PLANES & PLAYGROUNDS
"Let's play in the playground!"
Jane was fifteen and was terrified of going outside. Birds, people, trees, or anything else scared her -- except her own shadow. She was familiar with it. But since she was scared of seeing a tree's leaf, she stayed inside and was homeschooled by her aunt, Sarah, and her aunt's husband, Benny. They had kids of their own that went to public schools and made fun of Jane for not wanting to see the slight bit of sticks stacked in a pile. One day, the kids came over -- about three of them and they brought a few friends -- and the eldest was around Jane's age and their name was Scott. Jane does not like the fact that Scott is her cousin and would just go outside to push him in boiling hot lava.
Scott sat next to her at the dining room while she was taking her Poe class finals. He shoved her so she would mess up her writing, "Fuck off, Scott, no one likes you." Jane murmured as she erased the line that went across her paper.
"Ooh, how long has if been since you cussed last? About a month?" Scott said as he kicked her chair from under the table.
"Leave me alone! Go outside and enjoy the light the sun offers!" Jane yelled as she scooted herself closer to the table. She heard Sarah shout for Scott to leave Jane alone from the hallway. Scott sighed and left Jane alone to finish her final.
Scott's little sister, McKena, ran up to Jane, "Do you want to go play in the playground?"
"No, Kena, I already told you I don't like outside." Jane said as she finished answering a question.
McKena frowned, "Why not?"
"I just don't, okay? I always feel like something bad might happen if I do go out there."
"Why?" McKena swayed so her purple skirt would go back and forth.
"You'll understand when you get older, Kena." McKena was only five and didn't understand why some kids like to be indoors rather than getting some Vitamin D, but McKena nodded anyway and walked away from Jane. Kena yelled to come into the living room if you want to go to the park and everyone ran in.
"Is your older sister coming?" One of Scott's friends asked him.
"Hell no, and she's not my sister, she's my cousin." Scott said as he bounced a basketball on the hardwood floors. They asked where her parents were and McKena answered.
"Her daddy got mad and hurt her mommy really, really bad then she went bye-bye." Jane heard them, but didn't look up. She didn't care about what happened to her parents -- it happened when she was a baby and Sarah was babysitting her. Jane sighed as she finished her paper and put it in a bin full of her finals she completed.
"What the fuck..." She heard Scott's friend say as they walked out the door then McKena came running back.
"Pretty please come outside! Please!" She dragged out the word and worsened Jane's annoyance to her cousins. Jane agreed to go outside, but would only stay on the porch. McKena was filled with joy as she ran down the stairs and to the playground. Jane stepped out onto the porch for the first time in two weeks. She hadn't realized it's gotten colder since the last time she was out, so she rubbed her bare arms and watched as the little kids ran around the playground and the older kids played basketball.
Jane stood there for five more minutes then seen a leaf drift across her foot, making her stop breathing for a second, "McKena! I'm going back inside!" Jane scurried inside then shut the door right after. She rubbed her arms to try and get her warmth back as she walked over to the window to watch them play. I'm better off inside, away from them, she thought. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water then went back to the dining room.
