Boys in the Valley

by Philip Fracassi

It is a black seed waiting to take root, twine itself into my bones, my flesh, my mind. It is my constant, silent adversary. A slow poison that I feel will forever be my secret burden, and one that I would never inflict upon another.

“The discovery of Christ is not found in a darkened room, Peter,” he says solemnly. “It’s found in the light. God is not found through escape from a distant place, but through the arrival of where you already are.

One reason tragedy exists is to teach us how to help others, help others learn how to find a way through their own dark time, through a journey of growth.

him, because he can stand it now. He can stand it quite well. In a dark, secret closet of his mind, a place where the flies can’t enter, a piece of him hides. Like the closet from his childhood, except now, instead of fearing the dark, he welcomes it. The dark means safety. It means that there is a thread of will that remains to him. A thread of sanity. That part of him hiding

“I am sorry. About all of this. I know you are scared. And I know how unfair all of this is, but I need you two to lead while I am gone. I need you to stop being boys, and become the men I know you already are, inside and out. Not everyone gets a choice as to when they are forced to grow up, but this moment, this day, is yours. You must meet the challenge.”

The bond between these orphaned brothers, peter and david, to stand and fight these demons head on when if they were separate they would've ran or given up. Its like they give each other purpose to stand their ground to these monsters.