The Castle

There was once a kid who was so weak, so insignificant, that it was everyone's favourite pastime to walk all over him.

The kid grew in a tough neighbourhood where if you're not tough enough, you're everyone's prey, he was well raised, parents coming from an old lineage, they raised him in a manner to be a good person, someone to respect, someone to look up to, someone for them to look at later and be proud.

They didn't equip him however to live in his neighbourhood, whenever he walked down the streets, he'd be prey to the toughies down there.

As time flew by, he learned to avoid trouble, move unseen, un-noticed by anyone, attention in his case was the attention of his predators, he didn't want that.

He learned to be good at something else, he learned to build, not destroy, a healer, not a slayer.

One thing he valued most, building sand castles, whenever he found a pile of sand, he'd crawl over and try building it into a sand castle.

However, in his neighbourhood, this was too sissy like, this was unheard of, it was everyone's passion to let him build, then - just as he's about to finish - someone walks over and kick the sand back into place, a pile of sand.

He started learning their ways, it was obvious to him that unless he could defend his castle, it'd be trampled under their feet over and over again.

The kid grew up into a very secluded teen, always picked on by his peers, then came the day where he had to make a stand, and he did.

For 2 more years the youth defended his right to build, nearly killed 3 people in the process, till everyone was satisfied that they couldn't break him anymore, but that he'd keep to himself if left alone.

He grew up building these castles of sand, always failing, always someone would come at the last moment and step over it and he'd re-build them, only for someone else to come and step over it again.

Until one day, the job was complete, a shining castle was built, nobody came anymore to trample it, but the young man was afraid now.

He had put so much for this dream, had fought for his right for so long, that he no longer trusted people to actually leave him be.

Whenever someone came to his house to visit, you'd find the young man sitting protectively beside his achievement, he didn't want to show it off to anyone, he justed wanted to be left alone.

Everytime he felt a threat, he'd fight it off, he could no longer afford to sit and watch, he'd act first, just in case.

He wanted nothing more than to be left alone, cause he'd lost all faith that nobody wants to steal from him, nobody wants to hurt him anymore.

Only one achievement throughout his life, and he's watching over it, not even his parents were allowed to go anywhere near it.

The day he dies, he'll die clinging to this one, cause he has nothing else.