Rough Writing

“Elias, who composed this?” Ms. Korhonen asked while facing the board and finishing writing out the next song with a flourish. A little puff of white chalk dust filled the air as she marked the last word. “Elias” she said again with the hint of a question as she turned towards her class. Her eyes darted and saw Elias sitting slumped at his desk with his chin sunk into his chest and his eyes closed. She then said his name one more time, much more sharply than before, cracking it like a whip. “Elias!”

Ms. Korhonen’s voice rang sharply in Elias’s ears and pulled him back into reality. He was sitting at a worn down desk in a worn down classroom in a worn down city and had been dozing off in the toasty room. She continued saying “care to answer the question, Elias?” with more than a hint of exasperation in her voice as she gestured at the board. “Yes. Ma’am” the boy said with his words stumbling out of his mouth.

“Well, Uh,” he started to say while fumbling for the answer in his mind after a moment of hemming and hawing he said “did Pettersson write it?” Some of the other kids started laughing quietly. She replied brusquely “Oh, Elias. It’s not always Pettersson. You need to pay more attention to your reading”. Elias let out a small sigh and brushed his dark hair from his face as he leaned back into his chair and folded his arms in an attempt to appear to be paying attention. His hair was long overdue for a haircut and covered his ears like the spikey black fur of a dog. Elias was typically a rather quiet boy, small in stature. He wore glasses with a simple frame and cheap lenses. His father and mother both worked very hard but had never been very fortunate. His glasses were the nicest thing he owned. He always wore hand-me-downs, a byproduct of being the third of five children. His jeans and soft shirt were faded but serviceable. After a few more questions to different students the class bell rang.

Elias quickly packed his books and made his way into the hallway and towards freedom. He pushed past the throngs of excitedly giggling children and headed towards the school’s bike racks gripping his backpack straps tightly. Loud noise and crowds stressed him out and he felt his chest tighten as he tried to unlock his bike as fast as possible. The lock quickly popped free and he hurriedly pulled himself on top and started towards home through one of his favorite places, an old park with meandering paths, ancient trees and most of all peacefully quiet. 

Elias made his way through a series of paths and was deep in the park when he heard a commotion coming from up ahead and to the right of him. Sharp guttural hisses combined with snarling and loud cawing and cries of a large bird pulled him in. Cautiously curious, he slowed down and got off his bike and stepped into the woods, working his way into the brush towards the noise. Elias peered through the bush’s leaves to look out onto a small clearing on the other side. A tall tree with spiraling arms cradled the sky at the far edge and beneath its crown two large black birds were hopping around a fallen nest cawing and defending it from two circling cats. Without a thought Elias scooped up a few rocks and left the bush and carefully approached the cats from behind. When he was within range he let out a shout and started chucking rocks at the cats. The cats were mostly startled as rocks started flying towards them but after one rock glanced one of their backs they began to hiss and yowl at Elias and the birds equally. Finally, after a few more thrown stones and a bit more shouting the cats slunk away hissing through the brush and disappeared into the twilight to hunt for easier prey.

Elias was shaking from the rush of adrenaline from the fight as he slowly approached the downed nest and attempted to calmly say “I am here to help, it will be ok” as soothingly as possible. The two large black birds warily gave him a path to the nest. As he approached he could hear the quiet panicked chirping of some small chicks. Elias carefully picked up the nest and placed it up in the crook of a branch in the twisted oak tree. Elias dusted his hands off on his jeans while backing away from the tree. He said quietly to the two birds “They will be safe now” and started heading back to his bike to continue peddling home. The black bird’s dark eyes followed him until he left the bushes then they looked at each other for a moment before one leaped into flight after the boy and the other stayed to take care of the nestlings. 

The park turned into cracked pavement and busy cars as it ended in an older residential area where Elia’s house was. As he neared his house he sped up and quickly peddled past his neighbor’s house, the Rautio’s, as their ferocious dog, Rekku, caught wind of him and started to snarl and bark. As he passed their chain link fence the dog hurled itself up the fence creating a large rattling sound in a futile attempt to reach him. Rekku hated bikes. Once home, Elias crossed the threshold and let his grandmother know he was home with a raised voice saying “I am home mormor” and made his way to his room after snagging a snack from the kitchen. Grandma would be taking care of his younger siblings while his mother was working the store and his father at the mine. It was not much of a room, more like a converted attic nook that his father had shored up to give him some privacy. There was just enough room for a small bed next to a slanted wall, a beaten up old dresser below a small stained glass window with an inlaid flower surrounded by blue skies and green fields. 

Elias flopped on his bed and pulled out a dog eared book from his pack to read while eating his snack. As he lay in his bed he heard a sharp tap above his head at his window. Thinking it must have been the wind he ignored it. Another tap, and then another came so he sat up, brushed off the crumbs and pulled his stool over to the window to see what was going on. The sun was setting but it outlined a dark shape outside the stained glass window. With a mixture of fear and curiosity he lifted the dingy brass latch and opened the window. Standing there on the ledge holding a small dark bag was one of the large black birds from the park.

The raven gently laid the palm sized bag on the window sill. It then cocked its head at him and then uttered a soft caw and then with a flutter of its wings took off into the sunset. Elias pulled the bag inside with a measure of fascination on his face and closed the window slowly as he stepped off the stool and sat on his bed. The bag felt heavy in his smooth youthful hands. The bag was a simple leather bag holding some golf ball sized object. Elias opened it and dumped its contents into his hands. A grimy black cube fell into his palm. The surface was coated with soot and mud but as he scratched it he felt the hardness and saw slivers of some kind of metal. Elias pulled a small kerchief from his pocket and started cleaning the cube.

The grime fell off easily enough and revealed a burnished silver series of cubes that had circles and writing engraven along each surface. Each layer nested inside of the other and had smaller cubes, circles, and engravings. There were nine layers total. The cube was warm to the touch which was strange and the warmth spread through Elias relaxing him along the way. It was almost imperceptible and Elias was not alarmed for some reason, merely consumed with the intricacies of the shapes and what looked like runes through the object. Once he had done what he could he slipped it into his pocket and went to dinner. Maybe he could bring some toothpicks back along with a toothbrush and really get it to shine he thought to himself as he made his way downstairs. With a full belly he did some homework at his small desk, idly spinning the cube in his hand before heading to bed. Sleep pulled shut the curtains of his consciousness and his eyes as they closed on the cube sitting on his dresser next to his alarm.

Elias slept snuggled under multiple quilts until the brisk morning wind creeping down from the mountains tickled his nose enough to awaken him for the next day. Another exciting day at school he thought to himself sarcastically. Normally, he struggled to wake up and get going however this morning he felt energy moving through him as he sprightly danced through his normal routine of pulling on yet another pair of faded clothes, grabbing some cold breakfast and lunch before heading out on his bike to school. As he got dressed he put the small silver cube into his pants pocket. He felt keeping it close would be important and safest.

The first snow of the season had coated the ground in a light dusting of white as he carried his bike from the porch out to the sidewalk. A soft smile entered his face as he crossed the short white fence boundary and climbed up onto his bike. On his bike he felt free. Leaning into the bike Elias started out with strong strokes and swung his bike back and forth as he picked up speed and headed towards school. The light wind and morning chill seemed to bother him less today. He did not see two dark shapes flirting through the trees alongside him as he made his way towards school.

Elias quickly peddled past the Rautio family’s house on the opposite side of the street hoping their dog, Rekku, would still be asleep. Unfortunately, Rekku was awake and started barking at him furiously and throwing himself against their fence. Elias peddled on quickly and turned a corner when he heard behind him a metallic crash and the barking suddenly started getting closer. With rapidly growing horror he turned his head and saw dashing towards him the bounding form of a large silver and white dog. Rekku was loose. 

Adrenaline surged through Elias as he found new strength and started flying down the sidewalks towards school through the park. He stood up off his seat and threw himself into his pedals ramping up to high speed as Rekku jumped and snapped at his heels. Elias whipped his bike back and forth dodging Rekku’s jaws snarling and snapping at his calves. After a few minutes of Rekku chasing him Elias was drenched in sweat and desperate looking for some way to escape. The sweat started to sting his eyes and fog his glasses. He quickly tried to wipe some of it away so he could make out his next turn. At that moment Rekku made one more leap and sunk his jaws into Elias’s right calf. 

Immediate agony flamed up from his leg and Elias lost control of his bike and crashed hard into the snow and slush underneath a large oak tree. Scrambling up against the tree Elias dazedly looked around and saw a snarling Rekku making his way towards him. Elias hurriedly swung his bag around and fished around for his lunch, desperate to distract him from coming closer.He was so full of fear. Suddenly, he felt calm assert itself over him and his pain and fear became something outside himself. His eyes narrowed and he looked upon the incoming dog with a fierce glare. His hand left the pack and reached into his pants pocket.

Silent black knives dropped from the trees down onto Rekku as the Ravens made an appearance. Their sharp beaks drew blood and they and the dog erupted in a frenzy of cawing and snapping jaws. Elia’s fingers wrapped tightly around the cube as cold rage and strength filled him. He staggered to his feet and then stretched his hand towards the fighting animals and shouted “Stop” along with several words he did not recognize with a deep fury he had never felt before causing his voice to ring in his own ears. Several things happened in an instant. The small cube of metal clenched tight in his fist melted through his fingers and snaked its way up and over to his outstretched fingertips and launched towards the dog in the form of a silver arrow. At that same moment a crack of thunder echoed in the early morning air as Elias saw a wave of light moving towards his face and when it struck searing agony erupted from his left eye and consumed him.

Elias collapsed and writhed on the ground in the now muddied snow and dirt. His arms twisted and his hands clutched at his face trying to cradle and smooth away the anguish from his body. The silver arrow struck the dog with force to knock it back and quickly shifted and crawled up around the dog’s neck and formed a chain. The chain immediately dug into Rekku’s neck and brought him to his knees as it constricted tightly around his windpipe. The birds left the dog and flew up into the branches over the boy softly cawing while keeping a watchful eye on both the mighty dog twitching and gasping for breath on the ground and the young boy thrashing in agony. 

Elias gripped his head with one hand and all time seemed to stand still as he looked with his remaining good eye at the scene as he raised himself up onto his knees. He was blind in his right eye. The silence after so much chaos was deafening. Rage still filled his heart but also astonishment over what had just happened. He stumbled his way to his bike on unsteady legs and left the gasping, panting, whimpering Rekku and hobbled his way back towards his house. The ravens followed.

Every few feet he paused to pause and catch his breath and to keep the hot white flaring pain coming from his right eye from overwhelming him along with each stab from the dog bite on his leg. Out of his singular sight the ravens kept watch. Snow had started falling by the time he reached his small white gate. The gate creaked as he passed through it. Elias dropped his bike in the snow and staggered up and into the house. His grandma called out “Who’s there?” as he crossed the front door’s threshold”. Elias let out a short croak “It’s me” before dropping onto the doormat as his strength ran out and waves of black closed over his eyes and consciousness fled. 

Elias woke to a dull pain throughout his body and an ache in his right eye as he attempted to open his eyes. Only his left eyelid raised and he felt a twinge of pain from his right eye but did not see anything from it. He carefully sat up and looked around. He was in a dark room on a small bed wrapped in plain brown wool blankets underneath coarse white cotton sheets. An IV was in his arm  Several beds with sleeping children surrounded him and he raised his hand to his face. “I must be in the hospital” he thought to himself. He felt the soft gauze of a bandage over his eye with wrappings around his head. His numerous other cuts had been cleaned and patched with a few having

 stitches. The moon was shining through the window by his bed and movement caught his gaze. He swung himself to the side and sat up and looked out the window. A dark shape on the other side of the window gave an insistent tap tap against the glass. 

Elias stood up weakly and tottered over to the window, unhooked the metal clasp and pushed it open. As the window opened he heard the flutter of wings and saw a raven take flight. Sitting on the window sill was the strange cube. No longer covered in grime the cube shown in the morning light. With a slight tremble to his movements Elias reached out and picked up the small metal cube. The cube felt warm, and the ache in his body began to fade as he pulled it close to his remaining eye and stared at it. Wonder, fear, confidence and strength of purpose filled his mind. He placed the small cube into his pants pocket and strode confidently back to his bed ignoring his wounds. As peace settled on him and lay himself down to sleep he thought to himself a simple old nursery rhyme his nana would hum occasionally. 

Bird fly bird fly

Winging through the trees

Blessed light, dark night

Home with me

Outside the hospital window perched in the large pine tree two ravens looked at the resting boy, tilted their heads towards each other and with a soft caw took off into the frigid night. They would be back and guide the boy in his journey.