(A thank you? Well here have another then) 31. Writer’s choice
( Perfect, time for a sad one ) Writer’s Choice: #3 - A memory of their mother (Which coincidentally is also #19 - A memory of someone they don’t see anymore and #20 - A memory of someone who is deceased.)
“I’m sorry.” Her words were spoken with a tremble in her voice and grief in her eyes, tears streaming down her cheeks and into her boy’s scrapped and dirtied palms. She pressed a crimson-stained rag against his tattered skin, the fabric damp from the steady rainfall that had persisted for days now. He couldn’t see her remorse, blind as he was, but he heard it very clearly in how she quivered and wept. He felt it in the warmth of her breath against his wilting ear when she wrapped her arms around him, holding him close one last time.
Voice quivering, her throat strained against the lump that swelled within, “My beautiful boy... Please forgive me.”
A heavy, grime caked hand clamped down upon his shoulder then, yanking him back and away from the weeping woman, “M-mom?” He called meekly, guided through the dark across a dock, the wood creaking under the weight of many making their way back towards their anchored pride. The flick of a coin caught his ear, his chin turning back to where it fell.
Panicked hands were quick to collect the coin that scattered across the wood, “You promised twenty! This is ten!” Called out the distraught woman, prompting the young boy to stop and turn.
The thick of the dark storm overhead howled and groaned, while the large hand upon the young boy’s shoulder tightening its grip until he winced in pain, “M-Mommy!” He cried out, but just as quickly was he silenced with a swift smack to the back of the head.
“Shut up, cat.” Barked the voice of the looming figure that guided him, baritone and brash. His breath wreaked of enough booze to put hair on the chest of those who smelled it, burning the throat with its stench. The boy recoiled, stifling a sob.
Slowly, the man turned back to the weeping woman, his chest rumbling as his words bubbled up from his throat, “You’re right. Forgive me, miss.” He croaked, cocking his head to the side towards one of his men. His hand released the young boy with a shove, knocking him to the ground as he brandished a lavishly embossed revolver pistol and tossed it to the other, “Give ‘er what we owe her.”
The heavy gun smacked against an eager palm, quickly held at the ready, “Sure thing, boss.” They chuckled nasally, the sound of their boots clunking against the wood fair less heavy than that of his boss.
Panic set in as the man neared, ripping from the woman’s throat a terrified scream for mercy. One quickly silenced, deafened instead by the thunderous sound of six shots being fired point-blank. It was like the rag she held had been stuffed down her throat, as she gurgled on the blood that filled her lungs and drained from her body. She collapsed, the sound of the thud followed by that of a man’s exasperated groaning, “We’re still short four. Whoops!”
Damp black Miqo’te ears flattened as much as they could against the young boy’s scalp, his blind eyes wide as he stared into the horror he felt inside. The large hand of the man beside him found its place on his shoulder once more and lifted him back up onto his feet, the toxic voice of a glutton echoing through the ringing in his ears, “Ain’t got nothin’ to come back to now, kid. S’what happens when you don’t keep your mouth shut.” He pushed the boy along and onwards they marched further down the docks.