The Visitors (5)

"Where…am I…?" a young, black-haired boy questioned.

The boy had no recollection of his past, nor his current whereabouts. He tried to recall a piece of distant memory that might've drifted away but to no avail—all of the memories he had were nowhere to be found.

Giving up on finding his memories, the boy decided the next best course of action is to explore this mysterious world—a world composed of nothing except for darkness—stretching beyond what the eyes could perceive.

'What did I do…to be sent here in the first place?" the boy pondered.

As the boy stood up, he felt an odd sensation from stepping on the darkness. With soft-like texture reminiscent of oobleck—the boy anticipated for his body to have sunken deep into the void since a long time ago.

The boy crouched down in an attempt to figure out the inexplicable mechanism that ensures his safety. He was astonished to feel a transparent membrane acting as a wall in order to block direct contact with the darkness.

After examining the mysterious phenomenon for a little while—the boy stood back up and checked his surroundings. His eyes darted all over the place yet no one, nor a single object was in his range of sight.

An irritated sigh escaped his throat. With no other seemingly logical options presented on the table—the boy gave up and chose to venture deeper into the darkness—searching for the answer to his questions.

The further he strayed from his original position—his strength began to diminish exponentially—until the boy eventually collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

He gasped for air and tried his very best to crawl—but even that was deemed useless. With no energy left to spare, he laid down on the ground and contemplated the decision he had made.

Just as all hope seems lost—the boy raised his head one more time with the miniscule amount of energy his body contained, and was greeted by the sight of two people; an adult woman and an adult man—standing rather faraway from him.

Though the boy knew nothing about the people that stood there—he could instinctively tell they were related to him.

He opened his mouth—attempting to speak to them. But not even a single sound could be uttered to them. He no longer had the vitality to form even the simplest of words.

The boy felt disheartened with his current feeble state. However, he was convinced to communicate with them one way or another.

Determined to interact with the couple—the boy forced every single fiber in his body to move. His frail arms dragging his ailing body—crawling on the ground like an animal while simultaneously trying to produce even the faintest of sound he could think of.

Once reaching a certain distance, a wave of memories flooded the boy's mind. Tears began to trickle down his face as he recalled the strangers identities, as well as their relation with him.

The both of them were none other than his loving parents—whom had sacrificed themselves for the sake of his well-being. If it weren't for them, the boy would've never been able to smile so much in his life.

"Ah…Ah…!" he muttered.

His pupils dilated as a surge of excitement washed over him. It had been far too long since their last meeting. But, now that they are back—the boy couldn't help but to feel exhilarated, and thrilled to tell the tales of his journeys to his mother and father—to share the joyful memories he had created while they were absent from his life.

The boy swung his arms wildly, and hastened his pace. The excitement coursing throughout his entire body could barely be contained. Oh, how he had been longing for their return ever since he was but a mere child.

As the boy got ever so closer to the couple—he noticed the couple whispering amongst themselves, discussing perhaps a secret that shouldn't have reached his ears in any scenario whatsoever.

After a solid minute or two, the gap between the boy and his parents had closed immensely—just a few meters left before he could embrace his ever so loving parents.

He halted his movements for a quick, deep breath—one that would aid him to complete this tedious mission he had shouldered upon himself. The boy raised his head once more—flashing a gallant smile for his parents to see. However, the reaction he had been anticipating to receive was…much further than he could foresee—for his smile was greeted by a bittersweet expression etched on the couple's faces.

He was…perplexed to say the least. He knew his parents better than anyone else in this godforsaken world. Thus, he could not comprehend the reason for the look they had scrawled on their faces.

Unexpectedly, a few droplets of tears started falling down from his mother's eyes—but she quickly wiped them away as her husband comforted her as well—ensuring her that everything will be alright.

"Don't worry, honey. I'm sure he'll be fine, even without our guidance." the man softly spoke.

He then redirected his attention back to his son. A bittersweet smile formed on his face as the man could hardly conceal tears that could gush out of his eyes at any given moment. He truly desired to embrace his son right now, but he knows it's far too late for him to do so.

The man crouched down and looked his son straight in the eyes—knowing that the chances of them reuniting again is far longer than the both of them could ever imagine, or perhaps maybe never.

Nevertheless, he won't allow himself to be presented in such a pathetic state. With all of his might—the man suppressed his undiluted emotions as he opened his mouth for the final time.

"■■■, I'm…no, WE'RE sorry for leaving you behind. We…didn't mean to do it. We never intended to leave you alone…but now…you have a better place to return to. So…don't be to sad, okay? It's time for us to…part ways now."

Finishing his sentence, the man stood up and walked further away from the boy. The boy tried to chase after them—to his dismay however, they were too fast, and too far for him to catch up. Although their steps looked unsteady—it proved no help for the boy.

'No…No…! Don't leave me!' he cried out inwardly.

The boy did his best to generate sounds once more. Still, he no longer could perform such action as it was too heavy of a burden for his flawed physique.

'No! No! No! Please! Come back! Don't leave me!' he earnestly begged.

Soon, the couple finally exited the boy's range of sight—leaving not even the tiniest trace of where they might be headed.

'Please…come back…I'm scared…please…' he pleaded for their reappearances.

Dreadfully, only the silence and darkness answered his calls. At long last, the boy was now all alone again—just like it always meant to be.

…