Rags And Riches: A dragon's beginning
#1 of Rags And Riches
Love is a word that I don't think I'll ever understand, no matter how many times I hear it, no matter how many times I say it, and no matter how many times I feel it. To be honest, I've never actually felt like I was in love, or maybe I did and I just didn't notice. Though, what's a dragon to do when it hits you full force, in a moment that you would never expect? Let me tell you a story, the story of the day I learned something more valuable than anything I ever earned in my life. It's all strange to me, as I still don't understand it, but in this place, I guess anything is possible.
The place I live in now is nothing like the place I grew up in. The dark and run down ghetto I used to call home had as many good memories as there were bad ones. The whole place seemed to be almost on a thin line between a community, and a war zone. People would argue, fight, steal, and sometimes even kill. Though, it's not like that here. There's no ratchetness, for lack of a better term, or even hatred of any kind. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough, but this small cozy town in the middle of nowhere seems to be disconnected from all that conflict. It's so peaceful, happy, and full of people who love each other.
Ah, but there's that word again, creeping up on me like a predator in the night. I see it, I say it, I try to feel it, but I still can't understand it. I guess it takes a less jaded and cynical mind than mine to understand such a complicated, yet simple word. But now I'm just rambling on about nothing. Let me get on with it, as I'm sure the story you're looking for is a bit different than you would expect. It all started one day, when I was just turning eighteen. My parents were running into trouble with certain people in town, trying to find a way to move out of the place we called home. We didn't have money, nor the resources to make such a large leap in our lives. It was just me, my mother and father, and a town full of people who couldn't give half a care if they tried. We were stuck, trapped in a run down house that we couldn't pay for, and even with each other, we couldn't do much.
I almost turned to crime, getting the urge to steal from those more fortunate than us, but I just couldn't do it. It would only make things worse than they already were, and it would be best to only have to deal with indifference from the others, rather than malice and anger. The wind was so chilly there, now that I think back on it. It wasn't the kind that made you shiver, it was the kind that made the world a bit more dull and gray. Every time I felt that wind, something always came over me. It made me reflect on my choices, the people I knew, and why I couldn't care about anybody, not even my family. Maybe it was because I knew from a young age that it was more than likely that those you care for will disappear before you even got close to them. Maybe it was just me being antisocial, which isn't something I would normally accuse myself of being, but none of that mattered. Not after what happened the next day, after that chilly winter morning that changed my life.
The day after our first month of almost poverty, I was sleeping on a mattress that was pretty much destroyed at this point. Though I didn't really care, I was lucky enough to even have something to lay on. We had been evicted from our home, my father and mother unable to pay for our already broken down home. I wasn't even concerned about it all, for some reason. No matter how many times I heard my parents argue over scraps, or where they would get their next meal. It was just a situation that I knew I couldn't change, something that wouldn't change no matter how much effort you put in. My mother was furious with my indifference, feeling as if I was ungrateful and lazy.
I still remember everything to this day, every single word. "After everything we've done for you, you would just sit there and give up!? On me? Your own mother?" She shouted, her red scales shivering from the cold that seemed to envelop us every morning. The look in her blue eyes showed fury and sorrow that I couldn't comprehend, nor would I care to. She wanted me to care, to show her that I still had some fight left in me, but to be honest I was never fighting anything. It was just the way life was right now, and what could one dragon do but go with the winds of change?
She seemed so angry, yet so crushed by my behavior. It wasn't much of a concern to myself, as I knew that no matter what she said, it wouldn't change our situation. Some would think I was holding something inside, maybe some volatile emotions, but they would be wrong. I felt nothing towards it, as I knew that it would do me no good. She only continued on, trying to convince me to try something, to try and put our lives on track, but there was nothing that could be done. "Mother." I began, looking up at her with my dull yellow eyes, as my scales began to rust like old metal. "You know there's nothing we can do, but that doesn't matter. You know it, you just can't accept it." My voice held a type of force that seemed to knock every bit of strength from her. She knew I was right, and that killed her more than anything. She wanted to help me so bad that she would deny the very reality of a situation, just to give herself some sort of hope. However, I didn't concern myself with such things, as being apologetic for my actions wouldn't change anything. As she dropped to her knees, and I looked at her from my prone position on my broken mattress, I delivered the final words that would set what happened next in stone.
"That's not the way it should be, but that's the way it is." I said closing my eyes as she sobbed from the truth she couldn't accept. It wasn't my proudest moment, as I crushed the very soul that was already broken inside of her. The red dragoness, who seemed so prideful and optimistic, was left crying like a hatchling as she heard my words. My bronze scales rusted even more, mostly from my deteriorating will to listen to her sobbing and crying.
Though, this is where it all changed, when my life was flipped from poverty to a whole new world. It turns out, my parents couldn't afford to take care of me, as no matter what, we didn't even have enough food to sustain ourselves. It was a strange moment, but at the time I didn't notice the changes in my life. My mind was still stuck in the ways of our life before this event. It was time to put me up for adoption, as I left my old life behind. We were at the front steps of a small building that looked reminiscent of an apartment complex. It was run down, but held a sort of life that stood out for some reason. Something about it seemed to have a sort of aura, as if it stood out against the gray cityscape that I called home. My parents had to lie to the people who ran the center, since I was eighteen, they probably wouldn't have taken me in if I couldn't pass for a fifteen year old.
My father, a brown scaled dragon at about the age of forty eight, stopped me as I took my first step up towards a new life. "Son, I need to talk to you for a second." He said, his voice trembling in a way that was unfitting for a man such as himself. His whole body seemed smaller than I've ever known it to be, showing just how much life has taken it's toll on him. Though in this case, maybe the toll was a bit too high to pay? He took me to the railing of the steps, putting his head on it as he sighed in defeat. "You know, I tried so hard to keep you with us, to give you a proper life, but I wasn't good enough to do it." He said, choking on his words as he tried to force them out. He was pouring his heart out to me, but I just couldn't feel any empathy, nor sympathy, for this broken dragon. "I lost my job, lost our home, lost everything but you and your mother, and now I'm giving you up." His voice was cracking, as tears stained his scaled face. His spines seemed to twitch in a way that showed just how much he was holding back.
"IT'S NOT FAIR!" He shouted, his voice trembling as his words resembled those of a child. People began looking through their windows, wondering what the commotion was. I paid them no mind however, as I had my own things to deal with. I walked over to the broken dragon I knew as my father, and put a firm claw on his shoulder. I let him put his arms around me, as he cried onto my shoulder without any restraint. My next words destroyed him however, no matter how softly I said them.
"It's not the way it should be, but that's just the way it is."
Those words were the beginning of my new life, the words that made all the difference throughout my whole existence. Before he let go, turning to go back to the scraps he called his own, he only turned back to me with tears in his eyes, his rough exterior destroyed, leaving a child in a grown man's body.
"Please don't forget about us, Zennix."