The Past

"We did it!" Tinka said with joy.

"We still need a bed though." Minos said, breaking Tinka's reverie.

"Oh yeah! I'll make the mattress, and you can make the frame." Tinka said, quickly giving Minos his role.

Despite Minos being an amateur woodworker, his past experience on building a boat gave him at least enough knowledge to build a bed frame, which wasn't too difficult.

After another few hours, the two finally finished the bed, placing it in the corner of the room, and with that, they were finished, at least with the basics.

Collapsing on the bed, the two snuggled up close as they recovered from the exhaustion of working on the house.

"We have a home Minos, how does it feel?" Tinka asked Minos as she hugged him tightly.

"It feels good, no, amazing!" Minos replied, making Tinka smile.

"But, there's still one thing we need to really make a perfect home." Tinka said, a blush forming on her face.

"Oh, and what is that?" Minos asked, looking at the ceiling, not noticing Tinka's appearance.

"Hmm, guess." Tinka said shyly, not wanting to say out loud.

"Uhh, a garden?" Minos said.

"No!"

"A basement?" Minos guessed again.

"No you goof!" Tinka said with a laugh.

"Then I have no idea." Minos said as he scratched his head.

"A child." Tinka said, barely a whisper.

Despite only barely squeezing the words out, Minos could still hear them loud and clear with his hearing.

"A child? Don't you think we're still a little young for that?" Minos couldn't help but say.

"Not now, but in the future." Tinka said.

"Of course, but let's leave that for later. Besides, I wouldn't be happy raising a child in a house like this anyways." Minos responded.

"That's true. Let's at least build a mansion first!" Tinka said with happiness.

"Let's leave that for the future, what I'm more interested in is your past." Tinka suddenly said, catching Minos off guard.

"My past? It isn't much of a story." Minos said honestly.

"I don't care, since we're married now, shouldn't I at least know about your past?" Tinka questioned.

"I guess you're right. So where should I start?" Minos asked.

"Start from as young as you can remember."

"Well it all started about a decade ago, those days weren't glamorous, but they had a beauty that I only learned to appreciate after losing it…"

…

"Minos, wake up!" An older lady shouted from another room, shocking Minos out of his bed.

Letting out a loud yawn, Minos scratched his back lazily before jumping up from his bed and throwing on his clothes.

Exiting his decrepit bedroom, Minos entered a humble dining room. A small table stood at the center of the room, barely big enough to fit the family of three.

"Morning son." An old man said, as he sipped his tea calmly at the table.

"Morning dad, morning mom." Minos said, taking his seat at the table.

"Good morning dear." Minos's mom said with a smile, as she placed Minos's breakfast in front of him.

The meal was humble like their home, there was no meat, or even eggs, just a medley of vegetables harvested from the area.

Of course Minos wouldn't complain, he had long since gotten used to such a meal, and he didn't even know there was anything better, so there wasn't even anything for him to compare it to.

"Calm down boy, the food isn't going anywhere." Minos's dad scolded as he saw the way Minos was devouring his meal.

"Leave the boy alone, he's growing, he needs all the food he can eat." Minos's mom said, defending him.

"That's no reason to eat like an animal! If our sons ever going to become a noble man in the future, he's going to need to learn etiquette." Minos's dad said as he gently slapped the table.

"Noble man? Don't be foolish, Rolin, and don't fill the boy's head with impossible ambitions." Minos's mom said with anger.

"Impossible? What's impossible, Trin, my son has potential, it's not my fault you can't see that!" Rolin rebutted.

"Of course I see Minos's potential, but look at where we live, look at our home, our food, our environment! It's hard enough to survive as it is, much less to hope for anything better." Trin said, her eyes tearing up.

Seeing his wife on the verge of tears, Rolin, who was about to continue fighting, stopped, only letting out a long sigh, keeping silent.

Minos had only since gotten used to arguments of this kind between his parents, who's personalities and thoughts completely clashed. He sometimes wondered how the two even got married given how different they were.

Eating his food in silence, he waited patiently for the dispute to finish. The two soon stopped fighting, leaving the room in an awkward silence.

"Son, whatever you do in the future, I just want you to always hold hope, and always be ambitious, not like us old people." Rolin said in a whisper to Minos, making sure Trin didn't hear anything.

"Don't you have class today son? Mister Uklend is only stopping in our village until his injuries heal, so make sure to take advantage of it and learn as much as possible." Rolin said loudly, finally saying something Trin wouldn't argue with.

"That's right Minos, as long as you can learn to read and write from Mister Uklend, your future will be much easier than ours." Trin said, feeling excitement as she remembered Mister Uklend.

Mister Uklend's origins were a mystery to the small village, everyone only knowing that he was injured quite severely before finally stumbling into the village and being saved by the people.

Fortunately for the villagers, Mister Uklend was the grateful type, so he decided to use the time spent healing to teach the village children, which was a huge blessing for the illiterate villagers.

"Maybe you really can become a noble man, but only if you learn. Reading and writing are the first doors to freedom!" Trin said sternly, licking her finger as she combed Minos's hair flat and straightened his clothes.

"Don't worry mom, I'll try my hardest!" Minos said confidently, before running out of the house as he waved goodbye.

"Let's hope the boy can do well." Trin said as she watched Minos run off into the village.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, he's always been an incredibly intelligent child. Besides, as we both know, he isn't really ours, so he won't be held back by our mediocrity." Rolin said with a loud laugh.

"Hey, watch your words! Even though we aren't directly related to Minos, we raised the boy from the second his eyes opened, when his true parents abandoned him. If we aren't his parents, no one is!" Trin said with anger.

"Of course dear. Besides, more important than blood is spirit, and Minos definitely has our spirit!" Rolin said with a smile.

…

While Rolin and Trin were still chatting, Minos had long since made his way to the small hut that the villagers had quickly refurbished into a little school-house.

Today was the first day that Mister Uklend was teaching, so Minos was naturally excited. He had always been a curious child who wanted nothing more than to learn, so to finally have a chance to do so was better than a hundred birthdays.

Opening the door, Minos entered the small building. Immediately, he noticed the other village children, each sitting in their seats, chatting with their friends as they waited for Mister Uklend to arrive.

"Here Minos, I saved you a seat!" A young boy shouted to Minos, as he waved his hands towards him.

"Hey Yuluk, thanks." Minos said, as he took a seat beside Yuluk.

Yuluk was Minos's best friend, and probably the only child he could really get along with. Most of the other children disliked Minos's mature nature, but Yuluk didn't seem to mind, and instead saw Minos as a role model, wanting to be like him.

"Have you seen Mister Uklend? I hear he's some sort of warrior, and apparently he's killed a hundred men! I wonder what learning from him will be like." Yuluk couldn't help but gossip.

"I'm sure those are all rumors. Don't pay attention to them." Minos said.

"Well I hope they are real. If he's really a warrior, maybe he'll teach us how to become warriors too! That's way cooler than reading and writing!" Yuluk said, his eyes shining

Minos couldn't help but laugh at Yuluk's naive appearance, but he didn't shatter his fantasies, instead letting Yuluk daydream as he waited patiently for Mister Uklend.

The wait didn't last long, and soon enough a middle-aged man entered the room. His body was wrapped tightly in bandages that were still soaked red, but he didn't seem to mind.