Work Text:
It was a sunny day when Phil stepped outside of his house, he had been stuck in his house for weeks sculpting, and now he had finally finished his masterpiece.
He sat outside of his house, with the gentle autumn breeze blowing against his face, he sipped his cup of warm tea. It was supposed to be a peaceful, listless day until he heard the sound of the trash bin behind his house falling over.
He rushed there with a cane in hand, ready to battle whatever wild creature that had entered his backyard. When he turned the corner, there he saw a boy who looked like he was barely five years old with curly brown hair and a yellow T-shirt, rummaging through his trash.
Phil let out a sigh of relief and put down his cane. He slowly approached him, he made his footfall heavier as he got closer to signal to the boy that he was approaching, as if any sudden movement might scare him away. He kneeled down next to the boy and asked,
“Hi mate… um… what are you doing?”
The boy looked up at him as if he was expecting him. He adjusted his big round glasses and said with a wide grin,
“I’m on an adventure!”
“But why are you in my trash?”
“Weren’t you listening? I’m on an adventure!”
The child pounded at him as he continued to look through the trash, nearly throwing a piece of trash towards Phil. Phil dodged it with ease and said,
“My name is Phil, by the way.”
“Wilbur.”
The boy gave him a straightforward answer, not even bothering to look up at him. The boy was looking through the trash with the determination and focus of a hawk as if there might be diamonds in there.
Phil took a deep breath and tried to once again start a conversation with the boy, hoping that he could somehow get him out from the trash pile.
“Are you looking for something?”
“Yes! I’m looking for a crown!”
Phil frowned.
“I don’t think you can find a crown in the trash.”
The boy ignored Phil and continued to pick and sort through the trash, so he figured that the only way to get the boy to listen was to join him.
“Oh mighty knight! Might I aid you in your search for a crown?”
Phil said it as dramatically as he could and that seemed to catch the boy’s attention. The boy slowly lifted his head and peek over his shoulder to stare at Phil with curious eyes. He responded,
“You may.”
He thought to himself for a while before turning towards Phil, standing as tall and proud as he could and said in a deeper voice,
“I am Sir Wilbur Soot of the House of Blood. Give me a crown worthy of my king!”
“I may not have the crown at this moment. But lucky for you I am an excellent blacksmith, I shall forge the perfect crown fit for a king.”
The boy’s eyes lit up the moment he heard Phil’s offer. He immediately got out from the trash with stars in his eyes and asked,
“For real?”
“Of course! For I am the best in the land.”
He grabbed Phil’s hand and dragged him into the forest behind his house
“We shall gather materials in the woods. Onward!”
And that’s how Phil was kidnapped by a child.
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When they were exploring the forest, Phil realized how pale and slim Wilbur was which caused Phil to have the urge to feed the boy with cookies and sweets. But looking at how cheery and energetic the boy was he wondered maybe that was just how the boy looked like.
“What should we get for the crown?” Phil asked.
“Silver and gold!” The boy exclaimed.
“I’m afraid that is not possible.”
“Oh…”
The boy said in a disappointed tone and he looked at the ground with a sad face which broke Phil’s heart. He never wished to see even the slightest hint of sadness on that boy’s face.
He frantically looked around, desperate to find something to wipe that frown from his face. Then the glittering surface of the running river caught my eyes.
“What about the pebbles near the riverbank?”
Wilbur stared at the river with a deeper frown than before as if the river had personally offended him.
“No, I can’t get wet.”
The boy continued to stare at the river with all of his might as he fiddled with his fingers and the helm of his shirt. Phil continued to look around the forest and he laid eyes on a little patch of ‘silver and gold’. He turned to the boy and asked,
“What about flowers?”
“Flowers?”
“Yes! White and yellow flowers.”
Wilbur paused and thought about it hard, gears turning in his head. Finally, he nodded with a bright smile and ran off.
Phil took one last look at the river and wondered why it bothered him so much. He’ll ask him later.
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They gathered as many flowers as they could and sat down in Phil’s backyard, ignoring the turned-over trash in the corner. As Phil was teaching Wilbur how to make a flower crown, he asked Wilbur,
“Why were you looking for a crown anyway?”
“It’s for my twin brother. He is much stronger and smarter than me, so if I am a knight, then he will be a king!”
“Where is he now?”
“Far away, but I know where to find him. Once I do, I’ll give him the crown and finally crown him as the king!”
Wilbur continued to talk about his brother, how they would spar with each other and how his brother would always lose at the last moment. He knew his brother would always let him win so he made it a game to make it impossible for his brother to lose, but he always lost that game.
When he was talking about him, his eyes would glow like the starry sky and his cheek would become flustered. To him, his brother was everything, worth more than all of the silver and gold in the world and that warmed Phil’s heart.
After a few failed attempts to make his own flower crown the flowers were starting to run out, so Wilbur had the bright idea to run back into the forest to pick more flowers without a warning.
He stood up and bolted towards the forest and Phil wasn't able to stop him before he ran off on his own. Phil sighed and followed him, at least he tried to. He’s getting too old for this, he thought to himself.
Despite how small Wilbur was, he was very fast, he snuck through the trees and bushes and Phil simply could not keep up. A moment ago, Wilbur was still in front of Phil but at the next moment it seemed like he disappeared in a blink of an eye. Phil had completely lost sight of him and he started to worry.
“Will? Wilbur? Where are you? Come back! It’s dangerous out here!”
Phil shouted for him but no one answered. If he was worried before, he’s panicking now.
Phil frantically searched the forest for any sign of him, a glimpse of yellow, a tuft of brown hair, his mischievous giggles, anything! At this point it felt like the forest was spinning around him, mocking him. Why did he have to be such an incompetent of a father?
The glittering surface of the river once again caught his eyes but this time, there was a silhouette of a small boy standing at the edge of the river.
“Wilbur?”
Phil called out for the boy but he continued to stand there as if the world around him did not exist.
As Phil took a step towards the boy, the boy’s body went limp as if he was a puppet that got its strings cut off and plummeted into the river.
“Will!”
Phil immediately rushed towards the river, hoping that he would be there in time to save the boy.
As he was about to jump into the river, no one was in sight. The river was clear and peaceful, the only thing swimming in that river was a school of fish.
Phil dropped down to his knee, with heaving breath and his heart pounding in his ears. He tried to wrap his head around what just happened when suddenly he felt a tug on his shirt, he turned around to find Wilbur standing there, hugging a bunch of freshly picked flowers and there were concerns written all over his face.
“Phil? Are you okay? I’m here,”
Phil let out the breath that he was holding and ruffled Wilbur’s hair.
“I’m fine. Let’s go back.”
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With the last knot, Wilbur finished his own flower crown, and this time, it didn’t fall apart. He held his crown up and admired it with pride as Phil smiled at him with the proudness of a father.
Phil placed the flower crown he made for Wilbur on him and he looked at Phil with a wide grin and jumped towards him for a warm hug,
“Thank you.”
Phil hugged him back, he had this urge to never let go of this warmth, he wanted him to stay forever, but he knew that’s not possible.
They eventually let go of one another, which left a cold and hollow feeling in his heart. Phil didn’t know where that feeling came from but he chose to ignore it.
Then Wilbur grabbed Phil’s hand once again and led him back into the forest one last time.
They went through the trees and bushes that became so much more familiar to Phil after today’s adventure. They stopped at the river. Wilbur turned towards Phil and said,
“This is where my brother and I will meet. You can go back now, thank you for helping me. I’ll be fine on my own.”
He said to him with the gentlest smile. Phil looked at the river with an uneasy feeling in his heart but he nodded at him and said,
“You are always welcome to come back here at any time and bring your brother next time, I would love to meet him.”
“I will. Goodbye.”
He let go of Phil’s hand and Phil slowly walked back to his house. After walking a distance he looked back and saw him sitting at the side of the river, waiting as he held onto his flower crown.
The sun was setting and the gentle orange light coated the forest with a golden glow and the river was glistering with silver sparkles. Light bounced off the boy, making him look like he was glowing in the gentle sunlight.
It was a beautiful scene that would forever be marked inside his heart.
Why did his heart ache?
When did he start to cry?
.
.
.
“Goodbye.”
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Phil put down his paintbrush and stared at his new masterpiece, “Silver and Gold”. It was a painting of the scene that was marked in his heart, the boy that he saw on that fateful day and standing next to him was another boy who looked just like him but with a pink T-shirt and square glasses. They both have a flower crown resting on their head with Will waving him goodbye.
Two years have gone by since he saw the boy, he looked out to the autumn forest and wondered if he would ever see them again.
The End