Empyrean Iris Story Collection

Empty Eyes

Light streamed in through the open window and past the gently rocking gauzy curtains. Martha Vir stood at the sink absently washing dishes and watching the sunlight glitter across the wet grass of her front yard. It smelled like summer.

The screen door at the front of the house opened, and then crashed closed almost violently making her jump and spill soapy dishwater all down her front. "Shoot." She muttered drying her hands and turning her head towards the door, "Adam?" She wondered, but all she saw was a discarded backpack by the door.

She set the dishrag down on the counter and moved back into the house peering past the doorframe and into the last room on the left.

The small, skinny, blond boy wearing tan shorts and a black T-shirt lay flat on his bed face in his arms. His oversized sneakers hung over the side of the bed. His shoulders shook softly.

Inside she felt a twinge of anger knowing what this might be about, but she kept her composure and sat down next to him resting a hand on his back, "Adam, sweetheart what's wrong." He didn't answer immediately, but he never did, so she waited. Adam never liked showing emotion in front of anyone, so it would take him a minute to calm down enough for him to speak. She looked around the room, at the Star-Wars, Star Trek, Alien, Predator, Battle LA, Interstellar, and a multitude of other posters new and VERY old covering the walls. A big white telescope pointed out the window, and a big-headed stuffed little green alien sat slumped on the bed.

Eventually a mumbled voice.

"What was that?"

The boy sat up angrily chest heaving with the occasional after-sob. He turned his head away quickly, but his big-green eyes were wide with tears. "I-I don't w-want to g....go to school a-anymore."

"Those other kids being mean to you again."

A slight nod, "They s-said I'm stupid b-because aliens aren't real. I t-tried to explain how b-big the universe is and s-so their m-must be aliens but, but they just wouldn't listen,"

Martha shrugged, "So, Guess this just means you'll have to prove them wrong."

***

"If I start taking classes early, and then graduate, I can have my Bachelors in Aviation. Plus Staff Sergeant Jackson said that if I join the ROTC program, the army will PAY for everting, and I might be able to get my pilot's license." The lanky teen bounced on the balls of his feet scruffy blond hair bouncing with him, she very much wished he would cut it. The way he had it now made him look like a boy band reject. "And then if I become a fighter pilot, they'll have to let me into the Space Corpse."

Across the room Thomas snorted from where he sat watching TV, "Good luck with that little bro. You gotta pass a PT test to join the army, and you get blown over in a strong wind."

A loud SMACK, and Thomas yelped, "Shut up, Adam can do whatever he wants." David grinned at him from across the room, "Go for it kid, you'll do great."

Martha Smiled David and turned to Adam again, "David's right Adam, we believe in you, and if this is what you really want than we have no doubt you can do it." She glanced at her second youngest son, "Even Thomas."

***

"I Adam Allen Vir having been appointed a Lieutenant in the United Nations Space Corpse, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend planet Earth against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter."