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childhood
e. jarvis 1999
modified 2/1/04
the rose petals were red against the sky and the boy had a fancy, if only for an instant, that they were little droplets of blood showering down on his head .. but only for a instant, because suddenly they were caressing his cheeks, sliding down his arms. a smile bubbled from his chest and spread across his lips, spreading a wide smile on his mouth and a small, pure giggle to burst from his throat. his hands rose to grasp the softness as it fell, piling around his feet, drifting slowly into his hair. his mother's hand tugged gently at him, pulling him back into the procession alongside his father and his brothers. the people's cheers rung off of the stone walls, amplifiing themselves and creating a deafening roar permeated with the boy's name. he laughed again, and Jacob scooped him up, raising him above a sea of knees and boots and slippers and into the faces that shined so far above them, all of them laughing, some of them weeping, some of them with thier mouths open so widly, in shouts of such magnitude and passion, that the rest of their features were swallowed by their teeth and their tongues. the boy's name rung from the
balconies; it was shrieked from horses and camels,
elephants and donkeys...it was bellowed from rooftops...from the lips
of shabblily dressed children and women in robes that shone like gold.
rings on his own fingers caught and loosed his attention as, from his
perch on his brother's shoulders, he could see the world smiling at
him, throwing rice, roses, and good wishes.
in a spasam of happiness he hugged jacob's head, clutching at the man's forhead with his small fingers. his mother's lips touched his cheek. his father's fingers were at his waist, squeezing him again and again. jacob's hands were wrapped securely around his ankles, holding him steady as he twisted this way and then that way, smiling and laughing into faces he loved at an instant, waving now with both chubby hands at people who were all his friends.
when the man came out of the crowd, nobody was paying any attention. in his hand was a knife that glittered .. maybe he grinned as he stabbed the boy's father twice in the throat, felling him like a tree. gore spouted from the wound, a warm spray on the leg of his trousers. his mother's scream was cut short as the man's knife gouged a hole in her gown and then in her chest. the last two breaths she took gurgled in her thoat before she too crumpled to the cobblestones, clutching the wound in her fingers. blood coursed from the corners of her mouth. she died in Michael's arms. he sobbed over her, crying out words noone understood. the knife fell only once more, into Jacob's face, the blade sinking easily into Jacob's left eye. he screamed and bent double. the boy landed on his feet and carreened into the crowd as three men in glittering armour hacked down the killer where he stood, sending his head in one direction and his arm in another. the boy was clasped suddenly to the chest of a willowy woman with yellow hair, fighting for air, too stunned to make a noise. he grabbed fistfulls of that hair. she stood very still as others ran away. she wrapped her shawl around his body and held him tight. she smelled like spring. a guard snatched him from her arms, now, and checked him for wounds. he was lifted, turned .. they scanned him from head to toe, lifting his clothing. when it was determined that none of the blood that covered him was his own, the woman was quickly beheaded and he was returned to the castle. the bodies of his parents and his eldest brother accompanied them.
he didn't know Jacob had survived the day until weeks later, when he came into the nursery wearing a bit of fabric over his left eye .. he leaned on a cane, like an old man. and Michael had gone mad only days before, after botching an attempt to kill himself. the boy sat on the floor, occupied with a tiny panther carved from rosewood. he turned his gaze up just in time to see his brother approaching.
e. jarvis 1999
modified 2/1/04
_________________________________________________________________
the rose petals were red against the sky and the boy had a fancy, if only for an instant, that they were little droplets of blood showering down on his head .. but only for a instant, because suddenly they were caressing his cheeks, sliding down his arms. a smile bubbled from his chest and spread across his lips, spreading a wide smile on his mouth and a small, pure giggle to burst from his throat. his hands rose to grasp the softness as it fell, piling around his feet, drifting slowly into his hair. his mother's hand tugged gently at him, pulling him back into the procession alongside his father and his brothers. the people's cheers rung off of the stone walls, amplifiing themselves and creating a deafening roar permeated with the boy's name. he laughed again, and Jacob scooped him up, raising him above a sea of knees and boots and slippers and into the faces that shined so far above them, all of them laughing, some of them weeping, some of them with thier mouths open so widly, in shouts of such magnitude and passion, that the rest of their features were swallowed by their teeth and their tongues. the boy's name rung from the
balconies; it was shrieked from horses and camels,
elephants and donkeys...it was bellowed from rooftops...from the lips
of shabblily dressed children and women in robes that shone like gold.
rings on his own fingers caught and loosed his attention as, from his
perch on his brother's shoulders, he could see the world smiling at
him, throwing rice, roses, and good wishes.
in a spasam of happiness he hugged jacob's head, clutching at the man's forhead with his small fingers. his mother's lips touched his cheek. his father's fingers were at his waist, squeezing him again and again. jacob's hands were wrapped securely around his ankles, holding him steady as he twisted this way and then that way, smiling and laughing into faces he loved at an instant, waving now with both chubby hands at people who were all his friends.
when the man came out of the crowd, nobody was paying any attention. in his hand was a knife that glittered .. maybe he grinned as he stabbed the boy's father twice in the throat, felling him like a tree. gore spouted from the wound, a warm spray on the leg of his trousers. his mother's scream was cut short as the man's knife gouged a hole in her gown and then in her chest. the last two breaths she took gurgled in her thoat before she too crumpled to the cobblestones, clutching the wound in her fingers. blood coursed from the corners of her mouth. she died in Michael's arms. he sobbed over her, crying out words noone understood. the knife fell only once more, into Jacob's face, the blade sinking easily into Jacob's left eye. he screamed and bent double. the boy landed on his feet and carreened into the crowd as three men in glittering armour hacked down the killer where he stood, sending his head in one direction and his arm in another. the boy was clasped suddenly to the chest of a willowy woman with yellow hair, fighting for air, too stunned to make a noise. he grabbed fistfulls of that hair. she stood very still as others ran away. she wrapped her shawl around his body and held him tight. she smelled like spring. a guard snatched him from her arms, now, and checked him for wounds. he was lifted, turned .. they scanned him from head to toe, lifting his clothing. when it was determined that none of the blood that covered him was his own, the woman was quickly beheaded and he was returned to the castle. the bodies of his parents and his eldest brother accompanied them.
he didn't know Jacob had survived the day until weeks later, when he came into the nursery wearing a bit of fabric over his left eye .. he leaned on a cane, like an old man. and Michael had gone mad only days before, after botching an attempt to kill himself. the boy sat on the floor, occupied with a tiny panther carved from rosewood. he turned his gaze up just in time to see his brother approaching.
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