A Fence of Sunflowers

Inside a small room filled with an abundance of toys was a little boy the age of eight. He had a mop of curly, brown hair atop his head and a pair of the brightest green eyes. However, his eyes seemed dull.

His soft, little hands picked up a horse figurine and brought it close to his face. His eyes scanned the toy, his face expressionless.

"Were you alive before?" his cute voice asked, curious. "In the movie, you were running..." he placed the horse down and waited, "Are you going to move?" but it stayed still.

The boy frowned, unsatisfied with the toy. What was the point of having it when it didn't move?

The door clicked open, and in came his caretaker. She was the same person who took care of him every single day, but he never knew her name. "It's time for you to eat," she said blandly.

He stood up wobbly with his two legs and pointed at the horse, "I don't like this toy." he said as he pouted.

The caretaker clicked her tongue, "You don't like every toy." she grabbed his hand and pulled him outside of his room and brought him to the dining room.

It was a large room. It contained a big dining table that fit 10 people and beautiful paintings of yellow flowers. But, he didn't like it. It made him feel sad.

"Finish everything on your plate." said his caretaker before she disappeared into another room.

He didn't like this big dining room because it made him feel alone.

He wiped away the curly hair that was getting in the way of his eyes and picked up the silverware. Today's lunch was meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Although it was inside his mouth, he wasn't able to taste anything.

After he finished, he stared at his empty plate and waited for his caretaker to take him back into his room. He could always go back there himself, but the last time he did he was scolded harshly. His caretaker said that she needed to know where he was at all times so he mustn't go anywhere without her permission. He didn't understand why, but all he knew was that he should listen to her.

He looked at the windows in the dining room, windows that were covered with drapes so thick that the sun wasn't able to shine through. However, he could see a small ray of light peeking at the bottom. He never really knew why all the windows in the house were covered. Even in his room, there was not a single window.

He hopped down the ridiculously big dining chair and walked towards the window, curiosity getting the best of him. It wouldn't hurt to just look through once, right? His caretaker wasn't here, she would never know.

The young boy was already crawling underneath the drapes, wincing when the sun's rays fell upon his eyes. He rubbed his eyes with his little fists and forced them to open, picking himself up to tiptoe to the height of the window sill.

He felt hands grab his ankles.

He yelped in pain as he was dragged back outside of the drapes, meeting his angry caretaker. "You're not supposed to move from your chair."

"B-but I didn't leave the room..." he whimpered as she grabbed his wrist, pulling him up to stand. She didn't reply, only dragging him back up the stairs and pushing him into his room.

His green eyes watered, his lips quivering. He only wanted to look through the window. Hiccuping, he wiped his eyes harshly. He wasn't supposed to cry. The last time he cried his caretaker got mad at him.

Instead, he sat down on his little chair in front of his little table. On top of this table were multiple crayons and papers for him to draw with. He picked up his favorite colors: green and blue and started drawing to pass the time. This was how his life was.

Wake up, get washed, get dressed, stay in his room, eat in the dining room, go back in his room, eat again for dinner, return to his room, sleep, and repeat. It's been like this since before he could remember, and as a young boy, he didn't know that his life was different from other children.

Until the day he snuck out of the house without his caretaker's permission.

Now let me ask you. Imagine you're the little boy. Try to imagine what you would feel when you step outside of the house. It sounds simple, something that you wouldn't even think about, but for him it was different. For him, it was like stepping into another world.

He fell down the moment he walked through the front door, gasping at the sudden brightness. It was too bright! He was amazed to see so many colors at once. It was blue, it was white, it was grey, it was green, it was brown, it was yellow, and it was pink!

The sun felt warm on his pale, white skin. He reached out to grab out into the sun experimentally, feeling overwhelmed by everything. His mouth agape he looked around once more and felt his little heart beating fast.

He let out a little shout when the wind suddenly roared by. He watched as the flowers, grass, and leaves danced along with the wind, and heard the whistle as it passed. There were so many things to feel he didn't know how to focus on everything.

The sunlight was on his skin, that should make him warm, but when the wind came he suddenly felt cold. Why? Why? Why? Why were the leaves dancing? Why was the wind here? Why was the sun shining?

Without knowing, his feet walked down the porch, making their way to the garden. This was grass. He crouched and touched them with his fingers. They felt like plastic but at the same time not. This is dirt, it feels soft and rough.

He's seen this all in the movies before but to see them in real life... it was amazing!

He giggled and ran further outside. What else was there to see? What else was there to feel? What else was there that he has never experienced? He wanted to know everything!

He was met with a fence. It wasn't just any fence, it was a tall metal fence. He decided that the fence was ugly. It wasn't beautiful like the sun and the sky, it was ugly. He thought that if he kept on going around he would meet the end of the fence, but even the big gate was ugly.

He clenched his fists and puffed his cheeks. He finally got outside but even now he was still trapped. He stomped down and hugged his knees, eyes watering in anger and frustration.

But then, he heard humming. Shocked, and a bit scared, he peeked up to find the source of the soft voice. He gasped when he saw something move over the fence. Was there a bear!? Is that why there were fences!? He didn't know that bears could sing!

He crawled away from the fence, but still close enough to see if it was really a bear. Slowly, the humming grew clearer, and soon, he came to realize that it wasn't a bear. It was a person.

A person with shiny, yellow hair. She wore a long white dress that flowed and moved along with the wind. She was singing a song that he never heard as she danced around the field of sunflowers.

Amazed, he moved closer and held the fence with his small hands. His eyes sparkling wide and his mouth agape as he stared through the fence. While she was dancing she always had a bright smile on her face, the rays of the sun made everything shine around her.

As she made one more twirl, her blue eyes accidentally met green. She suddenly looked more shocked than he was. He panicked and let go of the fence as if it burned him and made a move to run away, but before he could he heard her voice call out to him.

"Wait!" he froze and turned back to her, still afraid. However, the fear disappeared when she gave him a warm smile. "Don't be afraid." even though, he still won't come close. "You're very scared right now, aren't you?"

"I'm not scared!" he yelled, as he stomped towards the fence.

She laughed and knelt down until they were both eye level, "Is that so? What are you doing over there? I've never seen you here before." The green-eyed boy was hesitant to answer. "It's fine if you don't tell me, but can you at least tell me your name?"

The boy blinked. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was left agape. Name? A name... when was the last time he said his name out loud? When was the last time anyone else had said his name?

The beautiful woman frowned, concern marring her features. "Do you not have one?" she asked softly.

He shook his head rapidly, "Mm! I do!" he fumbled with his fingers and looked down, "My name is Aether."

"Aether..." the woman clapped her hands and giggled, "What a lovely name!" Aether looked up, his eyes wide, "Did you know that your name means 'light' in Greek?"

Aether breathed in and nodded with a smile, "Yeah!" he hopped closer to the fence and held it once again.

That was the start of everything.

Aether would sneak outside of his room unnoticed by his caretaker every time after lunch. He did it just to meet with the nice lady who danced with the wind and flowers. Every day he would listen to her sing pretty songs that made him sleepy and listened to the stories that she made to make him laugh.

"I spy with my little eye... a pie." said the blonde woman, whose wavy hair flowed all the way down to her hips.

Aether looked at her with a baffled expression, "But there are no pies here in the garden!"

"There is!" she laughed and pointed at him, "A cutie pie!"

Being with her was fun. Unlike the little figurines in his room, she was alive and moving. Unlike the movie characters that he saw inside of the TV, she knew that he was alive and responded to everything that he said. She was a real person who was willing to play and listen to him.

If only he knew earlier that sneaking outside of the house would lead him to this. He would've done it immediately if that was the case.

Aether picked up the stuffed doll with yellow hair on top of his toy box and placed it aside, he was trying to dig his way underneath. Today, he was a pirate finding the rarest treasure in the world, a treasure that he was going to bring to the lady.

When he finally found what he wanted, he sneakily put it inside of his pocket and began his escape. He had just returned to his room after eating lunch, during this time of the day his caretaker would've already disappeared into her room and wouldn't be out until she needed to take care of him again.

Slowly, he opened the door and made his way down the long stairs. It didn't matter if he made a sound, after all, the house was too big to hear anything when you're on the other side. However, he still tiptoed just in case. He didn't want to make his caretaker angry.

When he finally made it to the end of the fence, Aether found that she was already sitting in their usual spot. Excited, he ran towards her.

"Hello, Aether!" she greeted him with a big smile.

"I have something for you!" he dug into his pockets and showed it to her proudly with his hands stretched toward her.

"Oh, my! How pretty!" on his hands were two blue, sparkly marbles that reflected the light of the sun.

"They look like your eyes!" he grinned. "They're shiny and bright!"

She laughed and placed both her hands on the fence, "That's so sweet. You're such a happy boy, aren't you, Aether?"

He nodded and put the marbles back inside of his pockets so that he could grab the metal fence with his hands. "I'm happy because you're here to play with me!" he attempted to touch her fingers but was surprised when she pulled away before he made contact.

"You've played a lot." she just looked at him with the same smile. Was it not okay to touch her hand? Was that how it was? He didn't know, now he felt bad. "Are you tired?"

"No, no I'm not tired." he let go of the fence and sat down.

"Every time I see you it feels as if you're getting smaller." she started making little flower crowns.

"Maybe it's because I don't like eating food." Aether played with the blue marbles, "It doesn't taste yummy like they make it look like in movies. It tastes like cardboard."

"Perhaps that's the secret ingredient your caretaker tries to hide from everyone. Shredded cardboard spice!"

He made a disgusted sound,"That's gross! I would never eat that!" the lady laughed and stood up, "Are you going already?" he panicked. He only just got here, he didn't want her to go already.

"No, no, no. I'm not going anywhere." she only took three steps away from him to reach a fully bloomed sunflower. "I'm right here." she bent the flower's stem until it snapped free, leaving only the bright yellow petals and its seeds. "It's been so long since we've started playing together, are you sure you're not tired yet?"

"No. I'm not tired," Aether replied as she knelt back in front of him, the metal fence keeping them apart.

"You sure are holding on quite well. You're such a strong boy." she smiled sadly at him. "To be stuck in that room for so long... I admire you for being able to smile."

"I want to have a smile like yours!" he pointed at his mouth and stretched his lips to form a grin, "Yours is very pretty! It reminds me of the Angels inside of my picture books!"

"Angel?" she giggled and plucked the petals of the sunflower one by one, "I guess so!"

"I never want to stop playing with you," said Aether firmly.

She paused in the midst of her petal collecting, and then looked away. "Aether, I'm not going to be here forever. I have to go somewhere soon."

Fear struck Aether, a fear that felt stronger than the one he felt when his caretaker got mad at him. "Why!?" he grabbed the fence that separated them, "Where are you going?"

She continued plucking the petals, not looking him in the eyes, and said, "I'm going to go somewhere very far away."

Aether felt tears welling up in his eyes. No... no! That can't happen! "You can't do that if you leave I won't have someone to play with anymore!"

"Oh, Aether..." she set aside the petals and looked at him softly, "Please don't cry... I'll still be with you!"

This scene felt familiar to Aether as if he had seen it in a movie somewhere. "Are you going to die? Is that why you're leaving? Are you going to heaven?" was she going to become a real angel and leave him forever?

"I'm not going to die, Aether. I'm never going to die while you're still here..." she held the fence with her petite hands and smiled. It wasn't a happy smile like he always saw. It made him feel sad. "I'm going to stay with you until you're ready to leave."

Confused, and maybe a bit angry, Aether balled his hands into fists. "I can't leave!" he yelled. Frustrated by that fact and frustrated that she was just going to leave him. "Just stay here! Don't go away!" tears started flowing down his eyes.

"Shhhhh..." she rested her head on the fence and closed her eyes, "You need to rest soon, Aether. You've been stuck in there far too long. It's almost time..."

"What do you mean!?" Aether was already bawling his eyes out at this point, "I don't want you to die! I don't want you to leave!"

"Aether..." he kept on crying, "Aether, please..." he wasn't listening anymore, he was too distressed about her words, "Aether!" she yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Listen to me..." she looked at his hands and gestured for him to place them on the fence, "You've been tired of far too long... I came here to help you." for the first time since they met, Aether felt the warmth of her hands.

"How are you supposed to help me?" he hiccuped, no longer crying.

"Sleep. Rest. Close your eyes. Breathe out." she smiled.

"Why?" Aether was still confused.

"Trust me." and so he did.

He closed his eyes, feeling only her big soft hands holding his tiny fingers gently as if they might break. He breathed in and then breathed out, repeating this process until he felt as if he could fall asleep.

He heard the breeze of the wind flying by and caressing his skin, making his brown curls flow back. He heard the leaves rustling with the wind and heard the birds and animals all living.

"Doesn't it feel nice, Aether?" her voice was like sweet honey. "You can open your eyes now." When he did, the metal fence was no longer there.

A warmth swelled in his chest, and excitement filled him once again. He felt as if he was stepping outside of the house again. "What happened!? Is this your magic?" they were no longer separated, and now, she was holding his hands firmly on her own.

"This isn't my magic, it's yours!" she smiled and stretched out her arms, "Come here!"

Aether laughed happily, eyes sparkling, and jumped into her embrace. "I did this?"

"Yes you did!" she hugged him and caressed his head. "Are you ready to go now?"He nodded, resting his face on the crook of her neck, feeling happier than ever. This was the best day of his life! "Alright, let's go." she picked him up with no difficulty and began to walk into the field of sunflowers.

Aether watched as the dreary house slowly vanished, the sunflower petals that she had picked swirled around it until it was no longer there.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To a place where there's lots of sun, lots of flowers, lots of animals. There's also going to be a lot of kids too!" she replied just as excited as him.

"Really!? I'm going to make more friends?" just the thought of it sounded impossible, but here he was on the way. "Where is that?"

She held him close and then pointed at the sky where silver clouds shone, "Up there. It's going to be a long trip, so you should sleep until we arrive."

"Okay!"

Aether locked his arms around her, and slowly closed his eyes. However, before he shut his eyes he saw a faint silhouette of beautiful wings sprouting from her back. He wanted to open his eyes again, but he was just so sleepy that they closed shut.

By the time he opened his eyes, he was already standing, still holding her hand. He was in a bright field that went on forever. Around him were children playing around. They were playing with puppies, picking the flowers, and singing.

"You can go if you want." the lady with yellow hair smiled.

Aether nodded with the brightest smile and let go of her hand. He ran towards the group of children and began to play.

From then on, Aether was never lonely, sad, or afraid ever again.

Inside a big house was a large dining room. The dining room had paintings of sunflower fields hanging on every wall. Outside of the dining room was a staircase that led to the second floor where a door with the name "Aether" carved beautifully into its expensive wood.

The room was filled with an abundance of toys, one of them being a stuffed doll with yellow hair and a white dress. Beside that doll were two broken blue marbles.

The cardboard boxes that were used to fill multiple toys were all bitten through, but these were not bites left by mere rats.

The wooden floor that used to be a rich brown was covered in green crayon scribbles to resemble grass. The paper walls were colored in blue and white to resemble the sky and the clouds. On the door were scratch marks and flecks of dried blood.

The doll with golden, wavy hair that flowed all the way down its white dress was held inside of a pair of small hands. Hands that were cold, unmoving, and stiff.

The hands of a little boy with curly, brown hair and bright green eyes that would never open again. 

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A/N: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this.