Ozaias "Oz" Hope D8 (DONE)

Don't mind the man behind the curtain.

There's no place like home. That's what he had thought for so many years. Home was always a place that he could hide away from the truth of the world. Flames bursting to life as he sits behind the fire warming his body. They were fighting. They always fought over something nowadays. All he could do was escape the home, with everything he could reach within a short amount of time. The arguing always got on his nerves. Their voices shrieking to one another about something terrible. It's been a year since it started. People fall out of love all the time, but his parents stuck it out for him. They stuck it out for him, yet all he could wish for was the inevitably break. The point of no return where the two finally leave one another so his home can feel like a home again.

Out in the district feels terrible to him. The wind always was too cold. The sun was always too hot. The air was always too fresh. Everything just sucked to him. Everytime he goes outside, he feels like he's in a new land filled with witches, lions, scarecrows, and tin men. It was all always not home to him. The weather wasn't the problem, the people always were. The irony of avoiding conflicts, only to run into the ones on the outside. Witches who planned to sneak him into their beds. Lions who were afraid of his smile. Scarecrows who were dumb enough to try and follow him. Tin Men who were cold to their heart. Popularity was all he achieved. A wizard who could grant himself anything he wanted.

That's what he had thought for so long. A wizard who could face a world that would never turn on him. In the end, they saw the man behind the curtain. One by one, lined up together to approach the wizard with something. His heart opening up to them, only to be stolen from him. Trusting in everything he did, never once did he expect them to see behind the curtain. A man who was breaking. A man who truly had it all, but wasn't happy. Lonely in a world full of witches and flying monkeys. All he could do was act tough and stand his ground. The fire's warm glow soothing hs tired soul. The yellow brick road that was his life was filled with uneven paths, loose bricks, and obstacles that he's overcome time and time again.

The past was everything he wanted. No homes swirling in a vortex as his parents shout each other to the fields of poppies sending them to an eternal slumber. Snores echoing in the home as they look so peaceful. Tip toes in his red sneakers as he was finally home again, until the next full blown attack happens. The snores of his parents soothing him to sleep for the next morning. Another day in the life of a man who believed himself to be a wizard for so long, until he realized he was worthless like the rest of the misfits within the district. This was how he lived his life, continuing on the wrecked path of a yellow brick road. No where to go, but to dream of the home that he once had.

"What's a girl like you so shy about?"

His voice sounds foreign to himself. Another thing to add to his list of things that just didn't fit right. Currently, talking to a witch who clearly wanted him to lay with her in a bed of red and white. Flirts flying from both of their lips as her flying monkeys watch from the distance. It's the same game every time. He leads them on, until he soaks them with water. He watches them melt and melt with the sorrows he's created. Scarecrows watch him in a profound dumb state. Tin men glare as they pick the girl up once again. Lions too scared to approach the situation, only walking away with a look of terror on their faces. The tin man speaks up with an anger, no warmth in his soul. Only a hunger to get the witches in their bed and shatter them fully. He doesn't break witches like the tin men. His heart is too big for that, all he does is leave them with the image of who he is. A man afraid of everything in the world that could show him something that he could put his heart into. Something that anyone could use to destroy him and see past the curtain.

Behind the curtain lies a man with a problem. He doesn't want to feel attached to any of the people who populate the world. Betrayal was too hard to deal with. His parents had showed him that. Their persistent arguing had shown him what the world truly could do. There was no such thing as magic, only tricks to make it seem true. When they told him that they were growing apart, but going to stay together for him, his heart shattered. Nothing left, but broken promises and dreams of a child. They were supposed to be happy. They were supposed to be the perfect family. Everything always led back to his parents fighting. They had the average and perfect life of love and affection.

It was when he was younger he figured it out. The silent whispers of anger that caught on their tongue. The love that he had seen with his own eyes was fake, just like the wizard himself. Everything was fake. His parents didn't love one another. He didn't feel like he had a home anymore with the constant arguing. The popularity grew, but fell with the hardship of being the most mature person in the home swirling in the vortex. All he could do was click his red sneakers and pray to go back to the home he remembered. No more arguments to the fields of poppies. No more different people who can't see the man behind the curtain. Back to a time where things made sense.

As he hides in his room, no escape tonight from the wicked onslaught of words, his heart beats in a sad tone. Brown hair, wavy, and distraught upon his head. Brown eyes glaring at the door that barely held the words out from his ears. A large nose sniffling from feeling tears prick at his eyes. A jaw cut from the emerald city that allowed his facial features to shine. Lips, pink and plump, ready to kiss any witch who desired a fake man. Tears pool at his eyes. THe words were coming full force into his sanctuary.

Hands, large and rough, covering his ears from the terrible arguments that were occurring behind the closed door. Biceps, strong and pressing his hands farther into his ears trying to drown out the profanities of his father and mother. They loved him so much, but only hate continued to flow within the vortex. Legs stretch across the bed, almost dangling off the edge from being too long. Muscles toned from his running escapes from the home that used to be home. The yellow brick road leading him to a safe haven for the hours to come, but he was stuck in the loop. The vortex had a hold upon his body. Only the clicking of red sneakers can be heard. Words upon his lips as he dreams of a pleasant dream to escape from the arguing.

"I want my home back. I want my home back. I want my home back."

Don't mind the man behind the curtain.