meet me in the garden / dreamnotfound

ch. one - clay

Clay stepped into the midday sunlight, a smile spreading under the smiley face mask that was plastered across his face. The sun felt so good beaming down on his skin. Although it had only been a day since he was outside, it felt so refreshing to breathe the fresh afternoon air.

He looked through the black stained glass holes in his mask, which made the eyes on his mask act like actual eyes that he could see out of, while still shielding his features, and allowing him to see. The darker tint of the glass eye holes was like make shift sunglasses as well, so it was great for bright end of summer days like this.

Clay looked around the large field that connected to the back side of the kingdom, trying to locate the the subtle path of rocks that he created on his way back from the mystery place so he would remember how to get there again the next day. Once he found it, he followed the rocks to his destination.

It was a long walk to the mysterious door, but Clay was so curious as to what was through that door, the long walk didn't bother him one bit.

This door could just be a weird way out of the kingdom, but he was sure it was something more. A secret shed? A secret bunker? Who knows. Maybe it's something really lame, but equally, it could be something life changing.

As Clay neared the door, he was getting increasingly more nervous, and more ideas of what could be behind the old oak door fluttered in and haunted his mind. He didn't hear any weird noises coming from the other side of the door when he listened in yesterday, but that didn't mean the coast was clear. All Clay could do is keep walking and hope for the best.

He started sweating at the thought of getting caught out here by his mother or father, or even one of the castle guards or maids. He knew how much trouble he would be in nearing this close to the castle walls.

Clay's parents always warned him and Drista about the consequences of getting to close to the edge of the castle grounds. Not only would he be locked up in his room for however long his parents felt was necessary, but he doubted his parents would ever trust him again, which meant he would probably never be able to go on mini adventures away from his family, like this one.

If he was locked in his room he would have close to nothing to do but stare out of his large window, flip through the dusty old pages of the novels he hasn't read in years, and dig through old board games he hasn't played since he was a kid with his childhood friends. Can't forget about playing with Patches of course.

Clay was thinking about what would happen if he was locked away in his room. Hardly anything to keep his attention on, nothing to do but sleep and pray his parents let him out soon. He would have nobody to talk to but Drista if she came to his door and talked to him, and Patches, but it's not like Patches could say anything back.

He would have someone to send letters to if his parents actually told him what happened to his best friend, but no, instead they locked this important secret away from him, keeping him guessing, worrying, and overthinking for years.

He could always try to send more letters, but considering how well that worked out in the past, Clay knew it wasn't worth a shot.

---

He passed the end of the secret rock trail that he had placed yesterday, and just beyond the trail and between some prickly bushes, Clay saw the door.

He quickly shuffled his way through the prickly bushes that left their mark of little scratches around his forearm, and was faced with the old oak door.

Before he made his way into the mystery that was behind the door, he leaned towards the door so his head was touching the splintery surface. He listened long and hard, assuring himself that nothing was waiting for him on the other side of the door.