Work Text:
His lips were white as he squeezed them together. The slow, deep rhythm of his breathing was all he could hear. As he trudged along the path, he could see a pair of finches chirping as they worked to complete their nest.
But he heard only the steady breathing from his own chest. The world was grey save for the green-roofed house on the hill in the distance. It bobbed slightly each time that slow, deep Ffffff went in, and Fhoooooh came out.
When his hand reached out to open the latch that held the gate in place, he paused, pinching his eyes closed. The grey became a terrifying black. He found himself at the edge of a cliff, before him an endless expanse of black, and behind him a gate in grey-scale.
A simple wooden gate, weathered and in need of fresh paint. The hinges were rusted and needed grease. His hand rested on the gate as his foot lifted, gliding silently forward, suspended over the edge that he could not see.
Silent and black: would he even notice if he took the single step? Ffffff… Fhoooooh… One step and the last sound would vanish.
As his hand slid from the gate, a splinter caught his skin. The gate needs new paint. His eyes opened.
He clicked the latch to the grey gate, passing through the short grey stone wall. He walked along the path, past the grey grass. Ffffff… Fhoooooh…
Each plodding step made no sound, but carried him closer.
“Mama!” The cry from the house scared the finches. He heard them flutter off.
The red door to the green-roofed house opened.
He lifted his arm, and with each rhythmic wave, his lips turned more pink. As if in time with the little hand waving back at him, the corners of his mouth turned up.
“Go on.” As the little blue dress dashed toward him, he kneeled on the green grass, opening his arms wide. With a little thud, the blue dress wrapped her arms around him as he listened to the recount of her day.
He scooped her up in his arms and marched up the path with a smile that nearly reached his ears. His foot lifted, gliding silently forward, stepping through the door held open by a woman with milky skin in a dozen shades he knew by heart.