Freedoms Flaw

He flapped his frame like a bird let loose from its cage.

Freedom felt good.

His voice reached fevered pitch as he thanked heaven for such favours.

The exhilaration made him walk faster than he normally would;

an unfamiliar pace  

Freedom beckoned.

He had detached himself from that difficult woman,

free from that wretched home

Free from its ever growing state of disrepair

Free from the web of responsibility that seemed to swallow and gnaw at the very core of him.

He was free!

He wanted.....he wanted......he wanted..........

suddenly he couldn't remember what he wanted, but he was past caring.

The wind whipped itself around him but it felt good.

Freedom felt good.

An all too familiar, excruciating pain shot through the shape of his back;

the trauma leaving him weak and washed-out.

He felt its sharpness move all the way down his legs and settle as a bed of pins and needles.

His feet seemed to defy him and rebelled against his every command.

Annabel.........

All he now had were the memories and moments of soft gentle hands kneading his tired, sore, and aching muscles.

Hands he rejected for freedom's sake;

Hands that healed his pain.

What he would give to feel their tenderness move along his back,

his shoulders,

his neck,

Oh Annabel.

This was his first taste of the freedom he sought.

He wanted, he wanted, he wanted

No longer could he remember what he wanted.

Pride

Fear

clutched his heart and moved him further away from the hands that knew him so well  

Moved him from the eyes that understood  

From the heart that loved.

Despite the agonizing spasms, he forced his frame to move along

Alone.

Annabel

He was alone.