Real Boy

"I am a real boy!" I scream into your ears. My knuckles grip tighter on the silk of your worn out blouse, and I pull myself closer to your chest, looking up at your mourning face.
You descend down from the dark staircase, closer to the warmth of the fire and the sparks that flutter wildly like butterflies taking flight around it.
"I am a real boy! Believe me!" I say trembling.
"No!" You shriek back in disbelief, " your not a real boy! I carved you from wood, now hush demon!"
"Mommy... Please!" I stutter out, shaking with confusion.
You walk closer to the fireplace holding me restlessly in your warm, flaky arms.
I hold my ears to your chest to listen to your heart beat.
"Mommy we both have heart beats see," I tell you as I hold your hand to my chest, " Believe me I am real!"
My words appear to fall upon deaf ears as the only  thing she does is remove her hand from my chest.
I feel the heat biting at my flesh,  feeding off of me. We stop a mere foot from the hands of the fire, where I can see my brother's and sister's ashes and limbs, or as mother says 'branches', at the center of the blistering affair.
A single tear falls from my eyes into the hands of the fire, where it evaporates upon contact. She is also crying, it appears almost that I am convincing her that I am real.
"Please..." I whisper.
For the first time she looks down at me, not with hate nor ungratefulness, but with love.
"You are real," She grins.
She holds me even tighter than ever, and we share a smile, the first we have ever shared.You turn us around away from the fireplace, and I sigh with relief.
"Thank you mommy, I love y..." I'm interrupted as you trip over the heavy shagged carpet that stretches over the beaten hardwood flooring. You toss me up in the air behind you, through the cage that fences the flames, into the mouth of the fire, as you try to keep your balance. She catches herrself before falling.
"Mommy help!" I scream in terror.
Her eyes catch my location and she bursts into tears screaming back to me
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean too!"
You watch me, crying with pain, as I am slowly eaten alive by the impish inferno.