Shades of a moon

A sigh escaped Sister Irene's lips and she raised her weary arms and stretched in a way that would not have been deemed as dignified but she didn't particularly care . Her old body was tired and it was with sullen resentment that she had fully accepted her weak mortality that day .

She sat on a chair in the infirmary , having come back from the chapel , where she had offered prayers along with everyone else . Sleeping bodies , lay across the room , not more than fifteen but not less than ten .

They were boys who had gotten pelted with glass , been knocked into a wall with the wind and different other injuries . She had treated them quickly , after quickly tending to the Reverend father , who had been found unconscious in his office . Wet , disheveled and slightly unclothed .

How no one had bothered to ask why he looked like that was still puzzling but it hadn't been her place to talk . Hell , when she tried to tell them some boys had severe injuries , she had been told to wait until the Reverend father was fine . Her heart had shriveled like a prune in the sun at those words .

Hell , she hated this place !

" No ! No ! " A soft moan escaped from one of the boys and Sister Irene got up walked towards the bed .

She knew who it was , the only boy who kept tossing and turning in his sleep . Unlike the other boys , his sleep was induced with the help of drugs . She had hated it but it had been necessary to keep Henric from hurting someone or himself .

They'd found him outside , unconscious in the garden , wet and hot with a fever . Broken shards of glass lay strewn around him and in his hand had been a silver hand mirror . She'd nearly lost the holy Ghost when she saw him . His head had had a large gash destined to leave a scar , his clothes were as wet as a fish in the Pacific and his body was solid fire from the fever .

She'd begun methodically , taking his clothes off and putting him in something dry and covering him with warm blankets to sweat the fever out . Afterwards , she had given a prayer for him to wake up so she could give him some medication . But when he woke up , it was not the calm and collected boy who she knew .

" Where ... Where am I ? " He had asked breathing deeply and she'd rushed over , leaving the boy she had been checking on.

" Henric , you're awake . Oh , lord and saints be praised ! " She had said with relief but he looked at her as if he didn't know who she was .

" Where's my ... Where's the mirror ? " He had asked looking around and she'd placed a calming hand on his side . His skin burned through the sheet .

" It's alright . Sister Becca has taken it but - "

" No ! " Henric said rising up despite his weak body , " She'll never return it . She'll ruin it and I'll never ... I said I would ." Henric said incoherently and Sister Irene knew it was an effect of the fever .

She reached over and took the medicine for a fever but when she turned around , she saw Henric on his legs , looking ready to fall .

" What are you doing , Henric ? Back in bed , child . " She had said with concern , putting an arm around him before he fell down .

" I have to get ... get it back ... let me go ! " Henric practically shoved Sister Irene out if the way , stunning her . Then he began to move towards the door .

" Henric, I'll be patient because you're down with fever but I'm the nurse and i order you to get back in bed . " Sister Irene said patiently but the boy just looked at the door and kept walking .

Sister Irene had groaned before grabbing a dab cloth and a bottle of chemicals she rather not mention . She'd come up from behind and covered Henric's face , blocking his breathing . He'd began struggling and she'd held him tight , until his body fell into slumber . Then she'd carried him back to the bed and began to give him the medicine with a spoon . Putting alittle into his mouth and then leaning his head back so he would swallow it . It had been cruel but necessary , she reasoned . He had been too sick with fever to know what he had been doing and he would have hurt himself .

She placed a hand in his brown hair and sighed again , before looking at the rising moon beyond the window .

Why couldn't she stop feeling guilty then ?

....

A person walked through the night woods , behind Pearl orphanage , his feet not making a sound in the grass or leaves . He moved like a shadow of mist , one moment there but gone the next , solid to notice but too blurry to define .

The boy from the garden watched him walk , keeping his distance from the person .

The person knew the boy was there but he did not care . He looked up at the sky , at the moon in the dark blue heavens and felt his heart break . The stars were different and in different places but still as beautiful .

" What are you doing ? " The boy from the garden asked softly . The person answered without turning to him .

" I am going ." He said taking more steps and seeing an old black tree ahead .

" Where are you going ? " The boy from the garden asked the person .

" I don't know . " he replied . It was a lie .

" Do you want to go back to my garden ? " The boy asked with a smile . " We can be friends . Like me and ... me .We can wait together . Wait ... wait for ... him ."

The person turned to the boy , who was looking back at him with glazed eyes . He looked distant and far away from the place , his mind back in time .

" I have to wait for him ." The boy said before vanishing into thin air . The person did not follow him , even though he could .

He couldn't walking , not sure of his path but sure of his destination . As he neared the black tree , he noticed a puddle of clear water and moved away from it . He looked at it nervously before turning back to the tree , which he reached in two steps . It was a hollow dead thing , with no leaves and not particularly beautiful but it was beautiful . He turned around it and walked two more steps away from the tree .

Immediately , shackles rose from the puddle of water behind him and latched onto his wrists , cuffing him .

" What ? No !? " The person shouted as the shackles held him . He tried to pull against them , knowing it was futile, but desperate to break them .

The shackles began to pull him backwards toward the puddle and the person fought as hard as he could , pulling against them with all his strength . But eventually he fell to the ground and began to be dragged towards the puddle , his hands clawing at the dirt for dear life .

" No ! Please ! Help ! Someone please help ! " The person shouted but his only viewer was the silent moon .

The person's body neared the puddle and began to dissolve into mist , falling into its waters . His last words echoed through the trees like a howl from a dying widow .

" Please help me ."