Dorian Oscar District 7 FIN

Face Claim: Braden Barrie


Name:

The porch that faces the tall grass which slowly approaches the treeline has always been my favorite sight since I was young.  The wind invites the blades of grass to dance and the shadow from the trees creeps closer to me every minute of the day.  I lean against the wood of my home and can be in a peaceful state of mind.  I could sit here forever with the guitar my father hand-crafted for me when I was 10 years old.  As the sun sets for the evening and the sky transitions to a deep purple for the night, I know it's my time to go inside since I can hardly see the frets of my guitar.  

Standing up, I brush my fluffy, overgrown, black hair out of my face.  The day is coming to an end, I pace my way up the stairs of my abode, guitar in hand playing random chords, creaking with every other step.  I put my guitar down in it's home, in the corner of my room.  The mirror in my room catches my attention, and I peer at my reflection.  Easily one of the first details you'll notice about me is my bent nose, which was unaligned when I climbed a tree with my friends when I was a young boy and I smacked my face on a branch as I ascended down from the treetops.  My ocean blue eyes travel farther down my body, and I look at my scrawny, borderline-anorexic body.  For 5 feet and 8 inch tall boy of my age, 120 pounds is unhealthy, or at least how I see it, but I don't care enough to make a difference; I guess I can maintain my somewhat agility by being my size.  As long as I can wear my wardrobe of black, I don't plan to do anything about it.  I sigh at my imperfect body, there's really not too much I can do that will make much change.  This world has beauty, but none of which is me.  From my mirror, I tread over to my bed, lay down and stare the white ceiling, and being just another sleepless night.

After only getting my few hours of sleep for the night, the sun has finally begun to rise, and the color of the sky has become a little brighter.  After years of making the everyday decision of when I think it's appropriate to arise, I've learned to see when morning has come before most do.  The subtle changes in the shade of the sky are hard to see, but all the nights of me looking out my window at night, and out my back porch in the evening, I'd say I'm not half bad at it. Mastery is unattainable; you can never be perfect- or at least that's how I've always felt.

In one motion, I slip the blankets off me, and hop out of bed.  Glancing at my mirror, I realize I am not wearing a shirt, and I immediately cower over to my closet to find a shirt.  I'm hideous.  I'm underweight, I really try not to harp on my body.  I look at my closet, and scan through my shirts. Black. Black. Black. Oh wait, bet you couldn't guess what's not, black.  I think I found a color I like, black.  Quickly, I slip into a shirt of my favorite color.  Wait a minute. I have the day off.   I guess I'll go for a walk now that I don't need to be in too much of a hurry.

My parents aren't home, they hardly are during the daytime hours, they're both too preoccupied with work to do otherwise.  Thus I'm at liberty to do whatever I really want for the day, with no real obligation.  That's soothing at least.  Still hardly awake, I exit my home, and begin walking toward where the nature walk is in the untouched forests in District 7.  As I'm making my way over to the trail, I realize I'm following someone to the exact same place.  Oh god, I think I recognize the strut, as the girl turns, I can confirm I know who it is, but I have no idea what her name is.  I don't want to appear to be a creep and follow her, and I don't know her name, I might as well just turn around. AGH DILEMMAS.  As soon as I turn the other direction, I hear from behind me, a feminine voice call out, "Hey Dorian, that's right isn't it?  You headed to the trail?"  GREAT. She knows my name and I don't know hers, I don't want to appear rude by pretending to not hear her, so I answer without thinking, "Yeah, I ought to get to class."  With a hesitation, she replies, "Really? I doubt that! You were just walking this way until I turned, and we have the day off today!  How about you join me!"  Oh no, I don't like this, I really don't like interacting with people I don't know too well. I sigh, and regretfully respond "You're right, I'm sorry.  I guess I can join you."  What have I gotten myself into.

There's no turning back now, I have to join her.  I hate that I did that.  I hate that I do that.  I can never say no, I don't ever want to dissatisfy anyone.  I don't know why I do that for such insignificant things.  But, now I'm committed into a walk with some girl from school that I have no idea about who she is.  My luck.  I've certainly seen her before, I just have no clue what her name is, it's on the tip of my tongue.  Screw my memory.  Can't do anything about it, though.  I jog up to where 'nameless' girl is, and by that time I'm panting a bit.

"I'm assuming that you don't know what my name is.  I'm Lilac, we go to school together, but I recently skipped a grade into yours, and once I hear a name once, I don't forget it."   Well, that's a relief, I'm not expected to know anything about her, and she won't be obnoxiously popular, or at least not snobbish, hopefully.  After a few minutes of random banter, and trekking through the forests of District 7, we are fully immersed into nature.  There's hardly any sign of human life to be seen in any direction, it's peaceful, but at the same time, a bit scary.  After having a nearly one-sided conversation for the past few minutes, she calls me out, "So I've told you a lot about me, tell me about you."

Here we go. "Well, there's not much to me other than my speechlessness and my endless collection of black clothes."  She gets a bit of kick out that," C'mon, there's definitely more to you than that I'm sure."  I got to try to at least keep my composure.  "Okay, don't say you didn't ask for alright," her eyes told me she was genuinely interested.  Looks like I'm going for it.  "Well, I grew up in a quaint house near the outskirts of District 7, and both of my parents have worked hard at keeping it and maintaining it ever since I was born.  It's satisfying enough for me, I have always liked our home, I learned guitar when I was 10 on it's back porch.  Everything was simple then though." She stopped, to focus even more intently. "Then, three years ago, my older sister, at the time she was 19, disappeared and has since been nowhere to be found." Her facial expression completely rearranges itself, into disbelief.  I hold back tears; I miss her still.  Before she can say anything, I cut her off.  "I really shouldn't have said that, I've probably ruined our relationship by saying something way to intimate.  I think it's best if I head back."  I turn as my voice chokes out those last few words, and I turn around with tears beginning to stream down my face and slowly tread back, and slowly accelerate into a quick run to leave her.  I miss her.  It's as if it were yesterday.  Looks like I will spend another day in sorrow, alone, and in my room.