2 Trees of Green and Gold
A ray of the sun shone in through the fogged glass of the small window, a spear of light piercing the otherwise dark room. The sun cast patterns of diamonds and flowers dancing across the worn and dirty floor.
My eyes slowly cracked open, widening at the beauty of the light. Such a simple thing, yet so amazing. A small smile slowly spread across my face; visions of green grass and towering trees flashed before my eyes.
A loud clanging and the shouting of a rough voice interrupted the quiet of the morning. My head whipped to the side, toward the small door that led to the rest of the house.
The commotion gets louder, closer to the slight piece of wood. A bang sounds right outside the door and whimpers fill the dark. I look around, knowing where the others lay, blankets covering their frail forms, hoping not to be seen.
The door bursts open, light floods the small space, cluttered with beds and people. The silhouette of a towering man fills the doorway. Broad shoulders rise and fall with heavy breaths, fingers tightened in fists, ready at any moment to start swinging. Though the face is shrouded in shadows, two piercing blue eyes shine, cold and pale as ice.
My hands start shaking and I have to shove them under the threadbare blanket to hide them from the others.
His footsteps thudded through the room, shaking the bed frames and rattling the fried lights.
Cowering, I slide down the bed, trying to hide myself from the monster that lurked in the room. A growl erupted from the massive form. Whimpers could be heard from the depths of the dark.
The dim morning light shone on his face, revealing his harsh features and the permanent sneer on his thin lips. "Is that how you greet your master?" He snarled, eyes boring into me.
My eyes widened and I could feel the trembling worsen. I wanted nothing more than to climb under my cot and hide forever. Anything to escape this.
"Answer me, filth!" He shouted, his anger rippling out from him.
I lowered the thin blanket from my body. " N-n-no, sir," I murmured quietly, trying to direct his attention away from the others.
His gaze, which had been roaming the room, looking for a victim, snapped toward me at the sound of my voice. The sneer on his face grew, his eyes hardened.
"And who are you to speak to me?"
I whimpered, frightened he would hurt me. We had all heard of what he did to those that were taken from this room.
He stood there, his massive arms crossed over his chest, just staring as if he expected me to actually answer him. "Well?" His booming voice interrupting the silence.
I felt my eyes grow foggy and hot tears ran down my face. "I-I'm s-sorry, sir," I quietly answered.
His blazing eyes narrowed and his sneer turned into a vicious snarl. He took a step forward and reached out a meaty hand. I flinched back in fear, but that only made him angrier. His eyes darkened and he lashed out.
My head shot to the side as a stinging pain spread out from my reddening check. Wincing slightly, I hesitantly turned back to the man, eyes wide and fear shaking through my body.
I turned just in time to see his hand reaching out for me again. Curling in on myself, I tried to make my already small, frail body smaller.
He smirked, clearly amused at my attempt to escape his clutches. A whimpered escaped my lips; his eyes sparked and his smile grew into something that roams nightmares.
Reaching for me, his thick fingers wrapped around my boney arm. I felt a flash of pain radiating from where he was holding onto me. I tried to pull away, but his grip tightened into something bone-crushing. I gasped from the pain, my eyes watering.
Murmurs filled the room. I couldn't make out what any of the others were saying but I knew they wouldn't come to help. I had done the same thing to others who had fallen at the hand of the beast. We all knew what happened to those who left this room and never returned.
Tears leaked down my face as I clawed at his hand, trying to get him to let go. A vicious laugh sounded and I cringed away from the source. My tears came faster and the laugh echoed through the dark room. The man squeezed his fingers around my arm and a defeaning crack rang.
An ear-splitting scream ripped it's way out of my throat, making the man grin wider, showing all his rotten, yellowed teeth.
Tracks were being carved into my face from the salty tears that fell.
A rough hand grazed my check, trailing up my face into my knotted hair. A sudden pain flashed through my brain making stars dance across my eyes as the man tightened his hold on my head, pulling it back.
I closed my eyes tightly, hoping it would be over soon.
A familiar pain ran across my check, quickly followed by another smack on the other side of my face. I gasped at the pain of it and tried to hold back the rush of tears filling my eyes.
The man's fingers dug into my head and I could feel a sticky warmth sliding down the side of my face. He grabbed my already broken arm and I screamed again, my eyes flying open as white hot pain laced through my body.
He pulled me from my cot, the blanket resting on my legs slipping to the ground, red splotches dotted the thin material.
His rough hands tugged me to my feet and as soon as they touched the smooth surface, I went flying.
The air whispered in my ears and the dark flickered past my eyes.
A loud thump echoed across the deathly quiet room. I wondered what could've made such a sad sound and then it hit me. The wave of pain so intense I blacked out, like lights being abruptly shut off. But the dark didn't take away the blood curdling scream that ripped apart the still air.
I felt the floor shake with the force of the monster's steps. Each thud caused another wave of pain to echo through my broken form.
The shaking grew heavier, closer, more painful.
"You worthless piece of filth," he growled. "You have no place in this world. Disrespecting your master!" The man yelled but the words passed my ears, the pain so blinding I couldn't hear anything apart from the pounding of my heart.
The man hauls my limp body up, my bones groaning from the force of his grip.
My eyes were open but I saw nothing, only the black; I heard nothing, only the blood in my veins. I felt nothing, only the pain in my skin.
A snap and flash of pain followed by the squeaks and whimpers of the others. I groaned from the agony of it, the sound escaping my lips moments before my feet left the smooth wood of the floor and I was hurled across the room again.
My back snapped against the edge of the bed. Another scream tore it's way out of my throat and rang in the otherwise silent room.
The man growled at the noise and thundered over to wear I lay in a broken heap, pain pulsing through my body.
"Worthless scum," he spit. "Broken things don't have a place in my house."
His voice was laced with such malice that my eyes snapped open and I stared wide eyed at him despite the black dots swimming in my vision. Tears welled, blurring my sight, before spilling down the sides of my face, retracing the tracks of past sorrow.
The man's meaty hand reached for me, gripping my thin neck in his fist. He pulled me up to my feet; my bones groaned from the weight of my body. The breath in my lungs dwindling. My vision wavered and I let out a strangled gasp, fresh tears building in my eyes.
I heard his unforgiving laugh, an echo in the growing darkness. I felt the pressure on my neck grow, and suddenly disappear.
The sound of glass shattering and the cries of panic and the screaming of wind filled my ears and mind, wiping every thought from my head.
My eye lids fluttered open and were instantly stung by the cold air rushing by my face. My tangled hair a banner cutting through the air.
The breath in my lungs vanished when my back hit the ground, making a tremendous force rattle through my limp body. I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the blinding light hanging overhead.
I lay like that, the pain shuddering through me, for what seemed like forever. Then I heard it. The sound I had craved for so long.
Birds began chirping and twittering their songs, the wind sighed through the trees and the brush rustled with rabbits and deer. Cracking my eyes open, I took in the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
Trees of green lay scattered around me, their branched reaching like fingers to the sky. The leaves turned golden in the rising sun. Blue peaked through the forest top, dotted with the white of clouds.
My heart filled with joy and relief as I smiled up at the beauty surrounding me. I watched the trees of green and gold flutter in the breeze and the red and blue birds fly from branch to branch as my vision darkened and my mind stilled.
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