Creature

"If you had half a brain you'd be dangerous!"

His blown out cheeks were aimed at the frail looking child cowering beneath him. It was hardly his fault that Blaze was as dumb as he looked. He was always messing things up. Each time the consequences were his own. No more talking or grounding, this called for punishment.

Blaze could see the familiar fury rising in his father's eyes. He wished he could explain that he did it on purpose and that it was the right choice considering what he actually managed to steer clear from. Joe never seemed to get that every time he believed Blaze was being defiant his son was actually keeping him safe from the terrible thing lurking in the shadows.

He realized on his seventh birthday when there was no cake, when presents never materialized, that there was something evil draining the meager family resources, literally robbing the Hunt family of their joy. Blaze could see the hypnotic way Joe would spin on his heel, how he forced his eyes around and around until he became dizzy, ,suddenly jerking his head backwards underneath the bleeding light bulb in the kitchen.

The trance he put himself in was relentless. He would never remember the being who took over his body. Still, with all the frothing and foaming, it was a far better result than the alternative.

"I guess I will just have to take care of everything myself!"

It was a masterpiece, in the place of the time bomb snoozing in the lazy boy he was able to ignite a fire by stomping loudly across the hardwood floor or toppling a half empty coffee cup onto the rug. Surely they would all would see that, in time to come. Tip toeing around waiting for his father to explode was horrible. When Mom and Rosie went to the store Blaze would leap into action, stirring things up quickly before the pair returned.

Once the deflated creature expended his gaseous rage, things were calm again, peaceful, just in time for their return. It didn't hurt, the thought that someday they would recognize him for the hero that he was. He decided he would probably do a whole lot of stuff, to get people going. It felt good in a way to be clumsy and destructive. It felt better more and more.

At school the staff was noticing his disruptive behavior, but they had no idea where it came from or how to stop it. Why would they ever want to stop it, he wondered thoughtfully? It was just the way things were, the way they had to be and no one should gripe about it, Blaze Joseph Hunt certainly never did.