Noam & Oakley

foreward

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foreward ;

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"YOU FAILURE! W—WHAT WAS THAT? DID YOU JUST THROW AWAY EVERYTHING I TAUGHT YOU? THAT WAS A DISGRACE, YOU ARE A DISGRACE!"

   Noam's father threw the sheet music across the hallway, as well as the golden trophy. He brought his cane down upon him and no one did anything but sit and watch. Blood ran down Noam's face and his glasses were in pieces. He was excited, he thought that his father would be proud of him, but he wasn't. He just wasn't good enough, and wouldn't ever be good enough, just like how his father predicted.

   Tears ran down Noam's cheeks and he wiped the blood from his nose. The audience in the hallway pitied him, for he was the protégé of his father and that wasn't a blessing. His father believed in perfection, no flaws what-so-ever. So he gave his five year old son Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata Opus 27 #2 Movement 3. To the judges, he was fake, too perfect, too much like his father.

   "I—I HATE YOU!" Noam said as tears fell to the marble floor, "I WANTED YOU TO BE PROUD, BUT NOW I WISH YOU'D JUST—JUST—"

"JUST WHAT, HM? DIE?"

The truth was, Noam was about to say that and he felt guilty that he really just wanted him to be gone. He just wanted to stop getting hurt. So Noam ran, he ran home to his nonexistent mother and somehow hoped that someone would comfort him, but no one came to his aid. He ran past the wheatgrass field and through the road. Noam ran with the ongoing train that was heading in some direction, he didn't care.

He stopped at a light pole and huffed, trying to catch his breath. It was dark now, he had no idea where he was or where he wanted to be, but it didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he was away, away from his father.

"Are you okay?"

Noam looked up to see a girl, around his age with a thing that looked like a skateboard but smaller. It was red and had blue wheels that shined in the lamp light. She had blonde hair and big brown eyes and she didn't seem to think that a boy all by himself in the middle of the street, crying, was unnerving. She wore a oversized hoodie that belonged to her brother and ratty overalls. She paired it with white chucks that were worn out from running. She also had a handbag that looked like it was made for fishermen. It held some chalk, a Strawberry Shortcake doll, and chips.

Noam didn't answer back, his mom used to tell him to never talk to strangers. He wiped the tears off his face and looked up once more to see the girl studying him. And suddenly a big grin grew across her face.

"I know what will make you happy!" Said said in glee while pulling something out of her overall pocket, "I got some chocolate! My brother brought some from school!"

Noam let out a small smile, he wasn't allowed to eat chocolate. She cracked a piece and handed it over it to him. Noam loved chocolate. They sat down on the curb-side in silence besides the chewing of chocolate in their mouths.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Oakley." Oakley said after swallowing her chocolate, "You?"

". . . Noam."

Oakley concluded that she liked the sound of his voice, it was very calming. She grabbed the chalk out of her bag because she wanted to remember this exact moment. So she wrote on the concrete,

Noam & Oakley

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