Emerson's Paradox

Tick-Tick

Tick- Tick

The room was completely silent apart from the sound of the old slow clock, a distant water filter and the scratching of a pen on a pad. A middle-aged man pushed up the glasses that rested on the bridge of his crooked nose before he continued to write his notes. The only other person found in the cold room was a younger man who watched the other with curiosity. He tucked his hands into his dark woolly jacket and let almond-shaped eyes wonder. They rested on a person who stood some distance from the room he was in. The door was closed but a small two-paned window allowed him to see out and others to see in. The girl’s face was covered with thick dark, dull hair. It had no shine to it and seemed lifeless. From what he could see through the window she was petit and slim, he couldn’t see much details in her face though; just the body. She wore a simple white shirt with plain white joggers much like the other patients he saw in the building. Despite seeing the same old thing, this person intrigued him. The young man continued to look until the girl was promptly moved along by someone else, to which he sighed.

His coral green orbs skipped from the door, to the ground then briefly scanned the room. He had small but bright eyes with longer brown eyelashes. Under them sat faint bags, a bit darker than his sandy speckled skin; The result of late nights and screen staring for hours. Hunched he took reddened fingers to reddened, undefined cheeks. His bones seemed to stick out however. They were almost always that colour, especially since it was colder in weather. He sniffled, making his studded nose thinner if possible; It wasn’t low, but it was long. With a curved tip it was reminiscent of a certain boy from neverland. His face was oval, long with a pointed and sharp chin and stronger than average jawline. With no facial hair this was prominent. Up above straight thick brows he let his hands rest on top of floppy chestnut brown, wavy hair. Originally styled as a fringe fade it grew out, then resembling a rough bowl cut. He was lazy when maintaining his haircut, not that he cared to keep it up or even acknowledge. It was his peers who pestered him to get it cut again. Maybe he would. Pink baby plump smooth lips parted and showed uneven wire tamed white teeth. The braces were a recent instalment he didn’t appreciate, unfortunately, he had no choice but to endure the months he had left. He towered over people, tall and awkward he often struggled to get comfortable in his own skin. He wasn’t the leanest or the skinniest. Somewhere he sat between, too unbothered by peoples claims that he would ‘look good if he did’. He just didn’t give a shit about that.

“How old is she?” He knew that the older man saw him looking, hence the colour change of his skin and a slight stutter. His voice was husked, deep and came out as a whisper. He repeated his question again after the clearing of his throat. “Recently turned twenty.” The man lazily replied, cuing the younger one to think intensively. “She’s young...” The same age as him in fact. It was his birthday the previous week. He didn’t do much for it. He didn’t want to. “Been here five years.” The man continued, cuing another glance from the boy. “Wow...” He whispered to himself, bowing his head. he wondered how she would have managed, being in the same place day in and day out for such a long time. He wondered how he would have managed. “One of our longest. Poor kid.” the last part of the man’s sentence was mumbled but the younger man caught onto it.

“Elijah.” The younger man’s head snapped up at the mentioning of his name. He sunk into his seat when he saw his father standing in the doorway. His eyes on Elijah showed a mixture of glee and annoyance. Elijah look didn’t really look like his father: the older man was fatter and shorter than his son; his height was something he questioned since both of his parents were short. Victor’s skin was significantly lighter than Elijah’s and his hair was darker, but their eyes were the same colour. The man would be coming up into his fifties and looked past his age. Elijah prayed that he wouldn’t be like that.

Victor, Dorothy and Elijah Hugo Ronne. It was just the three of them who moved from Houston to Washington. When he first moved into the city, Elijah hated every single aspect Washington. He grew extremely homesick and found his accent getting thicker, He even promised himself that once he was old enough, he would be going back to Texas. Now at twenty years of age he started to get used to the place he called ‘home’. Even the accent had started to fade slightly. Moving permanently was a daunting experience, one he had grown to appreciate.

“I wasn’t expecting a visitor: Your mother didn’ tell me you was coming’.” Victor hinted and rubbed his temples, closing his. The last thing he expected was to find Elijah at his workplace. “That’s because… she doesn’ know.” Elijah responded, looking up from his hunched position. He sat up eventually and straightened his body out. It was a spontaneous decision Elijah had made. If it were any other day he’d probably be at home. “I figured. You here for...?” Victor continued and waved a hand, trying to prompt an answer from his only child. His presence wasn’t exactly welcomed. “Well, you always used to complain that I didn’t come see you at work so...” Elijah waved a hand over himself and stood instead of verbally finishing off his sentence. Victor paused slightly before he continued. He was proud of his answer.

“At twenty years of age? Really Elijah?” He questioned, cuing a slight laugh masked by a cough leave the man next to Elijah’s mouth. “Yeah.” He nodded slowly, only really being in the building for external studies. Victor eyed the older man next to Elijah before turning back to his son. “How long have you been in here? How’d you even get in?” Victor asked quickly. “I don’t know... Two hours or somethin’? I didn’t know where your office would be, and I got distracted by what he was doing so stayed with him. I told ’em I was your son and I got in.” Elijah responded truthfully, recalling exactly how it had happened. “Okay. Come on.” Victor sighed and held the door open for Elijah and nodded in his co-worker’s direction. Elijah smiled and stood quickly. Just as he was about to leave with Victor, he paused and turned abruptly toward the man he was just with; irritating his father slightly.

“Wait- Why-Why is she here?” Elijah questioned the person he spent his morning with. He looked up whereas Victor mentally questioned his son. “Who-- I’ll be outside the room.” Victor dismissed himself and left. Elijah watched the man, shrugged then walked to the older doctor. “Why don’t you just ask?” Was the reply he got. Elijah frowned at the response, not knowing if it was sarcasm or just honestly. Either way, he took it as an answer and left the man alone to find his father. Maybe he would ‘just ask’. “Okay I’m here.” Elijah huffed and spun to his father’s side. Victor stopped, watched and shook his head before walking away from Elijah. “So, are you coming?” Victor called out behind him, cuing Elijah to snap out of whatever had him dazed and follow the older man.

“Yeah...” He whispered to himself, dragging long limbs behind the shorter man with his hands stuffed in his pocket.