Year 341 of the empire's calendar.
[Thump! Thump! Thump!]
The sound of a heart beating fiercely, so loud that it filled the surroundings with its melody, though it was anything but calm it was enough to call the attention of the one standing by the body.
"Oh, it seems you're about to wake...well it should...wheels of time"
The voice said to a boy, he seemed to be in his mid teens.
"Who is there, what is he saying"
The boy couldn't make sense of what the voice was saying, he just laid there, rolling over and wailing in agony while holding his abdomen, he tried opening his eyes to see who had spoken but his vision was blurry.
"Oh now, now... rest young one, it is yet to move... you can rest easy for now, oh it seems you can't…well it's about time, we'll see tomorrow"
The man kept on with his ramblings.
"What is he talking about, who is this old man speaking"
Though the voice was clearer now, it was still jumbled up. Now his vision had begun to clear and what had now laid bare to his eyes had left him horrified…he screamed.
SOME HOURS LATER
The snow that was falling had gradually stopped, the weather had begun to clear, A boy stood in a small empty patch of land in the forest, whilst staring into blank space and his grey hair had been dyed white by the snow, his green eyes looked disconnected from reality.
One would think he was a corpse—pupils dilated, pale skin, no hint of breathing.
[Tack!] A twig fell on his head and snapped him back to reality
"Ouch, that hurt"
He rubbed the spot the twig had fell on,
"What was I even doing again"
He felt something was amiss but chose to ignore it, but when looked up to the sky his face slowly froze up in fear.
"This can't be right, it's already mid noon, that's at least four hours!"
His thoughts went rampant and he couldn't ignore the feeling any longer, he could tell… something was off.
"I could've sworn I was only in a daze for a few seconds, how did this happen! There's no way I had slept whilst standing"
He thought, and then tried to recall what had occurred
"I can't seem to remember?!"
A headache struck him where he stood —a memory flashed before his eyes, it felt fragmented
("To think they would have such control over the mark of the faithful…it is truly over for humanity")
He had once again snapped back to reality, this time due to shock whilst ever so slightly growing anxious; a mind plagued by thoughts; confused, and demented.
"Wh- what is this memory, when did this happen"
The pain from the headache intensified, his vision narrowed, it was extremely cold where he stood.
Even amidst the cold a sweat ran through his face.
Now more than ever the silence of the forest had become more pronounce to him as his heartbeat eclipsed it.
[Huff… huff] minutes had passed now, he started to get back his composure, what was once a gradual process had become immediate the moment a thought crossed his mind.
"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no…"
He muttered repeatedly,
"Mom's going to kill me, she tasked me with getting firewood hours ago"
His thoughts ran wild, he looked towards his left and saw his axe and cart nearly filled with snow,
" What am I going to do now, this day just keeps getting worse"
He walked towards the cart; flipped it over, in the process emptying it of the snow.
After chopping the wood, he made to his cart to set-off.
The snow didn't seem to slow him down, as he pushed the cart with firewood in it effortlessly as if it was empty.
Now at the end of his journey, he burst through the path of trees and at the end of the pathway was a small house.
It seemed to be his place of residence.
He hastily put the wood in the little storage structure beside the house.
Opened the door, with the same haste…well maybe a bit too much this time; he fell on the wooden floor [thump] he couldn't hold his scream in.
The spectacle was a sight to behold, it caught the attention of his mother;
A woman who looked well in her thirties, her eyes had bags and her shoulders were curved inwards.
She was reading a book whilst sitting on the bed at the edge of the room. It was a cramped-up space, but tidy still. She gently closed the book and a gentle smile ran across her face.
For the second time in a couple of minutes the boy was growing anxious again, the difference this time being the cause of the anxiety was clear and in proximity.
"Leo"
She said gently while he still tried to avoid direct eye contact with her
"…yes mum"
He replied, then he defaulted to looking downwards, the wooden floor began to creak,
"She's going to punish me isn't she"
These were his thoughts, quite understandable since the creaking noise was from his mom standing up.
"I sent you to get some wood If I remember correctly"
The tone of her voice was still as calm as ever, this scared Leo.
"I!-"
He had opened his mouth to speak but couldn't bring himself to talk, he turned his head to look away from her as she was walking past him now, with the book she had been reading in her right hand, she then continued,
"why are you back by so soon?"
His facial expression took a 180.
He was beyond puzzled,
"Ma?"
The confusion showed all over his face as he said this, his mum couldn't understand his confusion but she wasn't having it,
"what do you mean 'ma' it hasn't been long since you left ?"
her tone had slightly increased now.
He became even more confused,
"what does she mean early"
He had thought since it seemed his mother wasn't being sarcastic.
"what do you mean early"
He asked while being jarred, she had now placed the book on the little shelf behind him gently.
"I'm not in the mood for this play you're putting on"
She said while gesturing to the clock on the wall.
He turned to look at it, to his greatest surprise it was just a bit past 10, he had left home by 9, he was bewildered.
Even sprinting there and back while carrying nothing, it would take at least 2 hours for a round trip.
"I know I was a bit forceful while telling you to go get it, but you didn't have to rush. You should know I was…"
Her words didn't seem to reach the boy who was now standing there stunned.
"…. Hey, are you listening-"
She asked, but she had cut it short as he ran out of the door to her surprise.
"What is this, what's going on today?!"
He said as he looked up to the sky, the position of the sun that had made him think it was noon was now different,
"Surely the firewood wasn't my imagination too"
He thought as he turned his head to the position of the shack.
Everything had been out of place today and this was the nail on the coffin;
The wood was there.
His eyes widened
"(This doesn't add up)"
He muffled
"What doesn't add up?"
His mother questioned, as she was now standing behind him, she looked at the shack and was surprised to say the least,
"you got the firewood… how so?",
She turned around to see him walking towards his room.
"I'll think about it when I wake up"
His final thoughts as he laid on his bed
(Snoooore…)
He had slept off.