Eridan15

ERIDAN 15Short storyrespect the new custom, wondering how she so readily accepted him.The boy slowly modified the balanced nature of their relationship by forcing theNightmare to slightly change. At first it was very difficult and felt like torture, but withtime, as was with every repetitive thing, it became easier, like a new habit. Sensing that itwas time, she mimicked part of the boy’s body and coalesced some of her darkness inorder to form vocal chords, a tongue and teeth.“We are here” – she would whisper, words carried by the wind. There was no need tosay more, she had said all that was important and could wait. The Nightmare always hadtime.She thought about habits while waiting for the silent pause to end. They were goodand it was how she existed. When the boy had first appeared at the end of her path,she ignored him, but the boy was persistent. He repeated his ritual every night and theNightmare respected creatures with rituals. With time they formed a bond, a relationshipcomprising of several tiny changes they did for each other.“We are here” – he would quietly confirm later, respecting the Nightmare’s need for apause. As the night passed, she would always observe him like a mute witness. Most ofthe time he would sit in silence, but sometimes words would pour out and with wordscame tears. It was difficult for the Nightmare to follow the words, there were too manychanges in too short of a time. The Nightmare, on the other hand, understood tears andtears were heavy and revealed the boy’s story like liquid coal.“You are in pain” – she would say later, words she repeated every night. It was her wayof letting him know she understood why he sat next to her. She sometimes wonderedwhether the boy realised how much darkness had gathered within him, much morethan was usual. Over time, she learned to consider this as another form of habit, likesomeone’s dreams were always full of the darkness on which she fed.One night while sharing the pavement, the boy cried for the longest time. The Nightmarecalmly watched as the wind carried the boy’s palpable pain far into the darkness. Thattime, however, the boy broke their usual order and did something which deeply disturbedher. He moved his hand from his shaking knees and reached into her darkness. He couldnot feel anything at first, but he found the only part of her he could grab with his fingers,the small dense part she used to sit next to him. At that moment the Nightmare almostflew from the spot. The order was disturbed. Nevertheless, she did not move, awarethat it would only further make things worse, make them more chaotic.She remained there uneasy watching the teary boy clinging to the only tangible thing shehad. She had watched him for a long time until she decided to coalesce the rest of herdarkness and became a cold and firm shadow. He hugged her and wailed on. While hispain dripped from his eyes on her shadow, she surprised herself by asking a question.“Do you want me to kill him?”34