Danger (1)

7 years later…

"Silius! Did you get the groceries I asked you to get!?" Screamed a woman that seemed to be in her early 30s.

"….."

'This kid….' Thought Milda as she got a wooden spoon from the kitchen and headed to her son's room.

"How many times did I tell you to stop slacking around, and try at least once helping me around." Said Milda as she hid the spatula behind her back.

"Come on mom, let me have some privacy in my room for once!" Replied a kid while holding a rat with his hands, playing with it, literally.

"I'm depriving you from your privacy you said?" Mumbled Milda.

"Ya-" Silius was cut short by a spatula flying to his head.

"Go get the groceries I told you to get or it'll end far worse than this, I promise." She warned with a laugh as she left Silius's room.

First-person pov:

"Tch, she didn't even close the door.." I said while rubbing my red forehead in pain.

"HURRY UP!"

"YES MAM!" I replied in fear as I ran out of the house to the general store.

'Wait…. I don't even know what to get.' I thought as I took the first two steps outside my home.

"I regret getting my attention stolen by the rat that roamed our kitchen while mom instructed me on what to get." I sighed as I headed back to the doom I had just escaped.

5 mins later…

"Do you remember well now?" Asked my mom with a smile that never left her face.

"Yes." I nodded with a swollen face.

"Then get going." She mumbled while cracking her knuckles.

"Right away!" I replied as I escaped my second beating.

I live in the outer area of the city, where 'modest' people live, well, that's what my mother told me. I really can't wrap my head around why people complain about living here; well, we do sometimes sleep on an empty stomach, but isn't that something everyone is living through?

As I walked through the street, I was absorbed in my thoughts; I always wondered why it had multiple people with little to no clothes sleeping on the muddy ground. Isn't that uncomfortable? Why not sleep in their homes, and speaking about homes, most houses lacked a roof or a wall, contrary to our place, which was weird. But that wasn't important; what's important were these cute rats in the distance that fought over a piece of…. bread? That looks delicious! It may have some green spots, but that's still edible! Lucky….

"Spacing out again kid?" Smiled an old woman sitting next to a small store consisting of one big chest and two tables with random stuff on top, from random metal gibberish to food.

"Aunt Caroline!" I smiled as I gave her a peck on the cheeks.

"Haha! Lively today eh?" She chuckled as she returned the kiss.

"So, your mom must've beaten you up today, well I'm already accustomed to your puffy face. So, the usual?" She asked.

"Yes please!" I replied as I ignored her remark.

"Hahaha, I like you kid, you're one of the few people that appreciate what you've been offered, so for that, I'll add this special piece of meat for you. Great your mother for me!" She said as she handed me a bag with multiple types of food, such as cheese, a bit of milk, canned food, and a whole chicken!

"I wrapped that piece of chicken with some cloth so that people won't recognize it, oh and no need to pay me, take this bag as a gift for your birthday. It's tomorrow right?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll finally become 10 years old! And with that I'll get lots of privileges unlocked, such as being able to stay up past 8!" I said with a smirk.

"Hahahaha, well, good for you! But head back home quickly, as we don't want you waiting for your delicious chicken meal, do we?" She said as she patted me on the back.

"Yes, thanks aunt Caroline!" I said as I ran home.

While I ran, I heard some weird sound coming from the city's inner area, but I didn't give it much thought as the only thing on my mind was that delicious chicken!

"Mom! I'm back with groceries you requested! I even have a surprise!" I yelled.

…. Silence,

"Mom?" I spoke again as I walked around the house searching for her.

"Mo-"

"BO!" Screamed my mom as she jumped from behind the wall.

I fell on my butt and dropped the groceries bag.

"Hahahahah!" She laughed while holding her stomach with her hands.

"That wasn't funny." I pouted.

"Oh come on… Sigh. Forgive me I got carried away." She apologized while hugging me.

"Do you forgive mommy?" She asked as she caressed my face.

"Yes, but…" I said while hiding my face in her bosom.

"But?" She repeated.

"Only if you cook us this for dinner!" I said while showing the piece of chicken I had brought.

"You cheeky boy, you know we can't afford meat, from where did you get it?" She questioned.

"Well, aunty gave it to me as a birthday present." I replied while grinning.

"Hm, well, if aunty gave you this a present, then it would be a shame if I didn't get my son a present too." She said.

"Gasp, did you get me a present?" I asked with shiny eyes.

"Yes, but it'll be a surprise for tomorrow!" She teased.

"Can we break the rules and get me my present now?" I pleaded with a puppy face.

"No."

"._."

"Please?" I begged while trying to make the cutest face possible.

"No, is no." She said as she grabbed the groceries bag and the chicken and left to the kitchen.

"Go to your room and play with your toys as I prepare dinner!" She screamed across the house.

On that night, I had one of the tastiest dinners I had ever had! Roasted chicken with some kind of cut veggies on the side, I nearly ate the plate! Well, growing up eating half bitten vegetables and rock solid bread justifies my appetite for that meal. Oddly, while eating dinner, I heard the same noise that I heard while I was running back home, and when I turned to mother to ask her about it, I seen her tap her leg against the floor and staring at the clock without blinking as if to not miss the time.

"Mom, what was that sound?" I asked as I used my fork as a plane to fly my chicken around.

"Oh, don't worry about it dear." She replied as she changed her posture to a more stiff one.

…

Threads of light streamed into my room through the window that wasn't completely covered with my curtains… to be honest, it was the holes in the curtain that allowed them to enter my room. Anyways, the croaks of the ravens acted as an alarm for my neighborhood, which announced the beginning of a new day.

I left my warm bed, nearly fell on the floor when standing up because of the dizziness but we won't talk about that. I walked down the stairs to the ground level of our house while resisting the urge to close my eyes and take a quick nap, my eyelids were heavy ok, I do have an excuse!

"Good morning mommy." I said as I jumped in an attempt to give her a kiss but I couldn't as she was way taller than me.

"Good morning. First of all don't call me mommy, mom is enough. Second did you get any sleep yesterday?" She asked while raising her eyebrows.

"Ye- I mean no." I replied as a smiled a cheeky smile.

She turned her back on me and said "Since when did my son start lying to me…" Slowly extending her hand to the wooden spatula.

"Awwwww, I'm sorry mom, I was excited about my present, that was the reason I stayed up." I said, sweat trickling down my forehead.

"It's okay I'm not mad at you, just don't lie to me again." She lifted me up and gave me a peck on the cheeks.

"Mhm!" I nodded, then she placed me back on the ground.

Now that I notice it, we're in the kitchen, which was weird as we don't eat anything during the morning, so there's no need to be in here, especially not with an apron, and my mother had it on and was cutting some kind of squared bread then put a pink round substance in the middle of that bread.

"Mom, what are you doing in the kitchen this early?" I demanded

"I'm making sandwiches." She answered.

"Sand- what?" I questioned.

"You'll find out what it is later." She added as she put those sandwooshes or whatever they're called in a basket with an additional 2 plastic plates and a bottle of water.

"Now that we got that out of the way.." She whispered as she grabbed the basket.

"Go wear your clothes, we're going on a picnic."

1 hour later…

"Mom, what's a picnic?" I asked as we walked our way through a forest near the city.

"Well, it's basically eating outside." She answered.

"I thought that it'll be fun to spend your birthday outside, it's your first time being outside the city's huge wall isn't it?"

"Hm, it is my first time outside, but what will we even eat, those square look-?"

"Boy if you don't stop acting stupid, you'll regret it trust me." She cut me short then grabbed my hand and increased the speed of her steps.

"Ehehehe." The forest's trees had thick leaves, making the environment a bit dark, and contrary to the city, there weren't any screaming or groaning noises, just the chirping of birds, crusty leaves getting rubbed against each other, and the river's running water sound. It was so soothing, listening to the mixture of sounds that are being produced by nature instead of people. We walked for a long period of time, in which I admired the beauty of the forest and its components.

"We reached our destination Silius." My mother sat on the green grass and then tapped on the space next to her.

"It's so beautiful…" I whispered.

In front of us was a waterfall, its water was crystal clear, fish swam out of the end of its stream into the pool where the water that leaked from the waterfall was piled, on the bottom of that pool were a bunch of rocks that shined so hard that it reflected on the surface, not to mention the golden sky above us and the sunshine that warmed our bodies, all of this while still being embraced by trees and bushes which added a special touch to this waterfall.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? I knew you'd love it." Giggled my mother.

I sat next to her and leaned on her shoulder,

"Mom, can we have some of that fish?" I pleaded with puppy eyes

"Sigh, okay. I'm going to get some-"

"There's no need I'll get it!" I ran to the pool without waiting for the agreement of my mom, as this will be my first time fishing! Then it hit me,

'I don't have a fishing rod… well who cares, real men fish with their bare hands!' After solving my little problem in seconds, I started fishing!

I sat near that pool and attempted to grab the fish that was swimming on the surface, and unfortunately, it was faster than me, so it easily evaded my hands.

"You…." I started swinging my arms aggressively against the water hoping that I'll catch a fish eventually.

"Keep on trying! You'll definitely catch a fish with that technique, but are you sure you don't want any help?" Asked my mother.

"No, I got this!" then I resumed my swinging.