Shattering Humanity-Chapter 61: TayTay’s Tragic Backstory Part 2
Mid-day on the deserted private island that Taylor and his parents are now stranded on since the incident. The sun is high in the cloudless sky.
The heat and humidity can be seen in the air as still pudgy Taylor is turning over rocks while his thinning parents watch on in the shade, inside a shallow rock cave.
His father is sharpening a stick, exhaustion bags under his bloodshot eyes, and an unclean beard.
Papa Tay: "It’s been 10 days since we became stranded, and it’s because of him. If that wasn’t enough, he snuck away while we were sleeping and ate the little food we had found that was left by the party cruise. We could’ve survived if he just.."
The disgruntled father grips the pointed stick tightly and Mama Tay looks down at the sand.
Papa Tay: "He’s the reason we’re out here now on the verge of death. It’ll be another 14 days before the next party cruise that owns this island comes for their monthly visit. We’ll starve out here by the time they show up."
Taylor’s mother is now silently looking at the man losing his sanity.
Meanwhile, little chubby TayTay with a full beach tan, waddles to a decent size rock and he kicks the rock over. He finds a small crab.
The curious 9 year old looks at the tiny crustacean, and then quickly eats it without hesitation and without flinching. After an satisfying gulp, Tay then looks up at the bright sun in the cloudless sky. The young boy doesn’t look away until a bigger crab pinches him. It’s the momma of his previous victim that he ate.
The dunce tilts his head and without thought, grabs it and eats the momma crab after finishing his seafood snack, the "little boy" looks over to his left and sees his mother’s sun hat on the sand being barely touched by the incoming tide.
Taylor waddles up to the hat and grabs it. He looks at it and runs over to his mother with it clutched in both hands. His mother’s gaze goes from the deranged man sharpening a stick, to the sounds of kicked up sand approaching her. She smiles as her son approaches her and hands over the found treasure to his mama and she puts it on. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
MaMa Tay: " Thank you sweetheart, you’ll be such a gentleman some day."
Tay admires the beautiful smile of the tall stranded woman in a dirty sundress and smiles back up at her.
The sun goes down for the day and the struggling family is sitting around a campfire on separate logs. Papa Tay is by himself on the opposite side of the beach fire as Taylor is laying with his head on his mother’s lap, his eyes fluttering asleep. She’s petting his head while telling him the story of the Sun with a table of food.
Mama Tay: "...And while the hero focused on that bright table in the sky, he then jumped as high as he could towards it. The table with the most delicious and incredibly rare foods that only the strongest of the Gods are able to look at."
Tay falls asleep and she stops talking. Taylor’s soft sleeping breathing and the crackling of the fire being the only things making noise. From the other side of the fire, Taylor’s dad with his orange eyes, is staring at his sleeping son, the sharpened stick in his hand. His mother’s golden eyes staring at the man she married and created this small family with.
MaMa Tay: "I don’t know what you’re thinking Dennis, but if you’re thinking about hurting this boy, hurting our son, you’re not the man I thought you were when I fell in love with you."
PaPa Tay: "It’s his fault Chloe...if he hadn’t gotten close to the edge of the goddamn boat, he wouldn’t have fallen off, we wouldn’t have panicked and both jumped off the boat, leaving it to drift off while it took both of us to save him."
Taylor’s mother puts the sun hat that drifted ashore under Tay’s sleeping head as a pillow as she gets up and walks towards her husband.
PaPa Tay: "He hasn’t begun converting that fat into muscle yet, if we want to survive the next few weeks we’re gunna have to eat-"
Tay’s mother slaps his father before he can get out the desperate plan to survive. Shocked with tears, and a red hand mark on his face visible by the fire, he looks up at his wife who is scowling him and looking down on him in disgust.
MaMa Tay: "As a parent, don’t you EVER try blaming your misfortunes on your child. No matter how you twist it in your mind this boy is our child and our reason to live. You’re telling me, if you ate your only son, you would be able to live with yourself afterwards? You would survive long enough to be saved, and then what? Live knowing you killed your own son because you were scared of dying? What kind of man are you?"
Taylor’s father looks down at his sharpened stick and back up at his wife with tear streaming from his eyes.
PaPa Tay (sobbing in fear): "What are we gunna do Chloe? I’m so scared. All I wanted was to enjoy a day on the boat with my family, and now my family is going to die. It’s not his fault, my pride as a man is in shambles because I’m powerless. There’s nothing I can do to save us all, why? WHY!?"
Taylor wakes up but doesn’t lift his head. He slowly drifts back to sleep while hearing his mother.
MaMa Tay: "Don’t worry Dennis, you two will be fine. Just promise me you’ll always think of keeping our son alive before keeping yourself alive, like a true man."
Taylor drifts to sleep.
The sun rises over the ocean, Taylor wakes up and sees his father cooking ’meat’ over the fire. Taylor looks around for his mother but then his stomach growls. His father is crying, blood on his shirt and face.
Taylor looks at his father and begins to cry too. His father stops whimpering from hearing his son and begins eating one of the meat on the sticks. He hands one over to his son and it stops him from crying. The father and son silently eat their meal. Afterwards, Taylor wanders around looking for his MaMa. His father, not moving, after taking into consideration what had just done. He stays looking at the bones left from the meal in silence with tears stuck in his orange eyes, none ever falling out.
12 days later...
A tropical storm rolls over the island Taylor and his father are stranded on. Winds whipping and rain coming down hard.
The two are sitting in a shallow cave. Tay still hasn’t seen his MaMa since that night. He looks up at his father and the man, looking at the storm, still has tears in his eyes that refuse to fall in determination not to make his son worry and cry.
Papa Tay: "It’s been 3 days since we ran out of that spare food Taylor. I’m going to go out for a second to check the rain water that collected. I’ll be right back buddy."
Taylor watches as the man walks into the rain storm, unable to see the now falling tears of his father, camouflaged by the rain. Taylor, weak from not having food for three days, falls asleep to the sound of rain. He quickly opens his eyes after a lightning bolt quickly strikes the island, causing a loud thunderous BOOM and a tree can be heard falling close by.
Taylor looks around, scared from the sudden noise, clutching his mother’s sun hat and all alone without his mother or father.
