The Brave (part -1)

Fiction story of a boy, though his past mysterious, journeying to find himself!

'Hello Leo,
It's been a while since we last met…actually it's been years. I hope everything is going well with you? I’d like to meet with you. I need your help. Please, I know you can help me like you helped me before. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.
Your friend,
Rene'

That’s what the letter I got in the mailbox said this morning. I don't get many letters, so I was surprised when I checked the mailbox and saw my name on something. It looked like a normal letter but it wasn't.

First of all, my name is not Leo. My parents had named me Ethan. You may think that this means that that letter was not for me. But it was. For two months I've met some people who called me by the name Leo. They were familiar to me, like when you see someone, and you feel that you know them. I felt the same when I met them. And the name, the name makes me feel warm. I don't know what that means, but it sure felt like that.

But I don't remember them. I don't remember anyone or anything that happened in my life. I don't even know who I am.

Two months ago I woke up in the hospital. When I opened my eyes, I saw a man and woman standing by my bed. I didn't know who they were. Later I found out they were my parents.

No one knew what happened to me. My parents told me that one day I went to the park, and then didn't came back. The doctors said that some kids were playing in the park and found me lying unconscious. They called an ambulance and I was admitted to the hospital. I was in coma, but I had no injuries on my body. My parents found me and they took care of me.

The last thing I remembered before I woke up was everything burning up.  When I woke up, it all vanished, and I didn't remember anything. The memory of my entire life burnt away into ashes.

They took me home after I woke up. My parents didn't really know too much about me because I mostly kept to myself. I spent most of my time either in my room, or outside at some secluded event. My parents were distant from me. They took me around to places that would most likely make me remember something. They took me to my school, the park where I was found, and even my favorite restaurant. But no, I couldn't remember anything. I didn't have any friends at school either who could tell me about myself. It’s like I didn’t exist.

These people who call me Leo seem to know something about me. I don’t know how much, but I sense truth in their words. Some people I never saw again. I used to lose conscious at random times, but the doctors couldn't find out why. When I used to wake up, those people would be gone, and I would be covered with bruises which I knew were from fighting. But, friends stay friends.

And so my journey began. Not just to find those who know me, but also to find out about myself.

This was another step in my journey. I knew I had to go meet this guy Rene. He didn't seem to be an enemy. He did regard himself as a friend, although, I can't really trust anyone because so many people were after my life. Rene’s different though, his name makes my ears ring gently. I must know him somehow. Regardless, he sounded like he desperately needed my help, and maybe I’ll get to know more about myself as well.

I looked up the address from where the letter was sent. It was from a small town near the country side. The next day I took the very first plane I could to a city near there. I got a map at the airport, and then the bus took me the rest of the way there.

As soon as I stepped off the bus I stretched and took a look around. Then it hit me, I didn't know where to look for Rene, or even what he looks like! There wasn't a specific address on the letter just the town name. So I started wandering throughout the town, asking people all day if they knew who Rene was, or where I could find him. No one knew where he lived, but I did get a decent description of him.
He was a younger man of about 20 or 22, white hair that is always spiky, blue eyes, and usually wears casual shirts and pants. I thought this info would be enough to find him…but it wasn’t.

It was evening already and still no leads. Then I noticed some people running towards a tower. I ran and caught up with someone to ask what was going on. They told me that a child was about to fall from the tower. I sprinted in that direction.

When I reached the tower there was a little boy, maybe six or seven, with curly black hair dangling from the stairs. Apparently, he was trying to go to the top of tower using the stairs, but because the tower was old, the stairs broke and curled inwards. He was grasping an iron bar that was part of the steps, but it was on the verge of snapping. He was crying loudly. He was afraid, and no one was even trying to help him. Everyone was just looking, watching, waiting for the boy to fall.

That's how people are though. They are amused by these situations. They’d rather watch the kid’s demise instead of at least trying to do something to prevent it. He was so high up. If he fell, there’d be no chance of him surviving. I knew it’d be a waste of time to even try to get any of them to help save that kid, so I had to do something myself.

I rushed up the stairs to reach the kid as quick as possible. The thought of falling kept running through my head. With each step that I took, I could feel the stairs giving away. It’s gonna take more than that to stop me, I thought to myself.
I was about twelve or fourteen steps away from him, but I couldn't get any closer. If I stepped out further, the floor would curl under and fall away.

"Hey kid, try to come down from there. I'll grab you," I shouted.

He looked over at me, but instead of stopping his cry and trying to come down, he started crying even harder. 'What's wrong with this kid, is he mad' I thought to myself.

"Are you listening to me,” I shouted again, “if you don't do anything, you'll fall and die!"
But he didn’t move. He continued crying, and I could see his grip was weakening.

"Listen, don't give up yet!" I screamed.

I was getting irritated. I was trying to save him, but he won’t even listen to anything. His grip loosened more. He was holding on as tightly as he could, but it’s only a matter of time�"and then
He dropped.

At that moment in my life I had to make a serious decision, save that kid or save myself, and unfortunately, I had no time to second guess. When he fell past eye level, time started to slow down. It's amusing how slow time gets. It’s like trying to move inside of a pool.
I still didn’t know what to do, and the kid was still falling with each passing second. I couldn’t let it end like this. There was no more time for plans. It was now or never.

I jumped.

The kid was turned almost upside down when I was near him. I grabbed hold of his little hand, and pulled him closer to me as we fell. I could feel the warmth of his little body against mine. We were both falling now. I jumped, but I didn’t really have a plan on how I was going to save him, or even myself.

Two deaths for the price of one. Death must be very happy watching this situation. I know the people watching us are enjoying this.

Gotta think of a way quick stupid - I say inside my head.

I could see the ground coming quick. Every second the distance between us and death was lessening.

I have to think something, I kept shouting in my head, hoping it does something.
My mind doesn't chests with me a lot but if it's cheating, it is the worse time for it. I looked around frantically. The tower was surrounded by trees, but they were a little too far, and we weren’t falling any closer to them. And then it popped inside my head.

I could try throwing the kid in the direction of trees. They were pretty far away. I probably couldn’t throw him that far, but He would have a better chance of survival in the trees rather than the ground. I had to take the chance.

I held the boy tightly, he was still crying, and started to spin around a little. After a few seconds, I gave him everything I had. Just as I suspected, not even close, I didn't have the power to throw him that far. The child was done for sure I thought. Then I noticed a man standing where the kid was about to fall. A ringing noise started in my head. I could only see his pointy white hair and his well-built physique. I knew instantly who it was. Rene.

"Kyle!" he screamed loudly.

I heard him, but time was still moving a little slower than normal. His sharp blue eyes locked onto mine. I could see the willingness in his eyes, He would surely save the kid.

When I threw the boy I moved closer to the tower. I could grab the poles of the ladder, but at the speed I was going, I'd hurt my ankles and slip off, still slamming into the ground. There wasn't enough time for a plan B. I reached out for the poles.
The pain was intense. It felt as if the poles had it out for me! Though it was just my body’s gravity doing all the damage. I quickly attempted to grab hold of the ladder one more time. It hurt, but I still had my hand touching it. Friction began slowing me down, but that wasn’t going to be enough. Not according to my calculations. I would have to have my whole body closer to the stairs.
I finally managed to get my legs against the ladder, but that wasn’t helping. My speed wasn’t decreasing! I watched as the kid fell not too far from me. The ground was only a few meters away now.

I don't think I'd died if I fell from here, but I know it sure would hurt a lot. Another now or never moment. With my remaining strength, I reached out and grabbed one of the steps with my right hand. I felt a sudden jerk. The snapping of my arm sounded like a giant branch being ripped from a tree. There was a little pain in my shoulder at first, and then it increased immensely in a matter of milliseconds. I had most probably dislocated my arm, or at least tore some muscles.

On the other side was the kid. Rene was still a good distance from where the kid was going to land. Even less was the distance away from the kid and the ground. Rene made a perfect jump and grabbed hold of the kid in midair. He rotated so his back was against the ground. His back slammed and slid harshly against the ground for a moment. Rene had taken the force of his jump, and the kids force from falling. The skin on his back must have been scrapped badly. I remember seeing a little trail of blood coming out of his mouth. I couldn't control my right hand anymore. I let go and fell to the ground.

As I laid there, I could feel the intense pain surging through my right arm. My body was sore. My mind felt dizzy. Everything was blurred. People started to surround me, but I could barely keep my eyes open. I knew I was falling unconscious. It felt just like when I was with those enemies of mine.

Darkness engulfed me...

Author's Note

Waiting for your review!

Reviews

[Will-house]

Loveless, excellent story my friend. I know its a main character trait, but I'm glad you made the hero, i'm assuming, so caring and self-sacrificing. I was a little anxious to read what was next.
Now while your story seems pretty legit, the grammar is not legit. Just small errors with certain word choices, but there are quite a few. I don't know if you have someone who can maybe you edit, but I couldn't list all the fixes in this box. If you want, I could edit it for you, so you can see what I'm talking about? But thank you for sharing, and I'll be reading part 2. Keep it up!