Ineffable

Because of the Girl

Ned lurked behind the old man as he slowly ambled down the long, spiraling stairs. Ned cursed silently at the stairs each time they tried to give away his motive. The old man, Petyr, mumbled some words Ned was not accustomed to. Each step downward, the tone changed for Petyr. Ned narrowed his brow and imagined how this man would've acted in his prime. Was he the boy who locked himself in his room and studied witchcraft or was he the boy who was picking flowers for a different girl every evening? Petyr stuck his hand in his heavy robe and pulled out a small stick when he pressed a button it expanded. Ned watched as Petyr tapped the ground to the right, then to the left, each step he took. Ned wanted to sit with this man and have a deep conversation about the books in his library and why the door to the room across from it was bolted shut. He wanted to ask him questions about what makes Petyr the crippled saint he is. Petyr grabbed the handle at the bottom of the entryway and twisted it. The sun caused Ned to shield his eyes with both his eyelids and hand, but Petyr was unaffected. Slowly, the stick cleared a way for Petyr and Ned began to get lost in thought. This man shouldn't be on Ned's mind every time he woke up, every time he passed the tree on top of the hill, or even when Ned is in the village crowded with ignorant beings dreaming about how heroic the king is. This old man should not be on his mind, he should think about his own life but Ned doesn't care about if he leaves this village or becomes a royal servant, he cares about the nothingness this mysterious man thinks and the reason behind why he is so angry, but calm, at the same time. But the sadness of your brain is that you can't tell it what to reminisce. They were now outside the castle, Peryr sat on a bench ironically watching the castle. Ned sat on the ground beside the man and started another conversation with Petyr about how lovely the king's home is.

"King Damon Granger built this castle over ten thousand years ago on this very day."

Ned's mouth dropped, did Petyr hear him? Ned asked another muted question, but this time Petyr just sighed deeply and continued to look in the direction of the architecture. Ned watched Petyr as he slightly smiled and closed his white eyes, he was remembering a time before, a time when he would sit in this same spot and stare at the castle with his little girl by his side. As Ned admired the lonely man, he himself fell into a thought about when he would follow Natalia. They both were innocent children, but Ned was always too shy to ask her to play, he followed her everywhere hoping he was just a ghost. Natalia sat where Ned is now, she would look at her father the same way Ned does. Ned mouthed her name straining his voice as a painful scream and Petyr made it audible.

Ned and Petyr had identical tears as Petyr got up, Ned barely avoided being touched as he followed the old man again. This time, he went and climbed down the mountain leaving the village. Across from the plate they stood on was another mountain and below the plateau, they stood on was a large river. Petyr collapsed on the edge of the cliff, but Ned was frozen.

"Natalia," Ned whispered but this time he felt the vibrations.

"Natalia," Petyr mocked opening his eyes seeing the current below him.

Neither the heartbroken young man nor the shattered old one cared about the new abilities they had regained.

"He told me all I had to do was give up my sight, I did but you're still gone," Petyr looked over and Ned not caring about why he was standing there or why he is still staring at him.

"He told me all I had to do was become mute," Ned cried, "Why would he do this to us?"

Petyr shrugged and Ned stepped toward the edge looking over. Petyr was lucky to go blind; he didn't see her fall to the ground; Ned was unfortunate to lose his speech because he never got to declare his love while she was falling scared.

Petyr may have lost his only child, but Ned lost everything for the girl who didn't know he followed her.