface. He shouts out in pain as my small body strikes his, daggers of bone slicing through his soft skin. Blood peppers my face as he coughs deeply. Still he runs. I look up into glowing red eyes filled with guilt.
All I know for the rest of my life is pain.