A Special Child

The junk yard

I always liked visiting junk yards.

It's not that weird. I'm sure a lot of people appreciate the endless junk and solitude as much as I do. Sometimes I find a funny-shaped piece of scrap metal, and I take it home, telling myself I might make an art piece or a deco out of it someday... (But I never do.) Even if I rarely find something worthwhile, I still take pleasure in hunting for a nonexistent treasure. I'm not really disappointed when I return home empty-handed. It's just another way to get some air and a mental break, to me.

My eyes were scanning the area, even with my hopes low, I found myself daydreaming about finding the remains of an old beetle car, or a busted shotgun to hang in my living room...

Suddenly, I heard the clinking of metal behind a pile of broken radios, followed by the sound of small quick movements. A cat that spooked itself by knocking something over, maybe. Eager to meet a critter among the scrap metal, I cautiously approached to look behind the pile of radios, and... nothing.

I tried to shrug it off, not having the heart to chase after a scared animal, and turned back.

Just a moment later, I heard another piece of metal fall over, fairly close behind me. This time I spun around and barely had time to spot a small clothed and bipedal silhouette scurry away between the debris in panic! I stood there, somewhat stunned, trying to make sense of what I managed to see...

I didn't have the time to come up with an explanation. As soon at the creature left, I heard a faint grunt, and sounds of struggle coming from the way they left. I held my breath, and approached as quietly as I could to peek through the debris...

For a good moment, I was convinced my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Stuck to a trashed spiral of barbed wire, the little thing looked human in almost every way, despite their head being hidden under a paper bag, yet they were so... small. Not even toddlers could be skinny enough to wear these clothes... They also definitely don't make long coats like that for toddlers.

My mind was running out of solid explanations, so much so that I found myself thinking it was probably an elf, or a goblin even. Maybe that would explain the paper bag on his head; camouflage for goblins to hide among trash...

Suddenly, the black holes of the paper bag turned right at me, causing the little thing to let out a quiet shuddered gasp and freeze. I also froze, feeling a shiver go down my spine. They were breathing heavily in fear. Poor thing...

''...Hey there...''

My voice alone made them flinch in fear. They continued struggling against the barbed wire, never taking their eyes off me. Not even for a second.

''...Do you need help? Uh... buddy?...''

No response. I didn't even know if they could understand... Although terrified, they also seemed... curious. It seemed as if they weren't struggling as hard as they could right now, like a very hesitant part of them wanted to observe me.

I took the risk, and stepped closer to them, starting to reach out.

Grave mistake. With another quiet but panicked gasp for air, they violently flailed and unbuttoned themselves out of their little long coat, leaving it behind on the barbed wire as they ran away...

''Wait!! Wait!-..." Unable to find a convincing argument, I sighed when I noticed they were already out of sight. Like I said before, I didn't have the heart to chase after a scared critter...

I turned my attention to the coat stuck to the barbed wire and, as carefully as I could, I unhooked it from the trash metal. It was like a doll's clothes... but of course, way better quality, despite being worn out and dirty.

I stood up and spotted the little being again, this time staring me down from the top of two piled up cars. How did they get up there so fast?

''Buddy... I'm not trying to hurt you.'' I said, trying to pull off the calmest and most soothing voice I could. Sadly, they barely tilted their head as a reaction.

They looked kinda funny without their coat; the outfit just wasn't quite complete. They seemed to be aware of that, as I assumed it was the reason they even stayed to watch me...

I held up the small coat. ''You want this?''

Their head perked up. That was my answer.

I slowly walked to the hood of the car. It seemed to make them nervous, as they took a few steps in the opposite direction, but they stopped when they saw me set the coat down on the hood. They then watched me as I walked away from the piled up cars, as far as necessary to make them comfortable.

I couldn't take my eyes away from them. They clearly couldn't take their eyes away from me either. I really hoped it was mutual curiosity, although I couldn't deny he was mostly just scared of me...

Eventually, once I was standing about five cars away from them, they quickly slid down the windshield to go grab his coat. They stared at me intensely as they put it on...

I crossed my arms with a thoughtful sigh as I stared back. I still couldn't decide on what they were... Even though I had doubts about them being a child, they were still... adorable. The kind of adorable that made me so, so worried about them.

Wearing their coat, they were still staring at me. Then, as if they noticed something curious about me, they tilted their head. That shiny glimmer of curiosity made my heart bleed... I didn't have the guts to get closer, I didn't want to scare them and ruin... this.

I hesitated, afraid of making a bad move, but I raised a hand in greeting. ''Hi...''

They straightened, as if surprised, but not necessarily startled by my greeting. Then finally, they slowly raised their hand. ''...Hi...''

It was barely audible through the paper bag, but I definitely heard it. Something about this whole thing meant so much... I had to stay calm...

''What... what are you...?''

They only tilted their head. Assuming they couldn't hear me well, I tried to take a step closer. Thankfully they didn't seem to mind.

''Are you alone?''

They stood still, then slowly nodded, to my biggest surprise.

''...Where do you come from?''

They glanced to an area of the junk yard, but looked back to me before I could really spot what they were looking at. No other comment...

''...What's your name?''

They looked to the ground a bit, and mumbled something.

''...What...? Mono...?''

They stared at me, and finally nodded. At least it looked like they did.

''Mono... Do you have a home?''

They stared silently... But all of a sudden, we both heard a loud man on the phone, making his way to us. It was the owner of the junk yard.

And just like that, Mono was already out of sight...

And I needed to get out of sight too. I wasn't... exactly allowed to be here.

To my biggest frustration and against my will to connect with Mono, I hurried out of the yard, as light-footed as I could be.

I prayed that Mono would hide from this man better than they hid from me. For now, I decided to go back home. I'd come back later with what I need to help Mono.