Going on and on about every little detail

“Think about it, Flounder!” Blaine whispered dramatically to the stuffed, toy version of the character he had. “Humans must be wonderful! They even made this!” he said, pointing at the red and white bow-tie he had on. 

Cooper smiled from the doorway as he watched his almost six year old brother pretend to swim around his room with the yellow fish in his hand. 

“Harry Potter is a human, too!” Blaine let out a high gasp. “That’s right, Flounder. He is. So Father is wrong.” 

The boy picked up a toy soldier from the floor, a toy Cooper recognized to be his old one, and sat down cross-legged on the carpet. 

“Look at this stuff, isn’t it neat?
Wouldn’t you think my collection’s complete?
Wouldn’t you think I’m the girl… the girl who has everything?”

It never ceased to amaze Cooper how Blaine was able to memorize lyrics of songs so easily. He never wanted to change them either. Their dad had once told Blaine that if he really wanted to sing this song all the time, he should at least change the ‘girl’ to ‘boy’. 

Blaine had simply said: “But it’d mess up everything!”

“Look at this trove, treasures untold
How many wonders can on cavern hold?
Looking around here you’d think… sure. She’s got everything.”

Blaine stood up and looked around his room. Yeah, he certainly did have quite a lot of toys. He took very good care of them, too, convinced that every time he left the room, they came alive. Some would argue he might have watched Toy Story too many times, but Cooper thought it was cute.

Blaine skipped his way to the bookshelf, moving his arms in big circles as if he was going through water.

“I’ve got catwebs and kismos a-plenty…” Cooper chuckled quietly but Blaine didn’t hear him. “…I’ve got whosits and whatsits galore.” 

Now, someone who didn’t know Blaine might think that the fact he had a little chest full of corkscrews was weird but Cooper happened to be the lucky one to know Blaine the best. In fact, he had been the one to give Blaine the latest addition to his collection. 

“Yey!” the younger boy had cheered. “Now I’ve got almost as many as Ariel!” 

“You want thinga… mamas? I’ve got twenty.
But who cares? No big deal. I want more.”

Blaine had never been a child who demanded for candy while in the supermarket. He had a bad habit of getting lost in his own little world of wonderful things, though. This, quite too often, caused him to wander away from his older brother and parents. Most of the time he was the only one in the family who didn’t panic. In fact, usually he didn’t even realize what had happened. He’d be chatting to an elderly lady, excited to hear about her numerous cats, or entertaining a young pregnant couple with a performance for their unborn baby, quite unaware of the trouble he had caused. 

He didn’t do it because he deliberately wanted to disobey, Cooper knew that. That was just how he was and surely he’d grow out of it somewhat when he got a little older? That’s what their mom and dad hoped, anyway. Cooper wasn’t quite sure how he felt about his brother changing in any way.

“I wanna be where the people are
I wanna see, wanna see them dancing
Walking around on those - what do you call them?” Blaine asked his Flounder. “Oh, feet.
Flipping your fins, you don’t get too far
Legs are required for jumping, dancing!” Blaine made a little twirl.
Strolling along down the - what’s that word again? - street.” 

Cooper took a hasty step back when Blaine looked directly at the door. 

“Up where they walk, up where they run
Up where they stay all day in the sun
Wandering free, wish I could be
Part of that world.”

“Why can’t I go to the same school as you?” Blaine had asked Cooper a few weeks ago. 

“You’re still too young,” Cooper had answered. “But you’d be the smartest one there, I bet,” he added when Blaine pouted. 

“Are your friends nice?”

“Yeah, they are nice,” Cooper had frowned. “Why?” 

“Just askin’,” Blaine shrugged, adding blue to his drawing. 

“What would I give if I could live out of these waters?
What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand? 
Bet’ya on land, they understand, that they don’t reper…demand their daughters
Bright young women, sick of swimming… ready to staaaaaaand!”

Blaine spread his arms wide and pirouetted around the room while making the last note long and loud. He seemed uncharacteristically earnest and Cooper couldn’t help but wonder if there was more behind the words than what met the eye. 

But… Blaine was still only five. Life was still bubbles and flowers and colors to him, right?

Coopers heart skipped a beat when a horrible thought that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t the case entered his mind.

“Aaaand ready to know what the people know
Ask them my questions and get some answers
What’s a fire and why does it, what’s the word? Burn!
When’s it my turn 
Wouldn’t I love, love you explore that shore up above…” 

Cooper finally opened the door all the way. Blaine was now clutching Flounder tightly to his chest, looking out of the window to their front-yard. Cooper crossed the room to stand next to him. He followed his brother’s line of sight and saw a group of boys around 6 or 7 playing soccer across the street. 

“Out of the sea
Wish I could be
Part of that world…”

Blaine pretty much whispered the last word. He sucked his lower lip between his teeth and looked longingly to where one of their neighbors scored a goal. He tilted his head a little when Cooper put his hand on his small shoulder.

“Hey,” Cooper said quietly. “That was great.”

Blaine glanced at the stuffed toy in his hands and then, after a moment of consideration, offered it to Cooper. “You wanna play him?”

Cooper smiled and took the fish. “Sure. But, I wonder if you knew something about Flounder?”

“What?” Blaine asked with his eyes wide.

“He really likes to… tickle!” 

Blaine let out a high-pitched, delighted scream. “COOPER!”   

This is what happens when you don’t sleep enough, listen to your Disney playlist and see a picture of Darren at the same time. 

It’s 8.15 pm and I’d go to bed if Game of Thrones wasn’t on tonight… Damn TV!