----------------------------------------------------------------- ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀CLOCKWORK ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀by aaron (@-revery) ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀a contest entry ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀-------------------- ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀Clockwork; a mechanism ⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀-------------------- "I'm okay." ⠀ It's a lie Jett had grown familiar with. ⠀ The mechanism he'd grown to hide behind, to cower behind, to use as a shield against the unknown forces of the world. ⠀ It's hypocritical, really. The idea that all he could ever want is for someone to check up on him, to listen and appreciate his emotions. Ugly, ugly emotions. Yet every time he's asked, every time he's offered a hug by another figure, another person, another liar; "I'm okay." It comes without him thinking about it. ⠀ He hates himself for this. ⠀ It's stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid; he wishes on a passing star, then as soon as that comes true, he stabs it with an arrows he spent so long carefully crafting that now stab him back, their bodies covered in thorns, prickling Jett's skin. ⠀ How? How had his life come down to this? Crafted lies and loops of heartbreak and choruses of the berating he gives himself. Because now, every time someone asked him how he was doing, his response was "I'm okay." ⠀ Like clockwork. -----------------------------------------------------------------
