acrylic dreams | reddie

trois

eddie couldn't get the thought of the mystery boy off his mind.  the way that the brush strokes of his painting blended together to make a beautiful replica of their surroundings, the way that his curls bounced anytime he turned his head, the way his smile lit up the entire field even though it was so entirely small and gentle.

he couldn't get the feeling of warmth off his mind.

__________

after the brown-haired boy had left richie's side -- which, if he were honest, left him a bit sad -- richie started packing up his things.  he sighed as he grabbed each item of his own and packed it neatly and carefully into his small backpack, somehow fitting everything in.  seems like his numerous hours of playing tetris when he was younger trained him for something.

richie couldn't shake the thought of the boy from his mind.  no matter how far past home he walked or how many bright lights blinded him, it was like the boy was a drug and he was addicted.

thirty minutes had passed before he finally reached his home.  a small rustic home on the edge of derry.  it was quiet and peaceful where he lived, mostly being surrounded by old folks who played nothing but 40s jazz and baked pies like stereotypical old people.

richie carefully, and slowly, turned the knob to the front door and pushed the door open, entering his house.  the smell of applewood filled the air, filling his lungs and enveloping him whole.

"richard?" his mother called out from the kitchen.

he sighed at the use of his full name.  no matter how many times he stated and insisted on being called richie she never complied.

"yes, it's me."

earning no response from his mother, he took that as an open door to walk up to his room, dragging himself up the stairs and to his bed where he flopped down.

the brown-haired boy invaded his mind once again.

richie had tried so hard not to stare at the boy while they were together but he knew that his glances were too long to be considered as such.  his mind flooded with details, from the smallest things to the most noticeable.  richie noticed every little dotted freckle that littered his cheek, the way that his nose scrunched up when he smiled and laughed, the slight curl in his beautifully dark brown hair that shaped his also amazingly beautiful face.  but the biggest thing that richie knew he couldn't forget was the boys' eyes.

they were dull.

richie couldn't think of another way to describe them than dull.  they were the color outcome of an 8-year-old mixing it's entire acrylic pallet then adding white to it.  but they weren't a bad dull.  it was a cloudy dull that could match the drearily cloudy days that passed over derry.  richie swore that if he looked close enough he could see the sky that droned above them in the boys' eyes but he didn't want to try.

so he sat there.  now in his bed, thinking endlessly about the boy.

the cloud boy.

__________

"eddie, where on earth were you?" his mother yelled at him.

sonia kaspbrak was one of the many special snowflakes on planet earth.  she was very overprotective of eddie too, especially for his condition.  not that being color blind would harm his way of living in any way.  she didn't care, though.  sonia would find any way to create an excuse to take the boy to the hospital for a check up.

"i just went for a walk, momma," he said softly.

she sighed, looking at eddie with a slightly less panicked expression.

"could you tell me next time you leave, eddie bear?  i was worried sick."

eddie simply nodded in response, cautiously booking it to the stairs that led up to his secluded room -- it being the only one upstairs.  he just needed some quiet to think.

to think about the boy that wouldn't leave his head, painting dreams and thoughts that left cyclones of questions.