Lost

We are all lost one way or another.

Ted was lost. He always had been. He was not only physically lost, but emotionally lost as well.

He just didn't understand why.

Instead of being lost in his mind palace. He was lost physically.

In a forest. I forest filled with bugs.

He was fifteen years old. He was just a teenager.

And as any child did at one point he would stick random things in his mouth. Like branches, dirt, and even rocks at one point.

He had tattoos because he thought they were cool. His mom always thought that was his way of going against her and the government.

Ted never got why.

He watched as a barn owl sat on one of the branches above him.

He wondered what the owl did when it felt lost.

The owl didn't have any company either. Owls always creeped ted out, but this one looked nice.

And it kind of reminded him of himself.

It was a beautiful owl.

The bird is probably the most widely distributed owl species, as well as one of the most widely dispersed of all bird species, except for the arctic and desert regions, Asia north of the Himalayas, most of Indonesia, and several Pacific Islands.

He wondered if he could be the bird.

Traveling where he pleased whenever.

Free from the rules of this pressuring society he lived in.

Why couldn't he be the owl?

He just wanted to get outside his body. He wanted to stop being lost and find himself.

He could find himself in the form of an owl.

He could find himself in many ways.

But they were all unreachable.

What if he was of a different gender?

There are many genders he could have been.

Take females for example.

What if he wanted to be a female?

Is there any way he could do that?

Society would probably hate him.

Society already hates him, so.

Caring about what other people have to say about how you live, especially if it's negative is really just overrated.

Ted laid down and watched the clouds.

The owl just sat there and looked at him.

Ted had read somewhere that owls have poor vision, so it probably was just looking off into the distance or even sleeping.

What if he died out here?

In the forest alone, with no one near.

The barn owl was near.

Maybe it would remember Ted and tell his owl friends about Ted and how interesting he looked.

Ted was 6”3. He was a long person and from what his mother has said.

He is scary as well.

Ted never found himself handsome. He didn't really get what the definition of that was.

He wasn't good-looking. No one had ever liked him or even loved him.

No one even talked to him or looked in his direction.

Ted was a nice guy.

No one ever gave him a chance, so he had no friends. No one at all.

Ted looked up again and the owl was still there. But it was closer. It was still looking at ted. But this time it was on a different branch.

A lower branch.

Ted moved and sat up.

“Hi,” He said and he stood up.

And the owl didn't fly away.

It just looked more interested in what ted was doing.

No one was ever interested in what he was doing.

The owl got closer and Ted could tell it wasn't sleeping because he could see it moving.

The owl got up and started to fly.

Ted was going to follow it, because it was flying pretty low. Maybe it wanted something.

The owl looked young.

Maybe the owl was also lost.

He followed it for a long time.

So long that it was becoming dark.

The owl was perched on a branch and another owl came and sat next to it.

Maybe that was the owl's mother.

The owl looked very happy to see Ben, that's what Ted named the owl.

Looks like the owl found its way home.

It may be found itself as well.

It looked happier.

Maybe being around others is what makes people happier.

Ted sat down. Too bad he had no one that would look for him.

“Teddy! Teddy where are you?” A voice called out.

He stood up. That sounded like his mother.

But his mother never came to look for him. She could only send the police to find him.

“Teddy! There you are!” His mother said.

She threw her arms around her son.

Ted couldn't help but smile.

His mom was 5”0 and genuinely looked like she was still in middle school, but her heart was still as big as ever.

“Let's go home. You are needed there. I can't reach the cups in the cabinets,” She said with a smile and laugh.

Ted smiled back at her. Maybe he wasn't lost after all.

He was needed, even if it was for one of the easiest things, he was still needed and that's all that mattered.