The Fall of the Aftons

019: Michael Song

Michael screamed out of joy, running as fast as he could. It was still a little hard to run since his leg was still healing. He knew that Noah had promised that he'd go easy on him, but Noah's "easy" and Michael's "difficult" was the same thing.

"Go, Michael, go!" Felicity cheered from her spot close to the small swing set, where she was frozen in place by Noah. 

Michael made a sharp turn. A small shot of pain shot up his leg for a hot second at the too-fast movement. He heard Noah slip behind him, failing to copy Michael's agility and balance. The boy fell to the ground. Michael came to a stop and went back to his friend's friend, then helped the boy off of the snowy ground.

"Thanks, Mikey!" Noah exclaimed gratefully, hugging Michael around the neck.

Michael's cheeks warmed for reasons he didn't fully understand. Only Khael had called him Mikey, and even then, that hadn't happened very often. But he ignored the heat on his cheeks and hugged the boy back. Then he quickly let go and sped off, not wanting the hug to be exploited. He darted towards the swingset and lightly tapped Felicity's shoulder. She jumped up and took off in the opposite direction of him. Suddenly, he felt a pair of hands on the back of his shoulders that pushed him forward, and in a blurry second, he lost his balance and fell to the snowy ground.

"Oops. Sorry, Mikey!" Noah said nervously, giggling ever-so-slightly. "Well, you're frozen now. Good luck!" And he ran off, following Felicity. 

A few rounds of Freeze Tag later, the three of them ended up laughing on the bench as they tried to catch their breath. But a few minutes before they were going to start another game, Miss Iaea shouted for them from across the street."Michael! Felicity! Time to come inside; it's time for lunch!"

Michael stood up immediately and rushed over to the Center as fast as he could without his leg screaming in protest. Miss Iaea smiled at him and mussed his hair. She had always been nice to him. Nice to all of the kids. She seemed like she enjoyed her job a lot. It was nice.

Felicity returned a minute after he did, holding their plushies. Their plushies! Michael snatched his stuffed animal from her hands and held it to his chest. How could he have forgotten about it?

Miss Iaea led the two of them inside and into the dining area, then headed to the counter and gave them their plates of food. Michael baked chicken with peas and mashed potatoes while Felicity got her usual fluffernutter with almond butter instead of peanut butter. The girl had so many allergies that she was rarely allowed to try anything new.

"Do you ever get tired of the same foods?" Michael asked once the two sat at their normal table. 

Felicity shrugged and took a bite of her sandwich. "Sometimes. But Miss Iaea lets me change my meals if I get tired of them." She took another bite of her sandwich.

"What allergies do you even have?" he queried after taking a few bites of his own food. He chuckled when his friend looked at him with wide eyes.

She barked out a laugh "Oh, you have no idea! There's so many!" She laughed a second time, took a bite of her food, and laughed again. "Peanuts, bee stings, chocolate, sunflower seeds, pollen, dust, mold, walnuts, cashews, chestnuts, dairy, a few medications, spider bites, and latex. I know that ibuprofen is one of my biggest medicated allergies, but I'm not certain about the rest of them."

He repeated them to himself as he counted them on his fingers. He gasped at the result, then laughed at the absurdity. "That's fourteen if you only count ibuprofen. Fourteen allergies. Fourteen!"

The two of them burst out into fits of laugter. They knew it wasn't funny that so many things could send Felicity to the hospital, but that was the thing. There were just so many.