That night, Erik dreamt of pouring rain in a storm, an old telephone ringing behind him. The sounds of hammering woke Erik up from his dream. He opened his eyes, feeling something sticky on his neck. Peering to his side, he saw Jeria sleeping soundly, drooling over his neck. He sighed, tugging at his hand but found it pinned underneath her side.

Looking around, the hammering noises continued beyond the door. He saw the cold cauldron, almost empty with ash beneath it. Some of it had drifted over towards the door, no doubt the wind being the cause of it. For now, his first step was to get out from under Jeria.

He looked over, her red hair over her resting face. Turning over, he used his other hand, slowly trying to lift her up. All it served to do was make her mumble in her sleep and move closer to him.

Erik stopped moving, feeling her breathing on his face. His face heated up as he tried his best not to move but he was not to be so lucky. Blood rushed to his mid as Jeria’s knee shifted, pulling up and nudging into his crotch. He sharply inhaled at the touch, desperate to move away before causing trouble. He tried to move her again, straining to lift his arm out.

There was another loud hammering. Jeria sleepily opened her eyes, looking at a bewildered Erik.

‘shit...’

“Hmmmm? Oh, you’re...”

She closed her eyes. A moment passed before she jerked awake and looked down at Erik’s crotch resting over her knee, immediately pushing Erik off the bed, almost screaming. He fell with a thud. Picking himself up, he rubbed the back of his head, a red-faced Jeria shrunken into the corner with her legs pulled upwards.

“I didn’t… intentio-”

“Hmph.”

She turned away. Erik sighed, shaking his head as he turned around, heading for the door. He opened the door, seeing the red-haired woman, his mother apparently, hammering away with wooden planks at the kitchen wall. She’d finished a half of it when she saw Erik come out of the room and smiled that angelic smile she did for lunch.

Erik shivered, an ominously cold sensation rippling over his back.

‘Looks can be deceiving…’

He nodded his head and stepped outside around his mum, admiring the handiwork around the wall. He looked out at the bare backyard, grass still messed up from all the crashing and sliding yesterday.

“What are you thinking of?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She asked him calmly. He seemed to be in thought as he looked at the crater in the ground where Jeria had crashed.

“There could be a pond here.”

She nodded her head.

“Yeah, a pond would be nice.”

She went back to hammering while Erik looked around the place, townspeople moving by, some carrying carts of goods and others baskets. Some waved and greeted him, he simply gave a knowing nod. He really couldn’t remember anyone.

“You should... wake your sister up.”

Erik looked at his mother, wondering what the training was for. He decided it would probably be better to ask Jeria instead.

“She’s awake.”

The door opened and Jeria stepped out, tying her flowing red hair with a ribbon. She had cleaned the drool off her face.

“Morning, mother.”

“Morning, sleep well?”

Jeria glanced at Erik standing like a buffoon in the yard.

“Mhm. I’m going now.”

She nodded, going back to hammering.

“Take your brother, he should be better now.”

Jeria stopped in her tracks.

“He won’t participate.”

“Take me where?

“Looking won’t hurt him.”

At that moment, their father poked his head through the gap in the wall, addressing their mother.

“Hey, you missed a spot here.”

She feigned annoyance, lifting a plank to cover his face. He simply ducked underneath and repeated,

“Missed a spot here too.”

He chuckled, another plank covering his face. Looking over the two, he peered over at Erik.

“Hey chump, how’re ya?”

“Doing better.”

He nodded his head. Yesterday was quite the beatdown, even by his brute standards.

“You two er.. Resolved your differences yet?”

Erik and Jeria glanced at each other. She sighed, shaking her head in disappointment.

“Great! That counts as good, right?”

He asked. Erik chuckled dryly as Jeria began to walk back in, hoping to get to wherever she was going on time.

“I’m going, feel free to come along.”

She called out at Erik and left. His parents turned to face him.

“Well, aren’t you gonna go?”

Erik nodded his head, walking through the gap and following after Jeria. He stopped in Erik

nodded his head, walking through the gap and following after Jeria. He stopped in the door, turned around and waved before he left, stepping into a jog to catch up with her. The planks dropped to the ground as the man lifted himself up, planting a kiss on his wife’s face.

“You went wild yesterday.”

Her cheeks burned a deep red colour as she lightly hit his chest, sinking into his embrace. Facing the newly-constructed wall, she answered,

“It turned out alright.”

He chuckled, running his hand over her red hair.

“We’re leaving tonight.”

“Mhm. You think they’ll manage?”

“They’ll be alright. Today is the last of her preparations summed up.”

She slowly pulled away from him, picking the hammer back up as he held a plank in place. She hammered away, fixing it after the next.

“We were going to talk about it and then...”

“It’s okay.”

He said to calm her. She stopped hammering, a look of melancholy overtaking her face. Her eyes seemed to well up.

“He still hasn’t Awakened, you know.”

The man reassuringly put his arm around her. He rubbed her shoulder, responding with silence. She continued,

“Even if he did Awaken now, he’d be three years behind the rest of them and that’s a… death sentence.”

The man simply nodded, holding his wife in his arms. It wasn’t that he was concerned. It’s just that this was reality to him. Some things just don’t end up working out.

“Jeria will handle him.”

“What if she begins to hate us for doing this? For leaving?”

“We chose this, my love.”

He said as he lightly rocked her in his arms. His heart welled with hurt.

“We... chose this.”