Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-26308279-20150413133602

The boy who loved bread

During the summer of 2004 in the town of Rochester, Minnesota a blind, ten year old boy named Simon Briggs lived with his father, Carter Briggs. They lived in the more rural areas of the town due to his father's alcoholism and gambling problems. Simon didn't have friends due to his lack of education and social ability. He was scared of the outside world so he stayed at home. His home was composed of four rooms, his father's room, the living room, the dining room and his room. Even with his blindness, he memorized his house with great detail. Simon looked like an average child; he had his father's brown eyes, nose and his mother’s black hair but his personality reflected his mother, being gentle and caring in nature.

Simon was always fed bread his father gave him since that was the only kind of food he knew at the time but he knew bread when he tasted it, he was blind after all. He loved the taste of it but he couldn't really specify what he loved about it, the texture, the smell, how it felt on his tongue, all of it just tastes perfectly to him. He would always have a big, bright smile on his face whenever he sat down while waiting for his breakfast. Although that was one of the very few things he ever liked about living with his so-called father.

On most days, Simon’s father was never home, he’d be at clubs drinking or gambling. He'd always wake his son up whenever he entered their home drunk or with another girl. He'd shudder and hide under his old, torn-up blanket whenever he heard his dad fight over one of the people he owes money to. Another thing Simon liked about his home was the pigs him and his mother, Elizabeth Briggs raised before his parents got separated. He raises them himself now. They had twelve pigs and a handful of piglets when his parents were separated and as months go by, the number of pigs and piglets diminish. Simon thinks they've escaped somehow; he has no idea other than that.

One night, someone knocked on the front door just as Simon was about to sleep. His father opens the door and unfortunately, it was another man he owes money to. The two men talked at first and then the friendly chatter sounded angrier and aggressive. After that, the raised voices turned into shouting and yelling. Simon hid under his blankets as he did when things like these happen. A short while after the shouting, Simon felt the house shake and heard things breaking and being thrown at walls with punching and kicking. They were fighting in the living room. Simon used his pillow to cover his ears and cried as he lay in his bed. After what seemed like ages, the fighting stopped all at once followed by a door slamming shut, making him jump in place. He wept silently before he slept.

The next day, as Simon was walking to the dining table to get his breakfast, he was suddenly mesmerized at the smell of his favorite dish, bread. He ran to his chair, sat down and started eating without any other thought. He chewed and felt it on his tongue, he finished in record time. After his meal, he looked around for his father but didn’t notice him anywhere; he brushed it off and thought he’s probably out on the streets already. Simon turned around and noticed the television on, probably left on overnight by his father who didn't bother to turn it off. He looked at what was showing. It was the news, the blind child tilted his head and he didn't understand so he went back to his room.

The top story the channel was showing was a brutal murder but little did he know, happened the very night before and in his very own home. The reporter said the police investigated the area and found a bloody cleaver left near the dead body and a knocked-over knife organizer not too far away. The corpse identified was Carter Briggs, his father badly chopped-up with bits of flesh scattered everywhere. The police cleaned up the area but left the boy's room untouched. But the most mysterious part, the one thing the investigators somehow did not notice was the chunk of flesh that somehow found its way on an empty plate on the dining table.  