The same man comes by the next morning. My fever finally broke, and I can feel the sweat clinging to my back. My head feels light, but my body still feels weak. But I'm better than I was yesterday.
He squats down to my eyes level when he's closer, I tug my legs closer to my body, and his eyes follow my movement.
"Good morning," his gruff voice said
I remain silence
"You must be hungry. Here's your food." He lifts a Styrofoam bowl this time
"Figure you prefer soup after these rough few days." He spoke
My eyes remain on him
"Who are you? What do you want?" My voice sounds weak and raspy in my ears
He remains silent and continues to observe me. When I didn't think he would answer, he spoke.
"I'm here to make sure you're still here. I'll be in trouble if anything happens to you before then." He said
"Before what?" I ask
He looks at me but doesn't say anything
"Are you going to kill me?" I ask
"It's not up to me to decide." He said
"Then who? Who decides?" I ask a cough breaks out from my lungs.
He braces both his hands on his thighs and pushes himself up to a standing position
"Alright, enough questions for today. Eat." He said
"Wait, please!" I beg
"Who send you?!" I yell weakly
He walks toward the door and looks at me once more before closing it.
"Please!" My voice broke and my mind become a jumbled mess. I slump in my chair and look at the soup.
I want to lash my anger out at something, I want to throw that soup against the wall in defiance, but that would do me no good in this situation. I need my strength. I reach for the soup and sip on it instead.
I try to stay alert, but my body has other plans. I fight to stay conscious, but I kept drifting into slumber, my body demanded I obey it, and in the end, I lost.
My mind drifts for comfort into a land of dreams.
A small lone figure seats alone on the swing. I make my way over. A little boy in a white shirt with Winnie the Pooh on it paired with blue shorts sits on the swing. His head is down, I follow his line of sight. His white sneaker is dug underneath the dirt pebbles, he pushed the dirt around. His white sneakers were stained with brown dirt.
"Hey," I said
The boy slowly raised his head at the sound of my voice.
Hazel's eyes met mine. He tipped his head back down.
"I said hey! Don't be rude, say hey back." I demanded
Hazel's eyes lift back up to mine, but this time they're wider, I see the whiteness of his eyes more.
His brows burrow together
"You're rude! Go away!" The boy said
I plopped down on the swing next to his
"That meant to go somewhere else," he said
I glance at him from the corner of my eyes
"I know," I said before kicking my feet on the ground and swinging.
The wind hits my face, my hairs tussle all around, and I giggle in midair as the swing rise higher.
I swing higher, almost reaching the height of the pole holding the swing.
"Your face going to eat the ground" came the sound of the boy next to me.
"So? What's it to ya?" I yelled back against the wind in my face
My heart soared high with the swing; I can see so much more from up here. I rise higher each time, I wonder if I can see my house from here.
"I think I can see my house from up here!" I yelled
"No, you can't," the boy said
I rolled my eyes
"No, you can't," I said, mimicking mocking him
"I don't sound like that." The boy said
I swing higher.
The swing next to me begins to move slowly.
We swing in opposite directions, he goes backward, and I go forward.
He slowly gains more speed and matches his swinging with mine, until we move in the same direction.
He picks up his speed until his swing almost matched mine.
I stay the same speed, letting him catch up.
Until we move as one in the same direction.
"Which one is your house? " The boy asked
"The one with the brown roof," I said
"They all have a brown roof!" The boy yelled
"No, mine is darker brown because my dad just fixed it," I said
The boy squinted his eyes to see better
"I think I see it!" Excitement bubbles in his voice
"See! I told you!" I grin at him as we both swing in midair.
The wind swayed his short black hair, sparks in his eyes while looks at my house from the top of the swing.
"Can you see your house?" I yelled
He looks at me, face slightly flushed from the wind, I imagine mine was probably the same.
"No," he said
"Elena! Mom said time to go!" My brother's voice could be heard from the ground
"Ok!" I yelled in midair
Both our swings slowly lose their momentum, and we get lower and lower until both our feet return to the ground.
We were silent while our swing was slow.
My feet touch the ground first and stop the swing.
The boy looked at the ground and reluctantly place his foot on it, dirt still stained his white sneakers. He looks at me.
"Are you coming back tomorrow?" The boy asked
"You bet!" I said
A grin spread across his cheeks
"Ok," he said shyly
"What's your name?" I asked before walking away
"Griffin." The boy said
"Yours?" He asks
"Elena!" I grin
I run to where my brother waiting, I turn around. Griffin still watching me from the swing. I wave jumping up on my toes. With a sad smile on his lips, he waved back.
YOU ARE READING
Griffin
RomanceElena's life had been peaceful, until the day she was forced to join the Godson family to pay off a debt that had been owed for generations before hers. To complicate things, Elena had captured the unwanted attention of the youngest son of the Godso...
