Pumpkin Seeds

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a little boy, and nothing dimmed his heart. Connell he was named, and Koda he was called. His elder brother warned him. For he was the chosen one to lead. Down the hills they went and past the streams they walked. His elder brother warned him, but Koda paid no heed. Down the hill he fell, and lost his way he did. But buoyant Koda was, for nothing dimmed his heart.

He wiped his hands on his shirt as best as he could and tried to ignore the throbbing pain in his feet. He took one spin around himself, but with the setting sun, he couldn’t tell where he even fell from. Koda then inhaled as much air as his little lungs could hold and cupped his hands around his mouth. "LUKE." He tried again and again, but no answer came. He knew his brother would find him, so he was not afraid, for whatever happened, eventually Koda knew that they would be home safe. For Luke always found a way, possible or not, sensible or not for Koda to be safe. A promise he had made to keep his little brother safe, each morning he would renew his promise to his mother and out of the house they would walk. Luke and Koda, practical and unpractical, rational and whimsy, two sides of the same coin.

Koda then walked towards the dipping light of the sun. Calling for his brother and looking around at every crack of a branch and rustle of a leaf. The air was getting colder, the forest gloomier, so Koda pulled his cloak tighter in hope of keeping the cold away and then started to whistle, a sweet melodic tone that traveled through the canopy trees. And let his thoughts drift him back to the day before, where he and Luke sat by the river bank. Munching on cold chicken sandwiches, letting the warm sun rays drive the cold away. “Is it time?” Koda said uncertainly as he tilted his head to the side, “No, it’s in your heart how can you have time in your heart.” Luke remarked.

“Thayid agan.” Koda said.

“What?”

Koda swallowed a too large bite then repeated, “Say it again,”

“Oh,” Luke took a sip of water from his bottle. “I’m the end of every future, the beginning of every end. You hold me in your heart, but not in your mind, and never in your soul”. Koda closed one eye and turned his head towards the sky. Luke only chuckled as he observed, slowly, his brother lost, deep in his thoughts. Eventually his eyes snapped open and he was ready to say an answer before his face twisted in confusion and sank back again. “It’s the letter E” Luke exclaimed. “Ohhhh.” Koda bellowed.

Then, as strange as it was. He heard his own voice whistling back to him. He took a sharp halt and looked upwards towards the sound that pulled him out of his dreams. Shortly enough, a second whistle came. The sky above him was empty save for the trees. “Hello?” “Luke?” Little Koda was not only naïve but also heedless. He took a few steps and peeked behind the nearest tree but found no one there. He turned his head but was startled by the flutter of wings that came above him. A little gray bird perched on a crooked branch. “Oh hello there,” Koda hooked his eyes on the bird as the bird pecked on his fingers. “I’m looking for my brother, have you seen him?” the bird gazed with his yellow eyes at Koda then as if contemplating a thought he landed on his shoulder. “I will sing you a song now” Koda cheered.

In a castle full of birds

In a garden full of birds

You are my favorite bird

“I’m singing this song for you birdie, remind me to get you some pumpkin seeds when we go home. We have the best pumpkin seeds in the whole village” Koda cheered. He sang as he walked deeper into the forest still. They were walking for what felt like hours with no sign of Luke. A little fear had crept its way into Koda’s heart. But his little friend kept them at bay, if Koda was not safe then at least he wasn’t afraid. He was midway through singing another song when something sharp clawed at his cloak and pulled it, he looked back to a single white rose tree. The thorns had pierced the fabric of the cloak, causing it to rip. It took some time until he freed himself from the thorns and started to look at the tree, the whitest rose stood before him, and her sweet fragrance made her way through his lungs into his soul.

Koda was enchanted by the rose that was shining under the light of the moon. A faraway owl hooted as Koda reached to touch the soft petals of the rose. "Say birdie, isn’t this rose the prettiest rose there is?” the bird only gave a loud chirp as a response. Then an idea occurred to him. Koda wanted to take the rose and give it to Luke. It would make such a pleasant surprise, he imagined himself taking the rose home, showing it to everyone in the village. He saw his brother smiling at him and telling him how proud he is. Then for once, perhaps Koda was not to be a naïve, foolish, obtuse boy that his brother knew him to be. He had already messed up by falling down the hill he didn’t want to mess up again. He had a chance then to fix, if not everything then something. So dreamy everything seemed then, it all made sense. Give the rose to Luke, and everything would be exactly like how he wanted. A far dream now, right beneath his little fingers. Ah, such a pleasant gift I would make. Luke would be so, so proud, little Koda the very rose seemed to say. He reached with his other hand to pluck the rose.

It all took but one moment for the forest to be silenced, an eerie silence. The grey bird took flight to a nearby tree as two hands gripped Koda and dragged him backwards and around. Koda threw his hands as hard as he could for the hidden face by the shadows. “Ouch”. Koda dared to step back and focus his eyes on the frozen shape, Luke had one hand across his cheek and looked wide-eyed straight into Koda. “Did you slap me?" Luke said, his nostrils flaring. Koda, clutching the rose to his chest, ran to embrace his brother.

"Luke, I called and called for you, but I couldn’t find you anywhere."

“You fool." Luke pushed him back. "You should’ve stayed where you were and I—" His gaze fell to the white rose, and for a second he froze. “No, Koda, what have you done?" He had barely finished talking when a screeching voice came from above. The bird landed in front of them as Koda witnessed his figure change from a little grey bird into a large hooded man. And then it all truly made sense, Koda's gaze fell down to the white rose as she shimmered in his hand. A foolish dream of a foolish boy. The hooded man held a sharp, heavy looking axe on his shoulders, as he spoke. "To your whims you have given, and a lesson you have learned, a rose you have taken, although yours she was not. Now I require a payment as precious as my rose." His deep voice echoed through the brothers’ minds and left a chill inside their hearts. “That’s not fair, he didn’t mean to. You led him here.” Luke shouted, although his voice was steady and showed no sign of fear, Luke knew that tonight was not going to be like every other night, as Koda had hoped. For the grey bird leads, and your dream he takes. “My rose your brother has taken, and a price he must pay." His yellow eyes stared beyond what their material bodies offered, deep into their souls he saw. Koda held the rose even tighter than before, he froze with fear as he saw his brother walk still farther away from him. Tears streamed down his face as the harsh reality settled into his mind. The haplessness, the rose he had plucked, the grey bird was only a story to scare children from wandering into the forest but now it had become his reality.

Luke stood in front of the grey man, his coat was gray and so was his wrinkled skin... “I will pay," he said, but the words passed by Koda's ears, as sense they did not make. It all took a second and he felt something warm spray his face. He watched as his brother’s head rolled by his feet, and a single white rose shimmered beneath his eyes. Koda’s mind grew wings of its own and flew to a faraway land. His sanity he had lost, and he fell to the ground. In a castle full of birds, in a garden full of birds. You are my favorite bird, birdie.

A yellow sun glowed above him as he stared into the sky. Koda’s eyes drifted to the sleepy rose that his brother left behind. "Well, that went sideways," Koda whispered to himself.

A grey bird landed on his chest and gazed into his eyes. “A fine morning it is, birdie." Koda said. "Let's get you those pumpkin seeds I promised." Koda dusted his knees as he walked even further into the forest, whistling a sweet, foolish melody. Fit for the sweet foolish boy.