Broken Families - Tumblr Posts
The Corner of the Window
The child jolts awake to a vase shattering on the floor. Muffled yells of his parents vertebrate from outside the door. He sighs as he switches his lamp on, knowing sleep is not there for him tonight. Maybe it’s time to make mommy and daddy stop. He walks out of his room, careful not to trip on scattered articles of clothing and toys.
His ears pick up the sound of something scratching the corner of the window. Scratch, scratch, sounds like a branch. No, the only trees are across the street. His eyes adjust to the glare of the hallway light. Stabbing his eyes like knives, another crash echoes from the living room.
A roar booms from his father’s mouth. The child screams.
“Mom! Dad! Stop! Please!”
He races down the stairs to the living room.
“Mom, please just stop. I want you to stop fighting. Just stop.”
The child pleads, with tears in his eye, "stop.”
His dad weeps as he clutches the gash on his head. Blood forms a puddle on the floor, the child backs away, as his mom storms into the kitchen. His dad mouths two words.
“Go back to your room.”
The child nods and trots to his room. His eyelids weigh on his eyeballs, wanting to close. He shuts the door of his room, the scratching continues. It always happens when his parents are arguing. He curls up on his bed.
There is silence, maybe they finally stopped. He creeps down the stairs into the living room. From the stairs, he sees his father lying limp with a knife sticking out of his neck. His mother heaves in front of the body. The child bites his lip. As his mother turns to face him.
He darts into his room. His mother’s footsteps thump up the stairs as if she is a beast from hell. He slams the door of his room shut.
“I wish they could just keep doing it.” He tells himself, as his eyes release a waterfall of tears.
A deep voice whispers into his ear. “Open the window.”
His mother marches down the hall at a rapid pace.
The child’s fingers fumble the locks. Click, he pushes it wide. The warm summer air floods into his room. Just as his mother bursts in, knife in hand. A hand with long, slender black fingers extends from the window and wraps around the child.
“Stop you monster! You made me k-.”
In a waft of dead leaves, her child vanishes into the darkness. Never to be seen again.
Art: By Edgist A
Story: By Edgist A