Sal's endless winter

A lowly demon of fifteen mournfully shuffled down the street. He couldn't believe what happened.everyone he loved.everything he knew.gone.and it would never return. He knew that all he had left now was his memories that were still fresh in his mind like newly hunted meat, all the images, all the horror was still there. As he walked aimlessly down the dirt-strewn path he once called home, he thought to himself

Aren't fairy tales supposed to end with happily ever after? Isn't the prince supposed to rescue the princess? How did this fairy tale end so sadly.I suppose it was just my idealistic nature.

It was true.Sal was very idealistic, but most children are. He was still considered a child by his family.only a boy of thirteen at the time when it happened, who still enjoyed childish games and playing tricks on people. He wasn't the best at learning and did goof around a lot and to add to that he looked more juvenile than he was. He had colossal grass colored green and orange eyes that seemed to glow in the dark, his hair always looked as if it were burning endlessly and his tail was about five inches to big for his body, which made him maladroit, but he was still a capable fighter for his age mostly for his speed and aptitude for weapons if he wasn't tripping over himself. He didn't feel strong though.not today.if he were strong he would have been able to save his loved ones in his opinion.

And so he moved on with his journey to where? He didn't know he just wanted to get away for good and maybe start over again. He didn't have much left though. He had little food, water only a mouse could be satisfied with and only the clothes on his back.he was on his own and at now fifteen.and to think it all started with a vampire he thought was good.

It was two years ago during the spring and Sal was practicing his fighting. His father thought it would be time to learn the art of weaponry, but Sal just wasn't getting it. He could barely block the weakest moves his father threw at him. In a way his father felt sympathy for Sal and Sal could tell by the look in his father's tell all eyes and Sal felt like a failure. as usual. He couldn't help but feel like a failure.he wasn't anything special, he wasn't particularly smart, or tall or handsome or brave or strong, all he wanted to make his father happy, so to do that he kept training and training for weeks, and for months. After many beatings by his older sister who was helping him train and his brother, who like any normal brother liked to pick on his little brother, he got better, in his father's opinion. He started to realize how good a fighter Sal was and became impressed with his progress. Sal became proud of himself and began to think that maybe he wasn't a complete failure in the world, that maybe he could just make it in life. He started to stand up for himself a little more and wouldn't let himself get picked on as easily by other children around his village. He wasn't the same anymore; it was as if a transformation occurred, like a small fragile caterpillar inside his cocoon. Not only did he catch the eyes of the other boys his age but also a young girl, who seemed particularly fond of him and was also very shy, her only weakness with Sal. Her name was Ai; she had the most lovely blue eyes that seemed like endless oceans, hair that seemed like fields of wheat and a perpetually sweet disposition on her face. Sal always liked her but of course never told the others, it would make him seem weak and unfocused. For a while he kept it concealed, but little did anyone know that Ai was about to summon up the courage to ask Sal out. It was a cold snowy day in winter. It was a beautiful scene; snow blankets covered the hills that were once green and the trees that now had seemed to have white leaves covering it. Sal was watching the ever-changing snow flakes come down from the heavens when Ai joined him

"Beautiful isn't it? And no two are the same" Ai stated

"Nothing more beautiful than being different I guess" He softly replied

" I don't think so either.snowflakes are kind of like us in pletely different yet a lot like the same." Ai commented with a smile as she grabbed his hand, but Sal just blushed and smiled sweetly as he just let her do as she pleased. They spent the whole day just talking and enjoying them selves and during that time he realized just how much he liked her and how much she liked him and by the end of that day they started their relationship, which they thought would last forever. They were madly in love as many couples are when they are young, like newly blossoming roses, fresh and lovely and beautiful. They shared their fears, happiness and sadness; they knew almost everything about each other and never wanted to be with anyone else.

Soon the white snow melted and went back to the heavens from which it came. The winter was over now and the bare Sakura trees were now starting to turn a lovely pink from the blossoms that were now appearing off the horizon. Sal was looking forward to a picturesque spring with Ai. Sal could picture long walks down through the forest and watching the sunsets, typical thoughts of a sensitive romantic, but his father had other plans for him.

Sal was going to turn fourteen soon and his father decided that he should go on his right of passage called the Gettaka in which he would have to leave the village for a year and take a journey through the mountains and survive, it was the ultimate test of adulthood and everyone had to do it. He was indeed looking forward to the spring, but now his plans were deferred, but he wasn't about to let anyone know that and so he prepared for the seemingly endless journey ahead of him and the home that already seemed miles away. He never realized how much he took for granted, his hut that he called home, his sister who he loved and already missed, the delicious smell of a meal being cook,his friends, the lovely scene of the sakura blossoms gently floating down to earth as the gently south wind weaved through them ever so softly...all of that he would be leaving behind for a year and the only things he would have from his home were his clothes, some food and his deeply cared for memories...so by the following week he was off...off on his own for the first time without his family or friends...his heart was beating outside of his chest, his breating became slightly more quickened and his walking was slightly more staggered as he left the home he took for granted all these years.