Breath Of The Flower

"Mama, mama it hurts...", chubby face, messy hair and delicate eyes turned to her, the world around her seems to stop as she held the boy in her arms, her son. She quietly reassures the boy, wiping away his tears and distracting him from his bleeding knee. Her husband bandaged the knee in a hurry then joining his family in a group hug. The boy's cries lessened into low sniffs and with his smile, the world began to move again.

She remembers every little thing about her boy, too small, too fragile to be called a human huddled up in her arm, her husband and her coo at the yawning infant, the light blue eyes he possessed, slowly turned into a darker brown, similar to the couple.

Then when he babbled his first words, "Ma ma", the world brightens when she heard him call for her, his small chubby arms begging for a hug. Her husband happy but jealous, motivated in making the boy say dada as his next words.

He slowly transitioned into a small baby, then toddler, bouncing up and down around the house curious about every little thing, the amounts of whys the got from him made them go crazy. But the never stopped loving him, he grew out of it and his steps became more steady, his imm.a.t.u.r.e side lessened and he finally decided to help his father farm and his mother with the house.

One day returning from town she had tripped and fell down a small slope. She didn't return that night. But when the morning sun blessed the land with its light her 10 year old son appeared before her, his hair messier then ever, large, black bags beneath his eyes when he saw her, a bright smile dazzled her, and he reached for a hug. After that her son had taken it upon himself to go to town every month.

"I'm old enough now", he reassured her, "I'll be back before sunset"

She spent the day worrying, doing the laundry was less fun without his excited chatter, and she was sure her husband felt the same. When he came back as promised, wide smile, hands carrying bags of supply's she knew her boy was finally growing up without her.

"Then I'll be off, mother, father", messy hair tied back, shoulders wide and deepened voice, her son left for their monthly supplies. Old enough to begin college, her son insisted in staying home to care for their health. His innocent chatter are long gone and he stopped called her mama. Her child had become a man.

They carried on with their duties as usual, waiting for the sun to set and the appearance of their boy to start dinner, but when the sun had long descended into the mountains the boy was not home. She convinced herself that the boy was staying in the town that night, so on the morning of the next day she stood at the door to greet her boy who didn't return. He had disappeared the whole day.

People had been going missing in the forest on the outskirts of the mountains.

Determined that her son was there, she set off to find the boy. Eerie sounds and dark trees looming, she hated the place. Her search was futile until she saw a strange piece of cloth stained with drops of blood. A patterned yellow piece of fabric. Her son's clothes. She followed the barely visible blood stains to a small cave. And upon entering it, there he was. Her son, hunched over a cold corpse. He glared at her, wanting to latch onto her but hesitant, whimpering slightly. His brown- red eyes sad. He had become a human eating monster, a demon. Her heart wavered looking at the being. She reached out to him but he screamed fangs snapping at her, she didn't stop, her calloused hands gently pet the demon. It whimpered even more. Pulling a knife from who knows where, she sliced a bit of skin from her arm then delivering it to the demon.

"I'm sure your hungry, sorry I didn't find you soon enough... but don't worry, mama will protect you"

After all, he is her son and it's her duty to protect him, no matter what.