Spindle Wood (COMPLETED)

Chapter 52

Pat tapped his fingers on the arms of his chair. He sighed and flopped back, slumping down against the back of his chair.

"You okay, kid?" Remus asked. Pat shrugged.

"Fine, I dunno."

"Don't sound it." Remus commented. "What's bugging you?"

"You want a list?" Pat asked sarcastically.

"If it'll help, sure." Remus sat down on the counter. "What is it?"

"Dada said I couldn't go out yesterday. And you know why I need to go out on Saturdays!"

"I'm sure it's fine if you missed one meeting-"

"But it's not!" Pat whined, sliding out of his chair and onto the floor. Remus rolled his eyes skyward.

"Elves help whoever has to look after this kid." And then he remember. It was him.

"Go on, why isn't it fine?" He asked.

"Because he's gonna think I don't want to see him anymore!" Pat shot up suddenly. "Or that something really bad's happened to me! Oh God, what if he's worrying about me right now-"

"Pat-"

"Or worse, what if he's out looking for me-"

"Pat-"

"He's a prince, it's in his genes to go fight evils and rescue-"

"Pat-"

"Rescue people-"

"Pat!" Remus yelled. He took a breath. "Trust me, this prince is not out looking for you. He probably couldn't get out either. It was chucking it down yesterday! So he probably wasn't even there. Who knows, he might even feel just as bad as you do."

"But what if he was there and now he hates me!" Pat whined. Remus put his head in his hands and groaned.

"Pat, he won't hate you."

"You don't know that!"

Remus blinked. "Alright, what you're doing right now is called 'worse case scenario', right? It's where humans think up the worst thing that could possibly happen. What we can do," he sat forward on his hands, "is we can remedy that by thinking up the best case scenario and probably the most realistic outcome, yeah?"

Pat shrugged, pulling himself up back into his seat. "Great." Remus said. "So, worst case?"

"Ummmm, he thinks I betrayed him and now hates me with all his soul." Pat's face fell. "Oh, Uncle Remus, he's gonna hate me-"

"Ah, not the end of the experiment." Remus cut him off quickly. "Okay, best case?"

"Uhhh, he's a bit worried about me but ultimately knows it's down to the rain?" Pat guessed. Remus threw his hands up as a sign of affirmation.

"Sure. Now, what's the most realistic outcome? Could be either of those or something in the middle."

"Uhhhhhhh..." Pat sighed and closed his eyes. "He probably got held up at the castle cos of the rain." He admitted.

"There we go! See, you don't need to worry about anything."

Pat sighed again and pushed a hand through his hair. "Uncle Remus, can you tell me a story?"

"Why? You know your dad tells better ones." Remus said. "Besides, you're 13 now. Thought you'd be 'too old' for stories."

"I want a story." Pat repeated. "Please."

"Okay." Remus blew a breath up through his fringe. "Once Upon A Time, uh, there was a prince-"

"Why do your stories always have princes in them?"

"Because princes are cool." Remus snapped playfully. "Now, Once Upon A Time, there was a prince. He lived in a beautiful castle with gardens and libraries and ballrooms and every luxury he could ever want. All the servants who worked in the castle knew him and were friendly with him. The gardens were huge and he still hadn't explored all of them by age 15. However, there was one problem. The castle was surrounded by a huge wall."

Pat pushed his glasses up his nose and sat up in his chair.

"This wall was just as beautiful as the rest of the palace. It was made of marble and shiny and cool to the touch. But it was so tall that the prince had never seen the other side. He'd never seen over the wall, never been anywhere but the palace."

"Why?" Pat asked, sitting forward, eyes shining.

"Because his family wanted to keep him in the castle."

"Why?"

"Because they were worried about him." The words came with a bitter taste in Remus' mouth. "They wanted him to be safe.
Now, one day, this prince saw a crack in the wall. It was a tiny thing, a couple of spider line and the tiniest hole, the size of a pin. But it was his connection to the outside wall so he didn't tell anyone about it. He went to that crack every day and peered out into the outside world."

"What did he see?!" Pat asked excitedly.

Remus pulled on his shirt sleeve. "A boy."

I'm really here for Remus using his trauma as stories for Pat, huh?
Bye,
Blaize