I immediately know Dale is unlike the other males in our sector. He smiles too much and his frail eyes hold a wisdom that is far beyond what it should be. He asks if he can join me on my way to the café. I don't know what compels me to say yes. I should have said no. We talk for hours. He asks silly questions about growing up, what school was like, if I have any dreams. I eventually tell him I have to leave.
When I walk through the door of my unit I am unaware of the time or even the journey I took to get there.
"You're smiling an awful lot dear," my mother says as I come through the door. The sound of her voice sends me into a shock as it knocks me out of my own thoughts.
"Oh? It's nothing," I quickly reply.
"What happened to you today? Hmm? You always come home at five," she says softly while affectionately brushing my hair back.
"Why do you do that? I wish you wouldn't do that," I say shrugging her off coldly. "And I don't always come home at five. I had some extra studying to do so I stayed at the café longer," I lie. I can see that I have hurt her. I want to take it back but there are no words left inside of me. My mind is racing too fast for me to have any form of coherent speech. I tell myself I can't see Dale again. I won't see Dale again.
YOU ARE READING
Without Flight
RomanceTwo strangers, bound by fate and the eternal, find their lives radically altered when they learn about a startling truth that has shaped themselves and those around them. This truth, that they still have the capacity to love, is unthinkable when lov...
