ᶜᵘᵗ!

➪ 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 𝟎𝟏

↻ 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝟎𝟏 ↺

« Mom! I'm gay for fuck's sake! It's not- what do you mean? Can't you accept that? Wha- »

That man over the phone. Brown long coat with black boots. Though he was wearing a big white hoodie - which is a weird choice for the weather- , his ginger hair all over the place and his pale eyes seemed red.
This man over the phone. He was sitting on one of the swings of the neighbouring park. It was mid September but it was a breezy day. Early Tuesday. The leaves just began turning all the shades in between yellow and dark red. The color of that man's hair was the exact color of the leaves's tree that was covering the swings.

His face was a mess. Anger, sadness, irritation, deception and expectation. All at once on one person's face. He looked nervous. Stressed. The hand in his hair, gripping a few strands, showed very well his emotional state.

He ended the call with a very furious groan. Tapping his screen with force and shoving it into his pocket.
Any other adult - as I saw daily- would've probably reacted as it follows: sighing, looking down and take their head into their hands, elbows on their knees.
But that man over the phone was not an adult. He was a child in an adult's body. Trapped in that category society gave him.

Instead of handling the situation like an adult he huffed loundly and began swinging in the swing like a kid. He went so high in the sky, my eyes were blinded by the sun when I lifted my head.

At that moment I understood. This man over the phone showed me. He showed me that your status is just a thing other people give you so it's easier to judge, to generalize your life. Well in that case, I guess I always felt like I'd been an adult.

As far as my knowledge as a 6 years old would take me, I began seeing that I was just different.

« Excuse me. »

I interrupted him in his activity. He turned his head and had this look: shit-I've-been-using-a-child's-swing kinda look. He smiled at me and chuckled. A smile magically appeared on his lips.

« Oh my bad kid! I was lost in my thoughts! »

Yeah I saw that mister.

« don't worry I wasn't going to get on the swing. Plus, it's not like there are 7 other ones I can use. » He looked at his left and hummed. I could almost hear him say "how am I so dumb" he raised his eyebrows.

« you're right..»

« Well. Actually mister, could you push me? »

Now he looked confused as hell.

« On the swing I mean.»

« Ooooohh! My bad haha! Of course! »

Well maybe he is dumb after all.

As I got on on one of the seats, I realized something. I'm too short.
The man understood as I looked at him. He got me up by my armpits and put me in the air. Without expecting it, he made me jump in the sky.

It's like everything froze. His smile, my breath stopped, the leaves stuck in the air while falling. His eyes were squinting like me looking up at the sunny sky earlier and I remember every single one of his features at this exact moment. Like I took a photo.

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