" special " ; l.s

prologue

prologue

[ two years of age ]

harry followed his mother by the hand into the room down the hall. it was plain. white walls with a few pictures about health that the young boy didn't understand, but he smiled anyway.

his mother, anne, placed him onto the hospital bed. it was covered in a thin sheet of paper that made a crunching noise every time he moved in the slightest. he giggled.

an older man came in. he had on glasses, with very minimal hair on top of his head. it was grey and patchy, but his smile was bright and harry felt okay. he liked smiles.

he started to get scared when his mama sat up, face covered in worry. his eyebrows furrowed as they started to talk. he didn't understand what they were saying. they whispered and talked very fast.

"he doesn't do anything, doctor joseph. he just sits and plays with dolls. he stares at the wall as if it's the most interesting thing in the whole entire world!" she exclaimed.

the old man sighed. he looked over to harry, who was more fascinated with the color of the wall than anything else, and frowned.

"autism isn't something that's easy to understand, anne. you just need to be there for him."

and anne tried her best. with her husband, des, working twelve-hour long shifts at the construction center, that meant she was alone to attend to harry's needs.

he wasn't an easy kid. he had plenty of bad days that weren't normal for a kid. he lashed out when his pajama weren't the right color, if the television wasn't at the right volume, he couldn't cope with his own feelings.

plus, he didn't talk. he refused to communicate with his mother. of course, he was still young. but anne felt like she would never catch a break.

---

[ five years of age ]

"you don't want to be spider-man? or, or maybe batman? isn't he your favorite, dear?"

harry had been quiet the whole time anne and him were at the mall together. anne was setting up a halloween party and their house with their relatives and they were also having a costume contest, and of course harry wanted to dress up, too.

he had been quiet, as usual. he simply shook his head and growled at a few costumes his mother suggested. it had been two hours, anne had already found her costume, a witch, and she only needed harry to pick before he changes his mind about even participating.

"mama." harry murmured softly. "mama, mama girl."

anne furrowed his eyebrows, "what, harry?"

she turned and looked to where he was pointing. he was already running over towards the other part of the costume section. her eyes grew wide and she bit her lip nervously, looking at all the other parents around.

he was pointing to a belle costume, from beauty and the beast.

"girl, mama. it's girl, i want girl." harry's eyes were glued to the beautiful yellow dress. he kept tugging at the sleeves, liking the fabric.

she frowned. "harry, why don't you look at the prince charming costumes? i am sure there are still plenty."

"no, no, no. not monster, harry no monster." his eyes drifted to the floor, "harry wants pretty." he looked back at anne, "harry is pretty, yes?"

anne's heart melted. she couldn't tell him no. she couldn't make him any upset than he already was becoming. so, she nodded her head and smiled.

"yes, you're pretty. you're my pretty baby boy." she leaned down to his level and kissed his cheek. "let's go pay for this and go back home to daddy, okay?"