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Ivan's Lament I
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Ivan had never seen a city before. He had spent his entire life in the small village of Vria, locked away in the tall mountain range. The tall buildings and busy streets were a daunting vision to Ivan’s narrow world view.
The man who claimed to be his father ordered his men to place Ivan on a horse and secure him. They took off soon after, leaving the village of Vria to burn from Ivan’s own power.
He didn’t look back.
But sometimes, in the middle of the night, the faces of those boys who couldn’t move fast enough to save themselves flashed in his mind like flashing lights, reminding Ivan of his sins. And on his back, Ivan could feel the constant reminder of his actions, in the form of a red mark that looked like tree branches originating on his spine and crawling up his back
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