Leo Phi - Chapter 2
Leaving
The month of January is dedicated to writing fiction.
I wrote a short philosophical novel which is composed of 12 chapters.
During the whole month of January,
I will send a chapter on Monday, Wednesday and Friday or Saturday.
Happy reading!
PS : If you like it, hit me up. Let me know what you think about.
Thanks !
Chapter 2 : Leaving
Leo felt rested.
Death wasn't so bad after all.
With a smile on his lips he was about to open his eyes, ready for this new departure.
So this was what heaven was like? Sheets, a clean room.
Leo waited serenely for his parents to come to his bedside. He couldn't wait to feel his mother's embrace and his father's love. To tell them about his adventures. To ask for their forgiveness. That he wasn't strong enough to survive without them. Leo tried to stand up, but he had no strength.
Strange, he thought. The physical sensations of Eden weren't much different than the ones they had experienced. He could feel, move, see... After about ten minutes, the door to his room finally opened. With a smile on his face, he waited patiently but it was neither his mother nor his father who appeared.
A lady, not very tall, quite old, was bending over his bed.
Her smell was pleasant. A fruity scent that captivated Leo's senses. He had never smelled so good. Maybe it was the smell of angels.
Heaven was strange after all.
"Ah, you're awake, boy.”
Leo tried to stammer out a word.
"Shhhhh. Don't talk. Save your strength."
If he didn't have enough strength to move, he had even less to speak.
"You're a lucky boy. You almost ended up at the bottom of a canal. Sad fate for a man as young as you. I'll go and tell them you're alive."
The lady left the room at once and the puzzle pieces were falling back into place in Leo's foggy mind. This room was not heaven. This lady was not an angel. And he was not dead.
Many scenarios were running through his mind. How had he survived such a fall? He couldn't even swim.
The door that opened again interrupted his thoughts.
The man he had met at the edge of the canal was standing in front of him.
"My boy, you are still with us. What a relief."
This man who had wanted his misfortune now wanted his happiness.
"I let you recover your strength, then you come with me."
Leo wished he could stutter words but could not. His lips were barely moving, no sound could come out.
"Hush, rest. Sleep, all is well."
Leo did not struggle. He closed his eyes, the answers he was looking for would not come right away.
Tiredness carried him in a strange dream and only in the evening he emerged from his sleep.
The lady had interrupted his reverie.
"You have to eat my boy. You have been sleeping for four days. It is necessary that you eat.”
Leo opened his mouth with difficulty and the kind lady made him gulp down an exquisite liquid.
The food had never been so good. The lady, meeting Leo's eyes, understood that he needed an answer.
"A star is protecting you, my boy. You have been saved."
Leo blinked his eyes in thanks and tried to communicate to the lady to continue.
"The man you saw earlier, he saved you."
Leo was surprised, it was the same man who had asked him to jump.
"When you were swept into the canal. He didn't hesitate. He dove in. He picked you up and almost drowned himself doing it. He pulled you out of the water with great effort. Exhausted, he also spent a whole day under our care. You both, almost died."
Leo was ashamed. He had risked the life of another. And he felt indebted.
"Sleep now and get your strength back, that's all that matters. Life is hope and survival is possibility.”
Leo didn't really understand what the lady wanted to say. He just nodded and left to visit sleep again.
It took Leo 7 days to fully recover.
By the end of the second day, he could speak.
After the fourth day, he could move his limbs.
And at the end of the seventh day, he finally felt ready to get out of bed.
When he stepped on the floor, he felt like a newborn discovering life. Walking, which had been natural for him, was now like an exercise that needed delicate attention.
Slowly, he put one foot in front of the other and went down the stairs that separated his room from the living room.
When he reached the living room, his eyes met those of the kind lady who had taken good care of him and the strange man. He jumped out of his chair at once.
"He walks. The boy walks! What good news. What is your name, boy?"
"Leo."
"And your last name?"
" M.... "
"Don't tell me. It doesn't exist anymore. From now on, you're coming with me. And we'll call you Leo Phi."
Leo's face tensed. This man, in addition to taking him without his consent, also wanted to change his name.
"Don't sulk, boy, it's not you who wanted to come with me! Isabel, get his things ready, we're leaving."
The lady tried to reason with the man.
"He is still too weak.”
"He is not weak. He survived and he will survive. You can see it in his face."
Leo's face was still terribly scarred. The man was seeing what no one else could see.
The lady was trying to convince the man that this was a bad idea, that Leo needed rest, that he was not yet well.
The man raised his voice.
"Isabel, stop, we're leaving. Prepare his bags."
Leo had watched the scene helplessly.
He did not even know if he wanted to stay or to leave.
Timidly, he dared to ask.
"Where?"
"Wherever you want."
This man had a gift for constructing the strangest answers.
Isabel loaded what was left of Leo's things into a small bag.
Leo was still walking too hard, so the man took him on his shoulders and grabbed the bag.
They crossed almost the whole city. Leo was surprised by the strength of this man. His weight and the burden of the bag did not seem to bother him in the least. He kept a high pace for such a loaded man. The man entered the harbor and headed for a boat.
Leo had seen boats in his life, but never so close. On the bow of the boat he was heading towards was a carved man with a large sword and a shield. This sculpture had a wide smile that nothing seemed to be able to hinder. Leo was amazed at this structure that was at least five times his size. If the man was made of wood, the reflections of metals let think that they were forged of gold. Leo noticed on his body, in the places of his breastplate, shining jewels.
Leo thought that this bow had the power to illuminate the darkest nights.
The man embarked him on the boat by crossing a small footbridge.
On board were several men who did not inspire much confidence.
Leo tried to count them and came up with about thirty.
Scanning the small tribe with his eyes, he noticed that some were missing an ear, another a leg or another a finger.
Each of them seemed to have been marked by a misfortune.
Their eyes seemed empty of fear. Determination was evident in their movements.
One of the men, who seemed more courageous than the others, approached his savior.
"My captain, we have had to leave several days ago. You know it. It's time."
Leo was disappointed that the man hadn't noticed him.
"We can leave now."
A smile spread across everyone's face.
"Where are we going?"
"Bring me the map."
The man complied. He unfolded a long map that had been drawn by hand. On it were names of lands Leo had never heard of.
"Mr. Phi, point somewhere.”
A shudder went up among the men. But no one dared say a word.
"Don't be shy, boy. You wanted me to take you. I have. Now I wish you to take us."
Leo let his trembling finger wander randomly to a point on the map.
After some hesitation, he stopped his finger on one of the lands that had a name far too strange to be real.
"The little man has spoken, we have a destination."