Judge, Jury, and Executioner - [Jopper]

02. Honey, I'm Homebound

Once upon a time, grief had been only a memory to her. Grief, it's such a mysterious element to the world. How one day you feel so far away from it, then by the next day it has entirely enveloped you. It's your world, then it isn't. She would always remember the first encounter of grief that she had ever experienced. It set the precedent for her future; of what to expect. The slack jaw that lasts a perfect ten seconds. The hands flying to cover her mouth because she wasn't sure if she was going to scream, laugh, or vomit. The way her lungs felt as if they had been set aflame with an acid accelerant. Every breath and blink would hurt. Every second passing would just grow harder as the weights hit the ground and continued to fall on top of her. She had once heard that grief is much like stubbing your toe in reverse. When you're struck with pain, it fades but it hurts. When you're struck with grief, it's painless at first but then it grows. The pressure on her chest grew heavier as her brain processed the information given to her. Such a painful experience.

Well, her first encounter with grief wasn't exactly the worst of it. More like a preview of what was to come. The sprinkle of water before the clouds couldn't hold the weight of the rain anymore. She was eight years old, ever so curious about the world and everything around her. On the edge of Hawkins, her parents owned a few acres of land. Unabashed curiosity had sent her trailing out into the clearing behind the lines of trees out back of her house. Spring was in full form that day. Somehow, her memory served the image of the yellow dandelions to be much more saturated in color than how she would see them now. The sunlight had flared in her eyes as she continued through the uncut grass, determined to discover a land that would feed her young and impressionable imagination. The color of the bluebells peppered through the vast land of yellows and greens. Instead of finding some secret Atlantis as she had expected, she had instead found a new friend.

The tiniest mewls and meows came from a few feet in front of her in the clearing. As she parted the grass, she found a grey cat lying on a patch of flowers. Her long brunette hair had dropped down and covered her vision as she leaned down to pick the creature up. Her mother would be furious for getting grass stains on her brand new white stockings, but she didn't care. The cat had looked up at that eight-year-old Joyce with a matching curiosity of hers. He didn't recoil or show any fear, just a look that told Joyce that he wanted to go on an adventure with her.