Domicile: 1st Floor (Back Porch)
Click to viewHaving said his peace, Ralph Balmont walked out of the kitchen, holding his jug of sweet tea. He walked through a small dining room, meant for more private dinners, to a double door on the far side of the room. Undoing the latches at the top & bottom of the double doors, Ralph turned the handles and almost effortlessly opened them to reveal a sparse yet spacious screened-in porch with a small exterior screen door leading to the yard via a short stairway. Here Ralph paused to remove his shoes- he wasn't wearing socks; years of walking in poverty had toughed his feet so much, he was accustomed to just shoes on his feet- and let his bare feet make contact with the slate covered surface. Standing there, he shut his eyes and breathed in the outdoor air.
As he stood thinking, Ralph could feel a shift in power occurring, and he was a part of it now. Males are granted power they are capable of wielding, both in nature and in society. He was reminded of something he was told the day his stepfather had died. He was told to look after his mother, then they were left alone. He could remember that feeling of power shift occurring then, too. From that moment on, she began treating him like a man instead of a boy. A boy is a male child with the potential for being given power, but a man is a male that power is actually given to... at least, that was the impression Ralph felt he'd learned from all of this. He remembered the way his mother began to act differently from then on, the way she began to spend more time around him, the way she began to look at him differently...
Ralph opened his eyes when he realized he was being watched. Turning towards the screen door, he saw a light brown terrier was peering at him from the other side of the screen. There was a warmth radiating from the animal he instantly liked. He walked over to the screen door and opened it. As the dog came up to him, he put out his hand for her to sniff. She moved in a little, and he lightly stroked her short fur. Kneeling down to have a good look at her, Ralph was immediately greeted with profuse licking. He moved away slightly to take off his glasses with one hand whilst scratching her ear with his other hand. Ralph smiled to himself, feeling an incredible satisfaction knowing that, in spite of everything, this moment of victory & satisfaction was his and his alone. He was an intensely private man; to him & him alone, it meant everything, and was worth savoring. Time ceased in that moment, and Ralph's silent reverie was as triumphant as any celebration, despite there being no fireworks or fanfare, and it being attended by a crowd of only one. It mattered to him, therefore IT MATTERED.
Ralph opened the screen door and led the dog back out into the yard. Sitting on the porch steps, he stroked her fur and thought some more about power. About how those who have power are treated differently than those who don't. He was someone who had experienced both side of that coin, to misuse a metaphor, and found he could only taste copper... which made him glad he could still taste the tea he drank to cut the distaste he felt for the whole damn mess.
I'm an accident; a happy accident. I wasn't supposed to happen. I wasn't supposed to be granted any power. From their standpoint, I shouldn't even been able to become powerful. From their standpoint, I was an accident in need of correction. Their system indeed tried to correct me. Their system wasn't supposed to allow me to even exist, nor to experience this moment. Yet, here I stand. Life is not theirs to decide; life just happens. My life is mine for the keeping... as long as I fight to keep it mine.