11-27-2020, 10:55 PM
WILT
He watches her scramble and flail with pain. Wilt is not entirely familiar with agony, so he does not understand the way she screams and wails. The wet black of his eyes blinks slowly as he observes with a detached, vulgar curiosity until her gaze finds his. She falls backward and he laughs, as though this is all some clever game for his amusement and not her near-death experience.
His stilt-legs carry him closer as she declares that she does not enjoy this game. He doesn’t mind. Wilt merely lowers his head to observe the pitter-patter of her hummingbird heart against her small ribs. How strange! Does it beat on its own? Would it keep on trying to pump blood if he ripped it from her chest and held it in his teeth? A soft hum builds in his throat as he dwells on the thought a moment longer, until she speaks again. Her voice is so soft he almost doesn’t hear her above the river and the bones of vultures snapping from their sockets.
Her mother?
The vines reach a morsel of meat to his mouth and he takes it with snapping teeth.
“Why? What has she done for you?” he asks with a rather unamused frown of black teeth now. He is not of the impression that mothers are worth much of anything, save for his darling sister. Starsin alone is a worthy parent.
“She didn’t protect you. She didn’t save you,” he explains, moving forward so his blood-smeared mouth is inches from her good eye. “I saved you. I made them all pay.”
And Wilt tries to hide his anger at her ungratefulness. She hadn’t even begun to breathe a single word of gratitude, but he is patient. He can be kind, even. And if the girl does not realize how fortunate she is, he could eat her too. Just like Sochi. Just like the vultures.
His stilt-legs carry him closer as she declares that she does not enjoy this game. He doesn’t mind. Wilt merely lowers his head to observe the pitter-patter of her hummingbird heart against her small ribs. How strange! Does it beat on its own? Would it keep on trying to pump blood if he ripped it from her chest and held it in his teeth? A soft hum builds in his throat as he dwells on the thought a moment longer, until she speaks again. Her voice is so soft he almost doesn’t hear her above the river and the bones of vultures snapping from their sockets.
Her mother?
The vines reach a morsel of meat to his mouth and he takes it with snapping teeth.
“Why? What has she done for you?” he asks with a rather unamused frown of black teeth now. He is not of the impression that mothers are worth much of anything, save for his darling sister. Starsin alone is a worthy parent.
“She didn’t protect you. She didn’t save you,” he explains, moving forward so his blood-smeared mouth is inches from her good eye. “I saved you. I made them all pay.”
And Wilt tries to hide his anger at her ungratefulness. She hadn’t even begun to breathe a single word of gratitude, but he is patient. He can be kind, even. And if the girl does not realize how fortunate she is, he could eat her too. Just like Sochi. Just like the vultures.