All was quiet in the house as Jason went and poured himself an ice cold glass of milk. He felt very depressed and he thought it was strange that, even though he had just learned of his aunt's death, no tears would come. He felt a change in himself and he could not understand why so much sadness had been brought upon his family. Jason looked out the window at the calm night and the full moon shining down on the lake. He opened up the french doors which led to the balcony. Standing out in the warm summer night the scent of pine trees drifting up from the forest below Jason wished his heart and mind were as peaceful as the night here in the mountains. Jason stared out across the lake and over to the Laurel Valley Country Club where he and his mother had a wonderful day out on the golf course and cheeseburgers and milkshakes in the clubhouse afterwards. It seemed so strange to him that hours ago he was a happy little boy without a care in the world. Summer would be over soon and he would rejoin his classmates and friends at his private school and the leaves would be changing soon as the fall approached. But now he did not care about school, his friends, his golf game, or cheeseburgers and milkshakes. He knew he was too young to endure the pain of more deaths in his family, but he knew his resolve to be strong must remain.
As Jason looked up into the dark sky lit up by the bright moon and millions of stars, his mind thought back to the day of his father's murder. He remembered he had just arrived in Texas with his grandparents on a long flight from Argentina. He could recall the aroma of garlic and simmering sauces coming from the large kitchen as he entered his father's house. He was tired and hungry but his heart filled with joy as he was reunited with his long lost mother. He had not seen her in many years and on his fifth birthday he wished, as he blew out his candles on his birthday cake, that his mother would return to him; and at long last his wish and prayers were answered and as his mother sat with him in his room she smiled and cried tears of joy as she sat watching him eat his grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of delicious tomato soup. As he sat with his mother he was overjoyed and so happy to have her in his life again. He remembered he had fallen asleep in her warm arms, his head pressed against her breasts he was overwhelmed with feelings of being safe and loved.
It was sometime later he was awoken by the sound of a gunshot coming from his father's room down the hall. Startled and in fear he had sat up in his tiny bed waiting for his mother and father to come and tell him everything was alright, but his father never came. It was Charles, whom he always had a great affinity for, who came into his room sitting on the edge of his bed saying. "Jason, there has been an accident and you and your mother must leave the house tonight at once."
"Where's my daddy?" he had asked not knowing Charles had just murdered his father.
Charles never answered him instead he took Jason in his arms and carried him downstairs where his mother was waiting for him. Her hair was soaking wet and she seemed in shock and had been crying, her eyes moist and swollen and there were deep red marks on her throat. He recalled Charles taking them out to the driveway and he gave his mother an envelope full of cash. As the two of them drove away Jason looked up at the window to his father's room hoping to see his father's face but he would never see Xation's face again.
Jason looked down into the dark forest thinking of running out into the vast wilderness where he could be alone with the bears and the wolves but he knew that was just the little boy in him. Now he understood he must be brave and strong for his dear precious mother for she and his grandparents were all he had left. These dire circumstance would force him to become a man. He felt his father would be proud to see him tonight, no tears in his eyes or fear in his little heart. Jason let out a sigh as he went back into his home closing the doors behind him. He had to get up early and pack and prepare for his aunt's double funeral. As he went passed his mother's room he heard her on the phone with the airline making travel arrangements. He wanted to go back to Argentina to the land of his birth, back to his family's estate. Jason missed his grandparents deeply and he thought of happier times with his father and Tia Felina who had taught him how to ride and the last Christmas they had spent together as a family. Jason curled up in his bed as many wonderful memories filled his head he was finally able to fall asleep then he dreamed a dream of his life way off in the future. He saw himself as a full grown man riding along the pampas on a white stallion the wind in his dark hair and the sun in his eyes and a smile upon his face.
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