Bowman Left Behind (1/3)

This heartbreaking short story gives some detail to an important event in the life of Bowman Leafwing. Bowman’s later years would be impacted heavily by this, and the emotional backlash would stick with him for a long time. In this story, he is recently nine years old.

Possible trigger: Abandonment

Read Bowman’s story here.

Larxe could not hold me back any longer. I knew exactly what I was hearing, and I was desperate to put a stop to it. I had to change his mind. I had to make my father see. I could definitely do better so he’d be proud of me.

So he wouldn’t abandon me.

I marched into the sitting room of my aunt’s home. My father sat on one cushioned bench, his eyes watery with tears. Candara, whose eyes were just like my own and just like my lost mother’s, had fresh tear tracks down her round cheeks. Both of them looked at me as I entered. I’d come in with purposeful steps, my skinny shoulders set and my wings rigid. But now they fell slack behind me.

“Dad, no,” I said, my voice higher pitched and weaker than I wanted it to be. “You don’t have to get rid of me, please!”

I knew nothing I said would work when I saw the grimace on his face. Like my words raked across his skin with poison. “Bowman, that isn’t … I mean …” He floundered for an answer. How does one tell their only son that they don’t want him anymore? The tears shining in his eyes threatened to break free the more he looked at me.

“Y-you don’t need to leave me here,” I repeated. “I’ll do better. Whatever you say, dad. Don’t leave me …” The tears built up and spilled past my eyelids, no matter how tight I tried to close them to stem the flow. I felt like a lightning storm was bringing the entire forest down around me.

His silence roared in my ears. I knew. He would never listen to me. My father had made up his mind.

My father had given up on me.

Pronunciation guide

Larxe: LAR-zeh

Candara: KAN-dra