I'm not from here
“I’m not from here” little Ian believes all his life, he knows he’s different.
He’s special.
Like hanging out with the boys from the neighborhood is hard for him, because their emotions are too confused,too loud.
Except one boy.
Ian doesn't know why, but he finds him intriguing: always angry, always shouting, his real emotions hidden. Ian loves to observe him, captivated. When no one is looking, the anger disappears, his face softens, his blue-eyes smiling.
He’s beautiful.
Too soon, the mask is back on.
Ian wonders what's the story behind that mask.
What's the story of that boy?
Picture prompt
Ian doesn’t see the boy for a few days.
One day he is here,
He has a black eye and a man is yelling at him. Ian hides and wants to cry because the man is pure evil, and the boy is terrified.
Finally, the man left.
The boy tries to hide his tears and finally sees him.
He’s afraid but doesn’t move.
Something happens, a tiny spark of hope, tiny, but it's here.
The boy gives him a shy smile, and Ian can read his true aura now.
Deep blue, yellow and orange like a sunset.
It’s so beautiful
Three things
Ian needs to hide, to escape all that noise in his head, he can't breathe, it's overwhelming, He runs to his secret place in the library.
Someone is already here in the darkness of his sanctuary, the blue-eyed boy. When he sees Ian he doesn't say a word, he moves a little and lets Ian sit next to him.
He takes deep breaths, focuses on the boy's peaceful presence, and finally everything is calm again.
Ian has two things going in his life: his family and his gift, but something is missing, maybe this boy can be his third one.
Mean and scary
Ian knows the truth about the boy
The other children of the school are afraid of him, Ian hears what they say about him, they think he's mean and scary, always angry. It’s not what they think.
Ian knows who he is, when they hide together in the library, they don't really talk, but Ian feels it, how he's afraid all the time, how he tries to be brave and strong.
Ian's curious, but the boy trusts him, so he never asks why he is sad and hurt.
All Ian can do, is be there for him, be his friend.
Karma
Before Monica left, she told him stories, and he always loved the one about karma and how he needed to be a good boy if he wanted to have a good life.So he’s a little worried because the boy is always in trouble at school.One day, he hears them talking about him and something called social service. Ian believes they want him to be punished and sent away. Ian cries because he doesn't want his friend to be taken away.Maybe he needs to be good for two, maybe he could have a little bit of his karma.
Song
Fiona knows something is wrong, she always sees it when Ian is worried.
Like every time she takes him in her arms and sings to him his favorite lullaby.
Ian wonders if anyone is singing for his friend, or if anyone is reading him stories, and giving him hugs.
Ian would like the song to fly, he wants to send colored notes dancing to his house. Ian wants to sing for him, and he imagines his friend smiling.
Maybe if he tries hard enough his friend will be able to hear him and Ian hopes he makes him feel better.
Wilhelmine - Eins sein
In the art room, Ian sits alone in the back of the class. He is lonely because his friend is not here.
After class, he'll go to see him at his house, maybe he's sick today.
Ian wants to make him a drawing, something nice to cheer him up.
He doesn't care if the other children in the class are going to make fun of him.
They don't understand him, they never did, Ian can feel it, and he doesn’t want to listen.
His friend is the only one who cares about him.
He's everything.
He’s the best of everything
Rain
The day seems to never end, Ian is getting more and more impatient.
Something is wrong, he can feel it now.
Outside a storm is coming, like a messenger of bad news.
When the class is over, Ian runs.
The more he gets closer to his friend's house, the more he knows something bad happened.
He should feel his aura now, but he can't find him anywhere. Where is he?
When Ian arrives, he understands: the house is no longer here, nothing left but ashes.
Rain on his cheeks, little Ian drops on his knees.
Or maybe it's his tears.
“All that blood looks good on you. It really brings out your eyes”
Twenty years later…
Ian is exhausted after a particularly hard shift.
His choice's career as an EMT is not easy,
feeling everyone's pain and fear.
Ian closes his eyes, he just needs a moment, and doesn't realize he is falling asleep…
“All that blood looks good on you. It really brings out your eyes”
Ian wakes up confused, heart beating like crazy.
He was talking to a man, he doesn't remember his features, just his eyes, blue like the ocean.
He knows him, even if he can remember, who it was? It's not a dream, a premonition maybe?
Ian smiles, something is happening.
Gamble
Ian's ambulance is called for a bar fight, a gamble went wrong.
Ian hates that kind of place, so much emotion, he can't think clearly.
He takes a deep breath.
People have cuts and bruises, the usual.
Something else is different, a strange feeling like if someone is calling for him, very far away.
Curious, Ian looks around him until he finds a man, eyebrow bleeding, who is looking at him with a smile.
Black hair, blue eyes…
A spark in his mind, a memory of two little boys hiding together.
Then he hears it,
Ian, do you remember me?
Tease
It's him…
He found him!
It's been so long since he thought about him, when he lost him, the memory hurt too much.
Now he’s there, and he's so beautiful.
His aura is still the same, and it’s waking up feelings for a long time forgotten: safe, cared, loved.
Something he thought was lost forever: hope.
Ian comes closer, and he smiles because he knows what he’s supposed to say, his dreams had whispered his line to him.
But no need to tease him yet, they have plenty of time.
They found each other again, and it’s all that matters.
Flood
They talk all night, once the floodgates opened they can’t stop.
Mickey tells him about the fire: Terry’s shitty drug lab attempts set the whole house on fire and put him in prison for a long time.
Then the social service sent him and his little sister to an aunt who lived outside the city.
They were safe.
Finally, Ian hears it again, the soft voice in his mind
“I missed you so much”
With disbelief, he asks Mickey
“how do you know”
“I always knew you were special”
Ian laces their fingers together and smiles
“you are special too”
I’d rather have you, cursed or not
“Are you sure ?”
“I’m fucking sure, what’s the problem ?”
“It’s me, I mean my gift or my capacities, we don’t know anything about it, could be a malediction, or maybe I’m cursed!”
“Well I’d rather have you, cursed or not”
“I still don’t understand how you’re not more curious about it, or afraid”
“Ian, I wanted you the minute I saw you twenty years ago, I had plenty of time to think about it, I want you just as you are.
“Just like that ?”
“Yes, just like that, so what’s your answer?”
“ I'll marry you. Of course, I'll marry you”
The end
