Wheeling Gull Isle fall back into place

“What was the last thing any of us said to him?” His brothers? His mom? Had any of them shown him understanding, compassion? “No wonder he’s dead.” It fled as a smirk, but the boy was entirely devoid of humor. He turned his face away, seeing only the long stalks of violet flowers and the edge of his sister’s golden arm.

“I don’t want to let go. I want to be better.” To be someone worthy of the Redhawk name. For him. And now, for her. To sow the wounds of a displaced identity, to pull them both from the liminal, and make this island, just as forgotten about and discarded as they were, home.

He shifts to his feet, still holding his sister tightly to his chest, the only tangible remnant of tenderness that was left in his world, and he thought of the future. The idea of seeing mom again terrified him. Would she recognize him? Would she care? What if she was already perfectly happy in her new home with her new family, her new sons- without him.

Judah shut his eyes to quell the flow of more tears and re-opens them on his sister’s steadying face. He could make room for the dead past, and what yet didn’t exist, if he had her by his side.

“I love you.”