A Bleak Tale

 It was like an angel had taken birth in the family. The doctor congratulated the parents and informed them that it was a boy. His father, a successful businessman had always wanted a son to continue the business after his retirement. He was extremely happy and started crying in joy. The boy’s mother, who was a professional artist, was also greatly relieved at her newborn’s birth and also shed tears of joy, holding the baby close to her heart.

As his parents were quite considerate and time-giving, their son was never faced with any lack of love from them. At the young age of 4, their son developed his mother’s trait of art and painting, which his father hated. He wanted his son to excel in studies and take up his mantel in the family’s business. But he thought that he might leave his hobby of painting with his growing age and studies, so he never interrupted him when he would draw and paint different things. His mother and his housemaid always encouraged his drawing and painting, unlike his father. He was not so studious and was free-minded. He used to sit and draw all day in his kindergarten.

But the happiness in this family was not for long. After some months, the mother had been pregnant with another baby. But this time the ending wasn’t as happy as the previous one. The unborn baby died inside the mother’s womb, during the delivery. The abortion process and the longing depression had made the mother sad and sick. She became bedridden and lived in isolation, allowing only her son to be with her. The boy seeing his mother’s worsening health condition did what he did the best, draw. He drew in his canvas, drawings for his mother, thinking that one day she may be healthy once again and would appreciate his drawings with a bright smile on her face.

But that happy and joyous day never came. His mother’s condition grew worse day by day. The boy used to feed her, read to her and draw for her. He was confused about why his mother wasn’t getting healthy after all the different medications given to her by the doctors. When his mother was asleep, he would sometimes weep beside her, never showing any tears in front of her. One night when his mother was asleep, he drew a painting for her, thinking that it would make his mother healthy again. So he went to show it to his father, who was smoking in the drawing room in front of the fireplace. He gave the canvas to his father, who took it from him, almost snatching it from him, and threw the colourful canvas into the raging flames in the fireplace. The boy kept looking at the fireplace, standing in horror and shivering, on witnessing his father’s cruel behaviour towards him. He quietly went back to his room and wept, thinking that his mother was getting more ill day by day and his father wasn’t behaving cruelly with him. He cried and cried and a sudden drowsiness fell over him and he fell asleep while crying.

The following day, his mother called out to him and said that she was feeling a bit better that day, and asked him to draw her, a portrait of her holding her favourite, mistletoe flower. Although it took him some time, he was finally able to draw a portrait for his mother. On seeing the portrait made by her son, the mother became very happy. She hugged him and told him that he should always pursue what he wants to do and not let anyone order him around. She told him to love those who love you back. She was about to say something to him, when suddenly she started coughing out blood and she put a hand on her mouth. Seeing his mother’s condition, the boy called out the maid, who came in and took her mother to her room. After a few minutes, the boy’s father came running and went in the mother’s room. Some more minutes passed. The boy couldn’t contain himself any longer and rushed in the room. He saw his father holding his mother’s hand, who was lifelessly lying on the bed, with her eyes closed. Their maid was crying, with a handkerchief on her face. He went towards his mother, and asked her to wake up to see him grow up and become an independent man. But the moment he touched her, his face became white as his mother’s skin was pale and was cold to his touch. She has already left this world.

The boy left the room in silence. He could hear his maid crying inside. He could hear his father discussing his mother’s funeral with the maid. The funeral should be quiet and quick. This was what his father thought. They held the funeral, two days later. It was just as his father had planned, quick and quiet. After the funeral was over, his father brought him back to the house and took him to the drawing room. He told him to wait there. His father went upstairs to his room and came back with all his paintbrushes, canvasses and drawing materials and threw them in the fire in the fireplace. His son saw all his drawings and portraits just go up in the flames, even his mother’s drawings. He knew his father hated him drawing, but he didn’t expect him to hate it this much. He tried to stop his father from letting all his drawings get engulfed in flames. But his father already being in a bad mood after his mother’s death, seeing his son retaliate started beating his son with his cane. He started crying and on hearing him cry, the maid came and tried to stop him from beating his son, but she got pushed by his father and got herself injured by getting hit on the forehead by a chipped piece of the broken flower vase.

After some more minutes of nearly beating his own child to death and blaming him for being the reason of his mother’s death, he sent the boy to his room and he forced him to leave his passion and study hard enough so that he could one day be someone worthy of heading his father’s company.

After all of this, when the boy started his high school life, he would always remain quiet and sit near the window of the classroom, gazing at the outside world, avoiding socializing with anyone around him. He would get bullied most of the time due to his introverted behaviour, by his classmates. After school, he would visit art galleries and admire the portraits there. During winter, he would go to the school ground to see mistletoe flowers, growing there, which reminded him of his mother. As spring came, two new persons entered his life, Mitori and Hayako, who changed his grey and melancholy life to a colourful and enjoyable one. They became good friends in his life and they changed him from a depressed and introverted boy to a happy and joyous teenager.

Hirugami, was thinking all of this when he was called out by Kitomi. They were currently discussing about their manga and the storyline made him think about his whole life story and how far he has come in life after his previous fall of despair. Kitomi told him that they had been working late and they should go home now. Hirugami agreed and put all his equipments inside his bag and went after Kitomi, closing the door of her room behind her.