Magic Ways

Chapter 1

The gentle water, flowing downstream.

The relaxing breeze in the air.

The occasional chirping of the birds in the background.

This was his home.

A normal, two room house along the edge of the Land Between the Lakes. A twenty minute drive from his hometown of Clarksville, Tennessee.

He spends most of his summer days spending time with his mother, or going shopping to get the necessities needed for them to live.

They were far from rich, but they didn't need money to be happy. All Gavin needed in the world was his mother, and his singular tenor saxophone, sitting in the practice room.

He sat there at the water, his knees against his chest. His chin rested on his forearm. Just watching the water flow.

In just two days begins his final year of school. Final year of studying subjects he didn't enjoy, final year of waking up at the crack of dawn.

Well, scratch that last part. He's a morning person.

Either way, it was his last year living with his mother before moving back into Clarksville to attend the college he wishes to go to. While there's a chance he doesn't have a high enough GPA to get into the University, he's always top student in every class and has been the number 1 student over all since the sixth grade. He wasn't too worried about not getting in.

He yawned, seeing the sun start it's descent into the West, behind the mountains he'd hike in the winter with his mother.

He stood up and stretched, walking back home, where he saw his mother taking a nap on the couch. He smiled and layed a blanket over her, since the house was always a bit cold.

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed his supplies to make some dinner for the two of them.

Grabbing a chopping board, he peeled the outside of an onion off, cutting it into fourths, proceeding to chop each fourth into tiny little pieces. Then he layed a package of hamburger into a pan, sauteing the onion with it.

He knew how to cook an assortment of meals, as his father taught him, but his mothers favorite was always his spaghetti.

Once the hamburger and chopped onion was done, he opened two cans of tomato sauce and poured them into a pot, dumping the hamburger-onion mixture in with it.

After he added the seasonings, he noticed his mother sit up in the living room.

"Do I smell sauce?" She asked, making Gavin laugh lightly.

"Yes, mom," He replied.

It's always just been the two of them. His father died when he was 10 years old, getting into a collision with a drunk driver. He was an only child as well, so the last 8 years has been rather lonely for his mother. He always feels alone in the world outside of his house, but as soon as he sees her face his day gets immediately better.

Gavin's never really had friends. He's always just kind of stuck by his family, and that's by his own choice. Usually people don't want to be alone. They seek love and friends. They don't want to be lonely.

Though Gavin isn't most people. He's alone, but he isn't lonely. He knows how harsh people can be, and he knows if he stays away he can't be hurt. At least that's what he thought until the incident of his father.

After that, his mindset completely shifted. He no longer trusted anyone besides his mother. He spends every day with her, makes sure she knows she isn't alone. When his father died, she spiraled into a deep state of depression. Gavin was seen as too young to be able to help, yet he put a whole new meaning to "seeming older than you are."