Darius

[SimonW]

( Chapter 1, part 1…)


Chapter 1: Drew And Darius

They say a friend for life is unattainable. I do not believe so. My name is Drew Sanders. I am currently a twenty year old woman. And this is a story of my childhood friend called Darius. We have been best friends since I was ten years old. We grew up together. I first met him at a wooded area nearby the town we lived in. My parents were studying the local wildlife nearby our house that was on the back of a woodland reserve. I used to think we were protectors of this wood in my youth until they set me straight by saying our family got to live there if they took up their jobs of observing and preserving the animals.

One sunny day when I was ten I had stumbled and fallen in the woods but was luckily unharmed and only suffered a slightly jostled head. When my vision had returned, I noticed a boy my age looking cautiously at me with concerned brown eyes from behind a nearby tree.
He was unknown to me, as I had never seen another kid in the woods besides myself. He wore a red camping jacket over a white t shirt and was wearing long blue jeans that looked dirt ridden. His white and red trainers also looked muddy as did his white socks.
His face looked pale, possibly having witnessed me fall causing his distress that was evident upon his face. His brown hair was slightly unkempt yet had a sideways cut on the frontal fringe that was a modernised cut I was familiar with boys my age. He was leaning against the tree he was slightly behind, my gaze seeming to unnerve him.
“Are you okay?” he asked me brashly, almost startling himself with the coarseness of his own voice.
I nodded my head hastily in response. “I think so.”
“Well, that’s good,” he replied with an outward sigh of relief before stepping out from behind the tree.
I noticed the shift of sympathy in his face as he said this, casually propping his back against the tree he was a moment ago behind of.
I shook my head again slightly to get rid of the slightly fuzzy feeling in my head. I slowly stood up and brushed the leaves and dirt from my own long jeans. I glanced back towards the boy in confusion.
“So, who are you?” I asked him suddenly.
“Darius,” he replied as if it was obvious.
“Well, hello Darius. I’m Drew,” I responded in kind, noting that Darius seemed confident in his demeanour.


( to be continued…)

 

[Copperfox]

I used to think we were protectors of this wood in my youth, until they set me straight by saying our family got to live there if they took up their jobs of observing and preserving the animals.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

In this context, is not "preserving" the same thing as "protecting"?

 

[SimonW]

I used to think we were protectors of this wood in my youth, until they set me straight by saying our family got to live there if they took up their jobs of observing and preserving the animals.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

In this context, is not "preserving" the same thing as "protecting"?

Possibly. I may have been too quick to get it right in my head. I shall edit it correctly.

But on second thought, Drew stated them being protectors of the WOODS, not the animals. I shall not change it, as I think it still makes sense that a child would get confused.

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 1, part 2… )

The two of us awkwardly stayed silent for a few seconds before Darius suddenly spoke up again.
“Well, goodbye,” he quickly said and started to turn as if he was going to walk away from me.
“Wait, um…are you alone in these woods?” I asked with a worried concern in my voice that made him stop from turning away from me.
He glanced back towards me with a sidelong look of uncertainty upon his face.
“I don’t really know,” he admitted to me with sincere confusion within his voice.
I was shocked at his response to me, though lost kids in the woods was not unheard of around here.
“My house is not too far from here. My parents will know what to do to help you,” I stated with resolution within my voice, trying not to show my concern.
Darius just stared back at me for a few more seconds before slowly nodding his head at my suggestion.
“It’s this way. Come on,” I urged with slight enthusiasm in my voice to mask my growing concern at finding a lost boy in the woods.
I led the two of us back to my house, the simple tree line leading straight to my backyard. The exterior of my single floor house with the terracotta red roof became apparent in the midday sun. I shaded my eyes with my hand so I was not blinded by the sun’s glare overhead.

I looked over to Darius as he stood next to me, his body slightly shaking for a moment as a cold breeze blew on by us. I did not question it at the time as I assumed he was just cold and shrugged it off.
“Nice house,” he said as he was looking straight ahead at the back of my house.
“Wait until you see the inside,” I jokingly told Darius with a smile as he looked over at me with a straight face.
It felt awkward again as Darius just stayed silent, his serious face just unchanging before I stopped looking at him. The smile upon my own face faded away into a look of determination before I exited the tree line and crossed into my backyard, hearing the footfalls of Darius behind me.

( to be continued… )

 

[Copperfox]

There's a strange air about some strangers. You meet some people, and you're at a loss to understand why they behave in a certain way.

 

[SimonW]

There's a strange air about some strangers. You meet some people, and you're at a loss to understand why they behave in a certain way.

Yes. You never know a stranger until you become familiar with their habits and responses to situations. This either makes you adapt a certain way or become wary of oddness depending upon your own upbringing and personality.

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 1, part 3… )

The grass beneath my wandering boots gave a soft crunch from being trodden underfoot. I mentally made note of needing to mow up the lawn when I had the time later. There was nothing special about my backyard, aside from the fenced-in area lot on opposite sides so to keep out wayward tramps or thieves.
I did not look back to Darius as I could hear him following behind me, his footfalls the only indication he was there.

Glancing at my house as it loomed into view, I haphazardly came off the grassy area onto a small concrete back porch, the grass giving way to hardened cement after walking about three minutes or so to the backside of my house. A small patio screen door with a red wooden door behind it was situated in a slight crevice that was inward the cream coloured brickwork on either side. I did stop, but only for a moment to grasp the metal screen door handle. I opened it flippantly the many times I had done so before.
The wooden red door was already open, so I did not bother with it as I stepped past the threshold of the back entrance to my house.
“Mum, Dad, I’m home,” I exclaimed to the ether of the house, not sure whether they heard me or not.
Darius shuffled in from behind me to gaze at the first room nearby the back doorway, my kitchen a slightly cluttered mess as the dishes were in the water-filled sink and a small countertop was situated nearby the bay window to overlook the back garden.
“Sorry for the mess. It was my turn for dish duty,” I haphazardly said sheepishly, feeling more embarrassed at admitting that than the actual mess itself.
“It’s fine. I hate chores too,” he responded with a look of seriousness but a slight smirk was upon the corner of his mouth.
I just nodded in understanding before I took a seat nearby at a small table and chair set that was to the left of the kitchen as a small sitting area to eat and drink at.
“You okay? Your face looks pale,” Darius stated as he saw me sit down with a concerned look upon his face.
“I’m fine. Just need a moment,” I replied, trying to put a brave smile upon my face but acknowledged to myself I was feeling slightly tired after my fall in the woods.

( to be continued…)

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 1, part 4… )

I closed my eyes for a brief moment to recollect myself, my head lightly throbbing with the steady breathing I was doing. As my eyes opened again, I found myself looking at the unsure yet concerned gaze of Darius but he had a grim solemness that was hard to read. I just gave him a reassuring smile in response to hopefully ease his fears before I stood up from sitting in the kitchen chair.
“Need anything to drink?” I offered half heartedly towards him as I made my way over to the fridge and opened it.
Darius just shook his head in response, the look of concern now vanishing from his face as he observed me opening the fridge door.
I just nonchalantly shrugged and shut the fridge door as I made my way back towards Darius with a look of semi interested curiosity.
“So, my mum and dad are not here. What shall we do?” I suddenly announced with a question towards him.
“I guess…we wait,” he replied with a resigned sigh as Darius walked over and sat upon the kitchen chair.
He lazed himself forward with his arms into a more relaxed pose upon the kitchen table, his red parka jacket getting crumpled slightly.
I just nodded in reply to his idea, going over and sitting facing opposite to him whilst glancing up towards the kitchen clock hanging up on the wall. The time read twenty minutes past two. My parents would be home soon. With that thought fresh in my mind, I felt the need to say something to let the time tick away all the more faster to be less boring.

( to be continued… )

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 1, part 5… )

“So…you don’t remember anything? Or why you were in the woods?” I suddenly asked of Darius with a befuddled frown upon my face.
The boy known as Darius merely shook his head in response to my question before speaking.
“Nothing, just my name,” he said simply with a vacant and defeated look upon his face.
“Well, there’s that at least,” I mildly replied with vague interest as I glanced down at the kitchen table.
I noticed Darius’s hands were slightly dirt ridden and had multiple small scratches and cuts upon the inner palms and fingers. He seemed to notice me staring as he seemed to reflexively pull his hands back and clench them to hide his dirty hands. I glanced up to his eyes and noticed his face bore one of shame, possibly embarrassment.
“What happened to your hands?” I asked with concern, reaching out to touch his hands but recoiled back as he seemed to shy them away from my own hands.
“I…I don’t know,” Darius lightly stammered but kept his hands closer to himself.
I decided not to push the subject and kept my own hands at a distance as I noticed his reaction and hesitation in his voice.
“Well, sorry. Anything I can do to help or…?” I asked but faltered as he just shook his head again, but this time more slowly.
“No, I’ll be f…fine,” he stammered out, this time though with an edge of forceness in his tone that made me not question his decision.
The clock ticked the minutes by awkwardly as the silence continued between us after that exchange happened. I felt slightly saddened by this, guilt-ridden from the embarrassment I put Darius through.
We just sat whilst my eyes wandered in his stoic gaze, almost lost in his brown eyes until I glanced away and blinked at a random spot to the side of Darius without focusing on anything.

( to be continued… )

 

[Copperfox]

This reminds me: in the Sixties, there was a dramatic TV series titled "Coronet Blue." The hero was a young man who was fished out of a river, not remembering how he got there or even who he was. No memory of where he had lived, if he had a wife, etc. His _only_ clue was that he remembered hearing the words "coronet blue," hence the series title. In your story, of course, Darius' own name is the tantalizing clue.

The series, a "summer replacement," never got the okay to continue in regular scheduling. Don't _you_ do that to us; we want to _know_ where Darius came from. By the way, for trivia: the name "Darius" is a westernized version of the Persian name "DARYOOSH."

 

[SimonW]

This reminds me: in the Sixties, there was a dramatic TV series titled "Coronet Blue." The hero was a young man who was fished out of a river, not remembering how he got there or even who he was. No memory of where he had lived, if he had a wife, etc. His _only_ clue was that he remembered hearing the words "coronet blue," hence the series title. In your story, of course, Darius' own name is the tantalizing clue.

The series, a "summer replacement," never got the okay to continue in regular scheduling. Don't _you_ do that to us; we want to _know_ where Darius came from. By the way, for trivia: the name "Darius" is a westernized version of the Persian name "DARYOOSH."

Interesting, never heard of that series. Well, heard of the title in the back of my mind but never seen the show. And do not worry, there is reasons unable to divulge why this is all he remembers for the moment.

Huh, never knew the history about the name Darius.

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 1, part 6… )

“Do you have a bathroom here?” Darius suddenly asked me, which made me snap back into focus at him again.
“Uh, yeah. Just go into the living room and it will be the first door on the right in the hallway to your left,” I said whilst indicating to the open area of the kitchen that led out to the living room of my house.
Darius vaguely nodded in response and got up from the kitchen chair, idly scraping it back from the tiled floor with ease. He walked past the kitchen area into the living room and gazed about until turning left out of my view.
I gave out a small sigh as I noticed I was holding my breath without realising it, my shoulders slumping downwards to release the tenseness I felt from the agitated state when I had noticed his hands.
I slowly shook my head as to try and brush away the unease I felt, at the time thinking it was natural for boys to have messy hands, especially if they were playing in the woods.
I waited a good three minutes until I heard the distant flush and then four minutes later Darius came back into the kitchen, his hands now clean of dirt with some slight residue of water being shaken off. His scratches and minor cuts were also clean yet looked irritated, though not to the point of being a great bother to him.
He sat back down opposite me as he observed me looking at his hands.
“They hurt slightly, but nothing serious,” he announced with a noncommittal shrug of bored and emotionless meaning.
“Well, at least you know what a bathroom is,” I halfhearted jokingly said to him, a rueful smile lamely plastered upon my face.
Darius did not respond to that, his baleful gaze upon me as he shrugged once again.
“Yeah, sorry. Guess it ain’t that funny,” I said in a meek tone, feeling foolish at the lame joke I just said that made me glance down.
“It’s not that. I was just thinking about it seriously,” he said and that made me lift my head from shame.
I was about to reply to what he stated until I heard my front door open and saw my parents enter from the front of the house.
“Drew, we’re back!” exclaimed my mum’s voice cheerfully.

( to be continued… )

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 1, part 7… )

My mum had on her lab coat over her coverall camouflage vest with her usual attire being reminiscent akin to an army combat veteran. But that was just her style of dress beneath a professional appearance of science chic, as she often called it. Her love of nature was evidenced enough from her loud and in charge attire from her combat hiking boots to the long khaki jeans she wore that betrayed a typical science mum look, despite the fact she had a geeky disposition behind her thin framed glasses and mousey black haircut.
My dad behind her was almost the same, but his demeanour was that of a haggard mid thirties man that was too exhausted looking to be an active person. But beneath his timid facade was a man full of life and enjoyed what he did as a researcher of fauna.
I got up from the kitchen table and hurried over to my parents with enthusiasm, throwing open my arms to embrace them with lightning speed.
I grinned inanely at my parents, overjoyed to see them as their work would be trying at times so they come at odd times on certain days that would make me miss them. I was glad today was an earlier time for them to return.
“Mum, Dad, I found a boy in the woods. I think he was lost. His name is Darius. Can you please help him?” I let loose my words in rapid fire after they returned my embrace and indicated over towards Darius’s direction.
My mum was the first to glance where I was pointing and had a perplexed look on her face.
“Drew? What boy?” she asked as she looked at me in a confused manner, as if not seeing anybody in the pulled out kitchen chair.


End of Chapter 1.

( to be continued… )

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 2, part 1… )


Chapter 2: The Visit

“Do you know what delusions are, Drew?” the calming voice of Dr. Krocker asked me without a touch of emotion within his voice.
It had been a mere two hours that had passed when my parents decided to take me to a psychologist of known renown in our community. Plaques and degrees were adorning his dark wooden walls that had a flair for opulence.
At the time, I felt slightly uneasy at these unfamiliar surroundings but also the need to not show this to Dr. Krocker as he seemed to sit behind his desk and staring at me expecting an answer.
“I am not crazy,” I haphazardly replied with a frown forming upon my face.
Dr. Krocker seemed to lean forward, placing his interlocked hands upon the top of his office desk.
“Nobody thinks you are, Drew. Tell me, do you see this…Darius, now?”
I did not look away from Dr. Krocker, but let my eyes see past him as I saw a shrugging Darius seem to be at a loss himself and shaking his head at the doctor sitting in front of him.
“Yes,” I responded simply, gulping lightly as I felt no need to lie.
“And what is it he is doing now?” Dr. Krocker asked in his even toned voice as he leaned back away in his leather-backed seat.
“Just judging you currently, shaking his head,” I muttered with boredom, ignoring the slightly offended look Darius shot me my way.
“Interesting. And are you sure about the story you told me? About first seeing him after your tumble in the woods?”
I just nodded in the affirmative with resolution.
Dr. Krocker sighed slightly at my non verbal response and closed his eyes as he raised his fingers to his temples with thought.

( to be continued… )

 

[Copperfox]

Sometimes a delusion is WILLFULLY CHOSEN by somebody who DOESN'T WANT some unpleasant reality to be true. (Mr. Lewis illustrated this through the bad guys in "That Hideous Strength.") In other cases, a delusion is caused by something which is beyond the person's control. You have set up a story-situation where you can analyze the difference between these two possibilities.

 

[The Grand Rascal]

Methinks Uncle Andrew would be at least as good an example of willful delusion -- if not better.

Sometimes a delusion is WILLFULLY CHOSEN by somebody who DOESN'T WANT some unpleasant reality to be true. (Mr. Lewis illustrated this through the bad guys in "That Hideous Strength.") In other cases, a delusion is caused by something which is beyond the person's control. You have set up a story-situation where you can analyze the difference between these two possibilities.

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 2, part 2… )

I awaited patiently as Dr. Krocker seemed to be in a state of contemplation before he exhaled his breath and removed his fingers from the sides of his head. His eyes opened with a stern concentration etched upon his face. He leaned forward in his sitting position slightly with his right hand pressing a buzzer upon the intercom connected to his desk.
“Carol, please admit the Sanders into my office,” he muttered dryly with professionalism.
“Of course, Dr. Krocker,” was the reply from the intercom in a woman’s voice curtly before Dr. Krocker let go of the button to interlace his fingers upon his desk once more.

It was barely thirty seconds before I could hear my parents enter the room from behind me, the door shutting behind them by what I assumed was Dr. Krocker’s secretary, Carol.
My parents came and sat beside me within two seats, looking at Dr. Krocker with well meaning smiles to undoubtedly mask the worry they thinly veiled upon their faces.
“Well? What’s the problem, Doctor?” my mother plainly asked whilst grasping my hand with a frown, letting her concern for me be evident as I felt her hand grip tightly to mine.
“I will not beat around the bush, Mrs. Sanders. Your daughter, in my professional opinion, suffers from trauma to the brain. Now, as to why you and your husband seek the help of me, a psychologist, is very telling. She obviously suffers from a more medical ailment. She should have been sent to a hospital first for her accidental tumble in the woods. Why, and I do wish to pry, would you send her to me?” Dr. Krocker asked sombrely and gravely, standing up in a form of indignation at my parents.
I was unable to follow half of what Dr. Krocker said but could tell my parents looked anxious at his words. My mum merely looked forlornly as my dad just glanced away to the side.
The silence just seemed to instigate a glare from Dr. Krocker more at my parents. I watched as Darius just circled around to behind me, his face looking grim at Dr. Krocker in front of us.

( to be continued… )

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 2, part 3… )

It was my mother’s voice that finally broke the silence under the baleful glare of Dr. Krocker.
“To be quite honest, Dr. Krocker. My husband and I feel it best to not have Drew listen to our conversation. Is that suitable?”
I glanced over at my mother with confusion, then just felt her hold of my hand slacken as Dr. Krocker had nodded slightly in response.
I felt even more befuddled but did not cause a fuss as I stood up from the chair and left the office room of Dr. Krocker. I gave one final glance towards my parents before leaving and shutting the door behind me.

I let my breath exhale from my mouth, allowing my body to slump slightly. I had no idea what my parents and Dr. Krocker were talking about, only that the topic was undoubtably about me. I resigned myself into seating within a waiting chair to pass the time, the secretary named Carol off to the side and sitting dutifully at her own desk.
I paid her no mind as I saw Darius sit beside me in another seat. He looked at me with as much confusion as I felt having been in Dr. Krocker’s office.
“Well, so, what’s up with your parents?” he asked me rather pointedly.
“I don’t know,” I muttered under my breath.
“What’s that?” the woman known as Carol asked me off handedly as she heard me muttering to myself.
“Nothing,” I piped up as I grabbed a nearby magazine from a small coffee table in front of me.
I opened it and pretended to read an article about shoes in fashion.
Darius did not pester me after that, obviously as upset as I was at the brash interruption of our conversation.

( to be continued… )

 

[Copperfox]

Many parents underestimate the ability of their children to process the subjects which adults discuss.

 

[SimonW]

( chapter 2, part 4… )

I noticed out of the corner of my eyesight that Carol had been satisfied with my reply that she refocused her attention back towards whatever she was doing on her computer laptop upon her desk.
I said no more to Darius, I did not want to disturb the secretary anymore. Besides, me talking to myself was not a good look within the building of a psychologist.
Darius seemed to take the hint and just slouched down in his chair, obviously moody from this experience. I felt bad for him but even more worried for myself. Was I really the only person that could see or hear him? Was he really a figment I had made in my head? Or was he some type of ghost or spirit? That last thought made me grip the semblance of sanity and reality by the horns. I mentally shook my head at the thought, being a kid growing in a family of scientists made that thought of ghostly apparitions to fathom or entertain merely a silly notion.
‘I must be going mad,’ I thought within my head, unaware that barely thinking that just made it all the more ironic considering where I was.

Ten minutes had barely passed before the door of Dr. Krocker opened and my parents came out. They looked dishevelled in an emotional manner, my mother looking more timid than I ever have seen in my life. My father, for the first time, looked more put together than she was and that was a feat I never thought possible.
“Drew, Dr. Krocker wants to see you again,” my mother stated in a defeated tone but tried her best to sound chipper as a fake smile was put upon her face for my benefit.

( to be continued… )