True Tales

A Dozen Cookie - A Short Story

From its cloudy sky, to the broken roads, everything about this town was gray. Even when the sun decided to shine, it's brightness still couldn't reach the hearts of the people.

When the alarm clocks goes off before dawn, everyone started their day with the same routine as yesterday.

The men drank their coffee, and carried their work bag to the bus station, where one by one, they head on to the city, doing their job mindlessly as if they were robots.

The women would wake up the children, getting them ready for school, before coming home and cleaning the house, until it is time to prepare dinner.

Everyone's life is all the same, except for one little boy.

That little boy's name was Liam.

Liam went to school every morning like the other children. He sat in the quiet classroom, with his chin rested on the palm of his hands, looking out the opened window. The teacher's words didn't reach his ears, but he pretended to pay attention, just like the other children.

When the clock struck twelve, Liam was the only one who ran out the room, with a bright smile on his face. He kept on running, until he reached the playground.

The field was still covered in glittering snow, but Liam didn't care. His fingers burn from the cold, but he laughed as he slipped down the frozen slides.

The other children would stay inside, silently eating their lunch. They would politely answer each other's questions, but laughter never echoed through the hallways.

The lonely boy played by himself every day. He was happy, but he was the weird one.

Everyone in the town knew he was strange, and out of his mind, because he was different.

He skipped while others walked, he danced while others stood, and he cried, but others still had the same blank face.

The town folks didn't understand him, and they didn't care to try, but Liam also didn't know why people were so still, so quiet, it was just the way things were.

*

By the end of the day, yellow school buses were parked neatly in front of the building.

The children lined up behind the doors with their head down, their tiny shoulders carrying the weight of their gray backpacks, and went home right away.

Liam never went on those school buses.

He swung his red backpack on one shoulder and walked down the streets, humming to himself as he goes.

The closed doors of the fews shops around created a depressing feeling.

The sound of repeated footsteps stops, and Liam stood in front of a one story house.

The house was at the very end of the street.

It was an old house for an old lady. Even when it was isolated, the house bloomed beautiful chrysanthemums in its front yard. The planted flowers were the only place with so much colour on this street.

Liam jumped up the steps of the house, pressing his little fingers on the round doorbell. Its sweet sound was the only music Liam would hear.

A few seconds had passed, before the doors opened with a gentle motion, and the fragrance of herbs mixed with sugar filled Liam's senses.

"Good evening Mrs. Louise," Liam greeted with a tooth-showing grin.

An old lady stood in front of him, and motioned him to come into the warm house.