These sweet sounds attracted musicians. A group of three set up their instruments made with string and wood. A young woman, no older than myself, started a song by humming. She waited for the wind to blow fiercely then howled with the intensity of a wolf but chilling as a hoot from an owl. She stretched out her voice with the intensity of the wind, when it calmed, she hummed. The musicians called this the Song of the Wind, a song that is entirely made up as the wind blows and the chimes clang together.
Dodger had his fill of pleasant sounds and moved his attention to touch. With strawberry stained fingertips he picked up the snow and attempted to eat it. I placed my hands over the mound of snow and handed him another strawberry.
"Snow isn't for eating, Dodger." He quickly moved onto the strawberries again.
The wind blew again and Dodger hummed with delight as his ears followed the sounds of the windchimes. The strawberry was gone in seconds.
"… She's quick, she is." A woman said to her friend. They sat behind me, a few feet away. I tried to focus on the sound of the music as not to eavesdrop but they spoke loudly.
"I can't believe that Shi already closed two demon rifts in less than three weeks." Her friend appraised the saint.
Since the events of the odd burst of screams and wails that happened three weeks ago demon rifts had been opening up all over the realm. If the rifts exceeded past our own realm we wouldn't know, our realm doesn't concern themselves with the rest of the world. Our cities, and the people of our nation must protect of the precious Trees of Life. They were our primary concern.
"Shi's a beast. She can handle demons. You don't mess with our realm!"
I don't believe they're taking into consideration that Shi has an entire guild filled with hundreds of capable young men and woman. Shi is astounding, worthy of all praise, but she had help.
"What do you think caused these rifts to open? It makes me shudder." I dared not look behind me to see who was talking.
"Well, a friend of mine thinks that hell is broken and that the demons are living in our world now."
I got bored of their conversation. We pushed our way through the crowded streets again to return home.
~~
What time was it?
Was it dark because there wasn't a window for light to shine through in our bedroom?
Or was it because the morning light hadn't hit the horizon?
We only had two windows in our apartment. One acted as a vent for smoke in our living room, it was built directly above the chimney and another was on the adjacent wall. The layout of our apartment was unorthodox, the fireplace was in the living room because the chimney needed to be on the outside wall and our neighbors shared our kitchen wall. We could have easily turned the living room into the kitchen but we enjoyed lounging around the heat during cold winters. Our apartment was on the corner of the building, thankfully. Most residents weren't so lucky to have two extra windows, but we do pay a few silvers more.
I usually arose before the Alpha Sun on normal mornings, but that wasn't the case. I was awakened by a swift kick to my side. Dodger hadn't slept well and was still restless. I hummed to him until his eyes drifted shut. Several seconds later he tossed and turned, kicking and jostling me around.
I would have ignored it but his soft whimpers made me feel guilty for even considering the option to ignore him. I sat up and wrapped Dodger in my arms. His head was dripping with sweat but his skin was cold against my bare arms. His whimpers quickly turned to sobs. I held onto him tighter, hoping it would give him some sense of security but to my dismay, it hadn't.
My heart jumped and I shed my skin when Dodger began to flail violently and screeched like a banshee.
"Dodger, it's ok!" I held him tighter, binding his arms so he won't scratch himself. Witnessing him suffer this way and not being able to soothe him broke my heart. He screamed and screamed in what seemed to be never-ending torment. Mother jumped upright from her slumber. She reached for Dodger but was stopped by Daniels alarmed voice.
"Don't wake him, it could agitate him more."
I cradled Dodger until he slowly came to the realization that he was awake. Dodger wasn't soothed, he began to weep and slowly turned to loud wailing. I lifted him out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where I set him on the counter. He screamed louder, he was frightened, hurt, and confused about his new home situation. My heart longed to wrap my arms around him but I know he needed more than just my embrace.
I grabbed the milk jug, poured milk into the kettle then activated a fire spell to quickly warm it. I dipped a clean towel into the heated milk until it was sopping wet and handed it to Dodger. We didn't have bottles but Dodger seemed to enjoy sucking on the towel.
"How about a bedtime story?" I asked Dodger as I lifted him and took him to the bedroom. Dodger moved his head so his ear was facing me.
"Let's see…" I reminisced about all the stories I had locked inside my brain, the stories my father and mother used to tell.
"Oh, I love this story." I said with a hush so Mother and Daniel could fall back to sleep peacefully.
"Before the sun circled around the world and the moon casted a faint glow to guide us throughout the night, the god and goddess lived on Chara with their creations. They were a sight to behold. The Godius was larger than the trees! He had black smooth skin with golden hair that cascaded down to his hips. He always wore a mask so that his sunlight eyes wouldn't blind his followers."
Mother told me this story a hundred times and I repeated it verbatim.
"The Goddessa had pale skin and gleamed with the radiance of the moon." Dodger might not have seen these things before, hopefully the tone of my voice will lead Dodgers imagination to a positive image. "She wore a long cloak that held the stars and diamonds decorated her hair."
I grabbed Dodgers hair and ran my fingers through it so he understood what I was talking about.
"All was well, and the people were happy. But as the god and goddess created distant lands the beings of Chara felt a desire to explore the wonderous places. Unfortunately, the farther away they went the darker their world became. They cried out to the god and goddess for help so that they may see their surroundings and live equally close to them as everyone else. Help, help!" I flailed my arms comically and then jostled Dodger as a joke. His chuckle was joyous and made my heart melt.
"The god and goddess loved all their children. They desired a pathway of light for all. The two of them leaped into the sky together in the shape of the radiant sun and the crescent moon…" Dodgers palm laid flat in mine, I circled the shape in his palm so he understood what crescent meant. "They circled around Chara giving the people fourteen hours of light. The darkness was dangerous and the night long without the god and goddess. The Goddessa and Godius made an agreement to separate so that the other half of Chara has fourteen hours of faded light while the sun was gone. The Goddessa lighted the darkness only slightly so that her children can sleep peacefully knowing that she is watching over them. So whenever you wake up from a nightmare know that the Goddessa will always protect you, even in the darkest hours."
My lips touched his forehead, his hair tickled my nose.
"Good night, Dodger."
~~
The mornings were brutal on us. We had no bed, just a bunch of pillows and stacked blankets for us to lay on. Throughout the night, the pillows would shift as we wiggled uncomfortably. The blankets would scrunch together to leave long peaks jabbing at our backs. We shared a bed since our apartment only had two rooms and a small kitchen.
With heavy eyes, crackling bones, and a rumbling ache in my stomach, I forced myself up. I was halted abruptly by large arms wrapped around my waist. Daniel's sticky breath warmed my neck, a sensation I have come to love. Without it, I was cold. I smiled knowing I would always wake to him by my side. Daniel grumbled as I stood to light a candle. I didn't care if it woke him. We all had our responsibilities for the day. Mine was to take Dodger to the doctor.
"Dodger. Dodger, wake up." He grunted and let out a couple of cries. "Come on. We need to go."
I rubbed his back, hoping it would help wake him up. His eyes opened, but he clearly wasn't ready to get up. He curled his back to pull his knees to his chest and cradles his in a small nook between the ground and his body. It was his most comfortable sleeping position.
"We don't have time for your stubbornness." I wondered if he was bestowed with the stubbornness of a mule from his mother or father?
I wedged my hands in the open spaces between Dodger's body and the floor, attempting to pick him up without dropping him. He screamed in protest.
"Dodger, that's enough," I yelled at him. He stopped wiggling and woke up with a harrumph. His movements were slow and obvious hints that he was frustrated with me. He crossed his arms after putting on his day shirt and kicked his feet against the floor after putting shoes on. He dared to take his shoes off and throw them.
"You will sit still mister while I put your shoes on!" He harrumphed again and I struggled to get his shoes back on his feet. Dodger scrunched his face with frustration as I carried him out the door and to the doctor's office. We were put in the same room as before, where I sat him down to be examined.
"Huh..." The doctor stared into Dodger's eyes for what felt like hours. I held Dodger close to my chest to keep his head from moving.
"What is it?" I asked with curiosity.
The doctor leaned back into his chair.
"I don't think we can do surgery." His face told me something was wrong.
"Why not?"
"There are markings of a great spell within the cataracts of his eyes," he explained. I looked into Dodger's eyes.
"I don't see anything?" I squinted as I tried viewing his eyes at varying depths from me, trying to see if I could see what he saw.
"They're very small and undetectable." Doctor Ingram said. I stared harder, trying to visually trace the markings.
"If you haven't studied spells, you wouldn't know what you're looking at. I believe it's a veiling spell." He explained further.
"That means?"
"It's a spell used to hide something. He wasn't born with cataracts. They were put there for a reason. This spell has powerful markings. Only a high-level wizard could've cursed him with these cataracts. We'll never be able to counter this spell."
"Why would someone do that?" I doubted he would know why, but I wanted to hear his opinion.
"Your guess is as good as mine." He shrugged his shoulders. I ran my fingers through Dodger's hair for my own comfort. He was too young yet to understand.
"Has he spoken yet? Any kind of grunting or any signs of communication?" Dr. Ingram said, his hands complimenting his words.
"No, he hasn't."
"Does he respond when you talk to him?" he asked, not giving me the chance to say more
I sat and thought with my eyes focused on the ceiling, running through my various interactions with our new son.
"Yes, occasionally. Should I be concerned?" I asked.
"Not yet. When he's six solstices old, if he still hasn't talked then we will need to run some tests. I'm just curious if the boy is a mute."
"He screams and cries." As if to prove my point, Dodger let out a small noise. I had a hard time believing he was a mute.
"Since you adopted him from an unknown source, there are a lot of things that concern me. What if he has brain trauma? What if his previous parents were abusive? There's hundreds of scenarios like that. It's good for you to know what you're dealing with if you can."
I had never considered the possibility. I had been curious about Dodgers parents before, but never honestly concerned. The leper had said nothing about how Dodger had come to be in his life or if Dodger was even his son. I chewed on my thumb nail at the thought. What if Dodger was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury? What if he never matured like a normal person?
"I'm curious about these ears of his, too," he said as he touched Dodger's ears and moved them gently to get a better look. "I looked into races that have sharp teeth and pointy ears like this with his pale skin complexion."
"And?"
"It's impossible to tell. There are hundreds of beings on Chara with these distinctions."
The conversation was cut short when the doctor's daughter came in to introduce the next patient. I was left with many questions and scenarios replaying in my mind. Who was Dodger? And who was that leper? Did the leper cast the spell on Dodgers eyes? We left with my thoughts all over the place. I didn't want to return home only to ponder on my unanswered questions. Instead, I took Dodger out for a walk.
Down at the marketplace where the windchimes were. I placed Dodger down and encouraged him to walk. He did nothing of the sort. He slowly crouched to the floor then crawled as his hands picked up snow. I kept trying, coaxing him with strawberries and other food I bought at the booths. Trying again and again helped keep my mind off of my worries. My focus was now on Dodger's progress and only that.
We returned home with my thoughts calmed, and I decided to fill in time by reading to Dodger. A few stories of the Godius and Goddessa kept Dodger interested until I needed to start dinner.
Mother helped with chopping a few vegetables and returned to the living room to throw them in the pot of boiling broth as the living room then returned to the kitchen.
"I'm home, Mae!" Daniel opened the front door and announced his arrival.
"I'm in the kitchen!" It took only a moment, but he walked into the kitchen. He hugged me before kissing my cheek.
"Did you see the doctor again?" he asked.
"Yes…"
"Did something happen?" He leaned against the counter with his arms crossed. He stared at me until I continued talking.
"The doctor said someone purposefully gave him cataracts."
"What?" His face twisted in confusion.
"I think it might be to hide his race." I said, Daniel shook his head. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm concerned, Mae. What if that leper did it to hide the fact that Dodger's race is aggressive." His voice dropped until it was barely a whisper.
"Dodger hasn't shown any signs of aggression."
"This morning with his shoes? His violent nightmare? I'm worried. I don't want this to go south on us. We know nothing about Dodger."
"He's a baby! He has plenty of time to grow, and we have all of that time to learn about him. I'm scared, too. But he's been nothing but sweet and loving," I said, trying to calm Daniel's fears.
"I know. I just wanted to express how I feel. I'm still uneasy, but like you said he's just a baby. We have time." Daniel had always communicated his fears to me, and I was grateful he did.
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