Chapter 15: dreamy dilemma

Later that night, after a short supper with little conversation, Zena retired to her room, Maurly went out for exercise, and Wolf had sunken down into the couch that had become his bed.  He had slowly become quite fond of the way the old couch cradled him. He had become rather used to the musty but not overpowering smell that the couch radiated. He sighed and flipped on the tiny tv that looked like it had been there since the television was first invented.  Surprisingly, the picture was in color.  Slowly, the TV lulled him to sleep. 

                The gray cloud of consciousness broke to a hazy black and white picture.  A few characters moved around in slow motion.  A man, well-groomed and around his thirties, a woman, also well-groomed around her thirties, and a young boy with mud on his face, overalls full of dirt, sneakers worn, and hair a mess.  The parents were in the process of reprimanding the young boy while he stared at his shoes.

                “ Why do you insist on always mucking up your clothes and everything else you touch?!” the woman says  halfheartedly.  The young boy reaches for a towel to wipe the mud off.

                “NO!!! do not touch that! We cannot have your filth trailing around this house like a pig at a mud convention! We have STANDARDS, boy! Do you not understand this?! Now go outside and wash yourself with the hose! And do NOT come back inside until you are completely cleaned up and are as sparkling as the cider in your father’s wine glass!” The woman shooed the young boy out the door like stray animal that belonged at the pound.

                The boy hung his head and slunk back outside, being sure to drag his feet as he did so.  He hated his parents equally as much as they hated him, but, being the upper class that they were, no one ever said anything about it. The boy was an introvert, cut off from the rest of the world.  He was as lonely as a leftover. Often, he found himself feeling as if everyone else had found their pair, their perfect match, whether it be a friend or a mate, and he was the only person leftover with no one to care.

                Suddenly a loud crash woke Wolf, and consciousness returned like a rushing wave of water, crashing over him, and thrusting the air from his chest.  He jumped up, startled.  From the bathroom came the sound of quiet bustling.  Zena must be up, he thought, and pushed himself up to make sure.

                “Finally… you’re quiet… do you always talk in your sleep?” Zena asked as he appeared in the doorway. “You didn’t make much sense, and I’m not sure what the heck you were saying, but you sure were loud…”

                Wolf blushed, “Sorry… was remembering… oh never mind…” he sighed as he responded.  He was afraid she wouldn’t understand, and, after all, she seemed to be having problems of her own, without having to worry about his damaged past.  He shook his head and walked away, leaving Zena standing puzzled in the bathroom. 

Reviews

[Meat of Dog]

Interesting chapter! I enjoyed the insight into Wolf's past. He parents seem very cruel, which would make sense. My guess would be that being an assassin requires a certain kind of childhood trauma, which is portrayed linearly in this story. This is a good thing, because it would otherwise be unrealistic that normal people with great childhoods just randomly decide to kill for a living. Also, the degree of his past sorry being less than Zena's adds to his personality of being slightly below her, or less intense than her. I'm interested to see if they share stories of their past, and how they will interact with each other henceforth.

other suggestions:
-".He sighed and flipped on the tiny tv that looked like it had been there since the television was first invented. Surprisingly, the picture was in color. Slowly, the TV lulled him to sleep." They were watching TV in an earlier chapter (the one where they fell asleep together on the couch) so he shouldn't be surprised that the picture is in color.

[Coyote Poetry]

A very good chapter. Some dreams can take you back to the people who make you strong and afraid. I like the detail of Wolf's bed. A very interesting chapter. I like the ending. A excellent chapter. I like when the story create history.

Coyote