They Won't Know It's You // Joshler

Day Eight

I smiled a tiny bit at my TV and then my mom walked into my room. She had a glass of water in her hand and looked at me, smiling when she caught me smiling.

"What're you smiling at?," She asked and handed over the glass of water. I took it while speaking to her.

"A movie"

"Ohh, interesting," she replied and handed over the blue pill. I put it in my mouth and took a drink of the water. It didn't go down the first couple tries and I soon got irritated.

"It won't go down," I spoke with my tongue out, showing mom my pill.

"Well try again, you've been taking them for eight days now."

I shrugged and took another drink of my water; the pill went down. "Here you go," I said and handed over the glass. She took it.

"How are you feeling? Any bad thoughts? Bad dreams?"

I tapped my fingers on my leg. "I was having bad thoughts about thirty minutes ago, so I put in the movie that I'm watching right now," I replied while looking at mom.

She nodded and rubbed my back. "Alright. There's mail for you, want me to get it?"

I nodded. "Yes, please"

Mom nodded and left the room. I stood up and looked out my window. I don't know why, but windows always make me happy for some reason. It's like the outside is telling me that things will get better. It just brings hope to me.

"Here you go, Tyler," Mom said as she entered my room. She held a thin brown box. I stepped closer to her and took it. I looked to see who it was addressed to, and it was to me, but it was from Dr. Gust. My eyes lit up as I realized what this could be. I quickly set it down on my bed and began to rip away the tape.

"What did she send you?," Mom asked me.

"A mask," I spoke. "She told me that she'd give it to me the next time I saw her, though."

Mom only nodded as I continued to open the box. As soon as I got the tape off, I opened the flaps and found a sheet of lined paper that had writing on it. I picked it up and read it to myself.

Tyler,
I know I said I would give this to you when I saw you next time during therapy, but I did find a mask for you that night you asked me to get one. I couldn't wait five days, I just needed to give it to you as quick as possible because I think it'll be best for you to get outside earlier. So when I see you next time, I'm expecting for you to say that you went outside.
Dr. Gust

I finished reading and set down the paper in front of my mom so she could read it, too. I looked inside the box and found a folded, white ski mask. I picked it up and looked at it. It had eye holes, a nose hole, and a mouth hole. It was perfect. I slipped it on over my head and set my hands on the cloth covering my ears. I felt the material covering my face, too.

"Why a ski mask?," Mom wondered aloud.

"So they won't know it's me," I replied instantly and looked at her. I couldn't express how much the mask made me feel better. It made me feel as if no one knew it was me under it. Not even my mom. No one would know who I am, and no one would know I have acute stress disorder. I held back a smile.

"Who is 'they'?"

"Just people in general"

"Alright then. So when are you going to go outside?," Mom replied.

I shrugged and sighed. "I dunno"

"Well, make sure you go out sometime during the next three days. Dr. Gust is expecting an answer from you when she asks about you going outside."