Moving through Life

Pt. 6 | Construction and Conversation

It was an odd thing, living with a human. Shay had done so all her life, but it wasn't like he or anyone else knew about her and her family living in the walls. As odd as it was, ever since Shay agreed to stay with Todd, it seemed like everything fell into a sense of normal in no time. Yes, a human was aware of her presence, but all in all he didn't seem to mind. It wasn't that he didn't care or express concern, but it was more like the novelty of finding a small person was lost on him.

He was considerate and kind, checking in on her on occasion but not asking too many times to make her uncomfortable. More often than not, he was doing something called "homework" for class. It often involved him staring at various devices and screens, scribbling notes on paper for hours on end. In the morning, he made breakfast and left out a snack. In the evening, he made dinner for the both of them.

In some way, it felt nice having someone there. Shay couldn't imagine being on her own trying to survive. It felt like having one of her own brothers there looking out for her. To keep her from using her hook all of the time, Todd taped and secured stable lines for her to use. For counters and gaps, he placed bridges. He even agreed to making some ladders that led into the walls.

Staying inside the walls was one way Shay honored her heritage while also staying near her roommate. The Borrower girl knew she needed to practice and keep her skills sharp, so she spent time in the walls setting up a makeshift camp. Todd even helped remove the face covers of the electrical outlets so she could slip in and out easier.

Shay thought about staying in the walls. That's what should have happened the first day she arrived. She thought of what her parents would say and how her brothers would tease and taunt her, maybe even scold her, at being around a human for so long. The first night alone sleeping in the walls on her makeshift bed told her one thing – she missed home. Furthermore, she didn't want to be alone, even if that meant being with a human.

She crept out of the walls that night as Todd breathed deeply, already asleep, and curled back into the heavenly soft pillow and thick, warm blanket. It wasn't all bad. In fact, most of it was good. There were still times where he moved too fast and she didn't notice him in a room because of how quiet he was when he worked that she squeaked and retreated beneath whatever was near; however, this lasted for less than two days.

Immediately after spending two days with Todd, she found herself wandering out when he was doing homework and other things. Most of the time, she was keeping her skills sharp for when she arrived back at home. Since Todd knew about her, it didn't make sense to hide all day in the walls when she could be practicing out in the open.

The Borrower teen also realized she had a lot of questions that Todd knew the answers to. Some things were simple, like where humans got their food and what farms were. It was mind numbing, thinking of fields and fields that would take a year to cross growing mountains of food. Some questions, however, were more complex and Todd had to explain it many times for Shay to understand. Things like how that device he wrote on knew what he was doing and how he could "submit" a project without bringing it to the other humans.

The days passed and the more they talked, the more Shay realized how advanced the humans were and how their daily struggles as Borrowers were things humans had solved advanced the humans were and how their daily struggles as Borrowers were things humans had solved years ago; at least, most of them anyway. A lot of problems they ran into constantly were trivial at best for humans.

Another thought came to Shay one night that terrified her after the fact, and that was how much easier life would be if they relied on humans to help take care of them. Immediately, she shook the thought away. The thought of demeaning herself to be a pet for an easier life made her feel choked up and tears burned the corners of her eyes. What would her parents think of her if she had let this thought slip?