Rivers Deep | Sam Winchester

0. Eleutheromania

Єℓєυтнєяσмαηια.
Noun.   An intense and irresistible desire for freedom.

• • •

Life is an interesting thing. Death is it's opposite, not many seem to enjoy the topic of it as much as they do the former. Everything that happens between birth and death are what define us as human beings. And the people in this narrative know that better than anyone else.

This story begins back in 1981, when a baby boy was born with dark brunet hair, and the most beautiful amber eyes that glowed up at his parents, who stared down at him in adoration. On that day, in late July, he was named Noah Elijah Marilynn, and he was the firstborn of a family doomed to fail. Some call that tragic, he called it destiny.

In 1987, a baby girl named Nikki, with blonde hair that matched her mother's was born, and in 1989, Richard was brought into the world.

For a decade, they were your average family, happy, loving, and close. They were tightknit and they had remained settled within a small town in Arkansas for the children's entire childhood.

However, it was one June day in 1993 where fate would take the reigns. And so, one domino fell...

• • •

Twelve-year-old Noah bounded into the hallway, a ball of energy as he practically bounced off the walls. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and the kids had been promised a day at the park and Lauralie always made pancakes on Saturday, so the oldest child was exited beyond belief.

He ran into his baby brother's room, seeing him laying in bed, still asleep. "Richie! C'mon, Mom's making pancakes, it's your favorite!" The twelve-year-old sat on his brother's bed, shaking his shoulder. "Richie, come on, wake up!"

"You're usually not such a heavy sleeper Rich, let's go! Up and at 'em!" he called to the young boy, who remained still. He shook his shoulder a little harder.

"Rich, wake up!" he raised his voice. He started bouncing where he was sitting, shaking the bed to try to add more movement.

"Okay, Rich, this isn't funny, I wanna eat breakfast!" The pre-teen complained.

"Okay, fine, I'll just go get Mom," he said and stood from his brothers bed, waltzing into the kitchen. "Mom, Richie won't get up," he told his mother. She sighed before placing the dishtowel she was drying her hands with on the counter, "Okay, I'll go get him up, put your sister and your father's plates on the table, I'll be right back."

Noah nodded, grabbing the plates with stack of pancakes and some bacon on them, setting them on the table he and Nikki had helped set.

Suddenly, a horrified shriek rang through the household, Noah's head snapped up, looking towards the hallway. "Nicholas! Nick, call 911! NOW!" his mother shouted from Richard's bedroom. Noah ran in, seeing his mother pressing her palms up and down on his little brother's chest, panicking. The young boy was now overturned where Noah could see his face, his lips were tinged with blue, he looked numb. Noah scrambled to get out of the room, his eyes glazed over a black mark on the floor boards, and he ran like hell to get down the hall and get his father.

Noah stood in the hall as his father called an ambulance, his mother cried as she tried to make his brother breathe, his little sister stood next to him with tears streaming her face, she clung to his hand as she panicked right along with him.

And he felt powerless for the first time in his life.

• • •

A thirteen-year-old Noah sat in his classroom, not paying attention to anything that was being said, instead choosing to doodle in his notebook.