The Courtyard*

[Kid*]

The bark was rubbing against her back. It made the feeling of her already itchy sweater feel worse. She tried to adjust herself as she moved the pencil back and fourth swiftly. She didn't have a class this block, but she knew that soon, she would have to pack all of her stuff up and get a move on. She didn't want to leave.

It wasn't that she hated the classes themselves, but they were always filled with so much that could be dealt without. There was always outbursts and tormenting laughter traveling around, it made her sick. And to make things worse, they had cancelled her art class because one of the students had tried to burn the art supplies. So much for a nice year at school.

She looked at her subject, a window on the side of the once noble building. She looked down at her representation of it; a blurred and scribbled shell of the panes, almost like a certain abstract portal. She sighed and put her pencil down, looking up at the canopy of the tree. A leaf was starting to come towards her face, but she caught it and looked at its many weathered creases. It was almost beautiful, even when torn so.

"Like a shattered soul. It twisted itself out into freedom only to find itself ruined more."

She put the leaf on the page of her sketchbook. She then closed the book, concealing the leaf.

"I'll keep you safe. Don't worry." She then crammed the sketchbook into her bag along with her pencil. It was just about time for her to go. But before then, she wanted to sit for a while.

((Continued in: Sitting Bored))