Day Three
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
Three Shattered Dreams
Title: Malpractice
Fandom: Hostel
Rating: PG - mention of sex
Words: 454
Summary: Miklos (aka the Dutch Businessman) doesn’t get passed by the surgical board…
Miklos stared at the head of the surgical board, who was sitting opposite him in a chair behind a desk. “What do you mean you won’t pass me?” he said in disbelief.
“Miklos, we’ve been through this. We found several cases of malpractice while you were operating.” He paused to puff on his cigar, and then continued - “I can’t tell you how lucky you are that you haven’t been sued.”
“Malpractice?” Miklos’ eyes darted around the room. “But… I didn’t do anything wrong while operating. I’m sure of it. I’ve been studying anatomy and surgical procedures for years, sir.”
“Oh, I agree,” the head said, “You have a lot of skill, I’m very impressed by the operating itself. But-“
“But?”
“Every single time you’ve operated, the patient had no anaesthetic.”
“B-but!” Miklos pleaded. “Isn’t that the nurses’ fault? She’s supposed to administer the-"
“You never called a nurse in,” the head growled. “All the patients you were operating on could feel everything. Every slice. It’s unthinkable that a surgeon would even leave out such an important detail. That’s why we can’t pass you.”
“Sir-“
“Get out.”
Defeated, Miklos left the office and walked down the white corridor. He passed many door in the long hallway before reaching the elevator.
This had been his dream, ever since he was a little boy. He loved anatomy. He loved to operate. The feeling of being inside someone, the blood, and them just lying there, helpless, as he could do anything he pleased-
He tried to shut that idea out of his mind and think about something else. He thought about maybe going to a bar and getting hammered, but it didn’t sit well in his brain. He knew that the board would never pass him after his…mistakes, and the chances that he thought he would have in life were just draining away, slowly, and he couldn’t grab a hold of it.
As he went down the elevator, he thought, 6 years of school and 12 years of residency… for this? He tried not to cry, it was like every dream he ever worked for was being crushed like glass. And then it hit him - A brothel! He could go to a brothel to make himself feel better - the girls would do anything you wanted - it wasn’t exactly like the cries of pain the surgical patients would give, but the experience could at least lift his spirits and make him feel proud and dominant again, even if only for the half-hour it lasted -
As went into the parking lot of the building, he thought, wouldn’t it be wicked if you could mix surgery and brothels together…? He got into his car and drove out into the cool evening.
Title: Annette and Harrison
Fandom: N/A
Rating: Light PG - references to war
Words: 720
Summary: A couple has dreamed of being married and starting a family. When everything seems right, things don’t go as planned…
1925. A boy and a girl, ten years old, strolled through Central Park, hand in hand. It was wintertime- everything was cold, covered by a thin layer of snow, black tree branches reaching out above. A horse and carriage clopped down the road through the snow, and the boy and girl watched it.
“Annette,” the boy said, “Just think of it! One day we’ll be married and have children. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“Yes, Harrison,” the girl said dreamily. “We’ll live in a big house in Brooklyn and have lots of children.”
They sat on a bench, sunlight filtering in through the leaves above. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Annette asked.
“I dunno yet,” Harrison said, swinging his legs. “But I’ll make sure it’s a good job that gets lots of money.”
“Hmm,” Annette said dreamily, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Wonderful indeed…”
1930. A boy and a girl, fifteen years old, walked down 5th Avenue, marvelling at all the stores. It was spring and the sun was warm and pleasant. The boy and girl stopped in front of a jewellery store.
“Oh, Harrison,” the girl said, staring at the jewels in the window. “When we get married, will you buy me a diamond ring?”
“Only the best, most beautiful diamond ring you could ever picture, Annette,” Harrison said, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
“It’s just amazing to think about,” Annette mused. “It could become a family heirloom. I could give it to my daughter, she could give it to her daughter…”
“And it would be treasured,” Harrison said, grinning at her.
1935. A young man and a young woman, twenty years old, stood atop the Empire State Building, looking down upon all of New York City. It was summer, and the sun was blazing down heat.
“Wow,” breathed the young man. “This is so amazing. I never thought of seeing all of New York like this. Isn’t it beautiful, Annette?”
“Oh, it is, Harrison,” Annette breathed. “I love it so. Jus t think, we’ll be able to take our children up here one day, and they can see all of the city. I’m so glad they built this building, it’s so beautiful.”
Harrison squeezed her hand. “Nothing can go wrong now,” he said. “We’ll get married and lead a happy life and have lots of beautiful children. I love you, Annette.”
“I love you too, Harrison.”
Their lips met, and the cool breeze blew through their hair, ruffling it.
1940. A young newlywed couple, twenty-five years old, were at home. The young woman was baking a turkey, for it was Thanksgiving. Every once in a while, she would look down at her belly and smile - she was three months pregnant. Outside, the leaves fell from the trees, red and orange and yellow.
All of a sudden, the phone rang.
The young husband picked it up. “Hello?”
“May I please speak to Harrison Miller?”
“Speaking.”
“Sir, I’m from the US Forces. I’m calling to say that you have been drafted in the army and in two weeks will be serving the country over in Europe.”
“What?!”
“Please, sir, please understand that we need more troops. Feel lucky to have been chosen to have the honour of serving your country.”
“…”
“Goodbye, Mr. Miller, sir.” The man on the other end of the line hung up.
Harrison shakily put the phone down. “Annette,” he said.
“Yes, dear?”
“I’ve been drafted by the military. I’m going to war.”
Annette dropped the white plate she was carrying. It broke when it hit the floor, white shards splaying over the dark brown wood.
1942. A woman, thirty years old, sat in an armchair, reading. Her one-year-old son was sleeping in his bassinet. It was wintertime - everything was cold and covered by a thin layer of snow. All at once, there was a knock at the door.
“I wonder who that could be?” asked the woman aloud. She got up, went to the front door, and opened it.
“Telegram for Mrs. Annette Miller,” said the postman. She nodded, thanked him, and took the letter.
Sitting back down in the armchair, she carefully opened the letter. It was from the army. She swallowed nervously and read it.
Then she read it again.
And again.
Then she started to cry.
Title: Sand
Fandom: Akira [film]
Rating: PG for swearing, alcohol
Words: 1448
Summary: In the ruins, Kai tells Kaneda and Kei of his life before the streets.
The night wind whistled around destroyed buildings. High-rises groaned dangerously, black broken windows and grey cement shuddering. On the edge of what used to be Ward 13 was a house, one among many, that was half-covered in debris. It was dark except for a lone room lit by candles. A deep orange glow covered the room - which looked like it used to be someone’s den or study, as there was a desk and hundreds of books on shelved walls. The room’s three occupants were half in-shadow, the candles giving flickering light to their skin.
“Kai, let go of the bottle,” Kaneda said worriedly.
Kai was slumped in a large armchair, his arms hanging over the sides. In his hand he gripped the neck of a bottle that he had broken - and was no doubt planning to thrust in someone’s face if they said the wrong thing. Kaneda and Kei were kneeling on the floor across from him, trying to convince him to calm down.
“Shut up,” Kai growled in a low voice. In his other hand he had a bottle of beer. “Just… shut up.”
“No, really, stop it. You’re wasting supplies,” Kaneda scoffed back. “You’re usually smarter than this.”
“So since when is beer part of an essential survival kit?” Kai retorted. “‘Oh, Kai, don’t forget to get hammered today!’ Great idea, let’s make it part of our friggin’ daily routine! Like brushing our teeth.”
Kaneda and Kei look at each other.
“What’s with the look? Come on, admit it, it’s a great idea, gettin’ drunk every day.” Kai’s voice crescendoed. “Maybe it’ll make us forget WHAT A FUCKING MESS WE’RE IN!”
Kaneda stood up. “Okay, that’s it, you’ve had enough. Come on.” He began to walk towards Kai, cautiously, like a nervous, prowling cat.
“Shut up!” Kai thrust the broken bottle in Kaneda’s direction.
Kaneda raised his palms. “Hey, hey, hey! I didn’t even do anything!”
“Sit down,” Kai said in a low voice.
Kaneda, exasperated, sat down. “Kai, this is your…” Third? “Third beer in a row.”
There was a pause. Kai gave him a look that said, so what?
“You’re drunk.”
Kai smirked. “No I’m not.” Another pause. Kaneda and Kei realized that he actually wasn’t, really - They could tell he was a bit tipsy but hadn’t had enough to be super drunk, and they were small bottles anyways, he just seemed more angry than anything - “But it’s better than being completely sober in a place like this.”
“Kai, we know you’re upset, but you have to pull yourself together,” Kei said. “You really are wasting supplies, you know…”
“Yeah, who knows when we’ll come across more beer,” Kaneda hastily continued. “I mean, one of those bottles could trigger some life-changing event or somethin’.” He didn’t know if he entirely meant the last thing he said, but now he’d say anything to get Kai to calm down.
“Life-changing events?” Kai scoffed. “You wanna know about life-changing events?”
Kaneda and Kei exchanged glances again. Uh-oh.
“Well, you’re bound to have tons’ a life changing events when your mom bitches at everything imaginable and your dad’s a fucking faggot,” Kai spat. “Good enough for you? No?” He looked around the room, at the hundreds of books lining the bookshelves, like they were an audience.
“Kai, stop,” Kaneda tried to get up.
“No!” The broken bottle was thrust in his direction once more. Kaneda reluctantly knelt back to the ground.
Kai continued, slowly lowering the bottle. “You can only imagine how so ever very, very life changing it was when dear old daddy came out of the closet,” he said with a kind of angry grin.
Silence. Kei and Kaneda looked visibly uncomfortable by this point.
“Well, it was.” He licked his lips. “Lemme give you a bit of background first. Imagine me as a nice little twelve-year-old schoolboy. Nice slick gakuran and everything. Great marks in school… math and language were the best. Almost 100% in both.
“And that’s not all, no. I came from a very well-off family. Kinda loaded. My mom was a bit of a neat freak, you see, flipped a bitch if everythin’ wasn’t all tidy and in order and would have a major freak-out if something went wrong. Dear father now, he was some famous, admired architect and always had blueprints all over his desk all the time. But for the past few years before this I noticed something odd about him, like he wasn’t himself around me or mom - especially mom - I was worried for a while and then forgot.” Kai scowled. “THAT sure came back and hit me in the face. Literally.”
“Now, you see, I was very happy at this point of my 12-year-old life. I had just gotten not one, not two, but three - yes, count ‘em, three scholarships. You can imagine how proud mommy and daddy must’ve felt. No, they never got a chance to be proud about it. Not that they would be proud anyways. Seems daddy had a big secret that he was ready to tell to mommy, hm?
“When I got home that day, I was all proud of myself, for once - my parents pushed me to do better all the time, they never congratulated me for the nice, ripe fruits of my goddamn labours, even though those grades were better than anybody in the fucking class’. Anyways, I was proud, and I wanted to tell them both that this time, you know, I had actually done good.”
Kai stopped to take a breath. Kaneda and Kei stared at him. “Kai-” Kaneda started.
“Shut up! I’m not done!” Kai snapped. In a soft voice, he continued his story. He seemed less angry now, and more sad. “When I got in the door I heard screaming, and something breakin’… like a vase, y’know? My first thought was that ‘Oh shit, a broken vase, mom’s gonna have a fit,’ before I realized it was her voice that was screaming. And I could hear dad too, he sounded more desperate.
“So I quietly went into the hallway and looked into the kitchen where I saw them fighting. And mom was clutching a second vase in her hand -“ Kai’s voice started to crack. “-The first one was broken on the floor - and, and, dad was trying to comfort her or somethin’, and she was crying, and I was like… ‘Mom? What’s wrong?’ and they both stared at me, like, Ohmigod. It’s Keisuke.” There were tears in his eyes now.
“It’s all blurry after that… I remem- I remember dad trying to come over and comfort me, but mom was like ‘DON’T TOUCH HIM, YOU FILTHY PERVERT!’ or some-something like that… and dad yelled at her for being ignorant… and as they were fighting I figured out that, y’know, from the words they were using, he had come out of the closet to mom. W-who really didn’t like the idea. Anyways, I tried to get them to stop fighting, ‘cause…. ‘cause, it was scary, you know? And then dad just lost it and I got punched. ‘Cross the face. It was hard, too, I fell back onto the floor. Had a black eye for a couple weeks after… but he’d never see it.”
“I was silent after that, my mom freaked out even more, screaming and hitting dad, and dad just kept going, ‘Oh, Keisuke, I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry,’ like he really hasn’t meant it, an’… I just wanted to get out of there… I ran away. Never went back.”
Kai took a swig from the bottle as Kaneda stared at him thinking, Oh, Jesus. He glanced over at Kei again, no doubt from the look on her face she was thinking the same thing.
“They never bothered to look for me, either. I guess I was just… too much of a weight for them to bear.” A tear ran down his face. “But I had it. A mother, a father, a home, good marks and three fuckin’ scholarships.”
I almost had it.
“And everything just went downhill from there. Everything, every opportunity… just slipped away. Like sand between my fingers.” The broken bottle slid from his hand and fell onto the floor with a quiet thud.
Kaneda tried to speak. “Kai… I didn’t know you… You never told us…”
“I had nothing to worry about on the streets… life was easier and harder at the same time and definitely wasn’t much, but… but I liked it.” He sobbed. “And now that’s turned to sand too.”
At that moment, a strong draft blew through a crack in the window and the candles went out. The smoke rose, white swirls wafting up against the moonlight.
Three Shattered Dreams
Title: Malpractice
Fandom: Hostel
Rating: PG - mention of sex
Words: 454
Summary: Miklos (aka the Dutch Businessman) doesn’t get passed by the surgical board…
Miklos stared at the head of the surgical board, who was sitting opposite him in a chair behind a desk. “What do you mean you won’t pass me?” he said in disbelief.
“Miklos, we’ve been through this. We found several cases of malpractice while you were operating.” He paused to puff on his cigar, and then continued - “I can’t tell you how lucky you are that you haven’t been sued.”
“Malpractice?” Miklos’ eyes darted around the room. “But… I didn’t do anything wrong while operating. I’m sure of it. I’ve been studying anatomy and surgical procedures for years, sir.”
“Oh, I agree,” the head said, “You have a lot of skill, I’m very impressed by the operating itself. But-“
“But?”
“Every single time you’ve operated, the patient had no anaesthetic.”
“B-but!” Miklos pleaded. “Isn’t that the nurses’ fault? She’s supposed to administer the-"
“You never called a nurse in,” the head growled. “All the patients you were operating on could feel everything. Every slice. It’s unthinkable that a surgeon would even leave out such an important detail. That’s why we can’t pass you.”
“Sir-“
“Get out.”
Defeated, Miklos left the office and walked down the white corridor. He passed many door in the long hallway before reaching the elevator.
This had been his dream, ever since he was a little boy. He loved anatomy. He loved to operate. The feeling of being inside someone, the blood, and them just lying there, helpless, as he could do anything he pleased-
He tried to shut that idea out of his mind and think about something else. He thought about maybe going to a bar and getting hammered, but it didn’t sit well in his brain. He knew that the board would never pass him after his…mistakes, and the chances that he thought he would have in life were just draining away, slowly, and he couldn’t grab a hold of it.
As he went down the elevator, he thought, 6 years of school and 12 years of residency… for this? He tried not to cry, it was like every dream he ever worked for was being crushed like glass. And then it hit him - A brothel! He could go to a brothel to make himself feel better - the girls would do anything you wanted - it wasn’t exactly like the cries of pain the surgical patients would give, but the experience could at least lift his spirits and make him feel proud and dominant again, even if only for the half-hour it lasted -
As went into the parking lot of the building, he thought, wouldn’t it be wicked if you could mix surgery and brothels together…? He got into his car and drove out into the cool evening.
Title: Annette and Harrison
Fandom: N/A
Rating: Light PG - references to war
Words: 720
Summary: A couple has dreamed of being married and starting a family. When everything seems right, things don’t go as planned…
1925. A boy and a girl, ten years old, strolled through Central Park, hand in hand. It was wintertime- everything was cold, covered by a thin layer of snow, black tree branches reaching out above. A horse and carriage clopped down the road through the snow, and the boy and girl watched it.
“Annette,” the boy said, “Just think of it! One day we’ll be married and have children. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”
“Yes, Harrison,” the girl said dreamily. “We’ll live in a big house in Brooklyn and have lots of children.”
They sat on a bench, sunlight filtering in through the leaves above. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Annette asked.
“I dunno yet,” Harrison said, swinging his legs. “But I’ll make sure it’s a good job that gets lots of money.”
“Hmm,” Annette said dreamily, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Wonderful indeed…”
1930. A boy and a girl, fifteen years old, walked down 5th Avenue, marvelling at all the stores. It was spring and the sun was warm and pleasant. The boy and girl stopped in front of a jewellery store.
“Oh, Harrison,” the girl said, staring at the jewels in the window. “When we get married, will you buy me a diamond ring?”
“Only the best, most beautiful diamond ring you could ever picture, Annette,” Harrison said, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.
“It’s just amazing to think about,” Annette mused. “It could become a family heirloom. I could give it to my daughter, she could give it to her daughter…”
“And it would be treasured,” Harrison said, grinning at her.
1935. A young man and a young woman, twenty years old, stood atop the Empire State Building, looking down upon all of New York City. It was summer, and the sun was blazing down heat.
“Wow,” breathed the young man. “This is so amazing. I never thought of seeing all of New York like this. Isn’t it beautiful, Annette?”
“Oh, it is, Harrison,” Annette breathed. “I love it so. Jus t think, we’ll be able to take our children up here one day, and they can see all of the city. I’m so glad they built this building, it’s so beautiful.”
Harrison squeezed her hand. “Nothing can go wrong now,” he said. “We’ll get married and lead a happy life and have lots of beautiful children. I love you, Annette.”
“I love you too, Harrison.”
Their lips met, and the cool breeze blew through their hair, ruffling it.
1940. A young newlywed couple, twenty-five years old, were at home. The young woman was baking a turkey, for it was Thanksgiving. Every once in a while, she would look down at her belly and smile - she was three months pregnant. Outside, the leaves fell from the trees, red and orange and yellow.
All of a sudden, the phone rang.
The young husband picked it up. “Hello?”
“May I please speak to Harrison Miller?”
“Speaking.”
“Sir, I’m from the US Forces. I’m calling to say that you have been drafted in the army and in two weeks will be serving the country over in Europe.”
“What?!”
“Please, sir, please understand that we need more troops. Feel lucky to have been chosen to have the honour of serving your country.”
“…”
“Goodbye, Mr. Miller, sir.” The man on the other end of the line hung up.
Harrison shakily put the phone down. “Annette,” he said.
“Yes, dear?”
“I’ve been drafted by the military. I’m going to war.”
Annette dropped the white plate she was carrying. It broke when it hit the floor, white shards splaying over the dark brown wood.
1942. A woman, thirty years old, sat in an armchair, reading. Her one-year-old son was sleeping in his bassinet. It was wintertime - everything was cold and covered by a thin layer of snow. All at once, there was a knock at the door.
“I wonder who that could be?” asked the woman aloud. She got up, went to the front door, and opened it.
“Telegram for Mrs. Annette Miller,” said the postman. She nodded, thanked him, and took the letter.
Sitting back down in the armchair, she carefully opened the letter. It was from the army. She swallowed nervously and read it.
Then she read it again.
And again.
Then she started to cry.
Title: Sand
Fandom: Akira [film]
Rating: PG for swearing, alcohol
Words: 1448
Summary: In the ruins, Kai tells Kaneda and Kei of his life before the streets.
The night wind whistled around destroyed buildings. High-rises groaned dangerously, black broken windows and grey cement shuddering. On the edge of what used to be Ward 13 was a house, one among many, that was half-covered in debris. It was dark except for a lone room lit by candles. A deep orange glow covered the room - which looked like it used to be someone’s den or study, as there was a desk and hundreds of books on shelved walls. The room’s three occupants were half in-shadow, the candles giving flickering light to their skin.
“Kai, let go of the bottle,” Kaneda said worriedly.
Kai was slumped in a large armchair, his arms hanging over the sides. In his hand he gripped the neck of a bottle that he had broken - and was no doubt planning to thrust in someone’s face if they said the wrong thing. Kaneda and Kei were kneeling on the floor across from him, trying to convince him to calm down.
“Shut up,” Kai growled in a low voice. In his other hand he had a bottle of beer. “Just… shut up.”
“No, really, stop it. You’re wasting supplies,” Kaneda scoffed back. “You’re usually smarter than this.”
“So since when is beer part of an essential survival kit?” Kai retorted. “‘Oh, Kai, don’t forget to get hammered today!’ Great idea, let’s make it part of our friggin’ daily routine! Like brushing our teeth.”
Kaneda and Kei look at each other.
“What’s with the look? Come on, admit it, it’s a great idea, gettin’ drunk every day.” Kai’s voice crescendoed. “Maybe it’ll make us forget WHAT A FUCKING MESS WE’RE IN!”
Kaneda stood up. “Okay, that’s it, you’ve had enough. Come on.” He began to walk towards Kai, cautiously, like a nervous, prowling cat.
“Shut up!” Kai thrust the broken bottle in Kaneda’s direction.
Kaneda raised his palms. “Hey, hey, hey! I didn’t even do anything!”
“Sit down,” Kai said in a low voice.
Kaneda, exasperated, sat down. “Kai, this is your…” Third? “Third beer in a row.”
There was a pause. Kai gave him a look that said, so what?
“You’re drunk.”
Kai smirked. “No I’m not.” Another pause. Kaneda and Kei realized that he actually wasn’t, really - They could tell he was a bit tipsy but hadn’t had enough to be super drunk, and they were small bottles anyways, he just seemed more angry than anything - “But it’s better than being completely sober in a place like this.”
“Kai, we know you’re upset, but you have to pull yourself together,” Kei said. “You really are wasting supplies, you know…”
“Yeah, who knows when we’ll come across more beer,” Kaneda hastily continued. “I mean, one of those bottles could trigger some life-changing event or somethin’.” He didn’t know if he entirely meant the last thing he said, but now he’d say anything to get Kai to calm down.
“Life-changing events?” Kai scoffed. “You wanna know about life-changing events?”
Kaneda and Kei exchanged glances again. Uh-oh.
“Well, you’re bound to have tons’ a life changing events when your mom bitches at everything imaginable and your dad’s a fucking faggot,” Kai spat. “Good enough for you? No?” He looked around the room, at the hundreds of books lining the bookshelves, like they were an audience.
“Kai, stop,” Kaneda tried to get up.
“No!” The broken bottle was thrust in his direction once more. Kaneda reluctantly knelt back to the ground.
Kai continued, slowly lowering the bottle. “You can only imagine how so ever very, very life changing it was when dear old daddy came out of the closet,” he said with a kind of angry grin.
Silence. Kei and Kaneda looked visibly uncomfortable by this point.
“Well, it was.” He licked his lips. “Lemme give you a bit of background first. Imagine me as a nice little twelve-year-old schoolboy. Nice slick gakuran and everything. Great marks in school… math and language were the best. Almost 100% in both.
“And that’s not all, no. I came from a very well-off family. Kinda loaded. My mom was a bit of a neat freak, you see, flipped a bitch if everythin’ wasn’t all tidy and in order and would have a major freak-out if something went wrong. Dear father now, he was some famous, admired architect and always had blueprints all over his desk all the time. But for the past few years before this I noticed something odd about him, like he wasn’t himself around me or mom - especially mom - I was worried for a while and then forgot.” Kai scowled. “THAT sure came back and hit me in the face. Literally.”
“Now, you see, I was very happy at this point of my 12-year-old life. I had just gotten not one, not two, but three - yes, count ‘em, three scholarships. You can imagine how proud mommy and daddy must’ve felt. No, they never got a chance to be proud about it. Not that they would be proud anyways. Seems daddy had a big secret that he was ready to tell to mommy, hm?
“When I got home that day, I was all proud of myself, for once - my parents pushed me to do better all the time, they never congratulated me for the nice, ripe fruits of my goddamn labours, even though those grades were better than anybody in the fucking class’. Anyways, I was proud, and I wanted to tell them both that this time, you know, I had actually done good.”
Kai stopped to take a breath. Kaneda and Kei stared at him. “Kai-” Kaneda started.
“Shut up! I’m not done!” Kai snapped. In a soft voice, he continued his story. He seemed less angry now, and more sad. “When I got in the door I heard screaming, and something breakin’… like a vase, y’know? My first thought was that ‘Oh shit, a broken vase, mom’s gonna have a fit,’ before I realized it was her voice that was screaming. And I could hear dad too, he sounded more desperate.
“So I quietly went into the hallway and looked into the kitchen where I saw them fighting. And mom was clutching a second vase in her hand -“ Kai’s voice started to crack. “-The first one was broken on the floor - and, and, dad was trying to comfort her or somethin’, and she was crying, and I was like… ‘Mom? What’s wrong?’ and they both stared at me, like, Ohmigod. It’s Keisuke.” There were tears in his eyes now.
“It’s all blurry after that… I remem- I remember dad trying to come over and comfort me, but mom was like ‘DON’T TOUCH HIM, YOU FILTHY PERVERT!’ or some-something like that… and dad yelled at her for being ignorant… and as they were fighting I figured out that, y’know, from the words they were using, he had come out of the closet to mom. W-who really didn’t like the idea. Anyways, I tried to get them to stop fighting, ‘cause…. ‘cause, it was scary, you know? And then dad just lost it and I got punched. ‘Cross the face. It was hard, too, I fell back onto the floor. Had a black eye for a couple weeks after… but he’d never see it.”
“I was silent after that, my mom freaked out even more, screaming and hitting dad, and dad just kept going, ‘Oh, Keisuke, I’m so sorry, I’m so so sorry,’ like he really hasn’t meant it, an’… I just wanted to get out of there… I ran away. Never went back.”
Kai took a swig from the bottle as Kaneda stared at him thinking, Oh, Jesus. He glanced over at Kei again, no doubt from the look on her face she was thinking the same thing.
“They never bothered to look for me, either. I guess I was just… too much of a weight for them to bear.” A tear ran down his face. “But I had it. A mother, a father, a home, good marks and three fuckin’ scholarships.”
I almost had it.
“And everything just went downhill from there. Everything, every opportunity… just slipped away. Like sand between my fingers.” The broken bottle slid from his hand and fell onto the floor with a quiet thud.
Kaneda tried to speak. “Kai… I didn’t know you… You never told us…”
“I had nothing to worry about on the streets… life was easier and harder at the same time and definitely wasn’t much, but… but I liked it.” He sobbed. “And now that’s turned to sand too.”
At that moment, a strong draft blew through a crack in the window and the candles went out. The smoke rose, white swirls wafting up against the moonlight.