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WORLD OF SIGHTS AND SOUNDS

(An AU story of Near and Mello as brothers)

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…We at times sit on a corner, seeing life through our own eyes

Then one day someone surprises us,

Shares that corner until it becomes the world…

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The creation of this story is once again inspired by the events in my life as I dealt with my brother's autism. I used the characters of Mello and Near to symbolize my relationship with my brother. This story is not of Death Note content. The canon characters will be somehow OC and if you do not wish to continue reading such material then it is your choice. I thank those who would still read and review this and will appreciate and respect your opinion but let us refrain from flaming and leave the story right now if you could only close your mind to degrade it. I shall not appreciate vulgar, childish remarks. Constructive criticisms will be gratified. Some instances here narrated happened while I am taking Special Education course and has motivated me to construct the entire plot of this story. Thank you to my avid readers and I hope this piece of literature will be another enjoyable reading experience.

Enclosing Spaces

2003

The quiet, if not entirely serene, household would indicate the absence of occupants. However, this one household receives a tranquil atmosphere only during mid-afternoon when the parents are still at work and the eldest son is at school. One boy was left by himself during these moments. He was about ten years of age and by first glance, he projects that kind of meekness rare to be displayed by ten-year-old boys. He was hardly effeminate but rather reclusive and with that comes isolation from other children. It's not as if it's an option he chose. He preferred only isolation because it granted him solace and, considering the work that he is engaged into, he needs such solace.

He was sitting on the floor while constructing a puzzle composed of a thousand of pieces. He was almost done after only an hour of absorbed, self-centered attention to his toy. He kept his eyes on each piece, probably amused of the form taking shape, of the picture evolving as he puts together one piece to another. Needless to say he seemed rather stagnant of the process and there was hardly a sense of achievement once he placed the last piece at the upper left corner of the puzzle. He eyed it for a long moment with a finger twirling a strand of hair from his untidy mattress of silver locks. Then he reached out for his teddy bear beside him, hugging it not for comfort but because he has a peculiar fixation with objects (toys in particular.)

Nate River Wammy was diagnosed as an autism savant and since age four, he has been home-schooled by different special education teachers. He was not entirely a likeable child since he is preoccupied with things rather than people and eye contact is quite impossible for him even if it was with family. He was, however, attached to his older brother, Mihael, who paid the slightest bit of attention to him for a very long time. The mind of a boy like Nate is incomprehensible, wired by jargon lines that consist of pathways that could not be traveled. Few have left him untouched out of indifference or few could never touch him at all even if they aspire to, not even his parents. Remained shut like a padlocked door, Nate lives and breathes for the completion of a trivial task like a puzzle. There was no merriment in work for an autistic child. There were only gaping holes they try to unearth with the use of their carefully crafted minds.

It was already six in the evening when the door swung open and Mihael entered the house in his usual tired gait. He noticed Nate on the floor and went straight to his room to throw his bags across the bed. Then he walked back to the living room, hardly noticing his brother's presence. Mihael yawned and switched on the television. He flipped through channels but knew he really didn't feel like watching anything. He did feel like talking to himself. So he talked to Nate.

"My classmates asked about you again, Near." Mihael began in a bored tone. He called Nate "Near," claiming he derived it from the word "neurotic."

Nate did not even bother with a noncommittal response. He never really hears things when he is supposed to. Mihael did not mind talking to a statue though. He was raised alongside this stranger and he practically couldn't care anymore.

He did not glance at Nate when his younger brother started reaching for a platter of cookies their mother left earlier for them. Nate stared at the cookies then he tore off a clean sheet of paper. Mihael anticipated for this. He waited, glancing once in a while as his brother started picking out the chocolate chunks then neatly placing them on the paper. As soon as he was done, a commercial was playing on the background, a sailor singing about a giant octopus. Nate sang along, imitating perfectly every tune and syllable. Mihael chuckled unwillingly. It was like Nate's automatic response when something as ordinary as commercial rhymes catches his attention span when he would answer back rarely to his brother who was talking to him.

Mihael did not want to understand it. He had loved Nate somehow but most of the time, it was an obligatory love. He glanced at Nate who was munching on the cookies. Then he glanced at the chocolate chunks on the piece of paper.

"Mello should eat his share," Nate said as Mihael looked at him.

Nate's earliest childhood memory of his brother was the pack of marshmallows he bought for his fifth birthday. Nate started calling him "Mello" since then. It was easier for him to pronounce that word. So Mihael return the favor and called him "Neurotic Nate" or "Near" for short.

Mihael leaned closer to the table where Nate laid down the piece of paper. He swept the chocolate chunks with his palm and popped them in his mouth. He leaned back to the sofa once more, keeping his eyes on the television screen.

Nate was dissecting his finished puzzle once more. He scattered them and was putting them back together like before. Mihael switched off the television to watch his brother. They stayed like that for another hour. It wasn't anything special to Mihael. He always watched his brother, beckoning for answers he knew he will never get. He hoped, of course, but as he got older every year, the hope was soon realized to be common sense and it tells him Nate will never let him in. Ever. So he contentedly chose to watch him play.

By seven-thirty, Nate's alarm clock rang. He was given one to accommodate him with his scheduled tasks for the day. Mihael ignored it and watched closely how his brother responds.

"Mello should change into his pajamas."

"It's your bedtime, Near, not mine."

Nate finished the puzzle for the fifth time that day. He stared at it again while twisting a strand of silver hair. Mihael blew his golden bangs away from his eyes.

Mihael finally stood up. "Let's go brush your teeth, Near."

"Mello should wait," Nate was rocking back and forth just a little. Then he awkwardly stood up and followed Mihael to the bathroom.

Mihael helped Nate put toothpaste on his toothbrush. Quite methodically, Nate started to brush his teeth with eyes closed. Mihael watched him. Then he helped his brother wash his hands and face. They went back to Nate's room to put on his pajamas. Nate liked to do this alone. He buttons his pajama shirt starting at the end and then tucks his undergarments very slowly. Mihael learned to look around just to stop himself from getting annoyed from his brother's persistently unhurried habits.

He glanced at the countless puzzle pieces on the desk and then at the five puzzle boards supposedly meant for them. Nate must have done all these boards a dozen times now.

"You want a new puzzle, Near?" Mello asked placidly, eyes still fixed upon the ball of red yarn beside the puzzle boards. Nate also likes to play with that thing for no reason. The room was filled with all kinds of toys but there is one specific toy that Mello knew was very important to his younger brother.

He walked to the plain choo-choo train set and held up the said toy train. He switched it on and watched it cross the small rail tracks. Nate was lying on his bed quite stiffly. Mihael turned back his attention to the boy. "Close your eyes and try not to sneak out of bed, okay?" Mihael pulled the covers to his brother's chest and watch the blank stare Nate gave him.

"Night, Mello."

"Yeah, night-night too, Near."

He held the door open a few inches for a little light. He looked at Nate lying on the bed with eyes wide open, fixing them intently on the ceiling. The train was noisy and the noise kept his little brother comfortable.

2007

Two weeks from now Mihael would graduate from high school and he has already a university in mind and a course he has decided to major in. He was in his room with his I-pod. He increased the volume to drown every bit of silence in their house. You'd make a quality Special Education student, Mihael, he said to himself. You got the guts and the brother to prove it.

A resounding phantom train from the other room seemed to agree when it honked.