Earth child The Adam Chronicles (6)

THREE - Who are you?

That night I took
off my shackles they would make a sound like a kettle whistle when they unlock and release.

I place them in their box after getting into my favourite PJs ready for bed.

As my eyes became heavy to the sound of mr snooze "and there was evening and there was morning on the 5th day..." it rambled on as I drifted into slumber my normally pleasant dreams soon became twisted and contorted into a panic swirling prison with sounds and voices, the squeaking of a bicycle in desperate need of oil on its mechanical parts slowly squealing towards me, heat and fire then a dark figure coming closer and closer my body was frozen, I couldn't move then "Adam, Adam, wake up son" it's Dad "get me Dad I can't move" I called out with the only energy I could pull together. "Adam its a bad dream son" I open my eyes to see my dads face, The look of concern I have never seen before "it's okay son" he whispers into my ear as he holds me tight against his cool concrete chest. The sensation of pain shooting through my hands as they feel wet and heavy "urr what's happened to me, my hands feel bad" looking into my dad's eyes as I quiz him. "lights -Out" dad commands the lights so I can't see "Noo dad I'm scared" I plead
"okay, okay LIGHTS ON 10 lumens" dad commands the lights to produce enough light to seclude my vision.

"sleep now son, I'm putting your shackles back on to help you sleep" he kisses my forehead and strokes my face knowing that I will be dancing with tigers in no time. I feel my shackles fasten, I am too tired to resist, the comfort of his cuddle soothes me, as he strokes my head I drift off.

The sun shines through the window warming my face, I open my eyes and breath deep scents of fruitful goodness. "mmm"
Then a sharp vision of last nights nightmare stabs at my mind... I quickly look down at my hands, bandaged. "That's strange" I think out loud "good morning Mr snooze"??
Nothing... "good morning Mr snooze"
I look around I am in my mum and dad's bed. My hands are no longer sore, but there is dried blood soaked into the bandages. Afraid of what I might find I reluctantly unwrap the bandages, squinting my eyes and bracing myself for gore and blood, slowly pulling at the bandages to reveal my wounds. A strange scent unfamiliar to me wafts into the room?
My hands are almost unwrapped when "Morning honey" mum walks in with a plate of food, and a glass of berry juice. That strange smell is coming from the food on the plate... It's horrid.
"urrgh mum what is this" I say wrinkling my nose and pointing to the plate " darling it's meat, its cooked, you need to eat it" she chirps. "Yuk! No like it, it smells bad" "what is meat" I ask. "it's erm... Well it's kind of, well it's an animal that has given itself to you, to help you heal" mum's words almost bring her to tears, she breaks eye contact and looks to the floor. "you must eat it darling... Please... For mummy" she says before kissing my forehead and leaving the room. I hear her sob as she gets out of the doorway. "not eating that" I mutter to myself and gulp down the berry juice "Mmmm now that's meat" I say satisfied with myself. For a moment I forget about my hands and leap out of bed... My dream?! "Mr snooze" I yell out loud and run to my room.

Just as I start opening the door it becomes stuck, I push with all my strength but it barely moves "Adam" a voice whispers. It's Dad he is smiling down at me holding the door tight with his hand. He kneels down to my level and his eyes sparkle. He takes a deep breath, looks out of the window in the hallway, then back at me and begins to talk calmly and slow. "Morning Adam"
"mornin Dad" he places his hands on my shoulder gently guiding me closer.
"Adam we need to tell you something, some positive news and some negative news, do you understand?"
"yep negative is bad, but technicolly it's the opposite, positive is good but technicolly it isn't because it also kind of means possession too.." Dad cuts me off Mid sentence "Yes Adam I think you got it" Dad smirks and shakes his head... "okay Mr Snooze kind of had an accident" before he could finish I barged into my bedroom my face numb "noooo Mr snooze" I was destraught, it looked like an animal had ravaged my room Mr Snooze's smooth wood surround had been clawed and broken into splinters his wires were hanging out, he had been destroyed. I dropped to my knees and cried. "wo wo Adam it's ok Daddy will build you a new one, you can help me put Mr Snooze back together" he pleaded "noooooo he's dead, dead" I sobbed.
"no he is just hurt like your hands he will get fixed - I promise" his sincerity was pure, Dad never broke a promise.
Wait my hands I forgot about them. I whipped my bandages off and there was dried blood, no wounds. Then it registered in my mind... "Dad what happened to Mr Snooze? Did I break him ?" as the words left my lips I could feel my bottom lip tremble. "Yes son, it wasn't on purpose though you had a nightmare, your first one!" "Adam it was an accident, we will make Mr snooze stronger just like you are growing stronger" Dads words were deep, he was trying to tell me something. "look son we should go down stairs and talk with your mother , we still need to talk to you"

"Jeeze I hope it's good stuff Dad I don't want more bad stuff"
"is it a puppy? I like puppies"