Eda Chose Freedom
Read Count : 176
Category : Stories
Sub Category : Drama
This is my attempt at writing something that is not dark, painful, doomy, or sad. No prep. Here we go. Eda got one of her two dogs when she was 6, and the other one when she was 9. She's always loved them more than anything, and despite people's suggestion, she is absolutely convinced she can clearly understand them, as if they were to speak words. She has always been thankful for them being in her life; they are great companions and friends. More than that, they are family. And since she can so obviously communicate with the dogs, her friends, she got to learn about their canine desires, such as the itch to roam the neighborhood at night. Her parents are against it for safety reasons, and the dog's attempts to explore when the Sun goes down had always been neutralized by Eda's vigilant parents, and even by Eda herself. But this was before she could understand them so well. On this breeze-less summer night, she remained out in the yard with the dogs a bit longer after everybody went inside to rest before tomorrow's duties. She has a little over a month left of late evenings before she goes back to school once fall begins. As she was reading her favorite book, she noticed the dogs would walk up and down the back fence, hopelessly discussing an escape plan once more. Jibber would rapidly tap his paw at the fence 3 or 4 times when the frustration became too much too handle in a civilized manner. Jabber wouldn't stop pacing up and down, halting at every whole and crack in the fence to sniff intensely, in hopes of discovering a new way out, one he somehow has never seen before, one he had missed all along. Eda stopped reading her book, lifted her loving eyes, and observed them for a minute. She felt a restless feeling of restraint coming over her, overwhelming all her senses, and clouding her mind with an overpowering desire for freedom. It was a feeling she could not control, a desire she could not longer ignore. She thought about the dogs, and their lives spent in captivity, and about her own life, how she can never come to appreciate an existence that's already set for her, akin to everyone knowing what she'll do before she'll do it. She began feeling guilt, realizing that what her parents do to her is the exact same thing she's doing to the dogs. Eda's parents want to protect her and keep her out of harms way, guiding her in a good direction. But she feels there's something they don't yet know about her: she can take care of herself, and she will always come back; it is unfair that she suffers from lack of permission to explore and discover the world, when it should be her main birth right. What is the point in being safe if you can never have enough space to live out your own adventure. She put her book down, got out of the hammock, walked to the back fence, opened the gate, turned on her heels without another thought, and went inside the house, upstairs to the bedroom. Before she walked into the house, she could hear the dogs exchange words of disbelief. She looked out the window into the back yard, and she could see it was empty. The dogs have gone. And that, dear reader, is when Eda felt, for the first time in her life, dispair. But she can't remember much of how it feels, because she dropped to the ground with a soft thump and so remained paralyzed for the rest of the night, with tears in her eyes, and a tremble in her bones. Her longing and worring for them was so great, that she felt guilt more than anything. But in the mists of all this, she knew what she had done was right. Her pain is selfish, but the dogs freedom is love. She felt as if she had released a caged bird. If the bird so wishes, it will come back. If the dogs want to, they will come back, if they don't is because the thirst for freedom trumps the comfort of love. At the break of down, she heard her mother's raised voice from outside in the back yard: "You guys left the gate open, the dogs could have got out. Where are the dogs anyways? I have not heard them today. They must be up in Eda's room.' Eda's heart felt as if it was beating it's last beat, and with superhuman effort, she got up from the cold floor, and set out downstairs to tell her family what she had done. She drags her feet towards the door, head down like she'll never be happy again. She opens the door of her bedroom, and that's when she learned what freedom truly means. It is the power to let go, and hope, and know it will all come back. The dogs got up to greet her, their owner, their protector, the best friend they could ever have.