White light peeked through the treetops of the Rainforest down onto a small clearing. The chirps and cries from the animals were like a symphony of the wild, as the sound of the rustling leaves and branches in the wind became a constant echo ringing through the forest.
A figure dressed in black cut through the serene image, walking straight toward the center of the clearing. Sitting down in front of a large rock Issac turned his face to the moon, staring at the celestial body as its light bathed his figure in a white glow.
No matter how many times he traveled, Issac would always experience whiplash whenever he left the city proper and dove into the wilds. Compared to the bustling and shouting of the cities, the forest and the deserts might as well have been void of all sound.
And it was in these voids that Issac was finally able to relax. Without the hustle of the city or the need to hunt, Issac found that a weight would be lifted off his chest.
It was only when he was alone that Issac could finally feel like a kid again.
Not a ruthless hunter nipping at the heels of his prey or an introverted teenager that couldn't even talk to the people around him.
Not a teenager that in a moment of weakness and arrogance lost the path to his family or a boy who found himself lost in the secrets of the world.
Just another person in the crown that was quietly enjoying life.
Thinking back to his conversation at the Motel with Lucy, Issac tried to think back to the last time he had talked to someone about his eyes, about the things he could see and feel that no one else could.
The last time was when he was still with his family. All of them, surrounded by doctors and nurses as they ran the test that always came back negative. They didn’t believe him when he told them about the lights.
That everywhere he looked he saw little balls of light, light that was so bright it hurt to look at. Light that was so bright he could see it through his eyelids. And no matter how many times they told him that they weren’t real he never believed them.
He never believed them because he could feel them, every time they would brush against his skin.
Like lightning brushing against his skin, primal and wild, chaotic and unrelenting.
The doctors never found anything wrong with Issac’s eyes. All the results told them the same thing, that his eyes were fine, that there was nothing wrong with him, and that by all intent and purpose, his eyesight should be perfect.
And after years of nothing showing up people started to doubt wherever he ever had a problem to begin with.
Then out of nowhere, a rumor rose, saying that his whole family was faking it for the media.
Due to Issac's young age and the baffling condition of the doctors Issac’s family had gotten the media's eyes on them. But then Issac turned eight, and still no solution had been found. People started to wonder if there was ever a problem.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
People had this idea in their heads that, to satisfy their own need for attention, his parents had forced him to pretend as if he couldn’t see, that everywhere he looked all he saw were white lights.
From there the story took off of a family lying to the nation for their chance at the spotlight. And then, as fast as flipping a switch, everyone had turned on his family. What had been a small story in the news about a child turned into a nationwide witch hunt for his entire family.
Reporters camped outside of his home, his sisters were harassed at school and his father could barely get any work.
With the help of the police Issac’s family was able to find the man who started the rumor and they took him to court. With all the evidence against him, he had no choice but to confess to making up the whole story, stating that he was hoping that it would bring him his own ticket to the spotlight.
But even though they were able to remove the lies, people still didn’t trust them, including the doctors.
How many people could ever understand what he felt, not only having your pain treated like a lie, a joke? Spending every day of your life forced to cover your eyes, knowing that pain was the only thing waiting for you as soon as you opened them.
And then having people tell you that it was all fake.
Even his family started to believe this, they would try to force him to have his eyes open by taking away his bandages and screaming at him to stop his lying. Just because he could see more than anyone else he was treated as a liar, he was treated as if his pain was fake, that it had meant nothing.
It had been years since he last thought about his past. Years of traveling all over the world, never looking back to the things that he had left had nearly made him forget his own family. Talking to Lucy seemed to make everything come rushing back to him.
And now, just when he standing on the precipice of something great did everything come rushing back to him. It made him feel as if he was at a crossroads. Go back to his family or jump off the cliff into the abyss.
And truthfully he had no desire to go back
Don’t get him wrong, he still loved his family, he just didn’t think he could ever go back to benign a normal kid. Sure now that he was older he could control his eyes better, no longer having to live in fear that things that no one else could see would cause him pain.
But Issac knew that going back would mean leaving all that he had accomplished behind. He would be able to live a normal life, a safe life, away from all the violence and blood. Find a nice girl marry and have kids. And then maybe die of old age surrounded by his loved ones.
But where would the fun in that be?
Standing from beside the rock Issac continued to stare at the moon, never once breaking eye contact. Smirking at the white rock Issac couldn't stop the romantic inside of him as he made a poem.
And late in the night after he had left his words still echoed through the clearing, harmonizing with the symphony of sound, leaving behind a mystic feeling.
~ Under shining Moon ~
Under painted stars
The Hunter sings a tune
Goodbye to the Past
Goodbye to the flame
The Hunter walks steadfast
Under nights bliss
Under Death’s watch
~ The Hunter leaps into the abyss ~