Sally

It was stuffy in his special place, the dusty wooden support beams constricting his movements. It didn’t used to be such a tight fit, but times had changed. He had gotten bigger, although he didn’t feel like he had. In his mind, he was still only ten, but he knew that wasn’t the case. His body showed the effects of age. His hair was longer, as were his fingernails, which tapped out a rhythmic pattern on the thin plaster in front of him.

It was a song that Sally used to sing, and playing it in his mind always brought her memory back in full color.

He could see her standing there, just in front of him, so close he could reach out and touch her. He watched as her blonde pigtails were lifted from her shoulders by the crisp spring breeze, and he longed to feel the thin strands brush through his fingers.

The mere thought of such contact made a shiver run down his arched spine, compelling him to stretch out his slender fingers to her.

He was jerked back to reality when his fingernails hit the plaster, loud enough to make a sound audible from the other side.

He froze, his breath captured in his lungs, his ears attuned to pick out the slightest sound of distress.

The chattering on the other side stopped briefly, but resumed again shortly after without any investigation staged about the sound.

Once he was sure they had moved on, he let out his breath slowly through his mouth, then filled his lungs again through his nose.

The air was stuffy in his special place, making it difficult to get a satisfactory amount of air into his lungs.

The plague doctor mask also inhibited his airway, but he would rather suffocate than take it off.

As he breathed in, a flowery scent filled his nostrils, filling him with a sense of calm.

It was Sally’s perfume, which he had put in the tip of the beak, the smell of which relaxed his muscles and brought him back to a happier time.

A time before Sally went away.

All of the pleasant memories of Sally began to fade away, replaced by the pain that ate away at his heart, leaving him with a hollow emptiness that he longed to fill.

The only heart that he had left was outside his body, dangling from his neck by a thin metal chain.

A small heart shaped locket sat pressed against his torso, resting on his ribcage just below his own jaded heart.

Inside was a small clump of blonde hair, carefully snipped when she sat on a desk just in front of him. The strands were curled and brittle, like a spider carcass, and he feared that the slightest exposure to the elements would turn them to dust.

Also inside the locket was a picture of Sally from just a few months ago, snapped from the seclusion of a shrubbery in her front yard. She stood on her porch, basking in the sun, her face turned toward the morning light.

All of her beauty from her youth accompanied her into adulthood, captivating his every thought, following him even in dreams.

He longed to be by her side, but her harsh rejection still remained fresh in his mind, leaving him broken and bleeding.

He was not defeated, however. This was merely a setback, although a frustrating one. She simply didn’t know that she was meant to be with him yet, but that would change.

Pressing his face against the plaster, his bloodshot eye peered through the crack in the wall into the children’s bedroom, watching as they laughed and played, unaware that they were being spied upon.

Obsessively, he watched them, analyzing every move they made, every twitch of their tender bodies, seeking out particular traits.

Traits shared with Sally.

Perhaps he couldn’t have her, not yet, but her offspring…

All he had to do was find them, find her child, and then she would talk.

Then she would acknowledge his existence.

Sweet Sally.

Outside, snow fell in blankets atop the mountain where his mansion stood.

In his special place, inside the walls, he was warm, safe from the scrutinizing eyes of his peers.

The mask helped, but he could still feel the way people looked at him, like he was something to be feared.

He had tried so long to prove them wrong, but to no avail.

Now, he would give them what they wanted, what Sally wanted.

She would fear him, what he was capable of, and then she would come to him.

Then she would finally look him in the eyes, and face him, seeing him for the first time, no longer looking through him.

Anticipation made his body shake, laughter seeping out of his thin lips.

He bit his cheek to stop himself from sounding out, not wanting to give away his position, and he tasted the metallic blood begin to pool in his mouth.

It only made him want to laugh more, but he refrained.

Patience.

Soon.

Sally.