A Special Child

The house

Finally, the car stopped in front of my house.

It was small, falling apart a little bit... but that's what I had to put up with if I wanted to be able to afford a home by the forest, in a quiet place with little to no neighbors.

Mono seemed to have noticed I stopped the car for good. He finally looked away from the door's window to look at me. I couldn't tell if he was disappointed that we stopped, or if he was excited to get out of the car.

"Yep, we're here! ... I'll let you out now-..." I said as I opened the door to step outside.

He turned a bit agitated and glanced at all the windows, trying to take in the new environment before even being coming out. As soon as I opened one of the back doors, he practically jumped out, and ran away to go stand in the open, looking around slowly at the trees, my yard... and finally my house.

As if he just remembered I existed, he turned to me, a little bit confused. That poor kid didn't seem to know what to do here, but it looked like he trusted me to know what to do next. Obviously the thought made me smile.

"Come on." I slowly started walking towards the house. "You can come see inside, or you can stay outside if you want... Either way, I want to give you something. So... please stay close to my house, okay?"

His head perked up a little, then gave a little nod. "Okay..." He seemed to have taken a liking to receiving gifts from me!

"Thank you! I'll try to make it quick..." I stepped up the porch and opened the door, then placed a piece of wood under the door to keep it wide open. I wanted him to feel free to come in and out. If bugs in my house was the cost of giving this kid a roof, then so be it. I'll worry about regretting it later.

I started cooking, making something I was sure he'd like: macaroni and cheese. If I was in his situation, hot cheese would  certainly send me to the moon. It wasn't nutritious, I know, but I wanted to make a good impression first.

I glanced out the window while the macaroni was boiling, but I couldn't see him... So I stepped out. Just for a bit. I had to make sure.

Still nothing. Couldn't see him anywhere...

... I had to keep an eye on the food, though. I tried to tell myself not to worry about this, and returned inside to finish the delicious comfort meal.

When I stepped outside and off the porch holding two bowls of food, I looked around with a bit of a stinging worry. "Mono??..." I called out.

I heard a shuffling sound from the porch and spun around, to see him crawling from under the old wooden stairs of the porch. He stood up and dusted himself off.

I stared at him, unsure of how to react to this. "What are you doing, buddy?"

"Looking..." He mumbled.

Knowing him, I assumed it was maybe in his nature to look for hiding spots when he finds himself in a new environment.

"Oh... Well!... Are you hungry?"

He nodded with little hesitation, straightening and looking up at me attentively.

I approached to sit on the stairs, and he barely moved away, now watching the bowls I was holding. I set his bowl on a lower stair, closer to him, and slightly scooted away from them. Mono leaned forward a bit, tilting his head to look at the food. He looked pretty interested, alright...

"It's macaroni and cheese! Have you ever eaten mac and cheese, before?"

Mono slowly shook his head, approaching to grab the fork sticking out of the macaroni. That fork looked comically little too big for him, and yet he raised his paper bag to uncover his mouth, and took a bite with the fork!

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't think he'd use the fork. Maybe I underestimated him a little.

Heck, he was licking it clean now. I think he liked it.

He ate pretty quickly, ferociously even! He wouldn't even glance at me to make sure I wasn't moving closer. was like I no longer existed. But he slowed down barely halfway through... I guess his small stomach could only hold so much... Eventually, he started looking around at random things instead of eating.

"You know, you don't have to eat if you're not hungry anymore."

He looked at me and tried to speed up again, like he was trying to convince me he still had room. Despite this effort, he slowed down again very quickly. He was mostly just licking the fork now.

"I know, it's good! But you can eat the rest tomorrow, when you're hungry again."

It seemed my argument was good enough. Mono looked down and dropped the fork in the bowl, defeated.

I carefully reached out to take his bowl... and he quickly looked back up at me in shock.

"Hey, it's okay! I'm just gonna put it in the fridge so it stays good. I'll give it back tomorrow. Promise."

His stance softened, and he sat down, looking away again.

I headed back inside, put the leftovers away, and the dishes in the sink to wash later. I stepped outside again, and to my surprise, he hadn't moved from his spot. He was just sitting there, looking... oddly calm. Maybe sleepy? Although, maybe it was just a food coma. 

I leaned against the doorframe, watching him with my arms crossed. I was a little bit in my thoughts, contemplating that I in fact managed to take him here, and... he looked comfortable. To my biggest relief.

Mono turned his head to stare at me for a moment. "...Thank you."

I tilted my head a little. "Well, you're welcome, Mono... I told you, it's safe here, and I have food."

He stared quietly, still sitting there and unwilling to stand up. I wondered if I'd be seeing his eyes closing if he wasn't wearing a paper bag over his head.

"...Don't you want to come inside, Mono?..."

He hesitated, then shook his head. Fair enough, one step at a time... It didn't worry me too much, since he was clearly used to be sleeping outside.

"It's okay, I understand... but you'll stay around, right...?"

He nodded casually, to my relief.

Mono then raised a hand in front of his paper bag, where his mouth should be, and leaned back a little bit as I heard a barely audible yawn. Finally, he stood up. Heh, it didn't look easy though. "Good night."

"...Good night...?" It was barely 1 in the afternoon...

He slowly stepped down the porch, and crawled underneath the stairs.