"Blessed by the mother"//FT. WRITING CHALLENGE

I live for angst

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Even when living in a more desolate part of his country, that didn't stop misha from being acquainted with the certain superstitions that mother russia has to offer. But the superstitions he'd always stay in touch in,,

Is the ones of luck.

As a child, being sent to the gulag, he would always pray to the mother land for freedom, to his family, his friends, and to all the poor souls who don't deserve their injustice. But everyday he prayed, but soon gave up when he knew, his prayers were never to be answered, never been heard, so he continued to follow the daily routine of the hell of a prison.

"Маленький мальчик" Spoke a pregnant woman, her voice grown tired and weary from the labor that was forced upon her. The young boy, misha, held her hand and tried to help her up, but her legs were too tired for her to even move. "Мисс, пожалуйста, остановитесь, охранники могут наказать вас." Warned young misha, wishing nothing to happen to the carrying woman, his own mother already faced enough, an expecting mother should not have the same fate. It was..unfair

The woman's cold and callous covered hand caressed the boy's puff and red cheeks, an exhausted smile of melancholy spread across her face, tears stinging her eyes, as she held his hand with a closed face, hear breaths shaky. "Пожалуйста, возьмите это" Her salty tears were spilling, as she placed a blue amulet that was in the shape of an owl in the little hands of the boy, looking at him, with her tired brown eyes. "У меня нет будущего, но вы все еще можете жить"

Misha looked at the amulet, recognizing it as an owl guardian, reading about it in his old children's books, knowing it's an amulet of luck. He knew the women needed it more than him, with her carrying a child, she needed it. "Нет, вам это нужно-" "Что делаешь!? ВЫ ДОЛЖНЫ РАБОТАТЬ!"

The cruel voice of the guard echoed through the snowy yard, as a guard brandishing a whip came stomping to them. The woman looked at misha, shooing him away. "You..Have future...Take chance" Her broken english was almost indecipherable with her panicked breaths, but misha knew what she wanted. "My future..child's future..no more" misha looked at her stomach, holding a child in it, he placed his small hand on it, and smiled sweetly. "You...be mother" And so he grabbed his forgotten pick axe, and ran off to continue working, not before waving at the lady, looking back at her with hopeful eyes

And the crack of a whip. The cries of a woman. It all came at once

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Even after so many years, the necklace never failed to shine softly, the tears of the woman ghosting it's surface, the memory of that day never escaping the shine in the owl's eye. It was,,

a bad nostalgia

"Yo fatty! Heads up!" He raised his eyes from the necklace, and snapped back into reality, not even realizing the man was in battle preparations. That is, until the oh-so familiar and obnoxious voice of the scout called out, breaking him from his traumatic memories. "Eyes open, ears peeled, maggot! We have ass to take and names to kick!- did i say that right?" "Abso-freakin-lutley not" A smile cracked onto the russians face, as the two started to bicker, which reminded him of his sisters, and how they would fight. How nice to know, that he can look at his team, and think of his little sisters and their antics

Then, a very familiar figure came walking to him, boots thumping semi-loudly towards his direction. "Whatcha got there, pardner?" Asked the texan man, looking at the small trinket in the large man's hands. He shuddered. "Is..gift" Oh, if his team could understand russian, they would be able to hear the woe and sorrow he felt because of this precious item, that he called a 'gift' He could've helped that woman, but sadly, he wasn't strong enough that time. So, he continued to pray for her soul to the great land.

The engineer whistled and put a hand on his hip. "Mighty fine gift, ya got there, all nice and shiny too" He complimented the necklace, earning a nod of gratitude from the heavy weapons man himself. "I'm pretty sure i read somethin' 'bout this kind of pendant somewhere, just can't put one sassi-frassin finger one it" Jesus his countrisms are too much for the russian guy, but who's to blame for the short man being from texan? Not him, surely. "Is lucky jewelry...this guardian owl" Heavy stated, holding up the necklace, it's eyes staring into his soul.

"Battle stations!" A german accented voice rang through the room, soon, an exhausted looking medic rushing in, medi-gun in hand and bird in the other. Everyone took his words, and prepared, weapons in check and fear swallowed. And as for misha? He stood up, and wore the amulet around his neck, taking his infamous gun in his hands, and towering over the men with a look deadlier than the gun he was wielding

And then scout opened his mouth

"Hey, nice bling ya gots there" He mocked, poking the man with his bat. "Did'ja buy a matchin' for sasha?" And he exploded with laughter, that is, until a tight grip around the boy's throat appeared, lifting him off of the ground. "Is one of a kind,, gift. Baby scout, shouldshut his mouth" And then, the speedster was dropped, coughing from the sudden attack.

"Served ya right, boy"

"Yo, shut it, shorty"

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The prison was going to blow

The little boy ran as fast as he could, with his family, and with every prisoner that didn't belong there.

But, he was soon distracted, the shrill cry of a child- No, an infant.

His large eyes fell onto the one cell, that was only half-opened. He ran towards it, opening the doors, to only reveal, a horrific sight and stench

"Скучать?"

There, lay two bodies

A woman, with blood everywhere around her and her legs, lying limp on the floor

And, a baby wrapped in rags, crying it's newly born eyes out

Young misha new only to take the baby in his arms, rocking gently, as his eyes stayed glued to it's dead mother. Tears stung his eyes, but never fell, only guilt, filling every inch of his body, knowing the woman needed the necklace more than him. But, she just lay there, dead, cold, unmoving, not getting the chance to raise her child. Keeping the small baby in his arms, he removed his overcoat, and slowly crept to the mother's body, laying the jacket around her, a soft prayer being hushed. "Ты нуждался в нем больше, чем мне"

"MISHA!"

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"MISHA!"

"Fuck" Misha swore under his breath, snapping into reality once more, after falling into his dark abyss known as childhood memories. His eyes went across the field, soon falling onto the medic, who was hurt. Heavy ran towards the doctor, not even feeling he bullets graze and go through him, dropping to his knees in front of the doctor. His leg was blown off by a sentry-buster, and blood was smeared onto the snow, the harsh winter numbing everything. "Mish-fich,," The german's pained breathes were visible in the cold, as he tried his best to repair himself. But, just as heavy was ready to haul him up..

"---With blood everywhere, around her legs, lying limo on the floor"

Blood loss. It took him. Heavy looked with horrified eyes, and just stared at his fallen companion-

Fallen friend

He sharply inhaled, laying his body onto the cold, one of the medic's doves flying down to his body, cooing softly at their deceased owner

"----he removed his overcoat, and slowly crept to the mother's body, laying the jacket around her, a soft prayer being hushed--"

Thus, the screams of rage and loss echoed through the blizzard, followed by the song of death, being played by the machine heavy wielded. All the emotions he's had in his body, all feelings he has bottled up for years, finally rushing out all together. His eyes filled with tears, his cries of anger erupted from his lips, everything was released upon the attacking robots, every. Single. Emotion. With every. Single. Bot.

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The boy handed the infant to one of the gulag's prisoners, a couple, a fellow companion of his family, trustworthy enough for him to give up the child.

"Такая драгоценная, есть ли у нее имя?" Asked the new mother of the child, rocking it gently, looking at the small boy, who's hand held the amulet of the woman. Her tired words echoing through his mind, grief filling his throat, unable to speak. That is, until his father laid a hand on his shoulder. "Что ж?"

He looked at the child, and held it's small hand gently, blowing on it softly to warm it. "Аму, Ее имя, аму" he spoke softly, with a melancholic smile

The new father smiled back at him, happily "Какое красивое имя для ребенка" His compliment went over the boy's head, his eyes affixed on the child's hand, stroking softly with his gloved and wounded one. "Миша?"

"Миша, пора идти"

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"Отец?" A hand was stretched out to him, a large hand similar to his, and ed by that hand, was a woman's small hand, soft looking and warm.

To think about it, everything was warm, serene even. No blizzard, no bullets, no screams. Just, warmth

"Young boy, look, i learnt english as well as you did!" Said a familiar voice. "нет..." Disbelief washed over him, as the mother's face appeared, along with his father's as well. He looked at the amulet around his neck, and looked at the woman in the eyes. "You..give this to me" Was all be could say, and the woman knelt to him. "Look how much you've grown, so big and strong" A hand was placed on his cheek. "Thank you, for letting my child have a future" Tears streamed down his face, and the woman wrapped her arms around him, engulfing him into a hug that her returned.

"But you needed necklace more than i did" He wept softly onto the woman's shoulder, the guilr, the grief, the remorse, it came all at once.

Then, nails were dug into his back.

"Но как вы можете пострадать, если вы не живете?"

And misha woke up

Nothing, but snow, blood, and metal around him.

Silence was all around him

Bodies were around him

The owl guardian

His only companion.

"Blessed by the mother, to escape death"

"Cursed by the mother, to suffer life"