There was no hope.

Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. The wheels of the wooden wagon jostled against the bits of rocks underneath, grating everywhere. The jarring cacophony of hell on Jasper's ears. Jabs of numbness to his rump; jabs of consciousness against his blurring world, consisting of the wooden interior of the rundown wagon filled with despondent, tied-up slaves sitting with saggard heads with backs hugged to the walls. Their pinched, miserable faces, bleak eyes, ragged clothes and matted hair were homogenous to him. It smelt like rats running in and out of the sewage systems. Hope was destitute. Hope was confined within the drab rope bounding his wrists together. Except they weren't tight. It was loose from the get-go.

His parched throat couldn't get drier. It was now or never. He wiggled his skinny wrists. The rope squirmed and inched off. One by one, and his heart rate accelerated. The beg for freedom threatened to explode out of his chest. Before long, the wagon bounced, and the rope came off. His frail wrists trembled uncontrollably, but his focus stood steadfast, and he immediately worked on his bounded feet. Knots done by his master became undone, and the rope restricting his pale ankles loosened. Emaciated fingers twitched, and they slipped halfway from undoing the rest of the knot as the wagon violently shook. He cried. It was good enough. He squirmed his feet out of the restraints, wiggling his toes to feel the slightest life in them. Pressed his palm against his vibrating wooden floor full of grime and dirt as he leaned forward, and chains of jolts danced on his spine. He looked up.

"Help me, child," a bruised woman in front of him whispered as she extended her bound wrists to him. The other slaves looked up and stared at Jasper with groggy, red eyes from their rough slumber. The candle of desire burned in their eyes. The desire for freedom.

Jasper nodded. He understood the feeling that substituted the void in his stomach. He was about to crawl towards her to undo her restraints when the wagon abruptly stopped.

Someone's soles slammed into the dirt pavement, presumably getting off horseback, crunches of dirt echoing through the boards of the wooden wagon. Jasper held his breath as he stared right into the woman's eyes. Her pupils dilated, narrowly reflecting the horror-struck expression etched on his face. Then came the first step towards them. Then, the second.

"I'm checking on them! Keep an eye out for darn bandits!" a man shouted, his voice circling the wagon from the exterior. Slow footsteps approached. Jasper turned towards the exit, blocked off by a sheet of dull curtains, bare sunlight filtering in between, sweat rolling down his cheeks. He swiftly crawled towards the exit and popped his head out of the curtains. Thin rays of sunlight stabbed into his retinas, singed across his exposed skin. He closed his eyes as he gently put himself down from the wagon. Bare feet landed on the burning dirt pavement. Eyes opened. Treelines to his right and left in his peripheral vision, the road ahead. Adrenaline coursed in his bloodstream. He scampered to his feet and kicked off towards the bushes.

"Hey!"

Jasper didn't look back. He counted himself from one to three amid the flurry of breaths, like how his teacher taught him to calm himself down.

One, two, three.

"He's runnin'! He's runnin'!"

"Shoot that boy!"

Jasper stepped on the grass. Branches of thickets welcomed him. Waved at him. The smell of fresh air tinted with sunlight reassured his nostrils, permeating a wave of calmness to abate his throbbing temples. It took him back home. He closed his eyes. He took another step. Blades of grass tickled his bare foot. The sounds of laughter. The world around him slowed down to a beat. The distant giggles of his mama from tickling his toes tuned in and out of his ears. He heard a click. He inhaled deeply, slowly opening his eyelids to the gentle rustles of leaves. A gunshot tore through the ringing memories in his ears, and a bullet dug into his lower back. He yelped in pain, and his ankle twisted out of kilter. He fell to the ground.

Why?

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Laughter. Laughter from the men who shot him. He lay motionless, profile eating the earth. Tears welled in his eyes and streaked down his cheeks. His fingers clawed at the dirt.

Why?

He swivelled his neck around so he only faced dead ahead. Barely lifted himself, his chin resting on the grass. He grabbed the handful of grass ahead of him and pulled himself forward. Crawling towards the bush to hide from the monsters. Another click reverberated in his ears. Almost there. An ear-deafening gunshot. His body jerked, the wind knocked out of his lungs. He gasped for air. It became harder to breathe.

It hurts.

If only he could turn back time. If he only knew why things had come to this.

He dug his finger into the grass again and pulled its roots out. The banter of the men faded out into the distance. The noisy trotting of hooves left him alone. His world darkened... Blurred... Silence swallowed him whole. He rubbed and pinched his fingers but felt nothing. Something shiny in front of him. His misted eyes hovered over and focused on a scintillating golden lotus rapidly uncurling. It was pretty. Its petals reached out to him and grazed his shivering finger, cool to the touch. He pinched its petal and smiled.

He wondered if flowers would taste as sweet as they smelt nice. And if they were yummy, he would bring the flowers back so his mama would bake a flower cake. Then they would eat it together...

Jasper gagged as he held his puke, lacing through his throat. He ripped off the petal from the lotus before he stuffed it in his mouth and swallowed.

The flower’s bitter.

He silently giggled as tears slowly ran down.

The flower’s very bitter.

His eyes curved to himself as the petal slithered down his clogged, bloody throat. His eyelids slowly fell as the flower’s radiance lost colour with every tick.

I’m tired.

He rested his chin on the grass. Felt too sleepy. Too tired.

Why?

The world around him abruptly paused grey. Jasper opened his eyelids. No more gagging. No more tiredness. No more pain. His eyes darted around. He took a moment to sink in everything that just happened. The flower. The petal. The bitter taste. He pressed his revitalised palms on the ground and lifted himself to his knees. Stared at the lotus, strobing its iridescent, scintillating rays of light across his face and the dull bushes, plants and trees. The lotus relentlessly and spontaneously grew and shrunk in size. A calling. Cryptic whispers in his ears. He received an impulse to touch that flower. He extended a finger and reached slowly for its petal.

"Why did you do that?" a gentle yet chiding voice asked in his mind.

Jasper immediately withdrew his finger back. His lips parted to say something, but nothing came out.

"You fool."

"I..." Jasper croaked. The whispers grew louder and harshly cut him off.

Tears welled in his eyes. He didn't know what he did wrong.

I...

Vertigo crimped his stomach as a force surrounded his feet and tightly wrapped around his hips like shackles, lifting him into the air. His eyes widened. The world bent and distorted around him everywhere he looked. The noose of death returned to tightening around his throat taut as his legs dangled in the air, his neck being yanked upwards like a hook. His hands frantically felt for his Adam's apple, and he hoarsely inhaled.

“Let me go!” Jasper yelled through gritted teeth.

"It's all your fault."

"I'm sorry! I didn't do anything!"

"It's all your fault."

"I didn't do anything!"

He watched his surroundings flit and flash by in horror. He saw stars. The sun. The moon. His mama. His master. Memories. Some memories were inconceivable as they blurred instantaneously in between. Jasper groaned. His head hurt. He needed answers, not questions. Answers to the questions that lingered in his mind for a while. What happened to my papa? Where's my mama? Why am I like this? He didn't understand. His temples throbbed, and his heart roared in his ears.

He closed his eyes. Tried to count from one to three but failed.

Why?

He felt the force holding him let go. He landed hard on the grass and rolled across the ground from the momentum until he lay flat, facing the sky. He remained closing his eyelids as tight as he could. Maybe all of this was a nightmare. Maybe the moment he opened his eyes, he would see his dear mama again.

His eyelids twitched.

Silence.

If only he could turn back time.