Part 6 – Home
When he stepped back into the village, he found heads turning around at him and wondering who he was, but it did not take long before he was finally recognised.
“Hey, Edmund! Chicken legs is back!” A young man yelled into a house.
“What? Cain?” Edmund dropped his hammer and ran out in his dirty apron.
Cain greeted him with a big smile and one grew quickly on Edmund’s face too. Edmund ran to him and immediately grabbed him in a chokehold and ruffled his hair up.
“Hey, hey! Stop that!” Cain said, laughing.
Shouts ran through the village saying that Cain was back. His mother and father ran to him crying, and held him in a tight embrace.
“I missed you, Ma, Paps.” Cain said to them.
“W-we thought… we thought you were gone… gone for good.” His mother sobbed.
“We never should have let you go. Never.” His father growled through his tears.
“No, that was the best decision. I learned a lot… more than I ever could in a hundred years living here.” Cain smiled, pulling away from them.
“Cain!” A voice screamed out. He looked in the direction the voice came from, and he saw the face he had missed the most while he was in the forest.
“Theresa,” Cain whispered when she was in his arms, “I know that it’s a little early… but will you marry me?”
“W-what?” Theresa said as she wiped away her tears.
“Will you marry me now that I’m no longer a boy?” Cain whispered again. Theresa stared in his eyes, then stepped back to look him up and down. She started to laugh.
“What… what have you done to Cain? What about wanting to be one of the bravest and toughest boys in the village?”
Cain smiled and said, “I know now, they were neither the bravest nor the toughest, just a group of normal boys, but me… I’m not. Even so… will you marry me?” He held out his hand to her.
Theresa smiled as she laughed and took his hand, “Of course. I’ve waited for this… for so long. Cain… these last weeks without you… they were the longest of my life.”
“Then be prepared for short weeks, for they are all that is ahead of you now,” Cain whispered into her ear as they embraced once more.
*Fin*
YOU ARE READING
The Forest
Teen FictionCain is a young boy who, despite his fears, decides he must gather up his courage and grow up. Taking up the Journey of Courage, he goes on a journey which requires much more than that. Author's note: I wrote this a few years ago for a school assign...
