The Well

Red Bricks layered in caked baked mud. All the children heeded the warnings and never got too close. With the exception of Karn, for he rarely obeyed and often to his harm. This deep down source of coursing water fascinated him. He rested in the sun, his ear pressed to the earth for hours. Mesmerized via the trickle and flow. So soft one second thundering loud against the tunnel's confining sides the next. As if the water below his feet wanted release. Karn understood the desire for freedom. He, like the liquid beneath him, was trapped. When he wasn't near here the sounds that filled his ears were terrible and taunting. The adults loomed over him. Monsters with fangs and claws. Horrible harsh shouts and growls that ripped him raw. He froze with pain and did not thaw in the warm summer rain. Only the water trapped in the well soothed him. He felt a kinship. He felt comfort. The closest he would ever come to love. One day the well went dry and Karn cried. Something inside him died.