Stories, and then Some...
one-winged
by , 04-06-2012 at 02:13 AM (6610 Views)
he knew there was something different the very first day he noticed it.
it started when he saw his just-departed mother roaming around the house, occasionally giving him a glance and gliding away. but he thought that it was by the grace of Allah, an answer to his prayers that he could see his mother even for just one more time. but this time his heart skipped beats every time he saw her like that, with equal parts of fear and yearning.
"you have a wing, but the other pair is missing," the tambalan told him in front of his father and his sister, as the old toothless husk-of-a-man pressed his palm on the boy's forehead. he motioned close to his ear and whispered, "but you will get it when your father passes away".
that day was the last that he saw of his mother, and in one of her glances he saw her smile at him.
what happened after was equal parts of horror and good luck. he dreams of death, and as his warning always go unheeded, death visits people close to him precisely as he dreamt it. aware but helpless, he would sometimes stay quiet in his waking hours, pretending not to know that those are going to be an aunt's last laugh, a brother's last smile.
trying to escape, he goes from one place to another, seeking refuge from his torment. it seemed whenever he goes and calls it home, lives get better; a new car for a relative, booming business for a sister. but he absorbs everything else; bullets, broken bones, and an tip of a knife in a dark street corner one rainy night.
as he laid there bleeding and alone he asked, "what of my other wing, father?"
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