Malediction

29 - Freedom

I was no longer painting, more so fiddling with the delicate brush in my fingers

"It isn't all it's made out to be, there are still rules and expectations, I mean, is anyone ever really free when they live with their parents? You'd be surprised how alike our situations are in a way"

He shook his head "You'd be surprised how different our situations actually are from one another"

"Help me understand it then" I urged him

"It's almost time for Mr Richmond's dunk, we should get going" He brushed me off, shutting down again as he stood

Without thinking, I grabbed his arm, pulling him back down "We have fifteen minutes left" I informed him, looking down at my phone in my bag "We don't have to talk about it anymore, I just, I want to know you, tell me something about you, something real, nothing dark, no pessimism" I pleaded

He hesitated where he stood, my hand remaining on his arm until his eyes fell on the direct bare touch

"I'm sorry" I quickly pulled back, worried I would ruin the once light and friendly mood

He didn't respond, and I feared he would take one last look at me and run. I was being personal, I was delving into a part of him that he did everything in his power to keep hidden. I was crossing boundaries and testing the trust, it was going to get me cut off again.

Thankfully, to my relief, he slowly sat back down, quiet and rigid.

"When I was ten, I went to the store with my uncle Blake, I was so excited because it was usually something he did on his own" Danny's soft low voice began, my ears listening to his every word "but he finally let me go with him, everything about it was just so new to me, the car ride, the smell of fresh air, the people, the entire atmosphere, it was like visiting a different country"

I kept my eyes steady in between his face forward and my paintbrush

"When we got to the store, I was so captured by it all, I couldn't keep my eyes on my shoes like I had always been taught, there was just way too much to take in"

His expression began to change, his mind wandering back to the scene

"As Blake pushed the trolley, I fell behind, I was so distracted and in that moment, with my small ounce of freedom, I noticed this girl, she was standing with her mother who was shopping"

A small smile played on his lips "She had beautiful long hair and wore a guns n' roses T with jeans and converse, she was standing on the trolley, her head tilted back, her eyes closed, I realised then that I wasn't the only one lost in that moment, she was too"

Something about his story had me captivated, lost inside the images he recalled.

"The music that played didn't match the way she swayed, despite everything else around me, she was the only thing I could focus on, her smile, her carelessness, her freedom" He trailed off "I was jealous of her, but it was like I was experiencing another sense of freedom through her too"

"Does she still live around here?" I asked curiously

He nodded "She does, I see her often, she still has the exact same free spirit about her, I admire it more than she will probably ever know"

"Once this curse is over, maybe you could tell her" I hoped for him, wanting to know exactly who she was, but thankful he was opening up to me at all

He shrugged "Maybe"

It was quiet, our entire mood changed, this was where silence was killer, but I wasn't ready for it to return, so I quickly began to release sentences

"Sometimes I feel like I wasn't even supposed to be here, that I shouldn't even have this life" I began "When I was born I wasn't, alive.."