At the centre of this dome stood a boy. His body was tense, cowering within itself. His eyes darted in every direction, desperately searching for an escape. Gusts of wind were blowing in every direction one after another, crashing into each other and keeping him on his toes. He didn’t know which way to go. His hair was messy and spiky, just about staying out of his eyes as he tried to focus.
He looked down and took a slow breath. Eyes open wide and certainly not relaxed. Palms sweaty, fingertips cold, nails bitten. Feet stuck to the ground as if his boots were bricks. Despite shivering, he wanted to make a movement. To be free.
A bar of light shot across his boots and disappeared. In a land of dull chaos, this attracted his attention. Anything to get this back. He etched it into his memory. Its soft edges. Warm orange tones. A silence within. It felt like a strip of peace.
It appeared again. This time, the bar of light stayed. Just out of reaching distance, but within his eyeline. He made a gentle move towards it, not wanting to startle it or have it disappear. As he approached it, his smile grew, yet the bar darted away.
He chased it with laser focus. Skating through the windy chaos, he was keeping up. Slaloming around any grey poles in his way, he got closer and closer. It came within touching distance and he stepped on its closest soft edge. He had caught it, it seemed. Peace returned.
He looked closer at it, noticing yellows and whites, brighter than anything else in this world. The wind continued to howl, encircling him. Staring into the bar of light, it didn’t seem to matter. Worries became lighter. His insides became calmer.
He continued looking into its core, not able to pull away or move a muscle in case it escaped. The bar grew, widening before lengthening. The glow was warm, felt on his face like the hand of a lover. He felt seen, heard and free.
Free to think, to do, to live.
But not yet free to move.
Not yet.
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