Lost Boy

Chpt 1: Slightly

My name is Slightly, and I am a lost boy. I know what you’re thinking, ‘what a cliche’ name for an orphan’, but I promise you, that’s not what I am. I wasn’t always lost, I had a family, a baby sister, and a mother. My father died when I was young, so I took care of our family in our little village. That is, until our village was burnt to the ground by men who were supposed to protect us. They call themselves ‘The King's Army’, but if that’s the case the King must hate his people. I don’t know why they burned my village to the ground, and I don’t think I’ll ever find out. All I remember is, my mother told me to take my sister and flee to the hills. I wanted to protest and find a way out for all of us, but the situation gave me no time. I grabbed my sister, and fled as mother had instructed, my sister cried, because she was hungry, but I had no food to give her. I waited at the top of the hill for my mother, but when she didn’t return for a day, I could do nothing but assume the worst. I took my sleeping sister and trudged onward, finding anywhere that had shelter, maybe another village? Maybe some riders would find us, I kept hoping, it was all I could do. My sister however, wasn’t as hopeful as me, she cried and screamed, she didn’t stop. I remember at one point I got so upset, I considered leaving her to cry and just continuing my journey without her. Starvation makes you think horrible things, unfortunately, my brief wish came true. My sister cried until one night she just stopped, and when I awoke the next morning, I found her peacefully sleeping. I knew she wasn’t sleeping of course, so I made a nice little grave for her and gave her a headstone I made with twigs and stones. I continued my journey, coming across a creek and cursing myself for not going a little bit farther the day before, my sister would have lived then. I wasted no time, approaching the creek as fast as my tired legs would carry me. I guess I was going too fast because I tripped and rolled into the creek, the water felt so clean and cold on my skin, I dunked my head under the water and drank as much as my mouth would swallow. I must have forgotten to breathe because a few moments later I was gasping for breath and thanking the moon for my life. I spent a fair amount of an entire day at the creek, washing myself and the cuts from my fall, gathering food and sticks for a fire, and of course, indulging in the taste of the heavenly water. The search for shelter wasn’t over though, so when nightfall came I had to keep going. I don’t know if they felt sorry for me, or they just simply loved me, but I swear the moon was on my side, if they weren’t then there wouldn’t have been a shelter not far from the creek. As soon as I had laid eyes on it, I called it home and made myself comfortable. Usually caution would be more important to me, incase this shed belonged to another farmer and I was imposing. But in my current state, I didn’t care. I made a bed out of hay, shifting it to where I could sleep comfortably, then without a second thought, I closed my eyes and let the night carry my mind to a deep safe haven. I dreamt of my mother, and my sister, they were together, but I couldn’t follow them because our worlds were two different places completely. I awoke crying that night, I realised I was alone, no one would take care of me, and it scared me. I may have had the moon on my side briefly, but when I looked outside, it was covered by the clouds, and I knew that the sky gods didn’t approve of the help the moon had bestowed to me. I was utterly and completely alone. Which is why seeing a shadow fly overhead the shed startled me so much. A gasp escaped my lips and I buried myself in my hay bed, I waited a few more moments and saw nothing more. Maybe I had just imagined it? No, there it was again, it flew closer this time, and made the wind whistle at it’s expense. How could something that big fly so gracefully? The answer is, something that big can’t. Because it crashed into my shelter and fell through the ceiling, causing me to yelp. I was so surprised I didn’t even care that my yelp sounded like a little girl. Who-what just fell into my sanctuary..? Despite me being scared of the creature lying in front of me, my curiosity reared its ugly head and urged me to approach the being. I told myself I shouldn’t do this, because I knew it was dangerous, but at the village, I always got into trouble for being curious. Mother always yelled at me, but that never stopped me, i am such an adventurous brat. I slowly got a glimpse of the being before it twitched and made me jump three feet. I was actually a little disappointed in myself for buying this scared, but considering all that had happened to me, I guess I had an excuse. Finally, I was able to get a good look at the one who disturbed my peace. It..was a boy, a real human boy, like me. He..even looks around my age- what kind of joke is this? I couldn’t believe my eyes, I kept rubbing them, making sure I was actually seeing this correctly. How could a boy be flying around and falling through shelter ceilings? This can’t be real- As much as I wanted to doubt the credibility, I had run out of time. The boy had flung his eyes open and seen me. He must have been surprised too because he yelled in surprise, making me scream again and throw myself away from him.

“Ow..that really hurt.. Landings have never been my forte..I really need to work on them..” He was rubbing his head, I guess he had a bump or something. I mean, obviously he did, with the way he landed. I was speechless and shaking, I thought I was going to pee at one point. He stopped rubbing his head and checked for blood, then turned his attention to me. “Sorry for the intrusion. I’m still trying to get a hold on the whole flying thing.” His smile was so wide and white, I thought I was going to get a sunburn. I still didn’t say anything, I was trying to collect myself. “You understand right? Flying is hard..” He stood and dusted his clothing off, clothing that looked like leaves sewn together. In fact, I think it was. He didn’t even seem uncomfortable with me not speaking, he just extended his hand and kept going, “Sorry again for breaking your roof, I’m Peter.”