Chapter 18: And the Following Day

It was midnight of the next day as Feliks sat there by his father’s bed. The tears in his eyes flowed like a river. Within the course of years, he became an orphan. All these images ran deep in his mind of what happened.

“It ... feels like a dream,” he said to himself as he sat next to his father’s dead body. “He can’t die like that ... why?”

He sat with his back to the wall as he pressed his head to his knees.

“I can’t do this by myself ... there is nothing for me. His words that he told me ... did he know that he was going to die soon?”

The teen fell to the floor in anguish. He banged his fists on the wood as anger filled his eyes.

“I tried ... I tried to heal him. The healing crystal didn’t cure him...”

His head turned to the direction of where she was supposed to be if he was a couple feet below the house “Xuanwu ... she would know something. Something to fix this...”

He stood up as his knees buckled under him. Quickly in the darkness, he ran to the door of the cabin, opened the door, and ran outside. Under the moonlit sky, he ran to the nearby tool shed. He reached the small tool shed and began to fumble around the various instruments. He eventually found what he was looking for, and it was a wood saw and a crowbar. He knew what he needed to do next.

Feliks ran back into the home and closed the door. Walking near the wall of the house, he carefully noted where he was above her.

“She would be around here ... I am above her. Let me see if ... I can.”

Finding a perfect spot, he got on his knees and set the saw down. It consisted of several wood panels that he would begin cutting. He then took the crowbar and began to probe the various boards on the floor. He could see the wooden nails that held it in its place. With one careful stab, the metal bar pierced between the boards. He then pulled hard to the left as the board began to pry loose. The wooden nails started to break and pop off as he tried again loosening each board that was in place.

Using his hands and the bar, he began to snap the various boards in place. The dirt that clumped underneath the boards fell down in the opening of the original tunnel that he sealed. Nothing was going to stop him from getting to her now.

Another stab with the bar pried open the second piece of board as the dirt fell to the bottom. Another few more panels and he would get to her. A hole was developing in the floor as he was getting closer to her. He then grabbed the wood saw and began to cut the uneven floors to help form a perfect square hole for him to get through. Nothing else mattered but getting to her.

With one more stab of the crowbar, he yanked another board out of the way. He could hear a commotion going on below him as he knew that he was stirring her awake.

“Xuanwu, it’s Feliks. I am trying to get to you!”

He could hear more commotion from her. She was staying quiet. Feliks kept pushing through as he cut the last of the floorboards. There was a large three-foot by three-foot square that he carved through the floorboards to reach her. There would be no more crawling through the tunnels anymore. He would have access to Xuanwu whenever he wanted.

He lowered his body as he could see a silhouette of her figure underneath the house. The cutout floor was about two feet from her. There was enough room that he was able to climb down to reach her.

“Xuanwu ... it’s me,” as he lowered his frame to look down at her.

There was a click of claws as she tapped her light crystal back on. She was able to illuminate the surrounding area as Feliks climbed down to be with her. It was apparent that she had been fast asleep when he awoke her.

“You certainly drove yourself to be down here with me,” She finally spoke. “Where is that little tunnel of yours that you used to get to me before?”

“He is dead...” Feliks told her as tears began to pour from his eyes. “My father is dead.”

Xuanwu’s face went to sorrow. Her eyes looked down as she pressed her beak to the dirt. “Feliks ... I am so sorry...”

He was crying as his body was now on the dirt like he had always done before when he spoke to her. He crawled up to her. “You ... have to ... have something ... anything that can heal him, restore him back to life!”

She shook her head as her eyes were closed. “I am not a healer deity, and I can’t ... There is nothing I can do. It was his time ... and I am so sorry.”

“No ... no ... I can’t lose my father ... my mother, and my father. I am an orphan now.”

She opened up her eyes as tears came down her face as well. She extended her hand to practically scoop him up. “Come here, come here. I am here for you, little Bambuk. I won’t leave you. You are not alone on this.”

Feliks extended himself to her as she practically pulled him to her neck and face. She pressed his head to her shoulder as he cried for what seemed like hours. She shared his pain as she helped him mourn the loss of his father.

Feliks dragged his father’s body outside. He already began digging a grave for him. He found a spot next to where his mother was buried. It was fitting for the mother to be buried next to the father. He spent the next several hours digging the grave with the shovel that he made with the help of his father.

He loaded the body onto a wheelbarrow as he brought the body to the grave. He placed it in the grave. He had a moment of silence as he started to pile the dirt over the body.

“If it weren’t for Xuanwu, I would truly be alone. I have to listen to what my father told me and requested of me. I need time to think about what to do now.”

He looked at the grain fields. “I don’t think I will be able to keep up with the fields now with dad gone. I will have to look into doing other things for the village and myself till I get older. What did I do to deserve this? ... So many changes, happening so quickly. I need time to adjust to all this.”

He shoveled more and more dirt in the grave. “I will survive, father ... I will survive. Let Xuanwu help me out in the times I need the most help. She is all I have left now. God give me strength.”

“I love you, father, I love you, mother ... I will never forget. I will be greater than what I am. I will be the best that I can become.”

After spending the next two hours, he buried his father. He had no gravestone to put over the grave. He would create something later for it. With the last pile of dirt put over, he dropped the shovel and walked back to the home. He opened up the door, closed it behind him, and went down into the makeshift cutout floor that led to Xuanwu. He got on his stomach as he looked at Xuanwu that still had the light crystal lit.

“I buried my father. He is with my mother now,” he said, demoralized to her.

She held out her arms to him. “Come to me. I am here for you. Don’t try to handle this by yourself.”

He approached her again as he did before. He was scooped up into her arms as he curled up into a ball under the floorboards. She pressed his head to her armored skin on her shoulders. Her body warmth formed a natural sense of heat. She rested her head on his side as she patted his back softly and gently as any giant like her could try to. A tear from her eyes fell to his shirt. It was not the most ideal place to be buried underneath the floorboards of a house with no parents, but what choice did he have? Exhausted, warn-out from the digging and the day, and downright depression, Feliks collapsed into sleep in the tortoise’s frame.

Twelve hours would pass by as Feliks wakes up in Xuanwu’s arms. Like a protector, she made her goal to ensure nothing else would try to hurt Feliks. The beautiful afternoon light pierced into the household.

Feliks stirred awake as he felt like everything was a dream. Only by looking around and seeing the cutout wooden flooring was when reality stepped in to let him know about what happened in the long night.

Xuanwu was wide awake as she kept him as comfortable as possible. She knew that he was awake now as she used her hands to pet his sides. He could feel her skin rub against his shirt.

“Thank you for not leaving me...” he said to her.

“I know ... I know,” she responded. “You slept for half a day.”