Settling in Cavetown

Lov Song

After eating some of his mother's shared portion of her potato soup, he helped her scrub the dishes and utensils she utilized. He always did them without her asking, and it would always shine a twinkle in her heart, knowing she raised her son the way she did.

She never had any particular difficulty in shaping Robbie to be the person that he is; he just always was. If she had to recall the amount of misbehavior she endured from Robin, she'd probably only be able to fit it on one singular hand. Sometimes it even felt as if a hand was far too much.

Robbie finished up by drying the dishes before sitting down in the living room by his mother. He cuddled up in a ball by his mother side, with a blanket to coat the two of them, but before he could proceed to take hold of the television remote, he interrupted.

"Sorry, I need to grab my bear, I'll be back in like 30 seconds."

His mother giggled, as she watched him clumsily tremble up the stairs towards his bedroom door.

Upon opening it, he was greeted by a lovely Casper, placing his tiny hands on the glass of his cage. Robbie placed his finger on the other side of the glass towards Casper's little hand, before grabbing hold of his fluffy companion; who sat beside Casper's home.

Pacing down the stairs, he rushed back into the same position he was in previously with his mother, instead, this time, his mother was reaching for the remote. Having the remote between her fingers, she decided to search through YouTube, taking hold of her subscriptions in search for Good Mythical Morning; a YouTube channel where the hosts, Rhett and Link, take possession of unique challenges, mostly involving food as a subject.

They coursed through a couple videos from their "Will it ___" series, with Robbie fidgeting with the fur of the bear in between his intertwined arms. His head rested on his mother's chest, with her head resting above his; the sound of the television was slowly fading within the background. As time flew by, he eventually fell asleep to the sound of his mother's heartbeat, faintly snoring.

Eyes open

He drifted off into a mist; it wasn't clear, but neither was it blurry. He was floating in mid air, and he could fly where his mind led him to. He could see the clouds from earlier in that day, slightly distorted from the complexity of the sky. He set foot on one of the clouds; tearing a small piece of the material and cupping it in the crease of the connection between his hands.

'I've always wanted to try this' he thought

With one thumb, he placed the small piece of cloud on the tip of his teeth, slowly shutting his mouth. As the cloud slid to the base of his tongue, he realized it wasn't like the marshmallows he predicted it would taste like, but like potato soup. In fact, it was the exact potato soup his mother had prepared for him that day.

He smiled, as he savored the square bits of chopped potato drizzled with cheese and oregano. The sweetness of the juices left from the potato, reminding him of the delight of arms curling around him, when you can't support himself. But the more cloud he consumed, the less flavor he could taste. Would he be abandoned someday? Or was he overthinking it? Would his two friend's hugs eventually dry out?

There was an ingredient missing, but he never knew what.

His eyes blinked open, with a small tear slithering out the corner of his eye. His mother was still sleeping and he didn't want disturb her over his own distress. He slyly lifted her head off his head, along with the arm that was held above his shoulder, before cautiously walking up the stairs, dragging his bear across the wall.

As he locked himself in his room, he couldn't help but allow the tears to drip off his chin. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he couldn't find comfort in himself; it didn't help that he had also gotten diagnosed with an Anxiety Disorder. His anxiety would always get the better him, it had been uncontrollable; he could never order for himself at restaurants; he couldn't be alone in a place for too long; he couldn't even properly talk to another person without worrying if he was being too much of a bother.

He was worried his dependency would eventually drag him down. He couldn't stop the rough clasp of his hands against the bear's fur, he felt so dissociated from his surroundings within that moment. He began to punch his pillows out of frustration; he was so tired of this continuous worry.

He looked up to see Casper, their colors were a melancholy tone at the sight of Robbie's noticeable irritability. Robbie wiped his tears with the back of his palm, as he lifted himself off his bed to pick up his baby.

Casper's colors almost immediately warmed up once picked up, with Robbie giving him a small hug of embrace. Robin cautiously took him to his desk, where he sat him down, as he was grabbing hold by the neck of his ukulele. He placed his fingers on the fretboard with a triangular shape; a G chord.

"This is a song I've been making for you, bub," he spoke, staring directly at Casper.

He stares down at his fingers, before beginning his strumming pattern. The song's tempo was beautifully steady; the notes produced so brightly with a beautiful reverb produced from the ukulele's interior, reflecting the energy Casper's brought within him.

Casper closed his little eyes in enjoyment, while his colors followed the song's cheerfully bright melody. Robbie smiled at the sight of it.

'The skies' not falling down just yet, so I'll sit right here with you, if you'll let me' (Lov Song: Good Vibes Album)