Skeletal Woes

A wail of despair could be heard from inside a dense forest. The voice didn’t sound like it belonged to an elderly person, an adult or a teenager. It was a child’s voice. 

Tommy was a nine-year-old boy. He was the type of boy that slammed doors and kicked chairs. Sometimes he lashed out because he was bored, other times he felt overwhelmed with emotion. Controlling his temper was something that Tommy wasn’t very good at. 

He didn’t know where he was or how he got there. It was eerily quiet. Too quiet. There were trees all around him. His mum would know what type of tree they were. She loves trees. 

He’d never been so far away from his parents before. He thought that they were annoying, but now that they weren’t around… well… he’d changed his mind. Tommy missed his parents. He missed the way his mum would fuss over him. He missed the way his dad made him laugh. One thing he didn’t miss? School. 

How many days had passed since he’d last seen his parents? Tommy had no idea. The last thing he remembered was bright lights and his mum screaming. He didn’t know why she was screaming. Did he do something bad? Maybe…

Tommy slammed his little hands onto a nearby tree. Leaves fluttered down, startled off their branches by the might of his anger.

“I wanna go home!”

The silence that followed mocked his anguish, feeding the flames of Tommy’s emotions. It was worse than a teacher folding their arms and telling him that he couldn’t go outside to play with the other children.

“Mum!”

More silence. 

“Dad!”

A light breeze ruffled the brown leaves of the nearby trees. Tommy sobbed. His legs gave out and he fell to the ground. Nobody rushed over to help him.

This place made Tommy feel things that were painful. He had a lot of time on his hands and nothing but thinking to do. Thoughts can lead to dark places, things that you try to lock away… but they always find a way to escape. 

He thought about the time he made his sister cry. She always did well at school, so their parents praised her constantly. Tommy was jealous of her. He rarely received any praise from their parents. Because of his jealousy, he decided to ruin her favourite doll. He scribbled all over the doll’s face, he cut the doll’s hair off and he took away the doll’s clothes. His sister cried for days until their parents bought her a new doll.

“Tommy! Stop bothering your sister!”

“Tommy! Go to your room!”

“Tommy! No pudding for you tonight!” 

There wasn’t a day in his life that didn’t have shouting in it. He’d always do something wrong. Tommy felt like he couldn’t do anything right. Was this place his punishment? Is that why he was here?

He could see his breath in the air. It must be cold… so why couldn’t he feel anything? 

When he was forced to go out for walks with his parents and his sister, they’d always run into a bird. Tommy liked birds. Some of them made funny noises, and some of them looked funny. He hadn’t seen or heard a single bird in the entire time he’d been here. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. Maybe things would get better if he apologised? He didn’t know what he’d done wrong, but apologising seemed to help things get better. That’s what his mum said. 

Tommy closed his eyes and waited for someone to find him.