Black Forest Asylum part 3

5. One single day as a thirteen year old is over. I have lived past my thirteenth birthday. I celebrated it in a truly disturbing, but worthwhile manner, and have continued to ponder the story of the beautiful schizophrenic. Every year, my parents will tell me a story about one of their patients, these stories are only for very special occasions.

My bed was extra comfortable that night, it enveloped my delicate and lengthy body and seemed to want me to never leave. Just as I was about to drift off into a euphoric sleep, I heard a whisper from my window. I turned around slowly to face my window blinds and peered through a gap.

“Adele?” I recognized at once who it was, pull the blinds up, and opened my window.

“Ben, what are you doing?”

“It’s your birthday, I want to say happy birthday. That’s all,” Ben spoke, his pretty blue eyes seemed to shine brighter in the moonlight. I sighed and allowed him to enter my room from my little balcony.

“You do realize it is actually two minutes past my birthday, and, therefore you are late?”

“Ah, yes, No I didn’t but I ask for your forgiveness,” Ben spoke sarcastically.

“Let me guess, you want to know about what happened? What story my parents told me this time?” I dissected this guilty boy’s motives and watched him shake his head in denial.

Ben is very similar to me; his dad is the activities director for the Black Forest Asylum, and a very close friend to my parents. Ben’s mother, though, is not only a mystery to me, but strangely enough a total mystery to Ben. Because Ben and I have grown up together, played together, gotten into trouble together, and simply become best friends, he is the only person I tell my secret stories. Childish you might say, but I’ve always refused to act my age.

“Whoa, that’s a weird, weird story,” Ben’s reaction was just as I expected. I had just told him the story about Adele. He scratched his head, and looked up at me.

“Yeah, what’s new?” I laughed. Ben looked at me, and shrugged his shoulders.

“Dale, do you ever wonder what goes on inside that place? Like what our parents do and experience every day at work? Or why it is such a closed off, secretive institution? Or why even we, the children of people who run the place, can barely know what our parents do? Or why the Black forest surrounding the asylum is so cautiously evaded?” Ben looked at me, he has asked those questions before, but this time he really wanted an answer. I looked at him, trying to find something wrong with his questions, but knew that they were all completely valid.

“Of course I do. I am just as curious as you, and I want to know what my parents do, what causes them to fight sometimes, and what makes them so fearful of the Black forest. This is a mysterious world we live in. But I’ve waited my whole life to find out, and I’m not about to break that record with you being stupid,” I playfully punched him in the shoulder. Ben smiled knowingly.

“You know it would be fun. To find out the truth about this place and our parents. To…investigate,” Ben persuaded. I shook my head. It wasn’t the fear that was stopping me, just simply my stubbornness. I never liked listening to Ben, and I wasn’t about to give in to his most desperate plea.

“Ben, I have to worry about my studies and keeping the house up. You know I am an only child, therefore all the chores are my responsibility. Also, Carter will be around.”

“Ugh, Carter, the teacher of doom,” Ben whined.

“You know school ain’t gonna be no walk in the park,” I spoke in a completely ridiculous accent.

“That’s the most horrible excuse for not being my fellow investigator. For not being a true friend,” Ben used guilt, his eyebrows raised in disappointment. Just for that night, I couldn’t give in, I just couldn’t, and so I told him absolutely not, there was no way I was going to snoop around with him. But secretly, that night as I lay down once again, I knew that I would give-in, because I wanted to know the truth just as badly, and my patience was beginning to wear thin.