1 Apr 2025, 01:20
A Sea of Questions and No Answers

❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂━━━━━❂
Interacting with: N/A
Mentioning: N/A
Date: 06/08/20Word Count: 1539
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽It was a beautiful morning. Clouds dotted the sky as the golden rays of the sunrise heated Avery's face. She breathed in the fresh air of her home. It was amazing. Suddenly, the porch door creaked and soft footsteps interrupted Avery's peaceful moment. She glanced up to see a smiling Dylan standing above her. He settled in beside her and watched the sunrise. Sighing in contentment. Avery couldn't agree more. The sunrise was perfect that morning, and nothing was going to ruin that amazing day. Or so she thought. . .
Avery sighed and leaned her head against Dylan's shoulder as she watched the sunrise. She loved it in Wales. The fresh air, the beautiful sunrises, the freedom she felt, all of it. In London, she had never belonged. She was always the outcast. Always the one that was different from everyone else. She had to hide who she truly was there. That was one of the many reasons why Avery wished she still lived in Swansea still, but, above all else, Swansea was her home. London wasn't. It never was, and it would never be her home. Maybe that was why she felt so out of place there. She never belonged anywhere but Wales.
Voices could be heard through the thin screen door. Someone was up. That meant that the day was about to begin. Avery wondered what they would do that day. It looked like it was going to be very sunny, so maybe she would get to run around in the woods again while the adults talked or worked? Avery hoped that would be the case. She loved the scent of pine needles in the woods. It made her feel right at home. Even though her real home was only a couple of miles down the road. She missed that place. All she could hope was that she would get the chance to move back there some day. Then she would feel whole again.
The sound of a door creaking disturbed the peace. Avery and Dylan both jumped and turned their heads. Both surprised to see their grandfather leaning against the open door and smiling at them with a mischievous grin across his face. It was as if that grin was permanently fixated on his face due to the many times that Avery had seen him wearing it. Avery smiled. Guessing at what he was about to tell them. "Is breakfast ready?" She asked. Her grin widening.
His smile grew. "You guessed it. Now get inside and wash up before I eat it all."
Avery squealed as he poked her side as she ran inside towards the bathroom to wash her hands with Dylan in tow. Avery made sure to quickly wash her hands and run out of the bathroom before Dylan. She didn't want anyone to steal her food. She was starving, and not willing to give up her favorite breakfast.
Of course her grandfather couldn't make it easy for her to get her food. The second Avery tried to walk to grab a plate sitting on the counter waiting for her, someone grabbed her from behind. This not only caused a surprised shriek from Avery, but it also brought laughter from the adults in the house. Avery had been caught in a trap. Again. She giggled as her grandfather tickled her. Though, the only thing that could pull him away from her was one look from his wife. She was the reasonable one that knew when it was time to be serious and actually eat.
After a few minutes of Avery being trapped, it was finally time for her to actually eat. Avery grabbed her plate and walked over to where the eggs, bacon, biscuits, and other delicious looking breakfast items were. Of course Avery grabbed a little bit of everything. She loved it when her grandfather made breakfast. He was a great chef and grandfather!
After breakfast, Avery and Dylan bolted towards the woods. Not even giving a second thought to the tension building within the house. Avery had barely even noticed her mother at breakfast. Though, she recalled her looking a bit stiff and not laughing at the jokes pulled on each other at breakfast. Avery brushed that away. Not worried about it since her mother was a bit grumpy when it came to mornings. She would probably be better by the afternoon.
It was a beautiful and clear day once they had made it to the woods. There were no clouds in the sky as the sun shined through the trees. Avery couldn't wait. Today she would finally get the chance to beat Dylan in their "duel". Well "duel" wasn't necessarily the right way to put it. They weren't actually dueling. They were way too young to do magic, and, on top of that, they were inexperienced. It wouldn't end well if they attempted to actually duel each other. They would just have to wait until they were older. Then they could see who was really the best.
They played for hours, or what felt like hours before they decided to head back to the house to find something for lunch. They had agreed on trying to convince their grandfather to make sandwiches when they heard yelling coming from the house. Curious, they crept closer silently. Not willing to announce their presence yet. Angry voices flooded out from the inside of the house. Whoever was yelling was not happy. At all. Avery felt a hand grab her arm. Gently squeezing for reassurance. Neither one of us knowing what was going on.
Suddenly, Avery's mom burst out the front door. Anger across her face. Avery froze on the spot. She had never seen her mother that angry. What had happened? Why was she so angry? How long had this been going on? Questions flooded Avery's head. Causing her to feel dizzy. She was scared and confused. Unsure of how her mother would react if her and Dylan walked out of the bushes.
"Raelynn, please listen. You know that's not true!" Dylan's mom, Rylee, called out as she walked out of the house with their grandfather in tow. That's when angry tears began to fall against Avery's mother's face. Avery bit her lip. She was conflicted.
"I know perfectly well what I believe to be true or false and I will not allow you to force me into this!" Avery's mother, Raelynn yelled back to them. She was very angry. Even angrier than Avery had expected.
Of course, Avery's mother had spotted her and Dylan between the bushes. Her face grew redder in anger. Avery ducked her head behind Dylan. The only thought running through her mind was terror. She was terrified about what her mother may do to her.
Avery's mother stomped over to where Avery had hidden behind Dylan and grabbed her arm. Hard. She yanked Avery and began to drag her towards the house. No matter how much Avery protested against it. All Avery could do was stare back at Dylan terror etched across both of their faces.
"Come on, Avery. We are leaving. Pack your bags." Her mother said as she threw her daughter towards the porch. Avery slowly stood up and walked inside. Tears welling in her eyes. Avery walked slowly into the house. The once joyful and carefree place now felt like a prison. Leaving. Actually leaving. Avery didn't want to leave. She loved being free. Maybe her mother would let her stay? Avery knew better than to ask. She didn't want to risk more bruises than she already had from banging her knees against the porch.
Suddenly, a familiar person walked into the room. Dylan. The one person that would understand how she felt. He always seemed to know what she was feeling. That's probably why they had always been close. Even he had tears in his eyes. Though, he never let them fall. That's when her tears began. She ran towards where he was standing and engulfed herself in his embrace. Not wanting to leave, and especially not wanting to leave with her mother. Deep down, she knew that this would probably be the last time she would see him for a long time, and that thought alone made everything worse.
"Don't forget me, okay?" Dylan's muffled voice said near my neck.
I buried my face deeper into his neck after he said that. He knew it too. This really was a goodbye. "Never." Avery's voice croaked out. The last words she would say for the rest of that day.
Of all times to find them, Avery's mother stormed into the room still caught up in her anger. She quickly threw Avery's clothes into her trunk before yanking it off the bed and grabbing Avery's arm. Avery was dragged from the room as tears fell down her face. All she could see was Dylan's face as she was dragged away. It was as if a part of her died in that moment. A part that never came back. Not yet, anyway. Maybe one day she could repair the damage, but, for now, all she could feel was sadness and anger towards her mother for taking her away from the one place she actually still felt happy. ✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
✽
Credit: Mylo Atkins
Be the change you wish to see |
||
in the world. |