Mind Garden

2

Daniel closes the window. The clock reads 2:34 am in bright glowing numbers. The wind circling the room ceases, and he lies on the mattress which he has stripped of sheets and put onto the floor. He forced his father to take the frame to the basement a long while ago. No explanation needed.

He pulls the single white sheet over him and rests his head on the pillow. A soft thumping noise echoes through his room.

Thump. Thump thump. Thump.

It slowly lulls him to sleep.

~

Daniel wakes to the thumping from last night, but much louder and more hazardous.

Thump. Thump. Thump thump.

Just as he steps out of bed his door is cast open by his mother.

"Would you quit that racket?" She exclaims as she surveys the boy and his head of messy blue hair.

"And fix yourself up, you look like you're homeless, for God's sake." The door shuts.

Daniel huffs. He meanders into the bathroom, turning on the nozzle for cold water in the shower. He removes his clothes and steps in, shivering as the freezing beads of water pierce his skin.

He refuses anything warm to touch him; food, drinks, water; they all must be cold to some extent.

As he hops out of the shower, drying off, he can hear his three younger siblings yelling somewhere in the house.

Daniel throws his towel in the black hamper, and pulls open a drawer. He slips on underwear and black jeans. He browses his rack of shirts.

He grabs a pink T-shirt and slides it over his head. A comb runs through his hair, taming the pastel blue mess.

"Good luck," his friends whisper around him, a gentle hush to his temper.

He smiles slightly. The window opens, and Daniel leaves the room. He finds his way to the kitchen, where his little siblings are bickering over waffles.

"I wanted the last blueberry one!" Taylor yells at Ellen, who's holding the last one.

Quinn runs up from behind her and takes it, devouring it whole. Ellen screams. Quinn laughs and laughs, Taylor starting to hit him with her sleeve. Daniel sighs, pushing the three apart.

"Ellen! Taylor! Go get ready for school. Quinn, you too. Daniel, get going. I won't have you late again. I'm tired of your behavior these days!" his mum exclaims. She frowns at the group and walks back downstairs.

Daniel makes a beeline from the door and to the mailbox of his neighbor. Kal is leaning against the tree with a cigarette.

"Hey, Danny," she says, and takes a drag of her cigarette. Daniel nods.

"Cigarette?" Kal extends the box to him. He shakes his head.

"More for me."

They stand for a long while in silence, the occasional wheeze from Kal due to the smoke. After a good five minutes, the bus pulls to a stop in front of them. Daniel gets on first, Kal second as she tosses her cigarette into the grass. She jumps up the steps after him.

"G'morning, guys," Mr. Jay, the bus driver, says. The two take a seat at the front of the bus.

Daniel takes the inside seat, leaning his head against the window.

The howls of the other kids take to his ears, scratching at his skin and peeling away every layer of protection.

He finds himself shaking as they approach the school.