A Reason To Be Me...

A Reason To Be Me...- four

Basil jumped up and sniffed at my lying form.

I smiled at the fluffy creature and ruffled his fur making his head and ears move with my hand. He always knew how to make me feel better.

Grabbing my sketch pad I decided to doodle for a bit till dinner was ready. I hadn't been given any homework yet and I didn't fancy looking over the long list of electives yet again. Every option would mean interacting with others and most likely having to involve myself in school activities, because I definitely wasn't going to pick art and share my drawings with anyone, any time soon.

I pressed play on my stereo and turned the volume down to a back ground noise. With Basil now curled up by my side, snoring softly, I flipped to a fresh page and let my mind go blank as my hand drew with the pencil I held loosely between my fingers.

All too soon six o'clock came around so I washed up ready for dinner. I didn't bother to look at my drawing, well look at it properly, I would save that for later, before I went to bed, to give me something to do perhaps.

I wasn't hungry, as to be expected, and luckily Gran had anticipated this by cooking up a light vegetable soup.

Gramps asked me about my day, and pressed for more information other then it being good. Maybe it was because he really wanted to know or maybe it was because it would give him a break from listening to my Gran go on about something unimportant. I don't know, but he smiled encouragingly as I told him insignificant things like what I had learnt in English literature or how much the price of my water was today at lunch.

Exhausted from the whole day I was glad to escape my grandparents after dinner and headed outside like I had the previous nights.

Only this time I opted for the back garden.

My grandparents were somewhat good at gardening, and with all the free time they had now days, they kept the gardens in great shape. There wasn't a bush that wasn't preened, nor a stray dead weed in sight.

The garden back onto a small woodland area, making the back of the long garden dark by the encroaching trees. There was a small patio area just outside the door and the rest was grass boarder by shrubs, flowers, bushes and trees. It had a small pond to the left, with lillys floating on top and fish swimming in the water. The sound of the perpetual pump could be heard in the still night air, the noise soothing and relaxing. I could see why people thought that water features were peaceful. Because of the warmer climate here there were still flowers blooming. Each of them glowing in the moon light.

I walked to the back of the garden, to sit on the bench under the canopy formed by branches of trees, and looked out at the garden. Soft blueish light filtered through small gaps between the leaves and I watched as dust floated like glitter in the small beams of light. Dancing in the soft breeze with out a care in the world.

Basil was off doing his usual doggy things. He was used to the place now and no longer felt the need to rush around like a mad dog. Now he simply trotted from one bush to the next, happily remarking his territory as he went.

Out in the night air was fast becoming my happy place. It was becoming a habit of mine to wonder out and just sit in silence, letting myself slip into a daze and letting my mind wonder off on it's own with out having to worry.

That was the good thing about living in a small town, there was rarely any noise at night. It was always so quiet and still.

When I was younger I had hated it. It creeped me out how little I could hear, being used to the sound of a busy city, simple things like cars rolling past. But now that I was older, and somewhat different too, I was comforted by it. Soothed almost by the knowledge that I was alone and undisturbed. That I could sit out here and not have to worry about over hearing the neighbours scream and shout at each other.