The New Tenant

My structure seems to ache a little more in recent days. A body, which was once able to expand into different worlds, now only walls to keep this building from collapsing. I use to go on adventures long ago, accompanied by a small child. Eyes still innocent and mind still full of imagination and question. When he first stepped into my womb he seemed unsure. To his defense he was in a new place one he’ll have to call home but from first glances I could tell he still didn’t know what that was. It was I’ll say a month into him roaming this new terrain, inspecting every blemish I tried to hide with a new coat of paint or hole I plastered up quickly without proper care, that he came in and laid in bed. His eyes were shut but water seemed to still swell over his lids and from a slightly opened mouth he said “ I wish I wasn’t alone”. After a few more minutes of crying he got up, grabbed his favorite toys, and began to play with them. I watched as he created worlds and conversations for them. Their stories wrapped around his mind and I was mesmerized. So mesmerized by it that I didn’t notice when shape begun to contort. My walls came tumbling down as what seemed to be a village started to appear through the rubble. His toys then took life size proportions and before I knew it we weren’t in the Windy City anymore. My womb felt as though it had became the sky itself and it was warm. Wooden floor boards became dirt, grass, trees, building that resembled something straight out of feudal Japan, and mountains that kissed the clouds. It felt freeing but confusing. “ How did this happen” I thought to myself then I remembered the boy. I glanced down to see if I could see him and found him and his toys running across the tops of the village’s building. He had a bandana wrapped around his neck, a netted shirt with a utility vest over it. Pants with badges wrapped around the thigh that cut off at the middle of his calves and high top sandals. His face seemed different. It would usually hold a look of sadness but what washed over his face as he jumped from building to building was pure joy. What I feel happiness and safety must be at its truest form. While I watched him glide through the air effortlessly like paper he suddenly stopped. His face, for a brief moment, took on a new form. One of realizing where he actually was and then he looked up, looked at me. Again I’ve somehow became this new destination he could freely roam no individual thing but it was as though he knew exactly where to look to meet my gaze. A little smile that held a “ thank you” crossed his face and he continued through the village. He was a exceptional fighter here. Tai chi mixed in with muay Thai was at his dispose as he cleared woods from monsters and the city from wrong doers. Always the first to jump into action, which was unlike him since he was so reserved in the past. It seemed he could do this all day but then there was a knock on the door. “ Dinner is ready” a voice on the other side said and as the footsteps became faint, the world we were engulfed in shrunk back down to the size of his room originally. His companions now back to mere toys and his clothes back to his uniform. He got up, changed into his pjs, and before leaving looked around again, looked at me and left. That was our very first adventure.