Heaven Whispered Back
When he was a bairn, he sat under the tall maple trees with comic books, for his father was out wandering the streets with a melancholic mind. The father moved to the rhythm of the sadness in his head, amongst the gossip on the streets. He walked through empty parking lots and down by the stream trying to clear his brain from the static noise.
Inside the comic books, the child found contentment. Somewhere in a far-off land, the place where the superheroes usually protected you. A place where the sunflowers rose confidently tall, dotting the fields with a vibrant gold. Yes, there was color, the brightest of lemon that seemed to cut deep through the umbra. Still, his father continued to maunder down sidewalks and dead-end streets talking to the overgrown grass and whispering toward the heavens.
The town’s physician had given the father medications to balance out his troubled mind, but nothing seemed to uncoil his knotted, deteriorating mental health. He continued to plod on and on and on until he grew fatigued. Finally he stumbled back upon his only child beneath the maple trees with a comic book under his nose.
“Father, you found your way,” the bairn would usually say, with a bit of optimism scattered throughout his voice.
“The shine. It was shine-shine, yes, shine, heaven, I think,” he mumbled, “Warmth, the warmth, carried me, back here.”
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleMelissa, your fiction is both sadly poetic and dramatic in its intelligent exploration of depression/a disturbed mind.
The phrase “nothing seemed to uncoil his knotted, deteriorating mental health” really resonated!
Margarida, thank you! Mental health has always been an important topic to me!
Beautiful writing, Melissa. The child finding contentment in comic book heroes is something many of us can relate to, even with childhoods less troubling than your young man’s. I love your use of the word “maunder” – I had to look it up! And the father’s speech at the end really shows his mental state, but also the love and warmth that drew him in. Well done.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleThank you, Fuji. I thought when writing this that a comic book would be something everyone would be able to relate to. Sorry for causing you to have to look up “maunder”, I hope it wasn’t too much of a bother! My heart was certainly with the father in this story– what a forlorn man.
Hello, Melissa. Like Fuji, I also liked how the kid found joy in the comic. And it’s heartwarming how love leads his mentally ill father back to his son. Your story shows how mysterious and powerful love is. Lovely.
Thank you, Lotchie. They say love is a mental illness in and of itself–albeit a beautiful one. He certainly was lovesick. I’m glad you enjoyed the story.
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleYou’re welcome, Melissa.
As always a very well written and fascinating story, Melissa, with a lot of love and warmth. Excellent! Fuji was wondering about one word that you used and I am interested in another word, which is “bairn”. It is closely related to the Swedish/Scandinavian word “barn,” meaning child. I know that it is used in Scottish. It is also used where you come from or did you write it to create a… Read more »
Thank you for you comment and question, Christer. You’d be correct that “bairn” is Scottish, it is also Northern English. That word was most often used in the middle of the Victorian era– I love writing stories that take place in this time period! “Melancholic” and melancholy of course are words meaning “pensive sadness,” this word also coming from mid Victorian period. I was attemping to weave past and present in this… Read more »
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To Leave Comments - Please SignIn with GoogleReading your story, Melissa, I pictured the father and son both disappearing into another world albeit in different ways. The boy with his comic book I found to be really relatable although it was more movies than books for me. A sad story but one with a heartwarming ending. Love will always find its way home. Another beautifully written and thought provoking story, Melissa. I loved it.
Thank you for your comment, Linda! Love always does find its way home, you’re right! Give it away in silence and let it find you back…I like your comment about the boy! It is as if he has disappeared twice. Once to a different type of existence— in another way within his book . I appreciate your words so much!