Your Midnight Snack

late night thoughts

Harry wasn't sure why he was awake at this hour, he had work in the morning and his manager wasn't forgiving to those who slept during office hours.

He thought maybe it was the rain and thunder outside, but he knew it wasn't, he had slept through storms before.

The clock ticked and tocked, back and forth as Harry sunk into his arm chair, holding his deep red locs out of his face. Even though it was useless, they always fell back in his eyes.

He found himself looking at the calendar, which read May 22nd. It had almost been a year since everything went down with the show.
It had been 11 months since he moved to a new place, the old one too full of troublesome memories.
It had been 8 months since he had last gotten a call from Manny- he hoped the boy was adjusting well to regular life.
It had been 6 months since the press had finally stopped pestering them.- He was glad for that, it was hard to get shopping done when people followed you.
5 months since Harry had started calling Mallard his roommate. He called him Robiny, taking delight in how the nickname annoyed him.

Harry closed his eyes, leaning back in the chair. He liked the quiet, and how life finally started to go his way.
He had a job in an animation office, finally helping to create an actual children's show.

His life was great.
It was normal, dull and nothing interesting about it.
He loved it that way.

He looked at the calendar again.
8 months.

He wondered if Manny lost his number on a move to a different foster home, or if it just didn't have a phone.
He missed those daily calls a little, how the boy would ramble about the smallest things, how he got to color with green crayons in school and no one scolded him for it. Or how fun hopscotch was, he loved playing it in the sun during recess!

Manny also talked about how dark his freckles were, and that his dark black roots were growing in! His new parents didn't make him dye his hair either, and they were so nice, they even packed him lunches!

"Did your mom ever pack you lunches? Mine leaves little notes in the bag!" Manny had once told him, giggling after. It had been so infectious that Harry laughed along, leaning against the wall as the child continued talking without getting an answer.

Harry smiled, thinking about that.
He thought about their very last call, and how it hadn't felt final at all.

Manny seemed sader, but not depressed. He had told Harry he was getting moved to a different foster home, tomorrow. He said he didn't want to, because he liked his house here, but it wasn't his or his foster parents' choice.

"I'll call you when I get there- okay Harry?" Manny had said, his voice much smaller than it had been in months.

"I'm sure you'll love it there." What else could he say? He wanted to comfort the 11 year old, make him feel at ease.

"....I gotta go pack....buh bye." Manny was mumbling by now, and slammed the phone back on the wall before hearing Harry reply.

Harry listened to the dial tone, hanging up the phone, and picking the basket of laundry he had set down to answer the phone.

He hoped Manny did love it there. Loved it so much that he had forgotten to call, had forgotten about him and Robiny all together, forgotten his past.
Harry hummed, standing up out of the chair. All this reminiscing was making him sad, so it was time to try and get some sleep.

The floor creaked, and he leaned into the quiet almost.

Almost

I mean, those footsteps outside sounded so lost- (they also sounded like rain) and he knew some of the residents here were older people whose memories deteriorated.