Morning rose faster than night fell for the boy he felt, as Glenn began yawning loudly, arching his back for cracks to pop in his ear. Lazily he slid off his bed being allured by the smell of bacon and eggs cooking in the kitchen. Dragging his feet across towards the sizzling sound that grew louder, causing a chain reaction of his mouth to start watering and his stomach to rumble in hunger. None could escape Emma’s special meal of bacon and eggs in the morning, he ran to the table sitting in front of his plate grabbing fork and knife in hand. The phrase, 'an apple a day keeps the doctor away', rang in Glenn’s mind but he thought to himself that stuffing his face with bacon and eggs seemed better.

“Morning Glenn.” Emma could only laugh quietly at how eager her son was, feeling that she would never stop giggling at the sight of her son drooling at the lips. She brought the pan over pouring the bacon and eggs slowly into his plate. The scent was so fragrant and unbearable as Glenn placed a single strip of bacon into his mouth. It was crispy still hot, the taste burst onto his taste buds and melted on top of his tongue. He devoured it like a man that had been starved for days ripping it apart with a knife and fork. The food made him regret the decision immediately as the heat burned the walls of his mouth causing him to blow hot air, thinking that it would help relieve the pain. The taste could be described with a single word, delicious. Bringing up a napkin every so often to wipe off any food crumbs on the side of his mouth, Emma felt happy to be a mother.

Both now had stomachs full to the brim, as they walked together holding hands following the trail that led to the new school Glenn would enter early in the morning. He was flushed at the cheeks, complaining about how Emma holding his hand was embarrassing. Secretly the wish of being a man rather than a boy was being destroyed slowly dissolving, as Emma unforgivingly never let her hand escape his. Glenn wanted to be a grown-up so he could protect her from any more pain, seeing her tears once was more than enough. Mothers were always so strong like superheroes in the eyes of a child but in truth, they would pretend to be tough just so their children wouldn’t cry. Glenn had learnt this through the hard way.

The trail was long, ranging far in length taking thirty minutes if following a mild pace, yet the beauty of trees made up for the boredom of both. Green everywhere standing above all able to see past hills, the trees swayed in the wind as branches moved alongside the breeze effortlessly. Emma held a tight grip on Glenn's hand like a vice enjoying the view of his red cheeks. They bloomed to the colours of roses as he kept on trying to persuade her. No matter how many words he said, they only fell on deaf ears as she walked with a light spring in her strides.

Emma saw a completely different view to Glenn, as he only reached above her waist. She could see the sight of birds feeding their young ones in their nest and the leaves moving with the wind acting as dance partners between each other. Glenn was simply kicking a small rock across the trail, watching it glide against the floor bouncing further away, the harder he kicked. She wished her son would make more friends rather than bullies. His hair was a magnet for teasing but she believed they were jealous of his smooth hair, it was even better than her own that she took pride in. Glancing at her son once again, she felt her heart quiver in guilt but continued to lie to herself that he had wanted to be the way he was.

“Let's play a game of questions," Emma spoke interrupting the still whining boy.

He lost all his grumpiness forgetting what he was previously trying to do, as his mouth shot questions. She thought he was going to make his jaw run off at the speed he was talking and had to stop the excited boy in his tracks.

Emma called out quickly, “Let's take turns, l call dibs.”

“That's not fair.” Glenn blew his cheeks up in annoyance, as he had wanted to ask first.

“Life isn’t fair,” Emma replied smiling.

She thought patiently trying to imagine something she wouldn’t know about her son already. His favourite colour was Gold, he loved to eat bacon and eggs which she planned to cut out of his diet considering the number of times he ate it every day. Bingo she thought as a light bulb flashed in her head, what type of girl does Glenn like. Slowly Emma wondered if it would be a tomboy, someone of timid personality like himself or if he even did like girls. At this thought, she grew almost hysterical thinking about if she would have grandchildren but her other side argued that it was ok if he didn’t like girls. Her thoughts became unorganised as she said to herself that it was the 21st century, not the medieval times where you would be hung for different sexuality.

“Mum you ok there?” Glenn asked looking at his mother that seemed to have eyes that went past his soul, unclothing all his secrets.

Cautiously she asked, “What type of girl do you like?”

He looked up questioningly and tilted his head to the side, seeming to seriously contemplate what type of girl he was interested in.

“Someone not like you ma.”

“You little brat, you deserve a noogie for that.” She laughed rubbing her knuckles onto her son’s skull, he tried escaping her hold but she held on with the strength of an Olympic wrestler. Now it was Glenn's turn to ask, as he continued to fix his hair that was messed up. The long hair at times was annoying, in some instances completely blocking his view as he bumped into poles sometimes when he walked around town. Touching his hair he wondered if he would look better with it being short. The thought brought him to the question he had never asked once, assuming his mother wanted the best for him. “Mum, why did you want me to have long hair?”

The question didn’t register at first, she looked puzzled until her previous animated face fell. She struggled to have a conversation such as this, debating if stating the truth was possible but in the end, Emma lied to herself twisting the truth with lies.

“It suits you, even I'm jealous of how silky it is. Why do you not like it?” She said caressing his hair with a hand, letting it fall out of grip.

“No.. it’s fine, I don't mind it but...”

Emma’s eyes darkened realising what she had done. She spoke carefully, “You aren't getting bullied for it still are you?”

Glenn felt the pressure of his mother’s stare drilling a hole into his head, as he looked down to his feet where the tiny rock lay. He remembered the words that were told many times to him, that he should stand up for himself more often but it was easier said than done. Every time he tried, the sentences he wanted to shout out would clog up in the back of his throat strangling onto his uvula. The harassment would always start small from a few nicknames, stealing his pencils, pushing him and then blow out of proportion to where Glenn’s mum would have to come in to save the day in shining armour.

With careful choice of words, Glenn said, “I did in the last school but it only happened sometimes.”

Emma trembled at the hands wanting to slap herself in the face, realising the consequence of her selfish desire but she went down this route and so the walk down this continuation of sin must be done. Breathing deeply to calm her straining thoughts she spoke slowly, “Glenn, did that bully from the previous school throw dust at you because of your hair?”

“Yes.” Glenn began sweating in his palms, steadily falling into the belief that his mum would yell at him for being a coward unable to fight back. His mother had saved him more times than he could count after what happened to father and he felt at times he was a shackle to her, a heavy burden that was unreliable. Still staring at the ground, a woman by his side felt her eyes water imagining the hell he had experienced from all the other school’s that he had left. Images of children bullying Glenn continued to replay in her mind but she Pulled herself together reminding herself the streams of water to relax. Emma’s posture straightened and with deep breaths she realised the time to break down with a dam of tears wasn’t the best option right now. She tried to take away his pain if it was at all possible, no child should’ve gone through what Glenn did and she wanted to say sorry but her mouth stayed silent.

Glenn expected he's mother to yell, lecturing him to no end and instead only felt the warmth of a hand slowly pat him on the head. It soothed his animosity towards himself that had grown from a sapling to a forest of self-hatred. Tears were about to be shared between mother and son till the sound of rustling bushes nearby earned their attention. A figure leapt out of the woods near the trail frightening Emma, as she shouted at the top of her lungs pulling the stumbling Glenn behind her to safety. She held his hand shaking, afraid to let go. Tall and lanky with camouflage clothing matching the colour of nature covering the figure from head to toe. The person looked towards them showing his face, a teenager around seventeen covered in dirt and leaves. He had a strong scent of soil masking his body odour matching his intense aura around him with eyes in search of something or someone. Glancing towards the two people in shock, he simply stared in silence with the eyes of a hawk stalking its prey. The atmosphere almost grew too intense, as both mother and son forgot to breathe after encountering this unknown individual.

“Have you seen anyone of blonde hair in these woods?” The man said with a stoic face showcasing steady nerves. His clothing was tight on his body as he stood in front of Emma, muscles bursting with energy sweating from all the clothes he wore. It was summer yet he wore such clothing in this time of day where the sun stood high in the clouds. Glenn was curious to what the man was doing before he jumped out making him almost fall backward onto the rock he was previously kicking before.

“No.. we um haven’t,” Emma said with a shaky voice.

The man simply nodded and walked away back into the woods with silent footsteps, as his tracks seemed invisible never existing in the first place. Emma gasped releasing all the pent up air in her chest realising she was still holding onto her son’s hand too tightly. Loosening her grip she spoke with utter confidence, “For a second I thought we were about to get mugged.”

Glenn was too focused on the man’s question to realise his mother was talking to him, ‘Have you seen anyone of blonde hair in these woods?’. He remembered seeing a blur of gold colour in the woods when he sat in the car looking outside the window. The boy questioned himself if he had truly seen something in the woods and began remembering the teenager's eyes. They were filled with purpose, Glenn wanted to ask why he was in search of the blonde person if they ever met again. After such a shocking moment they didn’t continue the question game only relishing in the past moment of fear from the unknown teenager. Their speed much faster than before, as they finally entered the town of Mount Giest. It was bustling with people, lush with its greenery filled with trees from every side of the streets. Markets of groceries and fish being sold to customers that came rushing in to purchase the freshest products. They strolled through the new town seeing carpentry workshops and many other shops selling goods. It seemed that this place was a haven for tourists selling any item to them from dresses to furniture. Shouts from both sides telling people to come and buy whilst others were in conversation with their customers about prices.

The school was deeper into the town and finally, they arrived early in the morning where there were an abundant amount of kids running about, others sitting down studying underneath a tree. The place was massive as it was one of the main schools of town Mount Giest holding all the grades from year one to year twelve. Its walls were painted a bright yellow and blue matching the sun that observed them all, as well as the clear lakes glistening with light. Glenn's heartbeat fiercely against his chest pumping blood filled with nervous thoughts. He hoped for this place to be different from the rest that all felt almost similar to prisons where he would be tortured constantly. Scratching his wrist in anxiety as the surroundings felt like they were closing in on him, making it harder to breathe. Glenn's breathing went unnoticed by Emma as his breath was silently becoming frantic until he saw someone. His eyes met with people of his age in their small groups and noticing some of their stares towards him, particularly a girl. She matched the appearance of a tomboy with hair the colour of the night sky and had a smile on her face. The boy wondered why she was grinning at him but wanted to be friends with her if possible. He finally noticed his angst was gone and continued onwards as if nothing had happened unknown to his mother.

Now walking past the front gates made of steel with a board on top containing letters. It read out Meadows Ridge and Emma finally released her son’s hand noticing they reached near the school’s entrance. The bell rang telling all the students that school was about to begin, many rushed inside joking with their friends, some seemed anxious for their tests and one girl had her gaze lingering on Glenn. Emma squatted down to the eye level of her son where their gazes met, she lovingly brushed his long hair to the side and kissed him on the forehead. He wore a school bag nearly covering his whole back and a simple white long-sleeved shirt matching his brown trousers. Glenn was a small white rabbit, prey to the other students but Emma had faith in her son believing things will be different.

“If someone is bullying you, what do you do?” she asked.

“Tell the teacher?” He said confused.

Emma shook her head rejecting the answer and looked into her son’s eyes. She said, as if urging him to do so, ”You punch them and fight back, you hear me. Now run along young man.”

Wearing a gentle smile she left Glenn to enter Meadows Ridge, as she was waving to him to the doors. Emma sighed praying for her son to make friends here, walking quietly back alone to the empty house. It was summer yet it was just as cold as winter inside, as no one was there to greet her. She could look at the clothes they were selling in town but being a writer, her income was erratic. Some years she would have a field of money and the next none whatsoever, her books were either a hit or miss with the audience. With only a bit of spare money to survive on, she got back to work opening an old bottle of wine she stashed away. It seemed to have less than she remembered previously but shrugging her shoulders, she thought who cares. Typing with a bottle of wine stuck to her mouth she went loose, letting her fingers mash buttons wondering if Glenn was doing fine right now.

Glenn had gone to the office upon his entry and saw a woman with short hair, a lighter brown than his own. She sat pretending to work whilst she typed away on her phone and others around her seemed to be doing the same thing putting on an act with each person walking passed them. Glenn walked up to the woman and asked politely on his toes to reach above the wall that stood between them.

“Excuse me, I’m the new student to Meadows Ridge and was wondering what l need to do?”

He got no response, as the women continued typing on her phone, he tried speaking louder and finally caught her attention after nearly shouting.

“Yes, how may I help you?” She said still looking at her phone.

Glenn sighed saying the same thing he had at the beginning. She gave him a weird gaze after hearing his statement, telling him to sit down in a seat from across waiting for the teacher to come and introduce the class to him. The woman after he had left began whispering words to the other ladies who were working aside her. She thought that the boy couldn’t hear as he sat far away from them but Glenn had sensitive ears after training for so long with the violin, where it was a must to read between the notes he played.

They gossiped saying, “That's the new student?”

Another said, ”No that can’t be, isn’t the child meant to be a boy, not a girl, wasn’t that stated on the record?”

“That's him alright. look at how long his hair is, l wonder what mother would let any son do that.” The woman he asked for help had said with a disgusted expression.

Glenn wanted to shout as they talked badly on his mother, knuckles started to turn white from how much he gripped his own hands. Nails nearly drawing blood from his wrist, as he scratched beneath his long-sleeved shirt. He slowly calmed down hearing footsteps coming closer to him and met with the eyes of a tall man wearing old fashioned glasses.

“You must be the new student, I'm Mr Harold nice to meet you.” He spoke with such a deep voice it almost felt like a low rumble reverberating through his throat. The teacher placed a handout and Glenn met it with his own, feeling a firm hold rough with calloused palms. His strides were long matching three of Glenn’s footsteps, walking as he showed the way to the boy’s new class. Before Glenn left the office, he noticed that the staff were all off their phones now working like robots. Making a silly face at the women with brown hair who talked about his mother, he felt a change was about to arrive with such a unique teacher. Mr Harold seemed reliable unlike his last one, ignorant of him being bullied by the other students. Footsteps away from the door, where he would enter his new class. Glenn smiled widely in hope of making a new friend, yet wishes never come true.