Chapter Text
Gwyneth
I wonder. I truly wonder how is it to live in the forest. What the? What am I thinking? I’ll end up being a disorientated monkey crazed in the forest thinking that a ghost is haunting the hell out of me while it’s just the buzz of bees. Though I hate cities and the rough whir of the cars rumbling and revving, I’ve always wanted to live peacefully. Yes, maybe some people find it calm to live in cities, but they are mostly ‘adapted’ to this kind of environment.
I get up from the bean bag, and walk towards the dining room to be met with a yawning dad and a tiresome mom that’s cooking her iconic mushroom soup. I sigh at the thought that they love me deep down but won’t show it.
I walk over to my mom, wearing a scarlet rugged robe with her hair in a messy bun. I look over her shoulder, noticing how I’m already taller than her fills my mind with the thought of quiet pity. Her sore hands trembling through the mushroom softly, almost as if her hands will shatter if she used more force on the blunt knife. I turn to my dad, belly protruding out with little hairs sticking out like bears’ fur. His stuffy beard grazing above his chest while his precise eyes work over the electricity bills. Luckily this time it wasn’t above the roof.
I get a bowl of Moms soup, gulp it down, wipe my mouth before kissing my parents on their cheeks and excuse myself by saying, ‘Love you Ma, Pa. I’ll be going to Aunt Chaes house now, I will miss you!’. I watch both of them gently smile in sync, I return it with my cheeky one. I open the door, and step out onto the yellowed white tile outside in the hall way before closing the door. I turn to face my right before jogging down the hall. I reach the over-lavished elevator before clicking the button on the side, waiting for its doors to slide open with a little-
Bing
The cranky metal door squeals open, swallowing me with its bright golden shade of the most: shiniest, glimmer-est and the most powerful source of light I’ve ever seen. My eyes instantly shut tight, my hands covering the bright warm light placed in every corner of the elevator. I sigh. This is my second one. God. Damn this elevator to hell.
I walk in the elevator, blindly pushing the button inside to close the door while I get a glimpse of how this elevator was a whole new ecosystem of rich unlike the stenchy hallway ahead of me. The doors close, my eyes recovering from the flashbang a machine that gave me. I turn to lay my back on the cold gold painted metal of the elevator wall, although I know my sweat is probably drenching the metal by now. My head turns up, hitting the wall gently. I open my eyes fully, noticing that I wasn’t the only one alone here. I see a lone boy standing opposite of me with two wet and heavy bags of trash juice and old parched newspapers, wearing the most unpleasing rip off spiderman pyjamas I’ve ever seen. No wonder why parents take so long to shop in malls.
Once I reach the last floor, I exit out of the metal room to the lobby.
A glass chandelier hanging with just a thin strip of green and red wire, stretching at its longest as if it’s weeping to be untangled. Crimson velvet carpet pool around then entrance and the reception counter. I wave towards Gibby, the oldest man I’ve ever seen alive, with a warm smile as he returns it back while I walk out the touched glass to the rumbling streets. Dirty newspaper rustle roughly against the concrete by the bustling wind winding my hair into tangles. I look around, searching for an empty cab lurking around that has a middle-aged man scrolling on tinder. My eyes peer over the squealing teenagers, spotting the warm yellow of the cab.
My legs scramble towards the car, avoiding large bodies swiftly from my constant practice of running through the crowds in the afternoon. My hands find the handle, plopping into the car as I notice it was the same man from yesterday so he probably would know where I’m going again. My hands grip the leather seat from behind, “To the countryside please” while I shove about $45 in his stuffy hands. He places it in the small container in the gearbox before gripping onto the steering wheel while looking side to side for passing cars. I hit my back against the seat, my head up towards the window. My eyes travel back to Mom’s place as tranquillity beams on me, but it didn’t feel right. Why am I feeling calm when my parents are struggling to even live now? It doesn’t fit, at all even. The peaceful silence is now replaced by thick serenity, accompanied by tranquillity.
My eyes slowly droop down while the soft rumble of the engine below me sings me to sleep. An hour passes and the skies grow vibrant orange and pink, swirls of serenity that blooms in my heart. My mind eases and the sight, Mama birds feeding their little ones, the lush green grassland swimming over mushy soil. The car pulls over to the left, my head bumping into the window. I look outside, noticing the nostalgic colours of Aunt Chaes' house. The old garden still growing its vibrant fruits and vegetables even though the snails and ants infested the garden nearly over a whole century. Funny how life works.