Gold foil letters

  Ren put on his headphones. He listened to music a lot, it was his favorite way to escape. A nurse holding a clipboard walked past. “Your dad’s ready to see you now” she said with a soft smile. Ren nodded and stood up, he took off his headphones and reached for the door.

  The room inside was dark. Ren’s father was lying in a hospital bed. Ren couldn’t help but notice the way his father looked paler. He took a step towards the bed and his dad took his hand. Ren noticed his father’s raspy breathing and swallowed.

  “Did you…have a good day a school?” Ren’s father asked.

  “Yeah, Dad, it was fine” he said. They stood there for a few moments, listening to the steady rhythm of the rain outside. “Oh, I brought you a book” Ren said. He slung his bag onto the floor and rooted through various late assignments before finding it. It read Crime and Punishment in gold foil letters. He handed it to his dad, not meeting his eyes.

  “I’m sorry, the library was closing and I know you’ve already read it but-”

  “Thank you” his father whispered. He flicked to the first page with small smile. Ren stood there, watching his father read each word. Moments like these were his favourite.

  “Oh, your mother is probably expecting you”

  Ren felt something inside himself sink. “Oh, yeah”

  His dad gave him a smile, “See you tomorrow, okay?” Ren nodded, he slung his bag back on his back. Putting on his headphones as he headed for the door. The nurse from earlier was talking to another nurse, standing not far from where Ren had been waiting minutes before.

  Poor kid.

  I know, it must be hard. And with his mother too-

  Ren walked past. He could hear their words over the steady flow of his music. He always could. The words were not unkind, but every one uttered felt like a punch to the gut.

  His feet drummed against the floor. His eyes shifted to the sign over the exit of the ward. It read:

  End of Life Care

  Whenever Ren passed the sign, his eyes couldn’t help but flick up and read it. It was worse every time.

  Ren stuck his hands into his pockets and focused his eyes on the ground. He pushed open a door to the stair well and took three flights of stairs. Ren was dreading going home. He had four late assignments and his mother was off work.

  His shoes made a clunk when he reached the bottom of the stair case. Then made his way through several corridors, shoulders slumped and eyes on the ground.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  He passed reception and the receptionist gave him a sympathetic look. “Have a great day, Ren” she called. He murmured something along the lines of a yes. Have a great day was something he wasn’t that good at.

  Pushing the door open to the gentle thrum of rain on concrete, Ren felt himself relax. Rain was nice, it was steady. It made him forget about the things he wanted to forget about and it was a nice back drop to the music humming in his headphones.

  ===

  Ren felt a sense of dread creep up on him as he approached a house on the hill. The grass was wet and dew stuck to his sneakers. He opened the gate and it gave a creak as it fell back closed again. Stopping in front of the front door, Ren braced himself. His fingers lingered on the handle before grasping it and opening the door.

  The hallway was dim, save for the light of the television. Creeping into the hallway through the open door. He took off his shoes and made his way into the kitchen. Ren’s mother was sitting at the table, opening a letter. His mother’s skin was rubbery looking grey.

  “Where were you?” she asked, putting down the letter when Ren came into the kitchen.

  “Hospital”

  She sighed. “I told you to stop visiting him.” The words were quiet, but they still hurt.

  “That’s not fair! You never even told me why!” Ren felt his voice rising

  “Ren, please-”

  He stood there for a few moments of silence, staring at his mother. The fists by his side clenched. His mother reached out a hand. “Ren, p-please I-” Ren’s mother’s eyes looked red. She was having trouble breathing and her words came out as gasps. “No. It just doesn’t make sense. Why can’t I visit dad?” he said, and then again, “I know you’ve given up on him. That doesn’t make it right.” He said the words quietly, but they were laced with a twinging pain.

  He made his way to the doorway put and ran upstairs. Diving onto his bed, he grabbed a pillow and buried his face into the soft cotton.

  Ren stayed like that, curled up on his bed. Until he heard a gentle rapping on the window. Looking up, he made his way over to the window.

  He opened the window. A letter rested on the sill. It had a black envelope and a gold wax seal. “What?” he said, mostly to himself.

  He placed the letter on his desk and leaned out of the window, scanning the garden below for people. Once sure that no one was there he sunk into his desk chair and opened the letter.

  Inside there was a folded piece of paper and a black pen. He unfolded the letter and set the pen aside.

  Dear Mr. Davis,

  Please, come to the coffee shop on Narvat St. Tuesday week.

  I will be eagerly awaiting your response.

  -Kindest Regards, Dramshmire

  Ren blinked at the letter. Fingers tensed, gripping the paper. Gingerly, he picked up the black pen and his notepad. He started to scrawl a shaky response.

  Who are you?

  Ren was about to scrawl another line of text when words started to form on the bottom of the page. Words inked in black that he did not write.

  You know me, Ren.

  He dropped the pen and tore out the page. Crumpling up the paper, he tripped down stairs. “Mom!”

  “Mom! Where are you!?”

  There was no reply. Ren stumbled into the kitchen.

  “Mom, please! Did you write this?-”

  He stopped, dead in his tracks.

  Ren’s mother lay on the ground. Her body was spasming, and she was frothing at the mouth. “No. No!” He kneeled over his mother. “Please.”

  His mother’s eyes were glossy and distant. They were boring past Ren. Looking far away, but not really. Her body stilled. Ren’s chest tightened. “Mom, just please wake up.” Tears pooled in his eyes and spilled onto his mother’s now still body.

  “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry”

  His mother didn’t move. She didn’t tell Ren it was okay. She didn’t tell him it was just a bad dream and his father was okay. And then he felt a clunk, a sudden blow of metal to his head. The world fell into darkness and Ren slumped forward.