“Sweetie, do you want to talk? Do you want to go on a vacation to get away from this? Hello?” Brooke’s mom would ask as Brooke silently walked through their apartment to noiselessly close and lock her bedroom door. Veronica Adams was very worried about Brooke. She had thought after the “incident” that Brooke would see what an awful man her father was and stop idolizing him and Silvia once and for all. Yet Brooke had turned on all of them. Even her precious housekeeper, who baked with her, coddled her, and practically raised her. Brooke turned in disgust when her father asked if she wanted to come live with him and Silvia. Not a single teacher had been able to get her to talk on the few days she had been to school in the past few weeks.
Brooke heard her stomach grumbling in the early morning hours, silently picked herself off the forest floor in Sherwood Park, and made her way home to find food. Ever since the reunion, the house had been stocked with all of Brooke’s favorite foods. Probably a lure to keep me from running away away, she thought angrily before discontinuing her thought process. When she went in the house her mother quietly asked “Bubblebutt? Do you want to go Casa D’ Waffles for breakfast?” And just as Brooke was going to turn and go to her room, the quiet word “Yes” slipped out of her mouth. Her mother’s smile froze and Brooke could see the excitement growing in her eyes, could see hopes of maybe repairing their relationship. Fat chance. I’m just hungry and this is a free meal.
They exited Apartment 424 and walked down the road to the restaurant. Brooke could sense how uncomfortable her mother was with the silence, and proceeded to ignore her even more. They all should be punished for the lies, she thought. Russia? Business trip? Family in Costa Rica? No contact for THIS many years? Fuck everyone. They ate in silence, only broken by the sounds of the restaurant, never by a voice. Veronica paid, thanked the cook, and they left for their apartment.
A man approached going the opposite direction, looking as though he was on his way to work at the bowling alley. His monogrammed shirt said “Robin” and he stared intently at Brooke, as though trying to read her thoughts. When they got closer, he looked as though he was about to say something, and Brooke’s thoughts began to race. What could a man in a bowling alley shirt named Robin tell me? Wouldn’t it be great to hear something other than the words ‘Are you okay?’ come out of anyone’s mouth when they talk to me?” His mouth opened slightly, she could hear words forming,and somehow deep in her heart she knew she needed to hear what this strange man had to say. But then he glanced at Veronica, seemed to change his mind, and merely walked around the pair, like he had never made eye contact with Brooke.
Brooke’s anger rose to unimaginable levels after this man walked around them. Everything is awful because of my parent’s. I am alone. She started sprinting, ignoring her mother’s calls after her. Brooke made her way to Sherwood Park and collapsed, crying herself into a deep sleep.
She dreamed of a large multi-colored bird, flying over hills and valleys and streams and wildlife, bypassing everything. As the bird wheeled by a small Midwestern-town, Brooke saw herself, in a hot air balloon. There were hundreds of hot air balloons everywhere, yet this amazing creature chose to land on the edge of her basket, in the middle of nowhere. As Brooke dreamed, she watched herself shrink away in awe from the bird. Quietly she said “Why me?” The bird did not answer, but instead, turned around and allowed her to climb onto its back. Down below Brooke’s parents and Silvia screamed and screamed, until they grew red eyes and dragon tails and devils’ horns, but not wings. In a voice eerily similar to Albus Dumbledore, the bird said “Those who live in lies will not be able to harm you where I can take you.” They flew away together as a rainbow cascaded from its tail, showering hope and vibrant colors down on every place they flew over. Brooke saw herself smile, and the smile reached her eyes. With an out-of-body-experience, Brooke realized she hadn’t seen her own eyes smile in months.
They traveled to a valley in the center of a ring of mountains, where the moon created a perfect reflection in the center of the lake. Brooke played with beautiful centaurs, friendly mermaids, and ethereal faeries. She laughed and smiled and never felt pain or hurt or frustration. Each day seemed to run into the next, and she saw beautiful sunset after sunset. One day Brooke asked her bird-friend “Will I ever return home?” He calmly answered “You are home. This is not a vacation, but a reality.”
Brooke awoke with a start to the sound of the forest.
No comments:
Post a Comment