The Recluse

"The sky is clearer than yesterday", he thought even as he hears the wind echoes almost in harmony in his ears. From where he was, he could see his house in the size of an ant.
But more significantly, he could see hers.
He startled a little as a flock of birds flew past him.
His head and eyes, unconsciously or not, directed towards her house.
Flickering of memories came rushing in like a bolt of lightning.

He remembers vividly the very first time she spoke to him.
They were 8 back then.
During one of their art lessons in class, some of the 'larger' sized boys bullied him.
They painted his bag with water colour and took crayons and drew on his shirt. All he could do was to cover his face with his hands, helplessly trying to not to shed tears.
He couldn't retaliate.
He mustn't.
Then there she was, standing between the boys and him.
She came to his rescue.
To him, she was his hero.

16 years passed them by.
In those years, they've formed a strong bond together. Yet, he knew he couldn't tell her the truth... nor about his feelings for her.
As strong as he was, that was one risk he dare not take.
He knew the repercussions.

"She will never understand mum... She will hate me!" he would yell to his mother in tears back then when he was much younger and emotional.
He was angry, bitter and just sick of his abnormality.
"And mom, the risk is not just about whether or not she will accept who I am.. But also the risk of ruining this friendship... our friendship... I... I love her, mum. And if she doesn't love me in return, it's alright... But this friendship... It means everything to me."

Although he now begins to understand who he is and what awaits him, he knew also that there was still no way for him to tell her. All he could do, ever could do, is to love her... from a distance.

His mind flashed back to the present as his eyes sighted a car stopping in front of her house. Then she came out of the house, excitedly, running towards the car as a fine young gentleman stepped out from it.
They kissed.
In that instant, his soul sank into an ocean of hopelessness.
A feeling he has never felt before, or maybe he did but just never to this degree.

He turned away and stared instead into the horizon.
The evening sun was about to set down and in it, he felt a certain sense of stillness, albeit for a brief moment.
The serenity of creation comforted his spirit.
Then, pain struck again.
Reality found its way back to the present.
He was a dejected recluse.
Tears trickled down his cheeks and as it fell somewhere down on the ground below him, just like that drop of tear, his heart shattered into a million pieces.

"The Man of Steel?"

How ironic he thought.
He took a deep breath and as gentle as the wind blew, he flew beyond the horizon.