Darling Of The West
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The young man was sitting in the middle of a small circle, his back against the wall. He had been there for some time now and he felt as if it were forever before anyone would come to him; but then again, perhaps that was just how long it took for people to get used to new things.
It wasn’t like this sort of thing happened every day after all. And yet here he sat waiting patiently while everyone else went about their business as usual.
He tried not to think too much about what might have caused such an event, or why any one person should be singled out by so many others at once. This was something completely different from anything he’d ever experienced before – even when he thought back to the days when he lived with his parents and siblings, he could never recall seeing another child around them.
But still, no matter how hard he tried, there seemed to always be someone who came up to him eventually.
“Good morning,” said a voice from behind him. “I’m sorry I didn’t see you earlier.” A hand rested gently upon his shoulder. He turned slowly and found himself looking into the eyes of a girl only slightly younger than himself. She smiled sweetly down at him. Her hair was blonde and her skin fair, though she did seem somewhat familiar somehow…
“My name is Lina,” she continued softly, taking hold of his hand. “And yours?”
A smile tugged at his lips, despite everything going through his head. Even if they were strangers, he couldn’t help but feel drawn to her. Something about the way she looked made him want to trust her immediately.
“Mikael,” he replied simply. “It’s nice to meet you…”
She nodded politely before turning away and walking towards the door. Just as she reached it, however, someone called to her from across the room.
“Lina! Come over here!”
Turning quickly, she saw a boy standing near the window with a group of other children gathered around him. They were staring intently at something outside, which was apparently more interesting than whatever was happening inside.
“What are you doing?!” shouted a girl angrily, making the boys turn round. One of them pointed at Mikael accusingly.
“That’s him! That’s the kid we’ve been looking for!”
“Who? What’re you talking about?”
The girl stepped forward and grabbed the boy by the arm. “You know damn well who I mean!”
His face paled instantly. “No…no I don’t—”
“Then explain yourself right now!” the girl yelled furiously. “Why do you keep ignoring us?! We’ve been trying to talk to you since yesterday! You can’t just ignore your friends forever!”
The boy shook his head frantically. “I-I’m sorry! Really I am! Please forgive me!”
The girl glared at him coldly. “Don’t play stupid with me. If you really wanted to talk to us, you wouldn’t have run off so easily yesterday. Now answer my question: Why haven’t you answered our calls yet?”
“I—I’m sorry… I’ll try to make it up to you…”
“Try? Try? Don’t give me that crap! How can you expect us to believe you when you won’t even take five minutes out of your day to talk to us?!”
“I’m sorry! I promise I’ll call you soon!”
The girl threw her hands up in frustration. “Fine! Then go ahead and stay locked up in here until you decide to change your mind! Maybe then you’ll realize how foolish you’ve been acting!”
With those words, she stormed off leaving the boy alone. He stared blankly at the floor for several seconds before finally rising to his feet. His legs wobbled unsteadily beneath him as he stumbled towards the door. As he passed the girl, he muttered an apology under his breath.
“I’m sorry…”
But the girl paid him no heed whatsoever. Instead, she walked straight past him without saying a word and disappeared through the doorway.
He stood there for a moment longer before following suit. Once he was inside, he closed the door firmly behind him and leaned heavily against it. He was shaking uncontrollably. All he could hear were his own ragged breaths echoing loudly within his ears.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Startled, he jumped up and ran over to open it. There, standing before him, was Lina.
“Are you okay?” she asked quietly.
“Y-Yes… Yes, thank you very much…”
She smiled kindly at him. “Would you like to come with me?”
He hesitated briefly before nodding hesitantly. She took hold of his hand again and led him into the hallway. The rest of the children followed after them curiously.
They stopped outside large double doors with brass handles. Lina pushed one open and gestured for Mikael to enter first. Hesitating momentarily, he stepped inside. It wasn’t long before the other kids began filing in behind him.
Inside the room, he was greeted by a number of adults sitting around a table. Two men sat at the far end; both wore dark suits and had stern expressions on their faces. Their eyes met with his, and they rose swiftly to their feet.
“Ahh, good afternoon sir,” said the older man, bowing respectfully. “We were wondering where you’d gotten to.”
“Oh, this young gentleman has been staying here all night,” explained Lina, smiling warmly. “I thought perhaps you might be able to find some use for him today?”
One of the men glanced at Mikael uncertainly. “Young fellow? Where did you say he came from?”
“From the orphanage down the road,” replied Lina. “Apparently he hasn’t made any friends yet, and he doesn’t seem to know anyone else here either.”
The two men exchanged glances once more. After a brief pause, the younger one spoke. “Well if you think he can help us, then I suppose we have no choice but to let him join us. But please understand that he will not be allowed to leave until such time as we deem necessary. Is that understood?”
Mikael nodded.
“Very well then,” said the older man. “Please follow me.”
***
After being shown to a small office near the back of the building, the group was ushered inside. A tall desk stood in front of the door, and a single chair was placed opposite it.
A middle aged woman wearing glasses was seated behind the desk. Behind her, a row of bookshelves filled most of the wall space. On top of these shelves rested various documents and files.
“Thank you for coming,” she said politely. “My name is Mrs. Adelard. I’m the assistant director here at the Institute. I hope you’re feeling better now than you were earlier.”
Mikael blinked slowly. “Um, yes, I’m fine. Thank you very much.”
Mrs. Adelard smiled gently. “That’s great to hear.”
“Now, what exactly are you hoping we can do for you?” she continued. “If it helps, I’ll gladly speak to your parents about anything you need. If you just tell me how best to reach them, I’ll see that they get the message immediately.”
Mikael shook his head. “No… No, I don’t want to bother my family right now. Not unless absolutely necessary.”
Mrs. Adelard frowned slightly. “Why ever would you say something so silly? Of course, you should contact your family whenever you feel like it. They miss you terribly, and they worry every second you spend away from home.”
“Really?” asked Mikael, surprised. “But why wouldn’t they?”
The woman sighed softly. “Because you’ve never actually told them yourself. You haven’t even given them a chance to try and make things work between you. And that’s simply unacceptable. Your mother and father love you dearly, and they only want what’s best for you. Why won’t you give them a chance to show you that?”
Mikael bit his lip nervously. “I guess I didn’t really think about it…”
Mrs. Adelard smiled reassuringly. “It happens to the best of us, dear. Now, if I may ask, who are you looking for specifically? Perhaps we might be able to point you in the right direction.”
“My brother,” answered Mikael. “His name is George. We used to live together, but he left last year without saying goodbye. I tried calling his house, but nobody seems to know where he went. That’s why I came here in the first place…”
“Hmm, I see,” mused Mrs. Adelard. “And what does he look like?”
“He’s twelve years old, six foot three inches tall, with short brown hair and blue eyes. He also has a scar running across his face from chin to forehead.”
“Is there anything else?”
“Not really.”
“Very well then,” said Mrs. Adelard, standing up from her seat. “Let me take you to someone I believe can assist us further.”
She led the way out of the office and into an adjacent hallway lined with doors on either side. She knocked loudly twice before opening one of the doors and peeking inside. In response to her call, a girl stepped through the doorway. Her long blonde hair hung loosely over one shoulder, while her hazel eyes stared blankly ahead.
“Hello,” she said quietly. “What can I do for you?”
“This young gentleman needs information regarding his missing sibling,” explained Mrs. Adelard. “Do you happen to know anything about that?”
The girl nodded. “Yes, I do. It’s quite common for children to run away from home when they turn fourteen. Some of them come back eventually, others don’t. There isn’t much you can do, unfortunately.”
“How many people go missing each year?” asked Mikael.
“About ten thousand,” replied the girl. “Some of those will be found again within a day or two, but most of them won’t. The ones who don’t usually end up dead somewhere along the way.”
Mrs. Adelard sighed sadly. “Well, thank you anyway.”
“Wait!” cried Mikael suddenly. “There must be something you can do! My brother could still be alive, couldn’t he?”
The girl looked down at him curiously. “Of course, he could. But that doesn’t mean he is.”
Mikael swallowed hard. “You’re sure?”
“Quite certain,” confirmed the girl. “Your brother ran away because he wanted to. He had no intention of returning home.”
“So what am I supposed to do now?” asked Mikael desperately.
The girl shrugged. “Nothing. Just wait until he comes back, that’s all.”
Mikael turned around and walked away. When he reached the door leading outside, he paused and glanced back. The girl was staring after him with sad eyes.
With tears streaming down his cheeks, Mikael hurried off towards the exit sign at the far end of the hall. As soon as he passed through the automatic sliding glass doors, he began to sob uncontrollably. A few minutes later, he arrived at the bus stop, where he took a seat next to another boy waiting patiently for his ride.
“Hey,” greeted the other youth. “Are you okay?”
Mikael wiped his nose and sniffed. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry to bother you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said the other kid. “I saw everything. What happened?”
“I just got some bad news,” admitted Mikael. “I lost my brother yesterday.”
“Oh man,” said the other child sympathetically. “That sucks. Did you find out where he went?”
“No… not yet.”
“Well, hopefully, you’ll get lucky,” offered the other guy. “If you need someone to talk to, I’d be happy to listen.”
“Thanks,” said Mikael gratefully. “I appreciate that.”
They sat in silence for several moments, watching the passing traffic. Then Mikael spoke up again. “Say, have you ever heard of the ‘lost boys’?”
The other teen shook his head. “Never. Who are they?”
“A group of kids who were never adopted by anyone,” explained Mikael. “In fact, none of their parents even knew where they lived. They wandered the streets alone for years, until one day they met this guy named Peter Pan.”
“Peter Pan?” repeated the other kid. “Like in the book? You mean the one about Neverland?”
“Exactly,” agreed Mikael. “It turns out that these guys actually existed. And I think my brother might’ve been part of the same group.”
“Wow,” said the other boy. “Interesting. So did your brother tell you anymore?”
“Nope,” replied Mikael. “But I guess we should start looking for him right away.”
***
After telling his story to the police officer, Mikael returned to his room and waited anxiously for morning to arrive. At last, the sun rose above the horizon, bathing the city in its warm light. Mikael decided to walk to the park rather than wait for the school bus; the fresh air would help clear his mind.
After arriving at the park, he strolled aimlessly across the grassy lawns, admiring the beautiful flowers that dotted the landscape. Eventually, he made his way to the playground area, where he climbed onto one of the swings and started gently swinging back and forth.
As Mikael continued to push himself higher into the sky, he felt a sudden sense of dread wash over him. For an instant, he thought he saw his brother standing on the ground below, waving frantically to get his attention. But then he blinked, and the vision disappeared.
What if I really am crazy? wondered Mikael. Maybe I imagined seeing my brother. That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?
He pushed harder against the chains, sending himself faster and farther up into the air. Suddenly, Mikael realized that he wasn’t going anywhere anymore, which meant that he hadn’t been imagining things after all. His heart pounded wildly within his chest as he plummeted towards the earth. Before long, he hit the soft grass of the field, landing face-first in a cloud of dust.
When he finally regained consciousness, Mikael found himself lying on top of a picnic table. There was a small pool of blood surrounding his head, but fortunately, he didn’t appear to be seriously injured. With trembling hands, he tried to sit up, only to discover that his legs weren’t working properly. He struggled to stand up, but his body refused to cooperate.
Then something strange happened. All of a sudden, Mikael could move normally once again. It seemed like he had been paralyzed for hours when in reality it couldn’t have taken more than a minute or two. Puzzled, he looked around the park, wondering how he ended up there.
His gaze fell upon the swing set, where he noticed the broken chain hanging from the frame. As he watched, one of the metal links snapped completely free, falling to the ground with a loud clang. When Mikael turned his attention back to the rest of the play equipment, he saw that the slide was now leaning dangerously to one side. The whole thing appeared to be teetering on the edge of collapse.
Suddenly, Mikael understood what must have happened. Someone must’ve come along and knocked the entire structure over while he was still inside. Now that the swing set was no longer anchored to anything, it toppled easily under its own weight. In a matter of seconds, Mikael’s life flashed before his eyes.
And then he woke up.
Mikael lay there quietly for several minutes, trying to make sense of the events that transpired earlier that evening. Finally, he rolled off the picnic table and stood up unsteadily. Without saying a word, he walked to the front door of his house and opened it.
The first person he encountered was his mother, who was sitting at the kitchen counter reading her newspaper. She glanced up briefly as Mikael entered, then resumed scanning the headlines.
“Hi mom,” said Mikael, walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out a carton of milk. “I’m just grabbing some breakfast.”
“Oh,” she replied without looking up from the paper. “Did you sleep well?”
Mikael nodded. “Yeah, pretty good, actually. What time is it?”
“Just past eight o’clock,” answered his mother.
She lowered the newspaper, revealing a pair of piercing green eyes that stared straight through him. “Well… I hope you’ll remember not to stay up too late tonight.”
“Okay,” replied Mikael, turning toward the sink and filling a glass with water.
“You know, I don’t want to rush this,” continued his mother, folding the newspaper and setting it aside. “But I do need to ask you about your friend.”
“My what?” asked Mikael, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
His mother folded her arms and leaned forward slightly. “Your friend. Did you see him today?”
“No,” responded Mikael, shaking his head slowly. “Why are you asking me about that anyway? Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to anyone else.”
For a moment, his mother hesitated, weighing whether or not she should tell him the truth. Then, just as quickly, she changed her mind. Instead, she took another sip of coffee and returned to reading the newspaper.
Mikael sat there silently, staring down at the table. Why did she lie to me? he wondered. Does she think I’d tell someone? Or maybe she thinks I’m the one who killed Braden!
Whatever the reason, Mikael decided to keep quiet. If his mother wanted to pretend that nothing ever happened between them, then by God he would let her. Besides, he already knew that he never intended to mention any of it to anyone. Not even his best friend, Kyle. After all, why ruin their friendship over something so trivial?
After finishing his breakfast, Mikael went upstairs to change out of his pajamas. Once he was dressed and ready for school, he left the house without saying goodbye to either of his parents. By the time he arrived at the bus stop, it was already 8:45 AM.
As usual, Kyle was waiting for him. He waved excitedly when he spotted Mikael approaching the curb, and they both began talking immediately.
“So, how was your weekend?” inquired Mikael.
Kyle shrugged. “It wasn’t bad.”
“What did you end up doing yesterday afternoon?” asked Mikael, changing the subject.
“Not much,” replied Kyle. “We hung out at my place most of the day. We played video games and stuff.”
“Cool,” answered Mikael. “How many times did you beat me at Mario Kart?”
“Three,” replied Kyle proudly. “That’s three more than last week!”
They laughed together, and Mikael felt himself relaxing a little bit. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder if his mother had really seen Braden after all. Maybe she just thought he came home early because he was sick.
Or maybe she lied to me, he mused.
“Hey Mikael,” called Kyle suddenly, breaking into his thoughts. “Do you wanna hang out after school today?”
“Sure,” replied Mikael. “Where were you thinking?”
“I dunno,” replied Kyle. “Maybe we could go to the mall?”
“Sounds good,” agreed Mikael. “I haven’t been to the movies in forever.”
The End