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People are so afraid to take a step towards a new life that they are ready to close their eyes
to everything that does not suit them. But this is even worse: to wake up one day and
realize that everything is not right next door. © Confucius
The sun was slowly rising over the horizon, painting the city on the outskirts of the river in the most delicate shades, a little yellowish and pink, and the night shadow gradually crept away, like a small snake.
Alec sat under a spreading oak tree and looked ahead with a detached gaze. A million thoughts and memories seemed to flash in his head. They whirled and buzzed like an annoying swarm of bees and did not seem to want to stop for a second. He still couldn't find an island of calm. He was already completely chilled and sniffling from the cold,
which is not surprising at all, it seems, he spent a good part of the night here, but did not remember how he got here after a quarrel with Lydia.
It all started strange, my friend said something careless and he suddenly, in an unusual manner for himself, began to express what he had been saving inside for a long time.
With Lydia they met in high school, when Alec was even captain of the football team, and she drayvovoy cheerleaders. Yes, a couple of clichés. Then he studied together at a local university, he played for the Su-City Bandits, followed by a leg injury and a bright future went downhill. And so the athlete's sweet life ended before it began. They tried to stick
together and moved from Sioux City , Iowa to Bettendorf, Scott County, she went to work as a teacher, and Alec got a job with a small credit company.
At work he was not noticed, he was like a ghost, he was not reckoned with and was treated like an ordinary clerk, all that was left was to put up with it, beat tiredly on keys,answer calls and drink nasty black coffee from a plastic cup. It became more and more difficult with her friend, accustomed to a luxurious life, she did not like living from paycheck to paycheck, not going to trendy bars and constantly eating at home, and Lydia seems to have completely forgotten that it was she who insisted on moving. One day Alec found a correspondence with a certain N. on her phone and there were no more questions
why she began to come home later. No, he didn't get angry, because in fact it was he who always deceived her. The most difficult thing was to admit to himself that he never liked girls in this regard, much more he was excited by courageous bodies. These thoughts
made Alec feel bad. What if the parents and sister would find out? Why is he like that?
Over the years, he has learned to hide his feelings from others and especially from Lydia.
It seemed to him that she knew everything, but she was simply afraid to change anything.
After work, he began to ventilate his head more often, wandering the streets of the city and thinking about unjustified hopes. It was this phrase that hooked him in the girl's words ...
"You didn't live up to my hopes."
She spat it out with such disgust and contempt that at first Alec froze like a statue, and then he broke off and began to scream until he was hoarse, apparently that's why now there was an unpleasant sore throat in his throat, slammed the front door and went
where his eyes were looking.
When the stream of memories ended, the sun had already completely left the horizon
and pleasantly warmed his face, he looked at his dirty Converse, his hands covered with goose bumps and was about to get up, when suddenly a not fragile figure threw a blanket over his shoulders, put a steaming cup of coffee in his icy hands and sat down next to him. It was a guy of Asian appearance, in a simple home suit, in plush slippers on his bare feet, his temples were shaved, and the ends of his long bangs were dyed red, and a colorful plaid was draped over his shoulders. A few minutes of silence passed and the neighbor, slightly rubbing the soft muzzle of the dog on his slippers with his forefinger, without turning his head, asked:
- Difficult night?
- More likely the last couple of years. Alec replied with a bitter grin and took a sip of the
hot drink, feeling the warmth with which it spreads through my body.
- “The name of your ailment is Camilla Wilkes.
- How strange. So I am my own disease? How much I made myself sick! Even now my
heart feels it *. " - quoted the stranger and touched Alec with his hand. - We all suffer
from this disease and behind the dome of problems have completely forgotten how to
see the sun's rays, look what a beautiful morning.
She pointed to the river, and then turned the guy's face back to him by the chin, and now Alec could easily see his soft features and kind look.
- I am Magnus. I have a hot breakfast and a dryer there. - he said expectantly, and smiled a bright smile.
Alec turned around and saw a fence, and behind it a small brick house with a well-tended terrace, how had he not noticed it before?
Magnus continued to look him in the eye and the young man began to notice that
the world around him was filled with an abundance of colors.
He smiled back and nodded confidently.
Part note
* Quote from the book "The Cure for Melancholy" by Ray Bradberry.