The Only Game In Town [Adventure]

Theo listened to the child. He had been making a more active effort to listen to the people around him recently. It had been a cathartic experience to express his feelings to Joy's father, Antony.

Apparently, some people enjoyed it when you told them that you didn't like them or their behavior. He and Antony had found a common ground on their mutual distaste, but it had grown into a grudging respect for the other over the last few days.

The child's name was Evelyn, and she spoke quietly and timidly. Theo always knew when she was speaking because he felt himself leaning in to hear her better.

Antony had told Theo that he was being a dickhead with no respect for others. He was using his condition as an excuse to be an ass to everyone he met. So, he was trying to be better.

"… and the small pirate found a tiny island all for herself. The trees were green, and the sand was course. But most importantly, she was safe from the monsters in the deep sea."

The story had been pretty good as far as children's stories go. There was a little inconsistency like how her tiny pirate's ship could fly when it was needed and yet had not done so when the evil sea monsters had attacked. But that was all forgivable since the story had a clear plot. The tiny pirate wanted adventure, she found her adventure was too much for her, and so she escaped to a new sanctuary.

Theo guessed it would end with the tiny pirate sailing home and living a fulfilling life full of a less dangerous kind of adventure. It was a neat story, and he was proud of Evelyn for her progress.

"The island was perfect for the tiny pirate. She laughed and played. But something bad was coming. From deep beneath the waves, squishy arms" (Theo knew she meant tentacles) "grabbed the trees and ripped them out of the ground. They smacked the sand off the beach. And they took the tiny pirate off her perfect island."

Theo was a little worried about the way that the story was turning. None of the children had moved into the territory of tragedy before this. Most of them told stories about adventures or comedies, but this was something else.

"The tentacles shook the little pirate around until she started crying. But no one came to help the tiny pirate because she was all alone." A deep silence enveloped the classroom as the ending of the story became clear to everyone.

"The end."

Theo clapped without hesitation. If he hesitated, then the rest of the class would as well and that would be disastrous. Theo wasn't sure what he had just heard, but it felt vulnerable, and he wanted to make sure Evelyn felt supported by her peers.

"That was a good story. I think the tragic elements were very advanced. You have really improved when it comes to speaking up and enunciating your words. Good job!" Theo tried to smile as he "looked" in her general direction.

It was important for the children to feel like they were succeeding at something, and Theo was trying to make them more confident. He had been mean and unhelpful to the kids before and he was trying to make amends now.

The other kids clapped along with him and said nice things to Evelyn as she shuffled back to her seat. Theo felt a slight tugging on his sleeve and turned to face his boss, Terry.

Theo wasn't sure why he still looked at people when they were speaking to him, but it was muscle memory. Also, he thought that is might unnerve people if he didn't address them while they were speaking.

"That story scared me a little, Theo. Would you walk home with Evelyn today and see if you can make sure she is okay." The firm tone in her voice told Theo that this was not a request. This was the voice she used when she was ordering people around.

Theo nodded his head in her general direction and then went back to listening to stories. The next one was something about a ninja cowboy who threw shuriken that lassoed anything they touched. It didn't make sense, but he enjoyed the fervor in the little kid's voice as they spoke.

Once class ended, Theo called out, "Evelyn? Do you want me to walk you home today." Theo brushed the ground with his stick, only occasionally bumping it into the children's knees.

Evelyn quietly said yes, and Theo started walking home with her.

She was shy but helpful. Instead of trying to escape from Theo she held his hand to help him along his way. He could have followed her without her help, but it was a small kindness to not make him walk an unfamiliar path alone.

"What made you want to tell a tragedy, Evelyn?" Theo asked the quiet girl.

"I don't know, Mr. Theo. I just felt like an adventure wasn't right." Evelyn muttered a little too much, so Theo had to lean down to her level to hear her words clearly.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You know you can tell me or Ms. Terry anything. If something is wrong, you can tell us."

Theo could feel that had been the wrong thing to say. Evelyn's grip tightened on his hand, and she suddenly stopped talking.

No one liked being confronted with their fears and worries. Theo believed that Evelyn was hiding from whatever was troubling her by telling her story and he had tried to coax her truth out too early.

Theo assumed that it was just a bully or something of the like, but he still wanted to help her.

A silence filled the space between Theo and Evelyn as they continued walking. The summer was fully in season now, and he felt an intense heat beating on the back of his neck. Sweat dripped down the small of his back, but he tried to keep his composure and not succumb to the heat while Evelyn was here with him.

Now that his focus was on the heat, he realized he wasn't feeling the heat coming from the sun. There were no beams of sunlight touching his face. That was quite odd; why was it so hot then?

"Why is it…" Theo was shushed by Evelyn as he started to ask if she knew why it was so hot.

"Be quiet. He doesn't like it when people are loud." Evelyn shuffled forwards and mutely, Theo followed her.

Why were they going towards the heat and who was this mysterious he?

Evelyn squeezed his hand and whispered, "I am home. You don't have to walk me any further." Theo squeezed her small hand back.

"Are you okay? What is that heat? What are you scared of?" Theo wished he could see Evelyn's face. Maybe he could get a hint of what she was truly feeling. Maybe he could see her yearn to be helped, and then he could have an excuse to save her from whatever this was.

But he was trapped in his own personal darkness, unable to see the small girl's tears.

"Evelyn, who are you talking to outside?" A gruff voice called out. It was the voice of someone who had already taken a few drinks and was planning on having a few more. There was an imperceptible slur to his words and Theo could hear a loping gait approach him and Evelyn.

The heat in the air intensified and Theo realized that this was a gift. Whoever the man calling out to Evelyn was, he was the one making it so unbearably hot.

Theo felt the heat turn scorching as a gruff hand touch his arm.

"Who are you?" Theo's arm felt like it was burning as the man questioned him. He felt the words turn to ash in his mouth as the heat worked its way through his arm.

"Dad, stop. That's my teacher. He was walking me home." Evelyn's words distantly registered in Theo's mind. But he was too scared to care. Ever since he had lost his eyes to Ian he had not been faced with an attack or provocation. No matter how Theo had spun it in his head, the people around him had been nothing but kind and helpful ever since he had lost his eyes. This was the first attack on his person he had suffered.

Theo tried to flee. He wasn't proud of it, he knew now why Evelyn was so scared. He was scared and he could only imagine what it was like for her. He started stumbling back but he tripped over his own feet, landing heavily on his backside, his stick flying off into the distance.

"Oh, he's a cripple." The heat started intensifying down on Theo. His head ached and it felt like he felt his tongue swelling from the intensity. "Look at him, like a fish out of water, Evelyn. Don't you ever get this weak."

Theo started scrambling for his stick, he needed it to find his way home. He would be lost without it. The stick smacked him in the face and Theo felt blood welling where he had been struck.

"Get out of here." The heat was burning him. Theo felt blisters forming on his skin and he moaned out in terror. Would he die here, after escaping Ian, after finally trying to become better?

"Dad, he used to be strong. He competed in the knight tournament. Ms. Theresa tells us all about how strong he used to be." Evelyn's words struck a chord deep inside Theo.

He used to be strong; but now, look at him, whimpering on the ground at some bully's feet. It didn't matter that the man was an adult, he was a bully all the same.

Theo reached deep inside himself for a place he had been too scared to touch since his eyes had been removed. Terror and the need to be something more than he was finally made him touch his soul space.

He had felt powerless, but there deep within his soul stood his answer.

Theo's eyes had not always been blue. When he was born, he had brown eyes. His gift had changed their color overnight.

In his soul, Theo could not see any more than in the real world, but he knew what stood there, beckoning him. A single teardrop, the color of the sky stood powerfully in his soul.

He had never told anyone the truth about his gift, it was easier to just say it was his eyes. But it was not his eyes that held the power, but that single tear.

With a roar, Theo released the pent up energy of that tear. Ice exploded out of him. He could not see it with his eyes, but he knew a single rose had formed above his head. The ice exuded a cold that beat back the vicious heat of the wretched man.

Theo stood to his full height for the first time in a long while. He did not hunch down over his cane, and he did not writhe away from this weak man. Instead, he faced him with all the rage he could muster in his soul.

"Sit." Theo's voice was authoritative, and it was helped by the plume of ice that erupted out and shoved the man to the floor.

Theo listened to where the terrified breathing was coming from and forced the ice to form into a sharp blade that caressed the man's throat.

"Kindness is a virtue. Strength gives you the right to choose kindness. Only the strong can choose to be kind. But I am stronger than you, so I am forcing you to choose to be kind."

Theo let his hand brush the icicle that he had used to push the man to the ground. He followed its length as he approached the man.

"I will give you a gift to remind you to be kind." Theo touched the tear in his soul again and forced it to do as he pleased. He was not limited by his eyes; he could do so much more.

A patch of ice shimmered into existence on the man's chest. It was uncomfortably cold, but nothing horrendous. It was like a stubbed toe made from ice.

"That cold on your heart will always remind you that kindness saved you. And that kindness can take from you again." Theo made the ice turn into small thorns that pricked the man's skin.

Theo pointed to his unseeing eyes and said, "I am watching you."

It was a temporary fix. He would need to talk to other people in the town and get their help to try and figure out how to keep Evelyn safe, but hopefully the man wouldn't attack her for tonight.

He gave the small girl a brief hug and she asked, "have you always been this cool?"

Theo laughed a little at her question, then answered, "yes, I just forgot."