Nathan York

Written for theatrical_muse

Ma lied to me about Father Christmas, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy. I suppose I'm not too damaged because of that though.

My mum also told me that I could be anything I wanted to be growing up. That's not true. I can't be a doctor or a fireman or a race car driver. I can't be a professional surfer or king of the universe. I certainly can't be Robin the Boy Wonder. Those are all things I wanted to be when I was a child. I know Mum didn't think she was lying to me when she tried to encourage me to have hope about my future and feel good about having a dream. She was being a mum who loved her son is all. Parents always fill their children's heads with that sort of rubbish because it's meant to make them feel better. Or something stupid like that.

Probably the biggest lie my mother told me is that there isn't anything I could do to make her stop loving me. I know that's not true. Killing Hurting a man won't do it. Being a bastard to everyone around me won't. But loving the wrong person could. I heard it all the time growing up. So I ignored some of the things I'd feel or think about the wrong people. I did that so as not to risk her hating me. Being away from home has made it easy to forget that worry. I'm not the same person I was back then anyway. I can't be not after what I did. I know different things about myself now.

Mum said she'd never stop loving me. I know that's a lie. Now it's only a matter of me finding out for certain.

Written for theatrical_muse

When Shy's father had been killed, the boy had stopped speaking. It was partly out of fear, partly out of shock, and partly out of a need to be left alone. If he could cut off communication with the outside world, he wouldn't have to be a part of it. He would never again have to worry about being faced with the kind of terror and grief to which he'd been subjected. Of course, his seven year-old brain wasn't quite developed enough to understand that's what he was doing. Nor was he able to understand that no matter what he did, the world would continue to be both a wonderful and a cruel place. He just knew that it would make him feel better if he didn't have to deal with the pain he knew was waiting out there to find him.

What the boy never knew was that his silence broke his mother's heart. Not only had she lost her husband - the man she'd loved more than anything or anyone in this world - but she felt as if she had lost her son, too. Had he known that, he might have started speaking sooner. The last thing the little boy wanted to do was hurt his mother. He simply never knew that he could do that without ever uttering a word.

Written for theatrical_muse

Shy didn't move when his mother walked into his room with his clean laundry.

"Sweetheart, aren't you going out tonight?" she asked as she set about putting away his things.

"Nah. Turns out she wasn't interested."

Shy's mother turned around, surprised. "Really? I thought you'd said that you and she were hitting it off."

"I thought we were," Shy said, turning onto his side, "but she decided to go out with a mate of mine from school."

"Aw, honey, I'm sorry," she said, taking a seat on his bed and resting her hand on his arm. "I know how much you liked her."

"It's all right," Shy sighed. "I know I couldn't have made her happy, anyway."

His mother hid her smile at how serious her seventeen year-old son sounded. "Why do you say that?"

"Because she told me I wasn't intriguing enough for her."

"Really? Well, I find that hard to believe."

Shy nodded. "Yeah, me too." He paused, then looked up at his mother. "Or I would if I even knew what she was talking about. What does it mean, I'm not intriguing?"

"It means," she said, combing her fingers through his hair, "that you are far too open and sweet for her and she's a very silly girl who wants to be with someone who isn't."

"Oh." Shy frowned and rolled onto his back again. "Maybe I should try to be less open and sweet then." He glanced at his mother. "She's really pretty."

"And there are plenty of pretty girls who will appreciate you for who you are."

"Yeah, I know," Shy said with a little smile. "But it wouldn't hurt me to be more intriguing, right?"

"I don't like the idea of you changing who you are just to suit a girl," his mum said, shaking her head, "but I suppose not."

"Good." Shy furrowed his brow. "And how do I do that exactly?"

This time, Shy's mother laughed and tousled her son's hair before getting to her feet. "That you'll have to figure out on your own, I'm afraid."

"Well, that's rather intriguing," Shy said, grinning as he sat up. "Isn't it?"

"Ah, now you're learning," she said as she headed for the door.