My Spirit Love (phan)

三 - 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝔂 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓹𝔂

Nigel stood in front of his son, zipping his coat up for him despite his protests that he could do it himself. Phil was jittery, filled with both nerves and excitement at the idea of going someplace new. His parents explained to him that he was going to go and talk to someone and play with them, in hopes that they could help him. He was dissappointed he had to leave Dan, but he said he'd be back.

Phil was surprised that Dan hadn't left yet, normally the Fuzzy People he would talk to wouldn't appear to him again. He originally thought they weren't able to return, but now that his friend had stuck around, he wondered if the other people just didn't like him, so they didn't come back. It didn't upset him, most of them were adults anyway.

He buckled himself into the backseat as his parents drove him along the streets of his small town, away from the area he was familiar with and beyond his favourite park. He manoeuvred his thumbs between each other, letting them jump and fight in his lap until they pulled onto the path outside a house. He opened the car door, patiently wandering behind his parents as they led him into the building. It didn't seem threatening.

"Welcome!" a lady smiled, looking over a counter that Phil was too short to see over, "Am I right in assuming this is Philip?" she addressed the question to the child himself, receiving a nervous nod in response, "How lovely to meet you. If you'd like to take a seat by the bookcase, Nancy will be here to see you in a moment."

"Do you want to go and sit and read a book, Phil? We'll sit with you in a moment." Nigel asked, ushering him towards the chairs while Katherine began to talk more to the receptionist.

Phil peered at the bookcase, finding much more interest in the marble run that was set out against the wall. He placed one of the small balls into the top, letting it noisily run through the tubing, following its movements with his eyes.

It wasn't long before another lady stood in the doorway with a warm smile against her cheeks, waving to the three of them, "Would you like to come on through?" she asked, leading them around the corner into another room.

Phil and his parents were placed in a small room with sunset-glowing orange walls, three office chairs and toys stacked neatly in every corner. He smiled, taking a seat on his dad's knee as the four of them sat together, while Nancy began to speak, "So, let me introduce myself properly. I'm Nancy and I specialise in art and play therapy for children, and have done for twenty-five years now. I work with children mainly between three and fourteen to help understand how they're feeling and what's going on in their minds. It doesn't matter if you're unaware of any issues, or if you could list them all out now." she took a break to let the Lesters process the information, "I normally recommend six sessions. It truly depends on the child. For my first session with them I prefer to go in blind, getting to know the child and the way they work. If you don't mind, though, I'll pass you a form for you to fill out while you wait, which I will use for the sessions after. That will give me a bit of background." Phil was barely paying attention, glancing at the lava lamp that was releasing strange shapes.

His parents soon closed the door behind them, leaving Phil and the psychologist alone in the intimidatingly optimistic room. Nancy lowered herself onto the floor, inviting Phil to fall to the same height, "What do you like the look of?" she asked the anxious child as his eyes darted between every corner. He let a single shoulder shrug, but his eyes remained on the lava lamp. She chuckled, "Let me show you this..." she pulled out a ball, flicking it on as lines of electricity shot out, "It's a plasma ball, you can touch it and it changes."

Phil sat with his legs crossed, focusing on the patterns the purple plasma ball was releasing, watching the electricity follow his fingers as he inched them over the plastic surface. Nancy watched him for a moment, soon inviting herself back into his fixated mind, "Can I show you something?" Phil nodded, removing his hands, "No, keep your finger on there. Now...watch as I also touch it." he became mesmerised by how two shots of electricity could be released from the centre.