Drank (follow up to Sunrise)

Sweat drenched his face. “Another nightmare,” he mused as he reached over the side of the bed for the flask at his bedside. The bed was a simple sleeping bag. All around him were people, young and old, in similar situations. The room was dark, sun had yet to grace the earth with its presence. The sloshing liquid inside calmed his nerves.

He looked around the room. He saw a young couple cuddling together, combining their sleeping bags. He saw an old man, shriveled, head tilted, drool oozing peacefully out of his open mouth. He was jealous. He saw another little boy that he had played soccer with the other day, and beat up for his chocolate bar today.

He was bitter. Bitter at the higher beings who had decided to take away his parents. Bitter at being unable to do anything about it. Bitter at not being able to see his friends or go to school or play baseball. Bitter at life for being so cruel to him.

But he had found a companion in drink. Apart, one was just sitting in a bottle, hidden under the floorboard of the kitchen; the other, a feeble eleven and a half year old boy who couldn’t take care of himself. But together, they could accomplish anything. They caused havoc on other residents of the temporary shelter. He stole food from the rations in the kitchen. He could stand up to the adults who always put him down.

He felt a bit woozy at times, but he had learned to control himself to get the perfect amount in his mouth for the perfect feeling of power. Unscrew the cap. Swish it around in your hand to mix up the liquor. Tilt head back. Swig for two seconds. Let liquor rest in mouth. Swallow and enjoy.

When he was sober, he felt like shit. He kept remembering the smiles and memories of his parents, but they were nowhere to be found. He had tried searching for them. He had looked at the house, the leveled house, but all he found was a broken picture frame…and a soccer ball. He had played with it for a little while. But when he discovered drank, the soccer ball got used less and less, until it simply sat in the space under the floorboard.