A Mother’s Wish

"Happy birthday, Ciel."

"Thanks."

It was Ciel's ninth birthday with his mother. They wore party hats and had a grand cake in front of them.

Nine-year-old Ciel looked really excited; he took after his mother's hair and eyes. His mother, Cecelia, was a tall and beautiful woman who looked too young for her early thirties. She was a cheerful mother without an ounce of sadness.

"I'm sorry you had to make your own cake," his mother said apologetically. "Your mommy's really hopeless when it comes to mom stuff."

Ciel walked up to his mother and patted her head. "Yeah, you are really hopeless."

"Hey!! Don’t agree with me; you know I try my best," his mother said, pouting.

"You do, and I wish you didn’t; you burnt so many cakes."

Ciel blew out the candles while his mother sang the happy birthday song.

"Now let’s dig in," Cecelia said.

His mother was about to cut the cake when Ciel stopped her.

"You know what? Let me handle cutting the cake," Ciel said, reaching for the knife.

"I'm not that clumsy; I can handle this much at least."

She raised her hand to stop Ciel from taking the knife from her, but the knife flew out; it bounced off the television, which abruptly fell, pulling the sockets along with it, and the shock made the pictures on the walls and almost everything that was elevated around the house fall; the knife then landed square in the middle of the cake.

They weren't surprised and acted like it was expected, not even bothering to look at the chaos. Ciel looked at his mother, who looked away in response; he then reached for the knife and cut the cake.

"Are you mad?" his mother said.

"Why would I be mad?"

"I stabbed your cake."

"It's to be expected; you are pretty clumsy."

Ciel's mother pulled his cheeks. "How I wish your father could see you now; you've become quite the grown-up, Ciel."

"And you're becoming more and more of a child by the day," said Ciel; he didn't resist his mom pulling his cheeks.

"You shouldn't talk about your mother like that," his mother said, releasing his cheeks. "Did my father come by?"

"I don't consider someone who looks younger than you your father." Ciel said, "But yeah, he came by three days ago. He said he had something to do, so he couldn't come by today, and I honestly don’t mind."

Ciel finished cutting the cake and gave his mother a slice and took a slice for himself.

"What do you want to do when you grow up?" Cecelia said, eating the slice.

"I want to be like you, with no enemies and always smiling," Ciel said with a smirk.

His mother blushed a bit and hugged her son. "That's my baby boy. I love you so much," she said, still hugging him.

"How cringe," he replied.

"Why you little—" His mother playfully took a handful of cake and hit him square in the face.

Ciel wiped his face with his hand and smiled before returning the gesture; they kept going until there was no cake left.

"This is what I mean when I say you are still a child." Ciel said he is now covered in cake and lying on the floor, tired.

"All the cake is gone" was the only thing his mother could say back.

As they lay there laughing, Ciel wished days like this would never end.

"Hey Ciel, it's okay for you to make enemies as long as you make lots of friends too," Cecilia said, turning to face Ciel.

"What bought this on?" Ciel said.

"Call it a bit of wisdom from your mother," his mom replied, facing back to the ceiling. "I haven't seen you make any friends since that girl."

After cleaning the place up, Ciel and his mother went to bed.

There was a knock on the door before too long.

That should be Natoru, Ciel thought. Natoru had a habit of coming very late or not coming at all, so coming immediately after Ciel's birthday wouldn't be beyond him.

The knocking continued as Ciel got out of his room and shuffled towards the door. Wait, Ciel stopped. Would Natoru knock?. The door burst open as Ciel came to this realization, making him move back. Ted walked through and looked directly at Ciel.

"It looks like this would be an easy job after all," he said as he reached for Ciel.

Ciel could immediately tell this man is dangerous. Cecelia pulled Ciel out of the way before the man could grab him. Ciel was now wide awake.

"May I ask what you want with my son?" Cecilia said, glaring at the man.

"To kill him, don't worry, it's nothing personal. I don't have much time here, so I would ask you not to interfere," the man said before adding.

“What kind of mother would I be if I did that?” his mother said before kicking Ted’s thigh, but he didn’t flinch.

Ted was annoyed by this; he grabbed her neck and lifted her up. "Didn't you hear not to interfere? I would rather not kill anyone – ahhhhh!!!"

Cecelia used the birthday cake knife to stab Ted’s hand. She was now going for another stab, which made Ted reflexively burn Cecelia’s neck region. She did not scream.

"I won't let anyone harm my son." She proclaimed.

"You are one resilient woman. I don't want to kill anyone; I don't have to if I can avoid it, but you might be a problem."

Ciel's mom snapped her fingers, but nothing happened.

"He isn't coming," Ted said. "Let’s just say my associate is taking care of him."

Cecelia snapped her finger once again, making Ted’s cut run deeper and longer. The man increased the heat of the flames as an act of defence as he burnt most of her upper body and then threw her across the room.

"YOU BASTARD," Ciel said as the horror of watching his mom suffer left his face. He rushed towards Ted with nothing but bloodlust but was kicked across the room and fell next to his mom.

"I did warn her, didn't I? "Although I have to admit she is rather impressive," Ted said, blood dripping from his right arm. Ted exploded major contents of the house, creating a house fire. "Tell you what, I admire your mother’s bravery," Ted said in the midst of the burning house, "so I will grant you a chance. If you manage to survive this, meet me so I can kill you properly."

The man turned to leave, then Ciel cried, "YOU COWARD, I WILL KILL YOU." Ciel shouted to Ted, who didn’t turn back. He walked out the door as rubble fell and sealed the entrance.

"Mom, Mom," Ciel cried as he shook his mother. Ciel put his ear to her mouth; she's still breathing. He tried to stand up, but he fell; the pain from the kick engulfed his little body.

"Hey, Ciel," his mother said with a strained voice.

"Don’t try to talk; stay still. I will get us out of here." Ciel kept trying to stand, but his legs weren't obeying him.

"Hey Ciel, I don't have much longer to live; please listen to me." Ciel couldn't reply, "Once I'm gone, please make lots of friends. I know I can't stop you from going after that man, and I wouldn't dream of it. Make sure you and your friends give him a good beating for me."

"What are you talking about? If you die, then I am going to die right beside you."

"No, you will survive because that's the child I raised. "One more thing." Ciel's mom summoned every last ounce of strength she had to look directly into her son's eyes, then smiled and said, "I really, really love you, Ciel."

Ciel wanted so badly to deny it, but he knew deep down his mother was going to die, so he accepted it and said his heart, “I love you too, Mom.”

Cecelia smiled after hearing this; she breathed her last breath and died with a smile on her face. Even with the burns, she still looked beautiful and peaceful, like she was simply sleeping.

The headline of the news the next day was about an arson in which a house burnt down, leaving one dead.

A child survived, a child who lay in the middle of the house beside his mother on an uncharred floor, the only place in the house that wasn't burnt.