Hazel looked at Al, his smooth almond skin glowed back at her. Her own skin was rough and flaking, oh to be young again.
“…he said I wasn’t even a real nut. That was the last time I saw him. And it’s true I’m just a seed!” Al finished.
“It sounds like you miss him a lot, but perhaps you’ll find your independence now,” Pepita said kindly looking at Hazel for further instruction.
Hazel looked back at her intern, then to Al.
“He’ll come back to you Al. Just be patient,” Hazel said. “Now, that’s the end of the session you can book your next appointment with Chester on your way out.”
Hazel could almost see a do-gooder spiel welling inside Pepita as they watched Al wipe his eyes and leave.
“He needs to be medicated,” Pepita burst out as soon as he’d left. “Al can’t go on with this imaginary friend insulting him. He clearly has deep-seeded issues around nut classification. He needs to be stabilised.”
Hazel sighed, “Why? Is his reality less valid than ours?”
Silence.
“Look around Pepita, we’re just a bunch of mixed nuts. We’re all going to get eaten one day.”
The inspiration I got for this was “A sad almond can’t find his imaginary friend”
freyawrightbrough 