Seasons of Heaven

by Nico Augusto

  “Stop, for God’s sake! We do not want to hurt you!” the breathless policeman called after him.

  Yann kept running. He felt as if his heart was about to explode in his chest. He couldn’t hear anything except for the sound of his own ragged breaths and the rapid pounding of his heart. Then suddenly his heart stopped. There was a loud crash in front of him and it took him several seconds to realize that the police car had hit the wall in front of him and blocked his passage out. Yann stopped running. His whole body was quivering, not from the cold but from the sheer terror that raced across every nerve in his body.

  “Come on, my boy, don’t move, okay? Nobody wants to hurt you. Where are you coming from?” the policeman said, shining the light again on his face.

  “I…do not want…do not want to go back there…Please!”

  “What are you talking about? Where is it that you don’t want to go? Can we call somebody to come and get you?”

  “Shirley…”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “RETRIBUTION”

  ORPHANAGE

  The Next Day

  Yann sat like a stone while Shirley and Eddie tried to figure out what was going on and what to do. They both knew that Yann didn’t want to be there, but neither of them had enough information to know how bad things were, and what kind of punishment Yann would be facing when they left.

  “Yann, we just need you to be patient. We’ll find a solution…I promise. We’ll work as fast as we can to get you back home, okay?”

  Yann didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at Eddie. He and Shirley had been trying to talk to him for quite some time. His response had been the same.

  With tears in her eyes, Shirley told him,

  “Give me a kiss, the next time I will try to bring Ani, okay?” Yann didn’t respond to her either. He was hurt, confused, afraid and angry and he had no one else to punish for it. Shirley and Eddie eventually left and Yann quietly returned to his bunk. He just sat there, alone for hours. He didn’t know what the punishment for leaving was going to be, or when it would be doled out…but he didn’t plan to still be there when it was time for it to happen. He was already thinking of retrieving the key once more. That time was a trial run…this time would be for real. He couldn’t think of anything but getting to Ani. They had been separated for too long. The distance between them made it impossible to communicate and Yann felt as if a part of his soul were missing.

  “Hey stupid,” Yann looked up at the tall boy that had approached him. He was one of the “Eagles,” a very bad kid with nothing but trouble on his mind. “Why did you come back?” the kid asked him in a mocking tone.

  “I did not come back ... I was brought back!” Yann told him. He was feeling angry enough that he didn’t care what this boy might do to him. “All I want is to get out of here ...”

  “But you can’t leave. It’s not possible,” the boy said. He was still obviously taunting.

  Yann had been trying so hard not to cry, but the tears finally escaped their binds and began to flow freely down his face.

  “I want to see my parents,” he said.

  “Don’t cry like a baby, when somebody is dead, they’re dead!”

  Defiantly, Yann wiped the tears away on the back of his arm and said,

  “I am not a baby...And what you said isn’t true, there is always some hope!”

  “Listen, I don’t care about your personal stories,” he said, laughing. “We all have more or less the same one.” He stopped talking then and for a few moments only stared at Yann as if deep in thought. Then, with a malicious smile he said, “If you want, you can always see Eric, he may have something that will help you!”

  “What do you mean?” Yann was confused. How could Eric help him? Eric was one of the worst boys in the place.

  “Go see him. Tell him you’re sad and you want to be happy,” he said, laughing.

  Yann’s illness didn’t interfere often in his life, but in this case it painted a false picture of what was really happening in Yann’s mind. He saw the boy smiling and heard him laughing. He interpreted that as happy…helpful. The truth was he was hateful and what he and the others were planning was nothing that would help Yann.

  The director had held a meeting earlier in the day. The boys were all told that because of his escape…and the director had been sure to point him out…the rules would be stricter and the penalties for breaking them, harsher. Their lives were about to become even more difficult. Yann didn’t know it, but while he was missing and they had the police searching for him, Mr. Pratt had even put his hands on a few of the boys, smacking them the way he had the boy with the fire cracker.

  Yann thought about what the boy had said. What would it hurt to just ask Eric what he could do to help him? He went downstairs to the other dormitory to look for him. He didn’t notice that the other boys were watching him to see if their plan was going to work.

  “Hi! Eric? I’m Yann….

  “What do you want, snot-nose?” Eric snapped at him.

  “That was...The other boy told me to see you...”

  “Alright, I know what you want. You want to see your old folks?” He laughed and suddenly Yann though he must be okay…”Well, you came to the right place. I was wondering when you would show up.”

  “I just want to see my parents...And Ani...” Yann said, innocently.

  “Well, if that’s all…it’s simple. Take these pills. Put them in your mouth and swallow them and that’s it! You will dream a beautiful, magical dream. You’ll see, it works well. It’s the only way that any of us gets to see our parents again…”

  “That’s it?” Yann said, confused again.

  “Are you dumb or what?” Eric said. “You swallow these pills, you keep all that secret and you buzz off! However, I warn you, if Pratt knows that I gave you those...I will destroy you!”

  “All I have to do is just to eat it?” Yann asked again.

  “You are nuts, dumb, deaf or what? Ivan!” he looked over at one of the other boys and said, “Get him out of here!”

  “Thank you, I really thank you...you know, my father…”

  Eric laughed and a beefy Ivan shoved Yann out of the room and back into the hall.

  Yann found a corridor that was small and empty. He couldn’t wait to take the pills…and see his parents again. He was about to swallow them when he heard a voice coming from nowhere. Yann looked around…it seemed to be coming from behind the wall Yann was leaning against. There was a small door there and he could hear the voice saying,

  “Yann? Yann? Share these pills with Ani...”

  “Who are you?” Yann asked, startled.

  “We will guide you to your parents … but take these pills with Ani,” they told him.

  “I can’t, he’s not with me …” Yann was on the verge of tears once more.

  “Run...Escape...Take the pills with you…” the voice faded out as if whoever was talking to him had kept moving further away.

  Yann put the pills back in his pocket. He decided the voice was right. He should organize his escape first. His backpack was still ready with the bottle of water he stole from the canteen all he needed to get now was a map of New York to help him find Shirley’s house. He would find Ani and share the pills with him. They could see his parents together…..

  THREE DAYS LATER

  ORPHANAGE, NIGHT

  It was ten p.m. and with the map he’d stolen from the library in his hand, Yann was again standing free outside the orphanage. He’d gone through all the same steps as before, but this time he knew better how to stay on track and keep an eye out for the police.

  He nervously passed the stoop of the orphanage. This was likely his last chance to get this right. He had to find Ani. Then, they would take the pills and see his parents. That thought made his heart swell with hope as he looked at the map in his hand and turned to the left down a dark, narrow street. There were trash bins scattered about and Yann stayed close to the side walls, avoiding the middle of the street.


  He reached the end of that one and checked for cars or policemen before quickly crossing the street. Getting caught again was not an option, the punishment would be something more than what Yann could imagine, he was sure of it.

  He walked for about twenty minutes before reaching a shady neighborhood. There were women standing on the streets. Yann didn’t know that they were prostitutes, but they found it very curious that a little boy would be walking down the street alone at this time of night. New York in the ‘90’s was not a safe place to be at night for a grown man. Putting a little boy on the street was like throwing a hunk of meat to a lion and expecting him to not go after it.

  Yann clung tightly to his backpack. He had a few dollars inside that he’d stolen from Mrs. Pearce’s wallet. The prostitutes only looked at him, however...curiously. He stumbled upon a bus stop and could see the lights of the big bus at the end of the street. Sweat was beading on his brow as he tried to think of some reason to give the bus driver if he asked what a little boy was doing out alone at this time of night, getting on a city bus. When the bus stopped, Yann stepped on.

  “Good evening,” the driver said as Yann put his dollars in the slot.

  “Good evening, sir...” Yann said. Then he waited for it…but nothing came. The driver seemed to not even notice the strangeness of the situation. Twenty minutes later, Yann was standing in front of Shirley’s residential building, breathing a sigh of relief.

  Yann started towards the building, suddenly noticing Matt standing on the sidewalk. He was talking to another man. It looked like one of Shirley’s professors that Yann had met once…applied science? Something like that. He couldn’t tell for sure, the light was bad. They hadn’t noticed Yann, so he stood with his ear to the wall and listened to what they were saying.

  “I’m not sure...There is nothing written about where that place could be...” Matt was saying.

  “But I’m sure, there must be something written at the entrance...It’s somewhere here; there is no doubt about that. We have to take care of it before the others!” the other man was telling him.

  “He doesn’t mention it, even once... He explains everything except for that ...” Matt said.

  Yann doesn’t understand what they are talking about. He moves and his foot touches an aluminum can. The noise makes two men stop their conversation.

  “What was that?” Matt said.

  “I don’t know, but...you have to stay close to the girl, the boy and the dog. You have to protect them. They haven’t yet begun their role in the destiny of humankind.”

  Yann returned to the entrance of the building. The fire staircase is a good solution for him. He takes a stone with him to break a window if the upstairs passage into the building is closed.

  Shirley lived on the ninth floor. As Yann made his way up the stairs, the telepathic connection with Ani came back suddenly. They were both so happy to be connected again. Ani told Yann that the window was open. Yann hurried up to find the window where he finally sees the muzzle of the dog he loved so much waiting for him.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “WINTER PARADISE “

  Yann followed the voice, still in the glorious place where he’d gotten off the train, but newly amazed as he watched the fall colors that had gleamed beneath the exacting light of the sun before now vanishing before his eyes as the snow fell from the sky and turned everything into a soft blanket of white. He trudged through the fluffy white snow, watching the puffs of dust that bounced off of his feet as they swirled up into the air and whipped around in circles before being carried off into the frigid cold air. His feet cut a path across the untouched snow towards a clump of magnificent trees. The branches hung heavy against the thick air that Yann struggled to breathe. The icicles that hung from them added weight and pulled them towards the ground. Yann’s cheeks turned rosy red as the icy air bit at them.

  When he got close enough to the trees, Yann could see a passageway that cut through them.

  “It’s so beautiful,” he said looking at the winter wonderland scene that stretched out before him. Yann could hear the train in the distance. It seemed to be stopping again. As he stood and listened he looked up and realized that the extremely cold air caused the atmosphere to be clearer than ever and the Big Dipper was as visible to Yann as the trees in front of him. He was distracted by the constellation when he saw the wiggle of the shrubs in front of him out of the corner of his eye. He looked down just in time to see a small black ball of fur appear.

  Ani barked and Yann said,

  “You are here! Come here my love!” Yann leaned down and scooped the little dog up into his arms. The two companions, once again reunited for their final adventure. As he hugged Ani to his chest something happened…He began to have flashes of memory, a warm inviting home in the suburbs, a room full of little boy things. A place that his brain was only beginning to remember, but that his heart had along been longing for. He also saw a beautiful young woman with kind eyes and light hair that framed her face and stopped just beneath her chin. He knew her name was Shirley and thinking about her gave him a warm feeling in his chest. He knew that she was someone special to him….His life was coming back to him now, in flashes.

  They snuck between the trees with heavy steps and Yann noticed that some of the branches of the trees were lit at the tips. There was so much snow dancing in the air in front of them that it was difficult to see now. There were tracks in the snow in front of them that Yann didn’t recognize. Curious, they followed them with Ani sniffing at the ground like mad. They came upon a thick patch of forest, so thick that if Yann tried, he’d be barely able to slip through. They could hear rustling and movement in the snow covered shrubs and Yann’s heart nearly lurched from his chest when a very large, woodland rabbit jumped out. Laughing at himself for being scared of a rabbit, Yann and Ani turned and stood frozen as their eyes fell upon a sight that human eyes have rarely witnessed. Standing only about ten feet away in one of the thickets of the trees was a wolf. It’s thick, wintery white coat was almost indistinguishable from the snow yet his violet eyes shone out like precious stones from their sockets. He looked at the boys, with disinterest and turned towards the forest to continue on his way. That was when they noticed the others…the wolf wasn’t alone. A pack of beautiful wolves followed him as he walked away. They all had thick, shiny fur and glowing eyes. Behind them stood something that fascinated the boys even more…a huge white bear. The beat stood on his hind legs and allowed the wolves to just walk by. When they were gone he glanced in Yann and Ani’s direction with peaceful eyes, and then he turned and went on his own way as well.

  Yann and Ani looked at each other with amazement in their own eyes before continuing on their path. Before they reached their destination they would also be witness to the lumbering’s of more bear that had foregone their winter hibernation as well as the foraging of a family of deer who were looking for anything green that might yet not be buried by the snow. They traveled along through this wondrous place, beckoned by the voice and confused about where it might be coming from. It attracted them like magnets nonetheless.

  Eventually the boys arrived at a peak. It was covered in ice and fresh snow clung to the surface. The brilliant sun still shown above it yet there were already stars that could be seen in the sky. A soft wind brushed Ani’s fur back and Yann’s hair danced with the rhythm of the wind. Yann looked down and saw that below them a massive ocean lay, covered with ice. Some of it had melted underneath the glow of the warm sun and bobbed up and down across the surface.

  Looking to the east Yann could see a beautiful, white beast. He’s crawling along the surface of the ice delicately, trying not to fall through. It’s a polar bear and although he is huge and strong Yann can almost feel his vulnerability. He’s afraid of drowning and he looks frightened and alone. Yann’s heart went out to him. Where is his family? Is he alone…forever? That thought made Yann suddenly wonder, Are we all alone, forever?

  Ani barked towards the bear as l
oudly as he could. The echo carried it from the peak but the bear didn’t seem to hear it. With as much wind as he was able to muster he barked again.

  This time the immense white creature turned his head towards the two friends. For a moment the three of them exchanged a magical moment. Their eyes met and the bear’s dark eyes shone as he realized…he was not alone after all. He stood there perfectly still, looking like a majestic statue. While Yann looked at him he got a feeling of Déjà vu, and then it was gone as the polar bear suddenly dove forward and disappeared into the icy water.

  Yann made eye contact with his little friend Ani then and said, “Have you ever felt that?” Ani sent a clear picture into the little boy’s head and Yann suddenly understood it all. Nature is magic, and she’ll hold all of her secrets tightly until the end. Yann’s heart was suddenly full and the sadness he’d been feeling was washed away and replaced with a feeling of intense happiness. He understood the purpose of life at last. He looked back at Ani and said, “I’m sorry my friend…I didn’t know. No one knows.”

  Ani kept his eyes on Yann’s face as a small smile spread across his own. His words to his friend in his head this time were, “If no one ever told you, how would you know?” Ani looked away then and Yann couldn’t help but wonder, if the dog is the human’s best friend, by his perspective what are we? Does he see us as a friend or companion? What is our place in his world? These thought stayed in Yann’s head as they forged on.

  They journeyed through the thick snow and heavy air until suddenly a group of cylindrical poles appeared in front of them. They appeared to be made out of stone. Yann climbed up on one and Ani followed. Like the young boys they were, they jumped from one to the next.