HEZEKIAH’S DARK DAY (WRITTEN BY FREEWHEELS)
Hezekiah sat in the recovery room next to Josiah, his little brother sleeping peacefully on the bed. “I envy you little bro,” Hez whispered silently to himself. As quickly as he said it, he took it back, inwardly kicking himself. How could he envy him! His foot has just been chopped off for heaven’s sake! But then, they had to do it… it was all…
Instantly the memories of finding Jos replayed again in his mind, without his consent. Scenes of circling their burning house, looking for a way in, looking for his mother and Jos. The fire blazing so hard in all the doorways that he had to break in through a window. Eventually he had found them, tucked in a corner surrounded by flames. While he was able to pull little Jos out, it was clear that their mother was gone, having used her body to shield Jos from the heat. Hez staggered to a safe distance out and away from the house, cradling his unconscious little brother, before finally collapsing to morn. However, as he lowered his head to weep, what he saw shocked him. While Jos lay there in his arms, covered in soot and resting peacefully, his left foot was a mangled nightmare! And once the scent of burned flesh and charred fur reached Hez’s nose, it was all he could do to keep from being sick. It filled Hez with shame to remember that, before he could run them to town for help, he had to position Jos’ leg so it couldn’t touch his own body.
A whimpering sound brought Hez out of himself. Jos was stirring slightly, groaning in his sleep. Whether from the events of the past few hours, or of some awareness of his new condition, who could say. Hez made to attend to Jos, but pain made him stop. His tired body ached in protest, and he settled on kneeling on the floor next to Jos.
The pain brought back even earlier memories, of how his father had sacrificed himself to save Hez. They’d been out riding along the river that runs near their ranch, when a group of strangers ambushed them. Before Hez could even draw his gun, his father had kicked him off his mount and into the rushing river below. The last thing he remembered was the sound of a gunshot before he was knocked out cold by the rapids. The next thing he remembered was waking up on a bank, miles downstream, feeling like he swallowed the whole river and personally challenged each rock and eddy to a boxing match. And lost.
As he tended to Jos, stroking his head, and praying he’d stay asleep, even for just a few more blissful moments, Hez noticed something odd. The entire room was twisting, the wall planks and floorboards bending surreally. Even the drapes looked more menacing, flapping their deathly skull patterns at him. Hez looked around confused, trying to understand what was going on, when Jos suddenly woke up and grabbed Hez by the throat. He held the bone saw in his hand too!
Hez gasped as he woke up, clutching at his throat. He looked around at the dark hotel room, remembering where he was. He felt Jos snuggled up against him, using his older brother’s chest as a pillow. He sighed as he realized it was dream. Well, at least the end was just a dream, it had started out as real memory. “It figures,” he muttered to himself before falling back to sleep, “the night Jos sleeps peacefully, I get the nightmare.”
Patreon | Twitter | DeviantArt | Youtube
