13 Firuz - Strange Boy

Firuz gasped for breath, his head swimming. It took a while for him to get his bearing. He felt helpless; the visions were getting longer and more unbearable with each passing day. Arash had always pegged them as dreams, but the rolling purple grasslands and the sea of sapphire felt real to him. He could still remember the great beasts with stone shells.

His stomach growled in protest; these visions always made him hungry. He glanced at the stark, dreary walls and towards the long fur cloaks hanging by the wall before finally stopping at the pantry, a small wooden cupboard with a gaping hole where the handle was supposed to be – courtesy of his brother.

Firuz clearly remembered the day when Arash had seethed with rage, screaming and cursing at their mother, Saba. She had done something he could no longer remember. It was all a blur now.

After that, Saba rarely came home. Visiting only when Arash wasn't around. She was kind to him, and Firuz loved to talk with her. She would hold him and gently run her fingers through his hair. He loved her smell... it soothed him, made him forget the dreams, the pain, and the walls. For a moment, these walls didn't seem so bad.

He sighed wearily as he stumbled over to the pantry. With great effort, he managed to reach the pantry. He put his finger through the hole, using it as a hook, he yanked against the pantry's door. He could feel the wood bite into his flesh, as he strained to open the pantry's door. 'Come on!'

The door creaked under his efforts, and with a lazy groan, finally gave way as it flung open.

Firuz whined in pain as he studied his finger, tiny droplets of blood oozing out of the scraped skin. Tears gleamed in his eyes as he vigorously shook his finger. Inside the pantry, he found two stale loaves of bread, hard as stone, and four slices of dry meat that appeared more like boiled leather.

He reluctantly reached for the bread. When he bit down on it, he could almost taste its rough, ash-like taste and was overcome with a strong urge to vomit. He had never liked the food and was always left in awe whenever Arash devoured the bread and meat as if it was the most delicious thing in the world.

Suddenly, he was hit with a wave of nausea, and his vision blacked out for a moment as his legs buckled beneath his small frame. His hands blindly groped for purchase, fingers scraping against the ironwood shelf. Unsuccessful, his knees slammed against the hard floor with a low, muffled thud. The shock stunted his senses for a brief moment, then it seared through his knees, climbing upward. Firuz hissed in pain. Hot tears ran down his cheeks and the walls once again started to weigh heavily on him. Tears turned into helpless sobs as he tried to rub away the pain.

"Are you just going to sit here and cry?" a voice called out to him.

Firuz jolted back, three parts fear and one part surprise. The first thing he noticed were a pair of piercing blue eyes. 'Door!' his head jerked sideways, peering at the door; it was closed.

'Oh! You must be wondering how I got in?' The boy asked as an easy smile played on his lips.

Firuz hadn't heard the boy enter, and the door was still locked. Men were supposed to make sound when they move, but the boy had appeared out of thin air, without so much as a whisper. Strangely, he didn't feel any fear towards this strange boy. Instead, he felt curious.

'This sure is a dump! I thought you would be living in a better place.' The boy languidly studied the room about him, his eyes finally resting on the stale loaf of bread on the floor. He reached for the bread, stopped, then looked up. 'May, I?' One of his eyebrows arched in question.

"It's hard…" Firuz grimaced as he remembered that stone of a bread.

'If it can sate my hunger, it's good enough for me.' The boy smiled pleasantly as he wolfed down the bread. 'Delicious!'

"How did you get in?" Firuz finally asked, his eyes still trained on the bread in the boy's hand. 'Has it gone soft in his hands? He makes it look so easy.'

'Well, like how most people get inside a house' He cleaned the last bit of the bread and nodded towards the door.

"How did you manage to get here? The wind?"

'Wind happens to be an old friend of mine. You see, we made a deal. I don't bother her and she tends to not make things hard for me.' The boy glanced at the pantry and his face flushed. 'I am rather hungry. Do you mind if...?'

"Sure, go ahead." Firuz nodded, marveling at the boy's appetite. 'How can he eat so much?'

He couldn't help but stare at the physique of the boy; a frail little thing as if the gentlest of the winds would lift him off his feet, yet here he sat before him, cleaning the pantry.'Arash would be angry.' He winced at the thought.

"Umm! Maybe leave some of the bread and the dried meat. My brother will be back soon."

The boy's face faltered the moment he heard that he had to save some of the food. He nodded miserably. 'Sure thing' He grabbed the dried meat and started working his way through it.

"What is your name?" Firuz asked.

'Azad.' The boy said as he licked his fingers. The long strip of dried meat had long disappeared, and Azad struggled to get the small chunks that had gotten stuck between his teeth. 'Thank you for the food, Firuz. You have been a kind host!' He stood up with a flourish. 'But, our lovely little meeting must come to an end. I have places to go.'

'I bid you good day.', He curtsied. and turned towards the door.

"How do you know my name... Ah what? You are going?" Firuz's heart felt heavy at the thought of being left alone. He searched for an excuse; a reason for him to stay. 'The wind!' His spirits rose at the thought. "You can't go outside! The wind might take you!"

Azad turned back with a slight frown on his face. 'Might? So there is a chance it won't. But if I stay here, I am sure I won't be able to do the thing I must do.'

"What? No! You can't go. The wind will kill you." Firuz pleaded in horror. 'What could be more important than your life?' He frowned at the thought.

'The winds may kill me... But these walls would make me a prisoner. I would rather take my chances with death than become my own jailor. ' Azad smiled weakly.

"...but I will be alone." Firuz couldn't hold back the truth. Tears pooled at the rims of his eyes. "Please don't leave."

'Sorry, but I must...' Azad said as his lips formed into a thin line. His words fell heavy on Firuz.

'You can come with me if you want.'

Firuz eyes gleamed with hope. "I can? "'But what about the winds?' His lips trembled at the thought. "No. I can't. The winds will take me with them."

'No, they won't. ' Azad said with a confident smile as he reached out his hand. 'Come with me. It will be an adventure. It will be fun.'

"Fun!" He looked up at the boy before him, smiling his easy smile. Emotions tumbled over him as he choked on the words, "Can I?"