Spread the wings, and fly…

The cool water flowed over his warm body; the boy couldn’t help but gulp down a little of the water too, and it was only once he’d done that, that he realized the water was probably not all that clean.

“Oh well, fuck it,” he thought. It was a new word he’d learnt.

The cool water didn’t seem so cold anymore, and he found that he quite enjoyed the experience. His mother had been right; the more he stayed under the gushing water, the more he seemed to enjoy it.

The coarse soap felt hard and rough against his skin. He’d been used to the milder soaps and the soft touch of them. Here, however, he didn’t have much of a choice. He knew he had to make do with whatever little that he had. As far of his personal hygiene was concerned, the bar of rough soap was all that he had.

The water from the shower overhead stopped abruptly, just when he was enjoying it the most. He picked up the towel and dried himself. He hated having to put on his dirty clothes back on, but he didn’t have any other option.

The mirror on the wall was staring at him. He could see the hair on his head sticking up, as it always did after a shower. He realized then that he didn’t have a comb. Like so many things in his life. His old life had left him for good. He’d run away from home, and today he knew, he was far away enough. He’d spread his wings, and dared to take that flight. The mirror didn’t lie; it was proud of the boy who was staring back, with his hair sticking up.

The back pocket of his trousers were bulging slightly. He took out two papers. One of them had his picture of himself, and the note that described him. White T-shirt, the poster said. He looked down at his T-shirt, and saw that it wasn’t remotely white anymore. This somehow made him feel calm and content.

The other piece of paper didn’t have anything but a picture. A big bird just about to take flight. He’d torn it out of one of his library book. He hadn’t thought of taking it; it was on an impulse that he’d torn the picture out.

Someone knocked on the door of the bathroom, and he knew he had to get out. There was a long line of people waiting to use the bathroom. He carefully put the picture of the bird back into his pocket, flushed the poster down the drain, and walked out into his new life.

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