Morning Walks

Ron

Ron skipped a stone across the clear lake. In this weather, it should have been frozen solid. Something about the continent made him wonder. It had to have some sort of magic itself to keep it this way. It was cold and snowing, but somehow he wasn't even shivering in his coat and scarf. He would have frozen on the island. Then again, the houses were drafty, the wind was bitter, every job he took nearly froze his hands off.

He tugged at the gloves on his hands. How many others on the island had never seen, let alone worn gloves even remotely as nice as these? He almost felt guilty about wearing them. Perhaps he could ask Gisa to speak with Michael about shipping over some to the kids in the orphanages they had built that Fall. They definitely could use them.

He turned away from the lake's snowy bank, his boots crunching in the blanket of snow. It had fallen the evening before. He looked over the school grounds, still quite dark in the early morning hours with a sigh. Of happiness, sadness, guilt? He didn't know. He had done quite well adjusting. He played sports, made friends, his grades were better than they had been on the island. He managed to procure an A- in a science class. A feat he had never been able to claim. This had been good for him, but things still felt odd. Especially at this hour.

As he wandered back towards the lampposts lighting the walkways, he heard a distant bell tower tolling in the distance. Six in the morning. Everyone got up so late here on the continent. By six almost everyone was up, scrambling for a spot in the market, jamming in to be the first to claim a spot at the docks or the crude assembly lines that had formed over the years. First come first serve. Dogs eat dogs. The breakfast hall at school didn't even open until six-thirty and they only served coffee and a few bagels and cereals until eight when everyone else seemed to join the world. The earliest classes started at nine.

His breath clouded in front of him. The campus was completely deserted, not a soul was outside the buildings. Perhaps it was the morning chill or the darkness that was driving them away. He had seen more people in the warmer season. It was one reason he liked to get up early. There were always less people. He was away from the throngs of students, from people throwing a frisbee or a ball in the square, from dodging students who were too focused on their phones to watch where they were going. The quiet he supposed, was nice.

He couldn't sleep any later than this however. He always woke before six, even if he had stayed up late the night before. Something inside of him still didn't understand that no matter how late he awoke, he stayed in, that he would be completely fine. He had tried a few times once he awoke to go back to sleep or even stay in bed, but he always found himself dressing for the day, or headed to the restrooms. So he eventually gave in, and took to going for long morning walks

A figure walked swiftly through an illuminated portion of the sidewalk, disappearing into the shadows. Ron tilted his head curiously, following them. Their dark cloak rendered them almost invisible against the blackness of the morning. It made up for their apparent lack of stealth. He almost smirked as they stepped on a large piece of ice with a resounding crack. Definitely not any of his companions from the island, that was for sure.

"Hey!" He called out, the person only a few yards from him now as he advanced at a swift pace.

They turned around and his heart skipped a beat, wondering if perhaps it was not a student or a teacher but maybe another beast sent to kill them, before Lucy removed her hood, staring at him from glazed eyes. Purple circles hung under them, her face waned, the little makeup left on her face smeared and out of place.

"Hey are you okay?" He walked towards her faster, noting the way she stood unsteadily. He hooked an arm around her.

"Fine." she said, but the wobble in her voice didn't hide much.

"Let me walk you to your dorm," Ron offered, a hand on her shoulder.

She looked like she might have refused, but she shook her head, "Whatever."

"Lucy, are you feeling alright?" Ron asked her after a few minutes of silence. The sky had started to turn a lighter shade of blue, the sun slowly coming up to the horizon, "You look like you might be sick." The extra light only made her seem more ill.

"I'm fine," she said, "I just had an argument with my mother and stayed the night with another girl, but didn't get any sleep because she was on the phone until four am."

"Why are you up at six?"

A shrug. "She finally fell asleep, but I was at the point of no return. I wanted her to talk to me about it, but she blew me off for her boyfriend. Typical I suppose. I just couldn't take her snoring anymore, so I left about thirty minutes ago. I'll just skip school today and rest I guess."

Ron tried to think of an answer for her, but found nothing, so instead, "I used to argue with my mother. I would leave, go to other friends' places for days or weeks at a time. The first few times she sent people to look for me, but after a while, she stopped. I thought she stopped caring, but maybe she knew I didn't want to be found." He sighed, thinking about the many times he had been woken in the dead of night, fists pounding on a front door that was not his own. "She loves me, I know she does. In her own way. I feel like she loves me in the only way she knows how." Lucy didn't say anything, but he could tell she was listening. "The last time I spoke with her, I hadn't been home in months. I was dragged back by… some people, and I ended up getting kicked out by the end of our exchange. I haven't received or sent any letters since then. Our relationship… is over. I know that you and your mom are very different people. I don't understand your specific situation, but I know it is hard and frustrating, because you love her. I know you are at odds with her now," they stopped before a large stone building, three faeries carved into the ornate entryway, "But don't ruin what you have like my mom and I did. I'll see you around Lucy." He shoved his hands into his pockets and meandered towards the breakfast hall. Her stare bore into the back of his head, but he didn't turn around, his heart beating harder than it should have.

She had opened up to him. And he had… done the same. Maybe because he did see parts of himself in her. Broken, misunderstood, lonely, and sort of afraid. It was hard to find your way in the world when the person you had known and loved your entire life didn't have the same path in mind as you.

The clock chimed six-thirty as he reached the breakfast wing of the cafeteria. Maybe he had lied to Lucy about something. Was it too late to talk to his mother?

Alone in the cafeteria with his black coffee and a bagel, he pulled a sheet of notebook paper from his backpack. He leaned back against the booth seat he was in with a sigh. It wasn't going to be easy. He wondered how many drafts it might take. How many times he might have to try to send the letter and get skittish, if he ever wrote it. He shook the thoughts from his head. She had been hurt too, his mom. She needed healing as much as he did. Perhaps forgiving her was a good way to start that.

The pen that was always in his pocket was pulled out as he wrote a letter.

To Mom,