Every Little Memory

Entry #26: Denim

The first thing I hear when I enter Nocturne Hollow is the sound of the Cerulean River flowing steadily along its path. The rich blue waters would be perfect for swimming if they weren’t so shallow. The river by the forest is where it is at its thinnest. There is still thick mud beside the river bank. Kaiya’s footprints are still pressed into the thick substance, leading to where she had been fishing in the last memory I saw of her.

The forest is even quieter today. There are no fish to be seen in the river. The birds are no longer chirping in the trees. Not a single breeze blows. The entire world is as still as can be. I walk into the woods, wandering a bit as I look around. The forest remains unchanged. I think this memory may be occurring after what happened with Kaiya’s mother. The scene is still a bit fresh in my mind, and I can’t help the pang of sorrow that comes with it.

I stumble along inside the forest, thinking I may be lost. I don’t know these woods well. Everything here looks the same, as though I were treading down a never-ending path. The darkness closes in around me as night begins to fall. This place is so gloomy; it makes me feel nothing but sorrow and paranoia.

Just when I’m about ready to give up, I happen upon a small clearing in the woods. It isn’t very big. I could probably reach the other side in a few paces. It must have been bigger once, but whatever space that existed before is now covered with tangled tree roots and brambles. There is a small mound in the earth. It is as long as a human is tall, suggesting that it is a burial mound. In fact, there is a rotting wooden slab stuck in the ground with a carving in the center. That’s it. No epitaph or poetic words. Just a symbol that looks like a wolf’s fang.

I turn around from the burial stone to see Kaiya kneeling on the edge of the clearing with a flaming torch in hand. She must have just arrived, as she wasn’t there when I got here. She sticks it into the soft ground with care, allowing it to light up the small clearing. Draped over her shoulders is the cold corpse of her mother, wearing the same bloody outfit she died in, and a thick hide blanket. In one of her hands is another wooden slab.

The lupine lays her mother down as gently as possible, letting her head lie down slowly. Her eyes are now closed and her skin is as pale as snow. It seems as if her body aged even though it died; it has more wrinkles than before. Her claws and lips are turning a frostbitten blue. It must break poor Kaiya’s heart to see her mother like this.

Kaiya gets to work. She combs her mother’s hair so it looks clean and shimmers in the torchlight. Taking a needle and thread, she sews up the torn spot on her clothes where the guard’s sword had cleaved through. Kaiya isn’t very good at sewing, but she tries her best. It looks a bit uneven when she finishes, but the look on her face says that it’ll do. She reaches by her mother’s neck at removes the necklace she had made her for her birthday. Goodness, that seems like it was so long ago.

“Sorry, mom. I know you loved this, but I want to keep it to remember you. Is that okay?” she says, her voice cracking as she fights back tears. Kaiya puts the necklace around her own neck for safe keeping.

After she composes herself, she unfolds the hide blanket and flattens it out on the ground. The material is very thick, meant to keep its user warm and comfortable. Kaiya lifts her mother into the center of the blanket and wraps her snugly in it.

“This is your favorite blanket. It’ll keep you warm down there, I promise,” she says softly.

Kaiya gives her one last mournful look before she steps away from her mother’s body. She goes to stand next to the marked grave, giving it a glance before she kneels in the dead grass. I watch as she transforms into her large wolf form. Her large nose sniffs at the ground, and then starts sinking her claws into the soil.

Her powerful paws dig into the earth with ease. It doesn’t take long before she shapes a shallow hole in the ground. It has a similar shape and size to the grave next to it. Satisfied, she returns to her human form and returns to her mother. Her strong arms lift the corpse as if she were light as a feather. With the utmost care and tenderness, she lays her mother down in her grave, making sure the blanket is secure. It is as though she is lying the woman down for a nap.

“There. Now you can be next to dad, just like….just like…you wanted…” she says, wiping salty tears from her cheeks. She hesitates a moment before she piles the dirt back into the hole. I watch as she fills it up completely and uses her hands to smooth the soil down into a perfect mound. Her hands pick up the stone slab and her claws carve the fang shape into the wood.

“The fang means a wolf is buried here,” she mutters to herself, as if she were reciting verses for a teacher. Probably something her mother taught her.

Using both hands, she thrusts the slab into the earth before her mother’s grave, and hammers it down with one of her fists. It now resembles her father’s grave, her two parents resting side by side.

Kaiya plops down in the dead grass by her mother’s grave, staring at it with an empty gaze. Her arms wrap around her knees as she hugs them close to her body. She bends her head into her legs and starts to weep, her body shaking with her sobs.

I know how she feels. The pain of losing someone dear to you is almost too much to bear. Kaiya has experienced more pain than when I lost my parents. Unlike me, Kaiya now has no one. Her mother was the only person she trusted with all her heart; the only person who loved her and she loved them in return. I have a brother, dear friends, people I look up to, while Kaiya does not. She does not have those things. Kaiya is completely alone.

I wonder how long it will take for her pain to subside and her tears to dry?

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A/N: Yay, another depressing chapter! I didn't cry while writing this one. That's good; it's hard to write through tears.

Theme #26 was 'denim'. The symbolic meaning behind this is that denim is blue, so the whole scene is blue (ya know, like sad?) Also I made the blanket thick like denim. Thanks to KizzyLoserBrain for the idea! :D

Here's a fun fact, guys! On the Crayola website, on the'denim'color page,it says, "Studies have shown that blue is the favorite color for casual clothing. Wear a lot of blue because it shows that you are smart." I wear a lot of blue just 'cause it's my favorite color. O.o

Dedicated to rhea-qua-nicotine for reading most of the story! :D