\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful day, outside!\u201d Nicki announced as she forced open the bedroom door and strolled in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAgh,\u2026go away!\u201d Will grumbled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Come on, Will. Let me just open these \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will heard her stumble towards the curtains. He bolted out of bed, tripping on his gym bag as he scrambled to beat Nicki to the window. \u201cDon\u2019t touch them,\u2026just don\u2019t!\u201d He stood defiantly in front of her. She met his glare with a compassionate smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been three weeks. Don\u2019t you think it’s time to go outside and get some fresh air?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he grumbled. He strode back to bed wearing and dragged the covers over his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Okay, love. I\u2019ll come back and check on you later.\u201d The bedroom door closed with a soft click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most 19-year-old males, couldn\u2019t care less about their curtains being opened or closed by somebody else. Most 19-year-old males had progressed from childish-themed patterns to modern colours and designs. But not Will. The dinosaur-printed curtains remained a staple of his bedroom, despite the rest of the d\u00e9cor changing over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019d offered to redecorate his room for his tenth birthday. They sat together and scoured through the catalogue pages, searching for the perfect design. And there, at the bottom of page nine, he saw it; Dinosaur printed fabric – $12.49 per metre. \u201cThat\u2019s it, Gran! That\u2019s the one I want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He even remembered the trip to the fabric store. They had fish and chips in the park after they\u2019d pick out the material. She took him home and they measured out the curtains, on the top of the dining table. Will played on the sewing room floor with his triceratops, while Gran hemmed the curtains to the right length. When they were finished, they toasted their success with apple juice served in champagne glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will remembered the excitement he felt, when Gran had hung them up in his room the following week. They held hands as they stood back from the window, admiring Gran\u2019s handiwork. It felt like time had stood still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Will swallowed the lump forming in his throat. The day after they hung the curtains, his grandma died. It was unexpected, overwhelming and Will\u2019s whole world caved in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through his teenage years, the dinosaur curtains were the topic of teasing by many friends. Those friends didn\u2019t stay around for long. Will didn\u2019t defend himself. He didn\u2019t invite them back. Will\u2019s close friends knew there was some important reason why he didn\u2019t update his curtains to something age appropriate as the years went by. None of them asked why. They accepted it as part of Will\u2019s quirky and quiet nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Amy was the one he\u2019d confided in. \u201cOh, Amy\u201d he groaned as turned his face into the pillow. His best friend. His love. His everything. He told her the story of the dinosaur curtains and his Gran, a week after she told him that she loved him. \u201cI think its really sweet, Will,\u201d was all she said tilting her head to the side. And then she kissed him on cheek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stood at the window and watched her walk to the car after their break-up. At 3:15pm on the fourth of June, Will gently closed the curtains so he wouldn\u2019t have to watch Amy back out of the driveway and out onto the street for the last time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful day, outside!\u201d Nicki announced as she forced open the bedroom door and strolled in. \u201cAgh,\u2026go away!\u201d Will grumbled. \u2018Come on, Will. Let …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":3797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[457,454,455,456,199],"class_list":["post-3796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","tag-break-up","tag-curtains","tag-dinosaurs","tag-grandmother","tag-grief"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/polox-hernandez-itGcCnMWPpQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1920&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pff1uY-Ze","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3696,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3696","url_meta":{"origin":3796,"position":0},"title":"window dressing","author":"Denise Shakespeare","date":"July 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"elegant long bluetaildragonflies, wingsiridescent like stainedglass art delicate upturned spokesof dandelion seedslifting, leaving each motheron an invisible wind intermingling, conversingon a pale turquoise wash of delicate muslinbillowing on a breezewarm with the tangof lemons breathing life into the drapes that fall in soft cascades her gaze is held by their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Poetry"","block_context":{"text":"Poetry","link":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?cat=19"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/jessie-mccall-VkQMtxuoEoM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/jessie-mccall-VkQMtxuoEoM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/jessie-mccall-VkQMtxuoEoM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/jessie-mccall-VkQMtxuoEoM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/jessie-mccall-VkQMtxuoEoM-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3777,"url":"https:\/\/mountainashchapter.com.au\/?p=3777","url_meta":{"origin":3796,"position":1},"title":"True Romance","author":"Mountain Ash Chapter","date":"August 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Her exquisite feet skimmed the floor, like ephemeral swallows of passion. 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