habromania//phan

one.

1999

The rain poured down, breaking the sky and colouring the streets in a damp fashion. The sky was painted with the darkest of blacks, it seemed, and sprinkled with little specks of white. The only sign that the world hadn't died was the little pitter-patter of water droplets prancing against the pavements. To put it lightly, it was a miserable November evening.

Though everything seemed to be asleep, one little boy lay awake, staring at the stars on his roof as if they could take him to the moon. Daniel James Howell, as it will, didn't want to be there. He didn't want to be alive - not in a sense that he wanted to die (he was quite fond of his life). The only issue is, he was fond of his life back home. With his Mum and Dad and brother and his friends. Not his 'new life' here with his Nan and Grandpa and, well, nobody else.

This was not the life he was fond of. Not in the slightest.

He didn't want this damp suburban neighbourhood that might as well have been a retirement home. He didn't want his Nan's poor idea of too much floral. He didn't want to be there. But alas, he was. And he didn't know if he'd ever leave.

And so, as the child lay awake, staring at the stars, pleading with his whole soul and being they'd take him with them, Daniel didn't notice the bashing of boots against pavement outside his window. He didn't notice how he left his window open earlier that day and forgot to close it. He didn't notice the small boy who ran over to his house only to poke his head into Daniel's room. He was completely unaware until a voice shattered every thought of serenity Daniel had built like a cluster of glass.

The only thing that broke him out of his trance was a: "Hello! You're windows open, mate."

 Daniel  jumped in his bed, grasping at his sheets to cover his body as if he was a caterpillar becoming a beautiful butterfly. A small whimper left his mouth as his large eyes darted towards his, surely, open window.

There, at the boy's windowsill, stood another boy. Taller than Daniel, but definitely not the tallest person in the world. His mousy ginger hair was matted onto his face from the rain, which hadn't stopped pounding down since it began at around two in the afternoon. His body stood dormant in Daniel's grandparents garden, head quirking to the side to get a better look inside the boys room, obviously waiting for a response.

Daniel didn't know what to say to the boy who had appeared at his window, so he sat and stared incredulously as the ginger bounced around from foot to foot for a minute or so until the other decided to speak up.

"Well, this has been fun but Mum doesn't know I'm here and you don't seem like you're able to speak so I'm gonna go," He started, quirking his head once more at the brunet (who was still sat on his bed, shaking to himself). "I'm Phil, by the way! Mum says to always introduce yourself when you make new friends and - oh shoot! I didn't do that did I? Sorry, that wasn't very polite - please don't tell my mum." The boy, now identifiable as Phil, begged. "I'm gonna go now, mate. Bye!"

And with that, Phil disappeared into the night, leaving behind nothing more than a shaking lad and a newly closed window.

Daniel took his eyes away from his stars after that encounter, instead opting to put them onto his window. Whether to see if Phil would come back or to make sure no other strange people stuck their heads through his window again was a mystery (even though he was almost certain it was the latter).

The only thing Daniel saw that night, however, was the rain as it skipped from the sky to the ground as loud, albeit muted now since his window was shut, as a giant stepping onto concrete. And as darkness started to slowly encase the small lad lying on his duvet, the only thing Daniel could bring himself to think about was the mousy ginger boy who closed his window. And when Daniel became completely stoic and silent, save for the rise and fall of his chest and his small snores, Phil was running around his mind just as he did the street mere minutes ago.

What a weird world.