#alpaca-clouds

Isaac finds himself staring out of his window almost constantly now. It always came instinctive to him, like a second nature, to seek height. To gain the higher ground. There’s no higher ground for him than that tower, isolated and standing tall over unfolding hills and plains. Seeking refuge from the ground can be expected from someone like him - who’s once been held all too close to it from cruel hands that seemed to believe he belonged there. Safe as it is, Isaac has never seen it as a shelter. It’s a perch.

Height is a call to aspiration, to elevation, to a higher purpose. That’s why he’d initially chosen it as his hide. Things have changed since that moment, yet he’d still felt the call to return to that place. It’s different now; no need for hiding, scheming, festering. The round, sheltered space feels larger now, airy. Like he can finally breathe again. There is no higher purpose anymore - no higher purpose than simply learning to be alive. Finally, he can master that. After a lifelong struggle for liberation, for self-cleansing, he has his freedom and the most precious thing of all: time to enjoy it.