Eliott's Season

EPISODE 9 - UNDER THE RAIN

SAMEDI 07h42 - Water drops

The sound of the drops falling on his shoulders was muffled, as if they were falling on a street at night. Nobody else is walking there, not even a soul passing by there, just him, walking, looking up and down, and finally forward. His steps did not seem real, nothing seemed real. It was like this was all a dream... and maybe it was.

Not a normal dream, as he has at night, but a dream of his imagination. Standing in front of the tiles on the wall, staring at one of them, hands touching his body, pressed to his chest, water running down his hair, and then down his face. Steam rising through the bathroom, making it darker, quieter, and more personal.

Once again Eliott looked at his hands, wet, hot, and blurry, blurred by his vision, which often made him a victim of himself, who often deceived him, and continued to do so.

He heard noises at the door, hesitated, but went to check. He didn't dry off or turn off the shower; he just walked slowly to the door, not having the courage to open it, but being led by his own body to do so.

When he opened it, there was nothing and no one. He checked the living room, and Lola was still sleeping in the couch, not even moving. It was then that he understood that those were just sounds of his head, or even voices.

Lola has slept there, she had to take care of Eliott since Lucas wasn't home. She warned him and he would be back today, but while he's not here, she has to do this job.

Returning to the bathroom, the sound of water drops hitting the floor at the bottom, his eyes caught sight of him in the mirror, and for a moment he found himself standing at the entrance of the bathroom, looking deeply at himself. His eyes tired, as if they hadn't slept, which is probably what happened.

Eliott approached little by little, afraid, anguished. Without being able to breathe properly, the steam didn't make it easy either, he tried to pull as much air as he could, but soon gave up. He seemed to give up little by little, he felt increasingly distant from others, from the world, while drowning in his own.

Arriving at the sink, leaning over the concrete, he looks in the mirror, this time closer, as if he was trying to understand all that, as if he was trying to find an answer, without even having understood the question.

After a few seconds of looking at his reflection, he lowers his head, and starts to cry, he sobs, the sound of his cries echoes in the bathroom, and everything seems to be a dream again. But he knew it wasn't, and that's why he collapsed.

He gives up, moves around the bathroom, turns off the shower, takes a towel and starts drying himself. The minutes pass, and he fights against himself, he gets dressed and leaves the bathroom. He looks at Lola sleeping on the couch, trying to pass the living room without making a noise, but at the same time out of control of that.

Eliott walks into the kitchen, slowly. Once there, he takes a glass of water and puts ice on it. He tries to take it slowly, his breathing makes it more difficult. He was still crying, sobbing. When leaving the glass in the sink, still with water, he looks around, takes a deep breath, and hesitates to take it again. But instead, he dips his hand into the glass, and takes an ice, which was still large.

He closes his hand, and presses, as if he wants to punch something, but this time with ice in his hands. He felt his palm ache, but for him it wasn't much. Perhaps he was already used to feel pain like that, not only externally, but internally.

He gives up. When looking around the kitchen, he sees, over the counter, his thrown jacket, probably where he left it last night. Soon after, he quickly walks over to it and puts it on.