DISCLAIMER
The following story is completely fictitious and any resemblances to persons living or dead are entirely coincidental. Just as in life, this story contains graphic scenes of love and hate, life and death, joy and sorrow, as well as material that may be offensive to some audiences. If such material makes you feel uncomfortable, then please read no further than this warning.
Send questions and comments to thatguywhowritesniftysmut@gmail.com
KENDAL - CHAPTER TWO
The room was dimly lit from the hallway beyond; its tall book-filled shelves casting shadows in the small room as the boy eagerly awaited his promised story. Clad in soft and warm pajamas, the boy of seven or so had taken great care to take his bath, brush his teeth, change into his PJs and settle in under the covers of his new warm bed as snowflakes danced outside his bedroom window. His bright multi-colored eyes seemed to shine with excitement as he heard the tell-tale creaking of the floorboards outside the hallway.
The light from the hallway was extinguished by the shadow of a giant.
Rather than cause alarm in the small child, the boy seemed to overflow with newfound excitement; his toes wiggling under the covers of his bed. Flashing a toothy smile towards his giant—sans a couple teeth—the hulking figure took pity on the boy and returned the friendly smile. Making his way into the room with lumbering strides, the man closed the distance between himself and the boy in three large steps. Sitting down on the side of the boy's bed, the sturdy piece of furniture slightly gave way to the man's mass, causing a small eruption of giggles as the boy found himself sinking into the mattress.
"Quiet now," the giant gently hushed with a grin, "otherwise no story."
The boy went instantly silent, barely daring to breathe less he lose the opportunity to hear a new story from his daddy. The man, dwarfing the small child, gently leaned down and kissed his son on the forehead and eased him down into his bed. With hands the size of shovels, the man delicately tucked the child into bed, making sure his small body was secure and safe from the cold.
"Alright, alright." The man comforted, "Let me see..."
The boy waited for what seemed like eternity as his giant contemplated what tale to gift the boy with tonight. Since it was Christmas Eve, he had hoped he would get to pick a story for the man to read to him, but when his daddy had told him he had a very special story to tell him, the boy had been overjoyed. He hoped his daddy hadn't forgotten the story.
"Once upon a time..." the giant began.
Good so far, the boy thought to himself.
"...there was a mighty king. He ruled a magical land filled with every kind of person and creature imaginable. There were elves and dwarves, gnomes and goblins, dragons and phoenixes, wizards and knights. It was a magical land that existed in a place called Dream. The land of Dream was a peaceful place where everyone was happy. Everyone, that is, but the king."
"Why was the king not happy?" the boy asked.
"Well, you see, the king was lonely." The giant explained. "His wife, the beautiful queen of the land, had passed away because of a mysterious illness and he was left all alone. He tried not to let the sadness of the queen's passing make him sad, but sometimes late at night he would pray to the powers that be to send him someone to make him happy. He prayed and prayed, every night he prayed for the powers that be to send him someone he could love, and one night when he was praying especially hard, they heard him."
"What did they do?" the boy asked, "Did they send him a new queen? Did they send him a puppy!?"
"Shh, no. No." the giant chuckled a bit. "The powers that be said to one another, `this is a good king who looks after the people, so we will send him someone special for him to look after and to love him as he loves his people so he won't be alone anymore.' And so they made him a princess. They made her eyes different colors, to show how special she was, one as light and brown as amber from the earth and the other as blue and clear as the sky reflected in a pool of water."
"Just like my eyes!" the boy exclaimed.
"Yep, and they made her body small and perfect so she was just the right size to be hugged and carried around by the king all day long."
"Just like how you carry me around, daddy!" the boy said excitedly.
"True, true, but when the princess was made they realized they had forgotten to give her a heart." The giant explained.
"Oh no! No heart!?" the boy said dismayed.
"Nope, no heart. So, one of the powers that be said, `I have here half a heart. The other half has already been given to someone else we made special just for the world, but it is half a heart of true love. Let us give the princess a heart that is one-half a heart of true love so when she awakens to the realm of Dream, she will have purpose in finding the other half of her heart.' And all the powers that be agreed, so you know what they did?"
"What, daddy?" the boy asked wide-eyed, having never known someone could exist with only half a heart.
"The powers that be cut open the chest of the princess and gave her half a heart of true love." The giant replied, "But when they put her chest back together there was a mark left behind to show where they had place her heart."
The boy reached to the top of his shirt and pulled the loose fabric down exposing a scar on his chest right over his heart. He looked down at the scar, barely believing all the coincidences between himself and the princess in the story.
"A mark like this, daddy?" the boy asked looking up to the giant, showing him the scar.
"A mark just like that." The giant confirmed as the boy allowed the fabric to return, a little stretched, to its normal shape. The giant proceeded to redo tucking in the boy.
"So, was the king happy then?" the boy asked looked into his daddy's eyes.
"Yes," the giant smiled down, "the king was very happy. He was so happy he had found someone to love, he never wanted to let the princess out of his sight, but he knew that someday she would want to find the person who shared the other half of her heart. So, he treasured each and every moment he had to share with his princess."
After a moment of silence, the boy looked up into the giant's kind eyes.
"Did the princess ever find the prince? Does she find the person with the other half of her heart a true love?" he asked hopeful for a happy ending.
"I don't know, son." The giant replied. "That part of the story is yet to be written."
"I bet she does." The boy said as fatigue began to set in and his eyes slowly closed. "I bet he is a pirate prince and they sail away with the king... and they live happily ever after... and adventures..."
The boy was lost to the realm of Dream, safely wrapped in a protective blanket of heroes, princesses, pirate princes, and kind kings. The giant doubted his nightmares would return tonight. Leaning down, he once more kissed the mop of brown hair, sending with his kiss a silent blessing.
"Sleep, my little Kendal drum," the giant whispered like a soft wind, "the beating of my very heart."
He prayed to the powers that be they would spare the boy further torment from the dark memories and fragments of nightmares his gentle and innocent mind could not possibly fathom.
"Please," the giant softly begged, "spare him those painful memories."
As the giant removed himself from the bed and quietly—or as quietly as a giant can—made his way towards the door of the small room. He gently half-closed the door behind him, allowing a sliver of light to remain, a beacon of hope that the day had not abandoned the world; a promise that tomorrow the sun would surly rise.
The giant loved his son. He knew the boy played make believe and acted out the stories he was read, and the giant knew his son would often times play the role of the princess needing to be rescued. The boy may not know it or fully understand it, but the giant was giving him a gift; acceptance. The giant was giving his son the gift of unconditional love and support, in the form of a story he might one day fully understand. He just hoped his son wouldn't grow up too fast.
"I don't get it." Kendal said as he stared blankly at his charismatic band leader. "Like, you want to do my stories... how?"
The band was once again assembled in the garage adjacent to the youth center called Haven, each member at their station. At the front of their formation was Austin Decker, charming and dashing leader of DJ Orphan with guitar in hand and microphone at the ready. On Austin's left was Eddy Winters, quiet and calculating guitarist whose technical playing was unmatched. On Austin's right was Samuel Connors, Kendal's boyfriend, whose dark and sulking appearance blended well with his roll of bassist. Just behind Eddy rested the keyboard/mixer setup devised for Olivia Waters, Austin's aid and second in command. Behind them all, sitting at the full drum kit, was Kendal Erikson, the beat of Haven's rhythmic heart.
"Yeah, I am a little confused about that too." Sammy chimed in.
For the past few weeks, while the band had been practicing, Kendal had been telling stories. It had begun during one of their many breakings in practicing and had been well received, so they continued. The boy would tell a short story involving characters from a mythical realm called Dream—a realm originally created for the boy by his own father. Each tale told painted Dream a bit clearer in the minds of his band mates and had become a welcome diversion from their music.
"It's simple," Austin said. "I want to put together a few songs about the characters from your stories. I think it would be really cool. Like, take Jester the Blue..."
"The Blue Jester, you mean." Kendal corrected.
"Yeah," Austin replied, "Either way he has a really cool story and it would make for an epic guitar duel. Jester the Blue verses Rage the Arcane, but in music form. Plus the story of the first to Dream was really awesome. What other ones?"
"The Phoenix and the Dark Knight." Olivia suggested.
"I really liked that one with the shape shifting rabbit kid warrior." Eddy offered.
"You mean Benny the Barbarian Boy Bunny?" Kendal asked. "He is a hengeyokai; they are a race of spirits that can take the form of humans or animals."
"The Immortal Lovers." Sammy coughed quietly.
"Yes," Austin grinned, "I did like the tale of the Immortal, forged for the realm of Dream by the powers that be and given half a heart of true love, only to find the other half of his heart residing in the chest of a beautiful princess. If I had to pick parts, I would have to say the description of the princess fit you to a `t,' Kendal... and the Immortal would most certainly fit Sammy."
Kendal froze. He had described the Immortal of his story as having black hair like moonless midnight and piercing blue eyes like a forgotten icy pool reflecting star shine. How could Austin have known he was talking about Sammy? Kendal secretly hoped Austin didn't know, otherwise he might kick them out of the band.
"Sammy? Really? I sort of pictured the Immortal as being... you know... more... taller?" Kendal offered feebly.
Kendal looked over to Sammy and could see the bassist lower his head a bit, as if contemplating whether or not he was too short to live up to Kendal's dream prince. To his credit, Kendal was almost crying at the sight of disheartening the boy he loved or making him think he was too short. Unfortunately both boys missed Austin, Olivia, and Eddy as they gave a communal smirk; oh, they were having fun with this little game of secret love.
"Well, either way, would it be okay? I mean, would it be okay to write songs about the characters from your stories?" Austin asked almost knowing the answer.
"Of course," Kendal replied, happy he could help out the band, "you can use my stories."
"Excellent." Austin flashed a grin. "Olivia and I will work some stuff up and we will run them by you for a screening. It will be a bit of a side project between rehearsals. Speaking of which, shall we go again? Whose list are we on now?"
"We are all the way to Sammy's list." Olivia commented dryly. "Looks like... Serenade by Steve Miller Band. Honestly, Sammy, you like Steve Miller Band?"
Each member of the band had been given the task of creating a list of songs they would want to be able to cover using DJ Orphan. Austin had reasoned it would be a way for the members to get to know the musical taste of the others, hone their skills working together, as well as provide them a solid pool of songs to pull from for different things they might want to do. Sammy had selected Serenade by the Steve Miller Band and didn't know why Olivia was scoffing at his selection... Steve Miller Band was good, or so he thought.
"Be nice." Austin countered, keeping his friend in check. "No one complained when we did Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie."
There was general chuckling from the other band members, although Kendal did pipe in that he did like that song.
"Fine," Olivia admitted in defeat, "what's the setup?"
Kendal Erikson had never been in a band before, so he didn't really know what to expect or how it worked with other bands. However, he did have enough sense to know what DJ Orphan did was special. He didn't know how it worked or why, but the process they used to learn new songs seemed almost magical, and he had a sneaking suspicion Austin was the source. Each time they would play a new song, it would begin with Austin. He would close his eyes, as if listening carefully to the song at hand. After a few moments he would let people know what they were doing. After that, they just played and it seemed like as long as they listened to Austin and his music they could follow him. It was sloppy at first, but once they let themselves go and just followed the music, their playing improved and their retention of the music was unbelievable.
"Kendal and Sammy as they are," Austin replied, eyes still closed listening, "Eddy, I want you taking the rhythm guitar and secondary vocals... Olivia, you follow my lead and fill in the harmonies."
Austin paused for a moment.
"Has everybody heard this song before?" he asked almost as an afterthought.
Not everyone was as dedicated to music as Austin Decker and so Kendal raised his hand as did Olivia. Giving Olivia the signal, she collected the CD Sammy had brought with him and he told her he thought it was the fifth track. So they listened.
As band practice came to an end, the teens secured their instruments and packed up what they would be taking home. Kendal was excited because Sammy had told him he had a surprise for him, but he had to wait until after band practice. As everybody picked up the center, gave goodbye hugs, and made their way towards the door, Kendal made sure not to be so clingy to Sammy. Another night at Haven; another night their secret love was safe.
Kendal's father was out of town because of work, again, so Kendal had secretly hoped Sammy would spend the night. Unfortunately, he knew Sammy wouldn't break his promise to Kendal's dad about not doing romance stuff in their house, so he knew it couldn't be that.
"So, you want to know your surprise?" Sammy asked as the two walked home together.
"Yes, please, Sammy?" Kendal implored Sammy as he clung to the older boy's shirt sleeve, well out of sight of the youth center and Austin Decker.
"Well, for starters, you aren't going home tonight." Sammy grinned a bit to himself.
"Why not?" Kendal asked a little concerned. "Where am I going to stay?"
"Well, you know how I work at that hotel downtown?" Sammy asked the boy.
"Yeah." Kendal replied having heard Sammy talk about the hotel.
"Well, my boss is out of town this weekend because of work stuff," Sammy explained, "and I've been working really hard and saving up... and I sort of got us a room tonight, if you are interested that is..."
"You mean, a room all to ourselves?" Kendal asked a little mischievously. "Like, a place we can be alone that isn't school, Haven, or my dad's? A place that doesn't have a `hands off' policy?"
Kendal let out a devilish little giggle that was as infectious as it was cute.
"Ah, I see the puzzle pieces are falling into place." Sammy grinned. "It is a suite, actually, and we will have full access to room service and anything else we may require. I am going to spoil you stupid tonight."
Kendal was thrilled and a little nervous too.
"So... you don't REALLY think I am too short, do you?" Sammy asked as his cheeks turned a little red in the night. "I mean to play the part of the Immortal in your story?"
Kendal laughed a little to himself as he went up on his toes to give his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek as they continued to walk peacefully in the night.
"Why do you keep up the façade, you dork?" Olivia asked Austin as his grandma drove them to Olivia's mom's house. "You go through all this trouble of brining them together and organizing the band so they can work together only to make them think they have to hind their relationship from us. Granted, it's funny to watch them squirm, but don't you think it is a little much?"
The boy had sat quietly next to his hetero life-mate and listened as she talked about Kendal and Sammy, but he was distracted.
"Listen, it isn't like I TOLD them they couldn't be together; they are the ones who reasoned I would have a problem with it." Austin explained. "I just went along with it because it's funny, it brings the band closer together, and you have to admit that forbidden fruit tastes better. Once you think you are not allowed to have something, it increases the urge to have it."
"You're right." Olivia admitted a little coldly, knowing full well what it was like to want something she knew she couldn't have. "Once you think you are not allowed something... it makes you want it all the more."
She gave her best friend of almost 10 years a sideways glance, but she could see he was once again lost in thought, his eyes drifting dreamily into the distance.
"You spending the night?" she asked a little hopeful.
"It's Friday," Austin replied as he gave her a heartfelt smile, "of course I'm spending the night. Otherwise, it wouldn't be Friday."
Some things never change, and Austin Decker being a hopeless dork was thankfully one of them.
Sammy had, for the most part, treated Kendal lovingly like a small child during their stay in the suite. He didn't know why, but he had a sneaking suspicion it was because he knew what he was going to tell Kendal would hurt a bit and he wanted to do everything and anything he could to help ease that hurt. Both boys cuddled together in the large bed; the same bed Sammy had shared many times with Mr. Creed.
"Once upon a time..." Sammy began.
Good so far, Kendal thought to himself.
"There was a boy, a boy who was born with half a heart of true love." Sammy said as Kendal snuggled back towards his boyfriend. "The powers that be had given him half a heart of true love, but the boy didn't know why. They had sent him into the world with a longing to share that heart, but they had forgotten to give him someone to share it with. It was cruel, the boy had thought, it was too cruel to give someone a heart in desperate need of love without anyone to share love with. So, maybe because he didn't want to feel the hurt anymore, or because he simply forgot how to, the boy didn't feel love."
Sammy felt Kendal's arms wrap tighter around his own, comfortingly.
"So, the boy did what he could to survive in a world without love." Sammy continued, keeping his own feelings of pain and loneliness from those days long since passed at bay. "He had a few friends—he even had a mother and a father—but no bond that could be called love; just acquaintances and obligations. He had one friend, though; one who he knew loved him very much. The boy wanted to please this friend, wanted to keep the friend so badly he would do almost anything for him. So, one day, when the boy noticed an older man—a business partner of his friend—who had taken a liking to the boy, the boy had agreed to entertain the main on his visits."
Sammy could feel Kendal still holding tightly to his arms and Sammy kissed Kendal on the back of his neck as he brought to boy closer still towards his heart.
"The man was kind, never forceful or hurtful, but the boy knew the man was interested in the boy, in his mind, his body, and his soul. The boy's mind had never been filled with much of anything except a want to please the people who cared for him and his body was just a thing, so he gave it to the man, but his soul... somehow, deep inside, the boy knew his soul belonged to someone else."
He felt Kendal stir in his embrace.
"What happened to the boy?" Kendal asked with a waver in his voice.
"As fate would have it, the boy was wrong." Sammy explained, "The powers that be had not forgotten him, and they sent to him someone with the other half of the boy's heart of true love. The moment the boy laid eyes on this other boy, he remembered everything. He remembered what love felt like, he remembered what true pain and agony felt like at the thought of not being good enough for this boy, and he remembered what shame felt like... at the thought of what... he had done in the absence of love. So, the moment the boy saw his love for the first time, he made three vows. The first, his soul would reside with his love forever, even if the boy's body were to crumble to dust. The second, his mind would forever be filled with thoughts of his love, even if the boy sometimes lost his head."
"And the third?" Kendal asked hopefully.
"The third, his body would never know another person as long as the boy lived, he would belong completely to his love. And so, the boy met his love, they fell for each other hardcore, but the boy knew in order for this to be love, honest and pure love, he had to tell his love about this darker part of his life. So he took the other boy to a castle where they spent the night together, and as the night came to a close he told the boy a bedtime story all about his past and the mistakes he had made, hoping in vain for forgiveness."
There was a brief moment of silence between the boys, Sammy's heart in his throat.
"And what was the other boy's reply?" Kendal asked as he slowly turned around in his lover's arms to face him, their eyes locking together in a seriousness Sammy had never known he could fear.
"I don't know, Kendal." Sammy replied. "That part of the story has yet to be written."
"I bet the other boy still loves him because there is nothing that needs to be forgiven." Kendal said as he slowly closed his eyes and snuggled up to Sammy. "I bet they stay together forever... and they live happily ever after... and have adventures..."
Kendal softly snored into Sammy's chest as the older boy looked down with silent tears in his eyes. He leaned down and kissed his love on the top of his freshly washed brown mop and snuggled in with him, feeling their shared warmth.
"What have I done?" Sammy quietly asked the powers that be, "What have I done to deserve such love?"
"You're my pirate prince..." Kendal quietly mumbled in his sleep, "It was fated... to be..."