THE EYE (on hold due to editing)

HUSH LITTLE BABY

Theo came back to us with a pile of tiny pictures in his hand. Aidan and I were exhausted, we were dirty, hungry and thirsty and I needed to pee so badly. My arms hurt from being stuck against my back this whole time. The wooden chair was absolutely not comfortable and the room was getting hotter and hotter.

The first picture Theo showed me was the picture of a cat. I raised an eyebrow at him. He looked at me and then at Aidan.

"Nothing." Aidan shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not a cat person." I explain with a frown.

I must have imagined it, but I saw a tiny, tiny smile on the corner of his lips. He wrote something on his device and grabbed the second picture, it was a little baby. I had no idea who it was.

"Ew-" Aidan frowned as if he smelled something bad. "Disgust? No- no, I don't like it."

Theo looked at me again. I understood that he wanted an explanation each time.

"I do not have a good connexion with kids, I don't really like them." I smiled, a little bit proud of my play on word.

He wrote something again and showed me the picture of a dog. Its ears were flying in the wind as it was running.

"Joy!" Aidan smiled. "I'm happy. It's warm and it makes me smile."

I was so impressed that Aidan could feel all the things I was feeling. I even thought that he was making me fun of me, but he seemed sincere. I was proud of him.

"I love dogs." I smiled at Theo. It was quite obvious since I told him that I was not a cat person.

This time, he did try to hide his smile, and grabbed the fourth picture showing a bunch of huge ass spiders. Aidan felt fear and disgust, I explain that I was arachnophobic. He then showed me the picture of the ocean.

"It's soft, it's lovely. I'm feeling chill and calm and- there's also a bit of nostalgia."

For some reason, I have always admired the ocean - its grandiosity, its beauty, its mysteries. It was calm yet so dangerous. I have always loved the ocean.

Theo wrote the answer down and grabbed another pile of pictures, they looked different, they were polaroids.

The first one pictured a small park near a tiny river. I immediately recognised the place.

"Wow-" Aidan widely opened his eyes. "It is so warm, there're so many things. A lot of nostalgia, happiness. I'm feeling relaxed, but also terribly sad."

"It's the park my mum used to take me to - me and brother." I explained looking at the floor. "We used to go there each time my father would get too drunk and too- dangerous. She would prepare a quick picnic and we would spend the day there. It was safer than calling the cops. I love that place." I felt the warmth that Aidan was talking about. A lot of emotions surrounded me.

I missed my mum.

"Okay." Theo whispered, grabbing another picture.

"Oh, no!" Aidan shook his head. His eyes were closed again. "I don't like it. I don't like it at all. Anger, disgust, aggressively, loathing. It's red. I need to punch something. Gosh- what the fuck is that?"

"My father." I glared at the picture. The man who ruined me, my worst nightmare. I had his eyes and the colour of his hair. I hated everything about him and most of all - his face. I wanted to spit on the picture, just like I spat onto his body. I still wanted him to suffer.

"All right, next one." Theo quickly said, noticing my state of mind.

I thought that nothing could be worse than any picture of my father. I hoped that he would show me something that I would enjoy, something to call me down. He did the opposite.