Humphrey

"So, Humphrey, John is now a young man." the therapist said with a droll accent.

         Humphrey sat there silently. He stroked his colorless hair in the ethereal room.

"You do realize that this is normal for children his age?" The doctor stared at him with his circular glasses.

"Normal." Humphrey said. "Don't talk to me about normal."

"What do you mean?"

"I have been to the coasts of Arabia and studied under Egyptian priests. I have built columns in Ancient Greece while caressing the legs of Athena." He recalled the latter one from John's adolescence. The overt absurdity of it made Humphrey smile with sadness as he slumped in his achromatic chair. 

"In other words, you have played a part in dreams."

"Dreams." he said. "Do not speak to me of dreams. I have seen the White House and all the isotopes of every element twice! I have seen John's parents back together and have stopped every mass shooting in history!" Humphrey missed the gentle touch of John's hand everyday during the senseless hours of history class. He missed the tragedy. He missed the mystery and the wonder that came with each passing day. 

"Mr. Humphrey? Are you alright, really?" 

         Humphrey sat there on the non-existent plane, replaced by the divorcing, discovering, despairing and somewhat horrible face of reality. 

Author's Note

I hope you enjoy my first writing! I thought that I should tackle the "atrophy of the imagination." It's a nice introduction into my mind...More to come octoreaders!

Reviews

[Xavier Lee]

As a short piece, I'm intrigued. The oddity of it is only matched by its lack of context. I have no idea what's happening or why. But that isn't a bad thing, assuming this piece stands alone. All in all, an interesting way to introduce yourself.