Mid Dragon's World Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Memories of Mom
It was 11:45 the next day. Yet another typical day at school: I had my first four classes and was now eating lunch with Jericho and Cassie. Like always, the twins sat together while I sat across from them. We were all eating the same thing: mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, Salisbury steak, and some chocolate milk to drink.
I sat there at the table and dug my fork into my gravy, head resting in my left hand. I was still feeling the same way I did yesterday. Actually, today I was feeling a bit worse. I pulled a scoop of mashed potatoes up to my mouth and took slow bites. While I chewed, I looked over at Jericho and Cassie then immediately turned my focus to the wall. After I swallowed my food, I took a drink from my milk carton.
“Hey Jake?” Cassie asked.
“Yeah?” I asked back, my focus returning to them.
“Are you okay?” She asked me again.
“I’m…I’m fine. Why?”
“Well you haven’t talked a lot today. What’s up?”
I sighed. I had figured out why I was so sad but I didn’t know if I should tell them. What would they say if I told them that the reason I was sad was because I was jealous of them for having a mom? All my friends had moms: Jericho and Cassie, Theian, Z’haer, even Alex had a mom. But I didn’t. Dad would sometimes show me pictures of mom if I ever asked about her but pictures weren’t good enough. I didn’t want to see pictures of my mom. I wanted to see her for real.
“Jake, if something’s wrong, you can tell us. What’s wrong, dude?” Jericho asked, sounding worried for me.
“Well…No. It’s nothing.” I said, taking a small nibble of my Salisbury steak.
“C’mon, Jake! We can help you!” Jericho promised, now sounding even more worried about me.
I guessed I might as well tell them what was going on. I took another drink of milk and explained everything to Cassie and Jericho.
“I miss my mom.” I said, a sinking feeling developing in my stomach.
“You miss your mom?” Cassie repeated. “Where is she?”
I looked down and away from them.
“She’s dead. She died when I was born.” I said, rubbing my left eye.
Things were silent for a bit as Jericho and Cassie let what I just told them sink in. After awhile, Jericho spoke.
“Aww Jake! I’m sorry.” Jericho said sympathetically.
“I’m sorry too.” Cassie also said in a sympathetic voice.
I sniffled a little, rubbing my nose. I looked back at them, feeling so terrible. I didn’t even want to eat anymore.
Letting out a rush of breath, I continued explaining to them.
“When I saw you talking with your mom, Jericho after we walked back to your house, it just made me so sad. All my friends knew their moms: you guys, Theian, Z’haer, even Alex got to know his mom.”
I tried to take a couple more bites of my food, having a difficult time doing so and took one last drink of my milk before I stood up and was about to throw my food out.
“I’m going to recess.” I said. “You guys coming?”
“Sorry Jake. Our mom’s picking us up to go to the dentist.” Jericho said.
“Oh…” I replied, feeling disappointed. “…Alright.”
“Hey Jake. Don’t feel bad. We’ll play together tomorrow, kay?” Jericho smiled, trying to make me feel better.
“Okay…” I said, still feeling a little sad.
I threw what remained of my lunch in the garbage bin and set my tray on the table next to it. Once outside, I sneaked around to the back of the school, changed into my half-dragon form, and flew up to the roof, just like I did at my old school. I found it a little harder to get up there since the school was two stories and my old school was only one.
Sitting down on top of the roof, I looked down and saw Jericho and Cassie walking out of the school with their mom and little sister. They got into their van which was parked by the curb and drove away.
Well, as long as I was up here, perhaps I could try to get a little sleep. This time, however, I’d try to make sure to wake up when the bell rang. I laid down, curled into a ball and folded my wings over me like a blanket. Almost every part of me, except for my head and my tail were covered by my wings. I could feel my tail starting to burn from just laying there on the seriously hot roof. I pulled my tail in and tucked it between my legs. I smiled to myself as the pain started to go away. I yawned and laid my head down as I fell asleep.
As I slept, I dreamt that I was in a hospital. For some strange reason, there was no one around. Everything was completely quiet. Slowly I proceeded down the hallway, looking in each room only to find that no one was in them. Suddenly I heard crying. The cries sounded like a baby’s. Worried for the baby I followed its cries as they grew louder and louder with each step. The crying seemed to be coming from the room at the end of the hallway.
When I entered the room the crying was coming from, I found a woman lying in one of the beds. Her eyes were wide open as was her mouth. She was covered in blood. She was dead. Next to her was a blanket with a baby wrapped in it. I picked the kid up and held him in my arms. This didn’t calm him down though. I didn’t know what to do. I never took care of a baby before.
Just then I felt something poking out from the blanket. I held the baby up and noticed that a tail was slowly making its way out of the blanket.
A TAIL?! I thought to myself. Yep. It was a tail alright. And a very familiar tail. The color of the scales, the spikes, the bottom of the tail. There was no doubt: That was tail was mine. Which meant this baby…was me.
Removing the blanket from the baby…me, I saw he…I had tiny little wings growing out of my back. My wings looked so small, so small that they could easily fit in the palm of someone’s hand and so fragile like they could be easily crushed.
Carefully, I wrapped my baby self in the blanket again and looked at the woman who I knew now was my mom. What happened to her?! She looked like someone killed her. The bed she was in was soaked with blood, especially around her legs. I didn’t like this. Whatever was going on was really starting to scare me.
Just then, I could hear strange moaning. At first it started out soft, kind of quiet but it quickly began to grow louder. Eventually it became so loud that I placed my baby self next to mom and covered my ears and squished my eyes shut. My heart was beating rapidly and I was breathing fast and loudly. I didn’t know what was making that terrible noise but I wanted it to stop! I prayed for it to stop!
I slowly moved my hands from my ears, finding that the noise did stop. Once again it was quiet. Slowly I opened my eyes but what I saw once I opened them made me let out a loud scream.
In front of me was a ghost that looked like my dad! Only…the ghost had two large black eyes that made it look kind of like an alien. Its body looked like some kind of a gas, its arms disturbingly long and its fingers looked more like spikes.
I started panting again. I felt like I was going to pass out from fear. The ghost slowly moved closer to me. I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. As I looked over at the bed my mom and the baby me were in, I noticed that both of them had disappeared as did the blood. In fact, the bed now looked as if no one had even been in it.
The ghost raised a spikey finger, pointing to the bed. “YOU…KILLED…HER…” It said slowly.
“What?” I asked it, not understanding what it meant.
“YOU…KILLED…HER…” It said again.
“YOU KILLED HER!” It shrieked.
“YOU KILLED HER! YOU KILLED HER!!! YOU KILLED HER!!!!”
I woke up, sweating and panting, my heart beating so fast I thought it would pop out of my chest. What a freaky dream! I could remember every bit of it. The abandoned hospital, the bloody bed, my mom’s body…and the ghost that looked like my dad blaming me for her dying. The ghost’s words make me think…was it true? Was I the reason mom died? If I was never born, would she still be alive?
Before I could try and answer my own question, the bell rang. I flew down, changed back to my human form, and returned to class with the rest of the kids. For the rest of the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about what the ghost from my dream said. It was hard for me to concentrate when all I could think of was that ghost and its horrible voice screaming at me that I killed my mom.
The school bell ran at 3:30 just like always, meaning it was time to go home. I grabbed my things from my locker and proceeded right out the door. Outside, I saw Theian and Z’haer in their human forms standing by the curb. I ran over to them, wondering why they were here. Dad usually didn’t send anyone to come get me unless I was late getting home.
“Hey Theian, hey Z’haer.” I said. “What are you guys doing here?”
“We told your dad we’d pick you up from school today and so…here we are.” Explained Z’haer.
I followed Theian and Z’haer down the street. A few blocks away from my school, I followed them into an alley and they changed into their real forms. Theian crouched down, letting me on his back. As soon as I was on, the two of them flapped their wings, rising into the air and flying straight for home.
We flew high through the sky, everyone below us looking even smaller than ants. I held onto Theian as tightly as I could so that I wouldn’t fall off.
“So Jake, where was your buddy Jericho?” Asked Z’haer.
“His mom picked him and his sister up to go to the dentist.” I explained.
“Oh.” Z’haer replied. “By the way, how did school go?”
“Well…” I said, stalling as I started to think about that dream again.
“Well what? Did something happen, Jake?” Z’haer asked concerned.
I was quiet for a moment. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then I explained to them what happened.
“During recess today, I was sleeping on the school roof. I had a nightmare about…”
“About what?” Asked Theian.
I didn’t say anything for a bit again. It was hard for me to think about that dream let alone talk about it. I started thinking about what the ghost from my dream said. About me killing my mom. It made me think about something that maybe Z’haer or Theian would be able to answer.
“Theian…Z’haer…do you…do you think I shouldn’t have been born?” I asked, feeling a sudden heavy pain in my chest after having asked.
I could tell that my question surprised both Z’haer and Theian. I knew they weren’t expecting me to ask but I wanted to know what they thought.
“Jake.” Z’haer said in a surprised voice. “Why would you ask something like that?”
“In my dream…” I began explaining. “I was in this hospital with nobody in it. I walked into one of the rooms and saw my mom’s body laying in a bed covered in blood. Then this weird ghost that looked like dad was shrieking at me, saying that I was the reason mom died.”
I stopped for a moment and sniffled a little. I took another deep breath, feeling like I was about to start crying. I didn’t want to think that I killed my mom but I knew she died giving birth to me. If she never had me, she would still be alive and with dad.
I rubbed my eyes, tears starting to run down my face. I laid my head in between my arms and cried.
“Jake.” Theian said. “Can you listen to me for a moment? You didn’t kill your mom. I’m sure your mother loved you very much and I don’t think she’d want her only son to blame himself for her death.”
I sniffled again and wiped away my tears. “Thanks Theian.” I smiled.
“You know, I never knew either of my hatch parents. They could be alive or dead. I don’t know. But even then I guess I’m okay with it. I had Angela for my mother and that was good enough.” Said Theian, sounding strangely happy.
Theian’s words helped make me feel a bit better. I wiped my eyes one more time and smiled to myself.
“Hey Z’haer!” I called. “What’s your family like?”
“Mine?” Z’haer asked me. “Well, I’ve got a mom, a dad and a brother and sister. I’m the middle hatchling in the family. My sister is the oldest, then me, then my brother.”
“Do you ever see them?”
“Yep!” Z’haer said. “Every night when I return to the dragon realm I make sure to pay them a visit. My parents are getting pretty old so my sister and brother look after them while I work with you guys.”
I could see my neighborhood coming up. Theian and Z’haer began to descend to the ground and we landed in the driveway. I hopped off Theian’s back as he and Z’haer changed into their human forms and came in the house with me. Inside I saw Alex and dad in the living room, sitting on the couch together watching TV. I kicked off my shoes then walked into the living room, set my bag by the reclining chair next to the couch and sat down. I grabbed the lever on the side of the chair and pulled the footrest up, my feet going up along with it. I sighed comfortably as I sank back into the chair.
“Welcome home Jakol.” Dad greeted.
“Hi dad, hi Alex. Hey Alex, how did you get home?” I asked.
“I flew. How else would I get home?” Alex answered.
“Well, we should probably be going. I’ve got to check on my family.” Z’haer said, stretching his arms.
“Z’haer.” Said dad as he stood up and walked over to Z’haer.
“Remember not to—“
“I know.” Z’haer interrupted. “I haven’t told my family I’ve been working with you. They don’t suspect a thing.”
“Good. The last thing we need is word getting around the dragon realm about us. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you or the others how disastrous it would be if one of the Leaders learned of our plan.” Dad said, sounding suspicious.
“I understand sir. I swear I won’t say anything.” And with that, Z’haer opened a portal in front of the door. Theian entered first and then Z’haer. Once they had entered through it the portal closed behind them.
Dad sat up, resting his arms on his legs. He turned and looked at me and Alex.
“So how was school today boys?” Dad asked us.
“Same as always: didn’t talk to anyone. I did get in a fight with some kids who were tricking to start something with me.” Alex said, sounding a little angry.
“Did you win?” Asked dad.
“Well of course!” Alex said sarcastically. “Come on dad! I’m a half-dragon fighting some humans! They didn’t have a chance!”
“Ah that’s true.” Dad smiled. “Nicely done son. Good to see you’re getting some training in without my telling you. And how about you, Jakol? How was your school day?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” I said, thinking about my dream again which yet again made me feel sad.
“Why not? Did you get in a fight too, Jakol?” Asked Dad.
I shook my head then looked down without saying anything.
“You okay Jake?” Asked Alex, sounding really worried about me.
I shook my head again, this time not looking at my dad or Alex.
“Well what’s wrong? Come on. You can tell us.” Alex said, sounding even more concerned.
I sighed and turned to them. If I was able to tell Theian and Z’haer then it should have been okay for me to tell dad and Alex why I was upset. Deciding to tell Alex and dad, I looked straight at them and said…
“I miss my mom.” I said sadly.
“Mom?” Dad repeated. “What made you think about her?”
“Well everyday after school, my friends Jericho and Cassie’s mom picks them up from school. Now when I see them with their mom, it makes me kinda angry and kinda sad at the same time. It makes me wish my mom was still alive.” I explained, feeling pain in my chest, my eyes watering.
I sniffled again. “I miss mom so much. I wish she was still here…”
I shut my eyes and rubbed them. I turned away from Alex and dad, not wanting them to see my face in case I started crying.
“Well…” Dad began. “I can’t bring her back but I still might be able to let you see her.”
“Really?!” I exclaimed, a sudden smile appearing on my face as I turned to dad again. “How? How are you gonna do it?”
“I’m going to use a spell to show you my memories. It is one of five spells known to only a select few denizens of the dragon realm. I’ve already taught this spell to Z’haer.” Explained dad, standing up and coming over to me with Alex following him.
I remembered that spell! It was the very same spell Z’haer used to show me, Theian, and Jericho Alex’s memories. Dad kneeled down by the chair, Alex standing over him.
“Now do you know how to do this, Jakol?” Dad asked.
“Yeah. When we went hunting, Z’haer used that spell to show us Alex’s memories.” I answered.
“Ah yes that’s right. Well, shall we do this?”
I nodded, excited that I’d get to see mom, even if it was just through dad’s memories.
Dad placed his hand on my forehead and grabbed my left hand. Both of us shut our eyes and when I opened mine, I was now in a building that looked like some weird laboratory. The building was shaking terribly like there was an earthquake. A group of two dragons, four kids, and two adults, one who was carrying a little dragon in his arms, were running out of the building. Behind them laid the body of a dead dragon and next to that dragon was my dad, also in his dragon form. He struggled to stand up but collapsed to the ground. As the building started shaking even more violently, a portal opened up in front of dad. He crawled towards the portal and just as it started to close behind him, the building exploded. Dad got caught in the explosion and was flung forward into the dragon realm.
Rained poured from the dragon realm’s sky, hitting my dad’s orange-red scales. He was panting loudly, coughing up some blood. Struggling, he lifted his head and opened another portal. With what little strength he had left, dad crawled toward the new portal. His head fell to the ground, groaning in pain as the portal began to disappear. Dad jerked his head up and tried to focus as the portal reappeared. Slowly he crawled into the portal and lost consciousness when he entered into it.
“That day I barely escaped with my life.” I heard dad’s voice say. His voice was really loud. I couldn’t tell where he was.
“With what little strength I retained from my battle with Doulstraz’s parents and my facility’s explosion, I escaped into the dragon realm. However I wasn’t safe yet. If someone from the dragon realm found me, it would be all over for me. I had to escape once more to the human realm. So, with my last ounce of strength, I opened another portal and made my way into the human realm. Although I was able to get out of the human realm, I knew I wasn’t safe yet. My body was badly beaten to the point that I was on death’s door. As I slipped into unconsciousness, I feared this was it. I was going to die without seeing Tourajé’s dream fulfilled.” Explained dad.
Dad’s memory changed. Now I was standing in a hospital room. My dad, who had changed back to human form, lay in a hospital bed, wrapped in bandages that made him look like a mummy. His breathing was better now but still not too good. A woman walked into the room and sat down in a chair next to my dad’s bed. She didn’t look like a nurse. Was she the one that brought dad to the hospital? I walked closer to the woman and studied her, noticing just how similar she looked to my mom, only younger. This must have been my mom when she was younger.
I smiled widely. I couldn’t believe it: I was standing next to my mom! I was so happy I thought I was going to cry. Tears formed in my eyes as I called out to her. I knew from Z’haer’s explanation that I couldn’t interact with my dad’s memories but I didn’t care. I still wanted to let mom know I was here. Right next to her.
“Mom, it’s me! Hey mom, it’s Jake!” I shouted, trying to get her attention.
But she didn’t notice me. I tried to give her a hug but my arms passed through her. I looked down and frowned. I really wanted to talk to her and have her talk to me. To hug her and be hugged by her but I couldn’t. All I could do was watch her through dad’s memories.
“When I woke up I wasn’t sure where I was. Why was I wrapped in bandages and why couldn’t I move my body? I had found myself changed back into my human form. The woman you see before you, Jakol, who would eventually become your mother, found me collapsed outside of the restaurant she was working at. She brought me to a hospital and made sure I got the treatment I needed. Everyday she would stop by and visit me, sometimes bringing gifts with her.”
Dad’s memories changed yet again. This time I was standing outside the entrance to the hospital. Dad, whose body looked as good as new, was walking out of the hospital with mom behind him.
“My recovery was fast, and five weeks later, I would be released from the hospital. With my body as good as new I was ready to get back to my plan. My first plan was to gather together two groups of dragons to help me with taking over the world. My view was simple: one group would be my Followers. They would help with the actual takeover, make sure that no humans tried to fight back. The second group would become my Apprentices. Their job would be to take care of the humans we captured, keep them fed and watered. Yes, my vision was right in front of me, clear as day. However, there was something that stood before my vision…Your mother.”
As dad started down the road from the hospital, mom called to him. He stopped and turned around.
“What is it?” Dad asked.
“What are you going to do now?” Asked mom.
“I don’t know.” Dad shrugged.
“Do you have a home? I can drive you.” Mom said, offering dad a ride.
“I had a home once. Don’t anymore.”
“I’m…sorry to hear that. If you want, you can stay with me. I have my own place.” Mom smiled.
“I didn’t understand this woman. Why was she so concerned about me? Was it simply because I was gravely injured…or was there something more to it? Nonetheless, she fascinated me in a way no human ever had. I wanted to know more about her. So since I had nowhere to go, I agreed to live with her.”
The scene changed again and this time, I was standing in my mom’s apartment. She and dad sat on the couch together in her living room.
“You know, I was just thinking: We’ve known each other for five weeks and we don’t really know anything about each other.” Mom said.
Mom giggled. She stood up and walked in front of dad.
“I’m Christa Peterson. I’m 26 years old and I’m a waitress at Denny’s. What I really want to do though is paint. What about you? What’s your name?”
“I don’t have one.” Dad shrugged again.
“Come on, you can tell me. I won’t think it’s weird or anything. So what’s your name?” Mom asked, dropping onto the couch and nudging dad’s shoulder.
Dad grumbled something under his breath. Neither me or mom could hear him so she asked him to repeat what he said but a little louder.
“My name is Saulstrance.” Dad said in a much clearer voice.
“Saulstrance? That is a bit of a weird name. What kind of name is it?”
“It’s a dragon name. Look, Christa, there’s something you should know about me.”
Dad stood up and changed into his real form. Mom’s eyes grew wide when she saw what dad really was. She couldn’t believe that she was looking at a real live dragon. The idea musta seemed too crazy for her.
“Even though your mom knew early on what I really was, she still wanted me to be with her. The longer I spent with her, the more I realized that I was falling for her. I truly found her to be a unique and interesting human. If there was anyone I wanted to rule my soon-to-be kingdom with me, it was her. I shared with her my dream of making the human realm a better place, a dream that she confessed she shared. She also wanted to see an end to the suffering this world brings. Being with me gave her hope as she thought I may very well be able to make ours and Tourajé’s dream a reality.”
Everything changed again and this time, dad and mom stood close together in a dark bedroom. Mom and dad held each other as they kissed for a long time. Mom looked a little bit older in this memory while dad still looked the same. Mom and dad stopped kissing and she led him to the bed.
Suddenly, everything changed again. We were back in the living room. Mom was hugging dad and when she let go, she looked down at her belly which was a lot bigger than it was in the last memory. This was when mom was pregnant and I was the baby in her belly. I smiled for the two of them although I wasn’t really sure why. After all I was the one that was going to be born. Why would I be happy that I was about to be born if I was already born?
“When your mom was already three months pregnant, she had already begun deciding on names for you. We had gone through so many names until we came across two we really liked: If you were going to be a boy, we would name you Jacob. If you were a girl, we were going to name you Samantha. I suggested to her that instead of naming you Jacob, we should give you a dragon name, since you were going to be a half-dragon. And so that was when we decided your name would be Jakol.”
And again everything changed. I was back in the hospital this time. Mom was laying in a hospital bed with a nurse telling her to push. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, gripping the blanket tightly in her hands.
“Alright, you’re doing great Christa. Now, just one more push.” The doctor said.
Mom gave one large push, screaming even louder this time before falling back into the bed. A baby’s cries suddenly filled the room and there I was, me as a baby, my little wings and tail as fragile as they were in my dream. Even though the doctor noticed my dragon parts, he didn’t say anything about them. After cleaning me off, he gave me to my mom and dad. My dad held me in his arms before giving me to mom. He laid me beside her since she was too weak to hold me.
“Hi Jake.” Mom said, sounding exhausted. “I finally get to see my baby boy. For the first…and last time.”
“Last time? What do you mean Christa?!” Dad said alarmed.
“Christa isn’t strong enough to bear children. In fact, her body is so weak that even birthing one child could kill her.” The doctor explained.
“What?! But then—No! Christa! Why?!” Dad exclaimed, his voice shaky.
“Because I love our son. I love Jake more than life itself. It would have been wrong of me to kill him so I could live.” Mom said, her breathing growing heavier and her eyes shutting every now and then.
“But--!” Dad exclaimed.
“Our Jake is a very special boy. And not just because he’s part dragon. It’s because he’s our boy. Take care of him.”
Dad nodded in agreement, looking down at the ground.
Mom picked me up and held me in her arms. For the next four minutes, she held me, singing a lullaby to me which made me fall asleep. As soon as I was sleeping, mom laid back down and fell asleep too. Only…she wouldn’t be waking up.
“No! Christa! Wake up!” Dad shouted, causing the baby me to wake up and start crying.
“No! No…” Dad said. He couldn’t believe mom was gone. He lowered his head. I walked closer to him and what I saw shocked me. This was the first time ever that I saw dad crying. Seeing mom laying on the hospital bed dead and dad crying made me cry as well.
Dad’s memory ended and I was back in the living room. When I felt under my eyes, I found my tears from when I was seeing dad’s memories were still there, traveling down my face. I wiped my tears away as dad took his hand off my forehead.
That night I was getting ready for bed when dad and Alex came into my room.
“How are you feeling, Jakol? Are you better?” Dad asked.
“Yeah.” I answered. “I still feel a little sad but…I’m also happy. Even if mom isn’t around anymore, I can at least be happy knowing that she really loved me. I’m glad I was born to you and mom.” I smiled at dad.
Dad smiled back at me. He walked up and rubbed my head. Then he left my room with Alex following behind him and shut the door.
With a smile on my face and feeling nothing but happiness, I crawled into bed and drifted off to sleep. While I slept, I had another dream about mom, only this time, it was a happy dream. Mom, dad, and me when I was about four were on a beach together. We walked down the beach, with me in the middle holding both my parents’ hands. They would pull me up occasionally and I would swing in the air, giggling. I looked up and smiled at mom and dad and they smiled down at me. Mom picked me up, put me on her shoulders, and gave me a piggyback ride. With dad following behind us, she ran around the beach, laughing with me.
“I love you mommy.” I said, smiling.
“I love you too Jake.” Mom said, also smiling.
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