Mind Garden

4

Daniel's phone lights up in the darkness of his room. He feels his friends sweep across the floor to it, swirling about in a mass of eerie glow. He stumbles out of bed and over to the table where it sits.

The air around it grows icy, and as his fingers brush the screen, the air goes stale.

He opens up his messages to find, where normally a blank white slate would be, one box displaying the name 'Ash'. His lips curve into a smirk of sorts as he reads her words. Daniel replies slowly, typing out each word and admiring it.

He sends the message and turns his phone off, laying down on top of the covers. The air flips, flops, cools, and starts to crawl about his flesh, looking for an entrance. He falls asleep quickly and awakens as the morning sun rips his room in half.

~

Daniel looks across his room after school, scanning it for a sign of intrusion. With a relaxed sigh, he locks the door and goes to his desk, searching through his welter of supplies to start sketching.

He starts with a stem, branching leaf shapes from it. He adds petals; gently shaped, rounded petals.

He drops the first sketch on his bed and starts another and another and another. His eyes focus on the scratch-scratching pencil and paper colliding ever so gracefully.

He adds color to a few, shading and working at the image. He ends the session with four papers strewn across his comforters.

He filters through the stack, finding his favorite. He pulls it out and sets it aside. The rest start to get tacked and taped to his walls.

Daniel rotates in a circle to admire his works.

"This is good," Ryn whispers to him.

He closes his eyes to feel her presence. The air chills and he can feel her movements around him.

"I want to be able to see you," Daniel murmurs, eyes still clamped shut to keep away tears.

"Soon, my dear."

~

Daniel forces his eyes shut. His mother is staring at him with contempt.

"Mom, I'm taking Ellen, Tay and Quinn to school," his sister, Charlie, says as she rounds up the younger ones.

"Okay, stay safe dear," his mother replies with a smile. That smile disappears once Charlie leaves the room and has backed down the driveway, taking the rest of the kids with.

"Daniel, you speak or I'm marching right into that room of yours and searching it to every corner and depth."

He narrows his eyes in confusion. She huffs in irritation.

Had they not had an argument around four a.m. last night, this would not be happening. But the conversation went very badly and turned into hushed yells and a final door slam. Of course Daniel could of avoided the whole exchange had he not went to the kitchen for water and interrupted his mother's alone time.

"Your counselor called yesterday, and I'm tired of her constantly calling. Either you speak or I go investigate myself!" Her voice raises at the end of her sentence.

Daniel musters a few words that come out in a scratchy voice:

"She's just telling you things. I'm fine. Just different."

"I'll drop you off today, let's go."

Daniel trudges out the door after her.

~

The car rumbles along the road as they approach the school. The interior is dead silent; no radio, just the sound of awkward breathing. The sunshine filters through the trees and inside the car to illuminate all of his problems, as if he's the main act at a concert everyone's come to see. When the car stops, Daniel slings his bag over his shoulder and silently gets out, slamming the car door and marching up to the school.

Hundreds of kids are meandering their way to their lockers and first period classes already.

Daniel finds himself in the bathroom; his bag thrown onto the tile, hands resting on the sink.

He leans his head against the mirror.

A soft hum meets him.

"Keep going. Keep going. Keep going."