Council of Elders Ch. 01

"Um, can we go? I feel a little uncomfortable being stuck inside my own head."

"Yeah sure. You need to make some sort of phrase, something powerful, that will bring you back to a conscious level. Your body goes into a sort of coma when you come in here so you have to be careful."

"Uh... Okay. How about 'There's no place like home'?"

"I guess you are a friend of Dorothy." Caesar laughed raucously. "It should be fine. Just concentrate."

"There's no place like home. There's no place like home." Fenris tapped his heels together as he said it, much to Caesar's delight.

***

Owen packed the last of his luggage into the car he had rented for the drive to Plymouth. It was a good five hours, but the drive would allow him to think clearly about what he was going to do when he got there.

The decision had been an easy one for him. The city was on the coast, it had the largest aquarium in Europe and it was the centre of Marine Biology research in the country. According to his former Plymothian friends, it was also a sty. A bad one. But he could look past that, the real reason for going somewhere so far away was that he had been planning to do something for a long time. Something he could only do far away from his parents.

Owen had known he was gay for four years. Ever since a mix up at a hotel on a school trip had left him sleeping in the same bed as the school's seventeen-year-old rugby captain for two weeks, he had known that there was no going back. Andrew had been good to him and hadn't laughed at him when he had woken up to find Owen snuggled cosily into his strong chest. In fact, he had been the one to hold Owen as the young boy cried for the loss of his ignorance. Andrew had never touched him sexually, but the brief moments of contact had meant more than words to Owen's fragile heart.

Owen was intending to come out, in a big way, when he got to university. He knew where the gay bars were. He knew when there were LGBT meetings, gay film nights, gay coffee mornings. He was well prepared for joining the "gay scene". Which was, while relatively compact in Plymouth, still thriving well.

He returned to his house to wish it and his family goodbye. He would come back, of course, but it would never be the same. He bent down and stroked the neighbourhood's stray cat under its neck.

"You won't miss me one bit will you?" He asked it while scratching behind his ears. "Not so long as you get fed by some poor Granny who thinks she owns you."

The cat gave him a reproachful look and dug its claws lightly into the skin of his hand. He went back to stroking its back fur and it purred loudly.

"You ought to wash that scratch Owen. You'll get rabies or something." His father called from the front door. He and Elaine were holding each other tightly and both had proud smiles on their faces.

"You don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm out of the house now." Owen laughed.

"We have to worry. It's our job these days. If we ever stopped worrying then what we would we do all day?" Elaine asked with a similar laugh.

"We'll always worry about you son. Because we love you. We love you so much that we thank God every day for sending you to us." The stoic brave face of Owen's father was beginning to crack under the emotional strain.

"Your Dad's right Owen. We love you. We really, really, love you." Elaine's face was beginning to drip make-up and tears as she sobbed.

"Don't cry Mum. It's all alright. I'll be back by Christmas. Calm down Mum." He tried to placate her but it was no use. He swept over and pulled the two people who had raised him into a hug.

"I love you too Mum and Dad. I'll miss you a lot, but I'll still send you emails." This earned him a harsh look from his mother. "Okay, okay. I'll write you a letter every week."

Elaine smiled warmly at him and turned to her husband. He was still holding in his tears, but barely. He stuck out his hand and Owen shook it. Then Owen turned to the car and got in. He waved comically to them and started the ignition. The car drove away and left the old couple standing on the doorstep.

"Do you think he knows we know?" asked Elaine as she turned back into the house

"No." Replied her husband. He remained standing in the doorway for a moment then followed her inside.

He walked up the stairs and opened the door to Owen's room. The posters were all gone, the bookshelves empty but for a few Penguin Classics, the wardrobe was bare and the messy desk was too. Owen's father stood in the doorway of the empty room and wept.