Once upon a Hermit

-prologue-

Speechless were the halls of Glenmore High.

One would assume that this school had been vacant for decades if it hadn't been for the muffled sounds of laughter and the echoes that came from the continuous slamming of classroom doors . Glenmore, an astounding relic, has been the Alma mater for countless students throughout the many decades. It brings people in, morphs them into better (or worse), and then tosses them out to pick their own destiny. It is the will of the facility and it is, of course, to be done. Today was the start of a new school year and the smell of promise hung heavily in the corridors.

The bell rang and the serene hallways were then filled with all of the students that were eager to get out of their last class of the day. In the crowd, a curly haired boy with a bashful disposition squeezed his way past people who were just casually walking along. Jewl Hawthorne, a newly branded freshman, fought with the stream that carried him towards the exit. With his book held up to his chest, he stepped over every shoe until he made it home-free.

Today was Jewel's first day at Glenmore High and it was already a perturbing experience. The loud voices unsettled his consciousness and the smell of the processed food nauseated his senses. But he made it through, only because he managed to follow the same strategy that he kept from elementary to middle school:

You won't make eye contact, if you don't look up.

No one will need to speak to you, if you don't say anything.

If you isolate yourself from the crowd, You won't be touched.

To Jewel's satisfaction, these three rules have kept him from being completely noticed by anyone in any classroom, store, and neighborhood.

He quickly walked across the sun-dried grass until the sidewalk came into view. The September heat beat down against his amber skin as he started walking towards his home. Jewel lived in a town that always had something happening. But from the festivals to the football games, Jewel managed to avoid everything. Instead, you'd find him reading a book in his room.

Matter of fact, he hardly ever bothered to look up. He doesn't remember anything about his town except how to get to school:

Walk outside your house. (Don't look around, you might make eye contact with the neighbors)

Step onto the sidewalk and turn right.

Start walking. (118 steps)

Keep walking (make sure your eyes are on the sidewalk or you'll get lost).

Do you hear the detestable sounds of laughter? Bam. You're at school.

Every weekday, this routine was put into action. He has long forgotten about the vividness of the stars and how marvelous a sunset can be. But he doesn't seem to care about the fact that life is just passing along without him. Instead he'd rather sit aside as everyone else progressed.

-------

Jewel finally arrived home. His house, a tan bungalow, had an adequately cut lawn that was littered in all sorts of colorful gnomes and convoluted contraptions. In front of the open garage, sat his mom's Sedan. It was obvious that she was up to a new project now.

Addilyn Hawthorne was a busy woman. Being the co-owner of Betty's Arts and Crafts, Miss Addy always had something to do. She always passed the time by creating sculptures from clay or wire and if she wasn't serving people here then she was adding another 'Addilyn classic' to her yard. There was hardly a day that she was off of her feet.

And right now, she was sitting in the garage, making tin men out of old cans to display in the windows at work.

"Hey mom," Jewel said, walking in with his head still down.

"Hey Jewel, how was your first day of school?" She asked, putting down her tools.

"Nothing special." He kicked a discarded screw across the garage.

"Oh. That's sounds bad... Want to talk about it?"

"Nope," he said before he quickly climbed up the steps and out of the garage.

His mother sighed, turned back, and continued to work.

Her son was always like this. All summer, matter of fact, all he ever did was stay in his room and read. If she ever caught him out of his room he was either walking back to his bed or on his way to the kitchen. What could be causing him to isolate himself?  Ms. Addy picked her tools back up and began to work again. She tried to pull her son out of his shell and help him to become a benefit to the community (like she was) but she realized that every tactic was pure failure. So, instead, she let him be, hoping that he would soon break out of it. He'll see, she thought, he would learn just as I did whenever my insecurities were high. I fought them, so can he.

Upstairs in his room, he laid down on his bed. The dark curtains were closed and his door was locked shut. The lamp above the headboard shone above him as he read from the words of Nicola Moon.

And that was how Jewel spent the rest of his day,

Not entirely prepared for the impracticality of tomorrow.