The House I Grew Up In

Soren ambled out of the lush green forest, shoeless and swinging his empty bucket. He reached a babbling brook and dipped his bucket into it to collect water when something curious caught his ear. Soren looked around wildly, trying to pin the source of a hum that kept growing louder. Then something in the sky caught Soren’s eye. It was the source of the hum, and he couldn’t run away fast enough, leaving his bucket behind.

A shack, surrounded by an assortment of junk, sat on a little farm, somewhere in the lush green forest. Inside, Soren’s mother was trying to feed Soren’s little brother Kai when Soren burst in, causing the door to slam against the wall. The commotion caused Soren’s little sister Mira to wake from her nap and break into a crying fit.

“Soren!” said his mother, while rushing over to pick up the crying Mira. The moment she left Kai, he started throwing a tantrum of his own in his highchair. Soren’s mother picked up Mira and brought her over to Kai, while saying to Soren, “Why would you do that?”

“Mom – no – you don’t understand,” replied Soren.

“And where’s the water you’re supposed to be getting?” said Soren’s mother. “You better go get it before your father gets home.”

“There was something in the sky,” said Soren, holding his hands as high as he could above his head. “But it wasn’t a bird. I mean – it was flying, and had wings, but it wasn’t moving; it was just floating. And the sound it made, it was like this hum. It looked really far away. If it was close, oh my God, it would’ve been huge.”

Soren’s mother stared at him, her eyes wide in search of what to do next, ignoring her two small, whining children next to her. Soren asked her, “What do you think it was? A dragon? I know dragons aren’t real, but what else could it be? I’m sorry I didn’t get the water, but that thing came out of nowhere and I thought it was going to eat me.”

That night, Soren’s parents, thinking all their children were fast asleep, snuck outside. Soren was pretending to sleep, and he crept over to the window to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“He knows,” said Soren’s mother.

“He doesn’t know shit,” replied Soren’s father. “He saw a plane, so what? Just let him keep thinking whatever he wants. He’ll forget about it soon enough if you don’t tell him anything.”

“I don’t like lying to my son,” said Soren’s mother.

“I don’t give a damn what you like,” said Soren’s father. “Everything he needs to know about is on this farm.”

Five years passed, and no matter how long or hard he searched, Soren didn’t see another dragon in the sky.

“You were just seeing things,” said Kai, as he sat with Soren in a tree. “There’s no such thing as dragons.”

“I swear I saw it,” replied Soren. “If there was one, there’s got to be more; like ants or something. One day, I’m going to find another one. I know I will. And… And wouldn’t it be crazy if we could ride it? Ride it to go everywhere and see everything.”

“I don’t want to ride a dragon,” said Kai. “You’re crazy. It might eat you.”

Soren smiled, looked up at the sky, and said, “It’d be worth it.”

That night, Soren couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t stop thinking about what he said to Kai earlier in that tree. If he was going to find a dragon, if he was going to ride a dragon, then he couldn’t waste another second on his parents' farm hoping one would fly by again. While everyone else in the shack continued to sleep, Soren packed a sack with the few clothes he had and some food. As Soren cracked open the door and looked back to make sure it didn’t wake anyone, he saw the moonlight shine off of Kai’s eyes while the boy lay in bed. The brothers stared at each other in silence for a moment; then Soren walked out and slowly closed the door behind him.

That bright full moon lit up the night for Soren, but he still didn’t have a good idea of where he should head. The day he saw the dragon, it had flown in the same direction that the brook flowed, so he decided going that direction would be a good start.

The days of walking weren’t that hard on Soren; surviving in the forest is basically what he had been doing his whole life, but with each hour he walked, more doubt crept in that he wouldn’t find anything at all. On the third day of Soren’s journey, he came across a break in the forest, and in the break he saw a long path of smooth rock with white and yellow lines on it. Soren figured that such a thing could only be created by a dragon, so he decided to stay on this odd path. It was still morning, so he chose to go in the direction where the sun would set in the evening.

While continuing down the path, Soren began to hear a muffled hum, causing him to look around wildly. Could this be it? Another dragon approaching? Maybe it would be the same one he saw all those years ago. Despite his pounding heart and the cartwheels going on in his stomach, Soren forced himself to stay standing in the middle of the path, looking up, and holding his arms out to get the creature's attention.

What he saw shocked him more than if he had seen 10 dragons in the sky: a beast was on the path, charging towards him. Soren’s steadfast courage turned into paralyzing fear, and the beast was moving so fast, there was nothing he could do but let whatever was going to happen, happen.

The beast honked and squealed. When it reached Soren, it slid around him and came to a stop. To Soren’s surprise, the beast looked more like his shack close up, with windows, lights, and metal. To Soren’s greater surprise, the side of the beast popped open, and an angry man emerged.

“What the hell is your problem, you idiot? Were you trying to get us both killed?” yelled the man, approaching Soren. Soren, realizing his hands were still out, put them down by his sides, but he couldn’t slow down his heavy breathing, and he couldn’t think of a word to say. The man’s fury began to fade as he continued to glare at Soren, and he said, “I’m just saying, you shouldn’t stand in the road like that; someone could get hurt. Are you alright, kid? Do you need some help?”

The man managed to convince Soren to get inside the beast, and Soren couldn’t believe what he was experiencing. The beast wasn’t a beast at all; it was a machine. Being inside was like being in a small shack, and it was carrying Soren past the trees faster than he ever knew he could go.

“So your parents and your siblings are going to be alright back in the forest?” asked the man, breaking Soren’s amazement.

“Yes,” said Soren.

“Then why did you leave them behind?” said the man.

As if by reflex, Soren replied, “Because I want to fly.”

Twenty years later, Soren was a pilot for JetView Airlines, had a beautiful wife, a son, and a daughter. While playing catch with his boy in the backyard of his picturesque home, Soren said to his son, “Be careful not to hit the house.”

“A ball can’t make the house fall down,” replied Soren’s son.

Soren smiled and said, “That’s true, but you’ll want to take care of this house. You don’t want to mess it up.”

“Why?” said Soren’s son.

“It’s our home. This is the house you’re growing up in,” said Soren. “One day, when you’re all grown up, you’re going to want to come back here.”

Soren’s son asked him, “What house did you grow up in?” Soren hadn’t thought about that place in a long time. Thinking about it was like trying to remember a story told to him by someone else, but he couldn’t shake his son’s question from his mind, so he decided to find that old shack in the forest. Maybe his parents would still be there, maybe Kai and Mira, too. But no matter how long or hard he searched, nor the amount of money spent, the day never came when he could see his old home again.