Falling

A Chapter by Nell

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"I'm falling,"

Falling had been the initial thought in Rhys' mind, but as he was "falling," he never hit the ground. So he would want to say, going against the current. Doing the impossible, and making it possible. He saw flashes of light from here and there in the, tunnel? It was very hard to describe for him. Almost too dark in the massive space to even picture what might be happening.

There was however a small bit of light, like a fluorescent glow, bouncing off from wall to wall. The little light twining an almost pure picture of what a phone's screen would do in a dark place like this. Rhys, being the numb rod he is, finally started to search for his phone. At least trying to make the dark seem lighter. No luck in that, as he would have guessed. Man, he thought, being in a dream that you know exactly what is happening and not being able to do anything about it is very... His thought had lost it's way as a sudden brighter light caught his view.

Squinting, his eyes tried to adjust to the new variable coming around the corner. The light was like it was being projected from the outside in, and what was on it was astonishing.

His mother came into view. And as she did, his eyes began to water. Tears rushed toward his eyes and formed like there was no other way for the bodily liquids to be disposed of. She was in perfect health, walking around the house, singing her songs, and cleaning the house with a smaller, younger version of him. He felt frustrated, and scared. He wanted to yell and throw something, but he also wanted to be held and cry like a little baby. His eyes betrayed him at his last thought. Dear god, he looked at his hands, but they had become cloudy because of the tears that he refused to release, I am still not strong enough.

The image then switched to his mother, laying cold and half dead on a hospital bed. The woman before had no resemblance to the woman he now knew. Rhys had always favored his mom more than his dad, everyone knew that. So when his mother's sickness took hold of her, it hit him the most. She was literally the light of the house. She made everyone's day by just smiling, and well, she was happiness personified. His initial thought was to blame the world, and blame god for being so cruel to a woman so nice. His thoughts died down as a clip started to play in the tunnel.

"Rhys, come here baby," her voice like gravel, coming out so hard because her dry throat couldn't take any water, "honey," she held him close. "Awe, baby now don't cry," he had always been the man of the house when his father was out, protecting his little sister, and his mother in the best of times. She coughed and tried to clear her throat, "Baby, mommy has always loved you, you know that right?" He was sobbing so hard he shook the whole bed, "Shh, baby it's okay," she wiped the tears from his eyes and grabbed the small Kleenex box on the bedside table to wipe his nose. "Honey, I need you to be the best you can be," she lifted his head and smiled that warm smile that melted even the coldest of hearts. "I need you to strive to do what's right, and to be an even better man that the world has ever seen." Rhys stopped crying and gave a little laugh, "You want to be that man Rhys?" She started to tickle the little man, "Yeah mom!" he balled his little fists and pumped them up to the sky, "I'll be that man for you," his eyes were puffy and his nose was stuffy. "Then do that," she held the little boy's body close to her fragile shell, "you have to remember this promise and don't ever forget it!" They pulled away from each other and shared their signature smile. Then dad and Pa-rang came in, Pa-rang ran and jumped on top of the bed, "Mommy, mommy," she yelled as she crossed the tile floor, her tiny feet making the cutest little steps. Rhys and Pie were four years apart, Rhys being ten and Pie being six at the time.

The little scene ended and what was next broke him down. It was eleven year old Rhys standing in a suit next to a sobbing seven year old Pie. He tried to be strong for his sister, and brought out the little Kleenex tissue packages he had in his coat pockets. Rhys looked up at their father. His dad was Pie's favorite. Couldn't blame her when their dad was so cool. Being the father they knew and loved, he kept it in, however when it was just him in their room alone, Rhys would wake up to his sobbing. On the night before the funeral Rhys came inside the room and ran to his dad, crying and sobbing. His father grabbed a hold of his son and sobbed with him. The sat there for what seemed like forever, just crying, however his father stopped and patted Rhys as his sobbing died down. Rhys and his dad hadn't always been close, but they were the men of the house and played with their powers of the house- even though it was definite that the women controlled the house.

These small little memories just flooded his mind. And it brought the teen to tears. Well to as close to tears as he could come. Ever since that faithful year, he had not been able to cry again. Everyone gave him a hard time as he tried again and again to even shed a tear for some sort of heart wrenching thing. Not even for the death of his dog was he able to cry. His mother's death had shocked him enough into never crying again. So being shamed as an unfeeling person, wasn't so bad. At least they won't see me cry, chuckling at the horrible joke he scratched the back of his head.

The light that was being shown across the tunnel was dimming. Relieved that the show was over, Rhys closed his eyes and began to think of the real world, and why it is not bringing him back. Then a sudden flash vibrated through the tunnel.