Brat

A mini story by S.E.Estes
Part 1 | 2

His first memory of moving was filled with excitement, enough to override the fear of going somewhere so new and so far away. He made friends quickly and they had great times playing on the Farren military base on Terra Nine. His second memory of moving was very different.

He and Timmy did everything together, climb the dead volcano near their quarters and explore inside, endless games of war and space, sitting around figuring out what to do next. They were close, as only boyhood friends can be, then it came to a horrible end.

"We're being transferred." At a young age he learned grief, his heart broke and he cried all day when Timmy's transport left. When his suffering ended he had changed. He laughed and played, he was funny, outgoing, but inside he was a loner, never letting anyone in, protecting his inner self from pain.

The next move took him to a new school, he was an outsider and school, a harsh place to be, was cruel for outsiders. He knew that, he'd participated in harrassments of new kids and seen what bullies did to them, but he was prepared. He went in to his class, endured the introductions, sat down and began his campaign for class clown. He didn't care what his teacher thought, he had to make a name for himself. He used their punishments, turned them into jokes the other kids talked about and the bullies left him alone.

"Reggin' mercenaries!" He didn't understand his father's curse but he learned soon enough. The planet's military bases were being shut down, the needs of war would be met by mercenaries. Planetary militaries were becoming obsolete but his father would rather live in poverty than turn mercenary. Career military considered mercenaries undisciplined and without honor, many, including his family for a time, did live in poverty even though there was more than enough mercenary work. The next move meant money again, he should've been happy with the rest of his family but to him it was another move.

They arrived in the middle of a school year which guaranteed him either isolation or torment. He was glad they left him alone, he had no plans to make friends. He learned that being a loner attracted attention and before the year was over he had a follower. He didn't like having the constantly talking boy around all the time but ignoring him didn't drive his sycophant away and confrontation wasn't his way. He learned to wrap his solitude around him and tune out anything that would distract him from being alone.

Another world turning to mercenaries meant another move, this time they stayed twelve years. The jocks ran the school and they did it by fear, regularly kids were stopped on their way to classes and beaten up. They picked the different ones, the dumb, the ugly and the intelligent, he was intelligent. He fought them off with humor and a small group of friends that shared in his disruption of classes. In every class they passed notes, the most fun being a series of comms between a god and his evil counterpart. It was no accident that they showed up on the personals of everyone in class except the teacher. His troop of performers weren't left alone by the jocks, they were the butts of jokes and pranks because of their intelligence but they were made with a gruding respect and none of them was beaten up. His friends were a defense, he felt close to none of them. He laughed, talked and joked but inside he wasn't with them.

They lived in a mountainous area and when school was over he went alone to the rocks to climb and think faraway thoughts. Sometimes he dreamed of a place, he didn't know where but a place where he could stay and never leave again. A place where he could be alone and maybe do something with his life. Most of the time, though, he thought of how pointless life was, work, rest, work until one day work is taken away and rest isn't enough. The darkness of that thought was overwhelming and the rocks could no longer hide him from it. He escaped to drugs, knowing their destructiveness and not caring, life had nothing for him anyway.

His fire burned low when he came to himself. His family had moved once again but he stayed behind, to be further consumed. When word of his destitution reached his father the old warrior, finally pulled out of war, called him home, he went. It was a peaceful world and he learned the love of a woman. Once again he talked and laughed but on the inside there was still a great emptiness. She was a woman of religion and he turned to her ways seeking answers beyond himself. Years of seeking found no answers. He remembered his days in the rocks, the dark thought had consumed him, he'd worked hard for many years to become what his father had been, obsolete.

When the darkness finished its work he began to travel, searching for the dream of the rocks, the place where he could be. He'd lost all he had, life had forced him to begin again. For a time the thought of it was heavy, he wasn't young anymore and the darkness had weakened him. Still, he did what he had to do and worked to fulfill his dream. When the jobs he got had earned him enough money he booked passage to another world. He traveled the universe, working from world to world in search of someplace to be, someplace to stay.

Part 1 | 2