The burns that never heals
1493 Words
The moon hung heavy and bright over the quiet town, its silver glow spilling through Lior's bedroom window.
He lay awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling while the soft hum of his fan filled the room.
Sleep refused to come.
His mind was crowded with questions he couldn't answer.
Questions that had followed him his entire life.
He had no memories of his real mother.
Only stories.
Miriam, the woman who had raised him, rarely spoke about the night she found him.
Whenever he asked, she always told the same story.
A cold autumn night.
A lonely stretch of forest.
A young woman lying beneath a tree.
And a newborn baby crying beside her.
Him.
"She died giving you life," Miriam had told him countless times.
It was the only thing she knew for certain.
No letters.
No identification.
No clues about his father.
Nothing.
Lior sat up and glanced at the digital clock beside his bed.
2:17 AM.
Another sleepless night.
Outside, the moon seemed unusually bright.
Almost alive.
A strange warmth spread through his chest.
The same feeling he had experienced for years.
The same feeling that always came with the dreams.
Dark forests.
Golden eyes.
Whispers in the shadows.
A voice calling to him from far away.
Dreams that felt less like dreams and more like memories.
A knock sounded on his door.
"Still awake?"
Miriam's voice.
Lior smiled faintly.
"Yeah."
The door opened.
Miriam stepped inside carrying a mug of hot chocolate.
At forty years old, she still had the same warm smile that had comforted him since childhood.
"Couldn't sleep again?"
Lior shrugged.
She handed him the mug.
"You're thinking too much."
"Maybe."
"That's usually the problem."
Lior laughed softly.
Then his smile faded.
"Miriam?"
Something in his voice made her pause.
"What is it?"
Lior stared down into the steaming drink.
"What really happened the night you found me?"
The room suddenly felt quieter.
Miriam sat on the edge of his bed.
"I told you."
"No," he said softly. "You told me the short version."
She sighed.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Miriam leaned back and folded her arms.
"When I found you, your mother was already dead."
Lior swallowed.
"Was she alone?"
Miriam hesitated.
The hesitation was all the answer he needed.
His heart began to pound.
"You never told me that."
"I wasn't sure it mattered."
"It matters to me."
Miriam looked toward the window.
"When I arrived, there were signs someone else had been there before me."
Lior sat up straighter.
"What kind of signs?"
"Footprints."
His stomach tightened.
"Footprints?"
She nodded.
"They looked fresh."
"Did you follow them?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Miriam looked down.
"Because I was more worried about keeping a newborn baby alive."
Lior couldn't argue with that.
Still, the questions kept coming.
"Do you think it was my father?"
"I honestly don't know."
"Then who was it?"
"I've spent sixteen years asking myself that same question."
The answer hung between them.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Lior stared at the floor.
"If someone was there..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Miriam understood anyway.
"If someone was there," she said gently, "then they chose to leave."
The words hurt more than he expected.
Why?
Why would anyone leave him?
Why would anyone abandon a baby?
Miriam reached over and squeezed his shoulder.
"Listen to me."
Lior looked up.
"I don't know where you came from."
Her eyes softened.
"But I know who you've become."
A lump formed in his throat.
"You are kind."
She smiled.
"You are stubborn."
He laughed despite himself.
"And you are the best thing that ever happened to me."
Tears filled Miriam's eyes.
Lior felt his own eyes sting.
Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her.
She hugged him back immediately.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Neither of them needed to.
Later that night, after Miriam had gone to bed, Lior stepped onto the small balcony outside his room.
The town was asleep.
Streetlights glowed in the distance.
Cars occasionally passed along the highway.
Everything looked normal.
Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that his life wasn't.
Someone had been there.
Someone had walked away before Miriam arrived.
Someone connected to his past.
Maybe even his family.
Lior stared at the moon hanging above the town.
For the first time, he felt certain of one thing.
The answers were out there.
Waiting.
And somehow, they were connected to the strange dreams that haunted him every night.
What Lior didn't know was that somewhere beyond the city lights, another boy was asking questions of his own.
Another boy born beneath the same moon.
Another boy whose fate was tied to his in ways neither of them could yet imagine.
Kael
He sat on the mattress and closed his eyes.
The strange pull returned.
Stronger than before.
The same sensation that always appeared beneath the full moon.
A connection stretching into the distance.
His breathing slowed.
The world around him seemed to fade.
For a moment, he felt weightless.
Then a strange feeling settled over him.
Warmth.
Not his own.
A sense of safety.
Of belonging.
The feeling was so foreign that it made him uncomfortable.
Kael opened his eyes immediately.
The sensation vanished.
The cold basement returned.
The damp walls.
The broken mirror.
The darkness.
His heart pounded.
"What was that?" he muttered.
He had spent his entire life alone.
No one had ever made him feel safe.
No one had ever made him feel wanted.
Yet for a few seconds, he had felt both.
As though somewhere in the world, another heartbeat had briefly echoed alongside his own.
The thought irritated him.
It felt weak.
Pointless.
He shoved it aside.
Whatever it was, it didn't matter.
The only thing that mattered was surviving.
The only thing that mattered was becoming strong enough that nobody could ever hurt him again.
Kael glanced toward the shattered mirror.
Moonlight reflected from the broken glass.
For a split second, he thought he saw movement.
A shadow.
A figure.
Then it disappeared.
He laughed bitterly.
"Guess I'm finally losing my mind."
But deep down, he knew that wasn't true.
And he was waiting.
Kael didn't sleep.
He sat on the edge of his mattress, staring at the shattered pieces of glass scattered across the basement floor.
The image in the mirror refused to leave his mind.
Not the face.
The feeling.
For a brief moment, he hadn't felt alone.
The thought irritated him.
He was alone.
He always had been.
The Matthisons made sure of that.
A loud crash echoed from upstairs.
Kael didn't flinch.
It was probably another argument.
Another night filled with shouting and blame.
He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.
The strange pull returned almost immediately.
A sensation deep inside his chest.
Not pain.
Not anger.
Something else.
Something he couldn't explain.
It felt distant.
Like standing on one side of a locked door and sensing someone on the other side.
The feeling disappeared as quickly as it came.
Kael opened his eyes.
The shadows in the corner of the basement seemed darker than before.
He stared at them.
The light bulb overhead flickered once.
Then again.
A chill swept through the room.
Kael slowly stood.
His heart raced.
The shadows stretched across the floor.
Only an inch.
Maybe less.
But they moved.
He knew they had moved.
The darkness curled around his feet before slipping back into place.
Silence filled the basement.
Kael's pulse hammered in his ears.
He should have been afraid.
Instead, excitement spread through him.
For the first time in his life, something belonged to him.
Something nobody could take away.
A key rattled in the basement door.
Kael immediately looked up.
The door opened.
Mr. Matthison stood there.
The smell of alcohol filled the room.
His eyes narrowed when he saw Kael standing.
"What are you looking at?"
Kael said nothing.
The man stepped forward.
"Answer me."
Still nothing.
The silence seemed to infuriate him.
Mr. Matthison raised his hand.
Kael braced himself.
The slap never came.
The older man's expression suddenly changed.
Confusion flashed across his face.
Then fear.
He stared over Kael's shoulder.
At the shadows.
His face went pale.
"What the hell..."
Kael turned.
Nothing was there.
When he looked back, Mr. Matthison was already backing away.
The fear in his eyes was unmistakable.
For years Kael had feared that man.
Now the balance had shifted.
For the first time, Mr. Matthison looked afraid of him.
The realization sent a strange thrill through Kael.
The door slammed shut.
The lock clicked.
Silence returned.
Kael glanced toward the small basement window.
The full moon hung high in the sky.
Bright.
Watching.
A slow smile spread across his face.
Something was changing.
He could feel it.
The beatings.
The insults.
The loneliness.
They had not broken him.
They had created something else.
Something stronger.
And whatever was waking inside him had only just begun.
- Writer
