45. A Young Dragon’s Shame
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(Continued from our last post…)
The Hauteur brothers shared a bedroom that was large and bright, lined with model ships and stacks of books. Pierre Jr was the oldest, eleven at the time, with his younger brother ages six and five. The brothers live in the wealthiest home in Scalesville with plenty of room to assign each child his own bedroom, however the arrangment for a shared room was decided for efficiency and teaching purposes.
Restricting the children’s belongings to one space also restricted the options for play spaces and controlled the chances of toys finding their way into the rest of the house. Their father considered it a privilege for the boys to have a space to their own in a home. He believed letting the each child have a bedroom would be to their detriment, and they should learn how to earn their comforts without expecting hand outs that might come from being born into a wealthy lineage.
Pierre’s brother didn’t mind shared a room with their older brother. Pierre Jr became their protector and advocate at a young age. He returned to their room after the interaction with his father. His younger brothers were play-fighting with paper swords in their bedroom using the three beds as forts of protection between their advances at one another. Pierre set his novel on the bed and tried to read, but his mind was still trying to make sense of his fathers reaction to his question.
Then the voices started downstairs. His parents were arguing. First sharp, then louder. At this point, his brothers put down their weapons and crawled on the bed to sit closely on each side of their big brother. The voices increased louder and louder until there was the sound of something breaking and then his mother’s voice, pleading for her husband to calm down. There was a crash even larger than before. The floorboards trembled and the frame movie posters on the wall in boys bedroom shook in the vibrations .
Pierre swallowed hard and pulled his brothers close wrapping his wings around them like a safety net. “It’s okay,” he whispered, opening his book again. “Let’s read, alright? You remember where we left off?”
He began to read aloud, his voice shaking at first, then steadier as he lost himself in the words. His brothers nestled against him, their small tails curled close and tucked into the comforter on the bed.
Another shout. A slam. Then silence.
Pierre didn’t move. He just kept reading, his eyes fixed on the page.
Minutes later, gentle footsteps creaked up the stairs. The doorknob turned and their mother peeked inside.
“Hey, my darlings,” she said softly as she held a washcloth pressed against her eye. A line of blood streaked her shoulder which she tried to cover with her opposite hand.
Pierre dropped the book and rushed to her. “Mom, what happened? Are you ok? I didn’t mean to make daddy mad. I’m so sorry I asked him about the movies. We don’t have to go. It’s ok, really, it is.”
She knelt down, pulled him towards her and hugged him tightly. “Oh no, Pierre, don’t you dare blame yourself for all of your dad’s fussing. He was upset about a long day at work. I’m alright, love. Everything’s fine.” Her claw held the back of his head against her sholder. She perked up her tone to sound encouraging, “You’re such a good boy, reading to your brothers. Keep going for a bit, okay? I’ll call you when dinner’s ready.”
Pierre nodded, though he still felt like the conversation he’d had with his father made everythign worse. She closed the door gently behind her and he sat back on the bed, picked up his book, and read the next line out loud to his brothers who were still on the bed.
To be continued… New dragon story installments each Friday. Subscribe below to follow the dragons. Read the beginning of it all at Blog 1: New Adventure Awaits.
