With One Touch [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter 7

Joseph was colouring more of his new world on another page of his notebook. He was lying on the floor, lowering his head close to the wood as the drawing began to take shape. He had added some more water, creating a purple lake surrounded by more blue trees. There was a small pool of water beside the lake that ran through a blue forest, and a waterfall, which poured out of light orange and yellow rocks, carried the river through it. Echo was on the windowsill again, his fur ruffling as a small breeze entered the open window. The night was falling upon the cold England and Gregory had left again, heading for the same place he went to the week before.

Joseph's head began drooping and his hand was slowing down. He sighed deeply and yawned, before his head finally fell to the floor with a soft thud. Echo's ears twisted to the sound and a moment later, he looked back, noticing the lying Joseph who was now sleeping lightly. He looked back at the dark streets for a few seconds before jumping down to the floor, stretching his claws and legs after doing so. He purred, nuzzling Joseph's hair with his cold nose.

"What?" Joseph groaned, slowly lifting his head and opening his heavy eyelids. He looked at the paper and realised that he had dozed off, so he took the pencils and put them away. "I need to sleep," he mumbled to himself, and after he spoke the word, Echo positioned himself at the end of Joseph's bed, washing himself.

Joseph collected the pieces of paper from his notebook and scanned them to make sure they were all there. He kept noticing little changes to each page; huts, farms, and bridges. He ignored them and put the notebook on the bedside table, then pulled the window shut and drew the curtains. He slipped into his bed and switched off the lamp next to him, closing his eyes a moment after, "good night Echo." The black feline replied with a tiny squeak, before he too laid his head to rest.

A breeze disturbed Joseph in his sleep. He moved around uncomfortably, trying to face away from the direction of the breeze, but he could not avoid it. He sighed deeply and stayed lying for a moment, preparing himself to move after sleeping so soundly seconds before.

He turned around in his bed and stared at the window, his eyelids forming a slit in his vision. He took off from his bed and opened the patterned curtains to close the window, but when he went to pull the handle, his hand knocked the glass. He tried to open his eyes completely and managed to see a little more, "what?" he questioned as a still black sheet of the night presented itself before him.

Joseph blinked a few times as the confusion took over, making his eyes become accustomed to the lack of sleep. He pulled the window anyway to make sure no air was coming in through a small crack, but that didn't stop the wind. As he stared into the dark sky, he noticed something fluttering in the window's reflection. He turned around, "a butterfly" he remarked, watching a pair of blue and purple wings flutter before him.

"I must be dreaming," he decided in amusement, moving around the butterfly to sit on his bed. As the bed shook from his landing, Echo opened his eyes; he looked up and stared at the insect, standing up ready to chase the creature.

"No, Echo," Joseph ordered, wrapping his arms gently around the curious cat, whose green and blue eyes were now black spheres. "Where did you come from?" his rhetorical question seemed to gain an answer when the butterfly bobbed downwards; Joseph looked down to where the insect had been hovering. "My notebook, but how; it was closed."

"Follow me" a small whisper came from the butterfly's direction, and then the butterfly flew down to the notebook and disappeared. Echo jumped down and ran to the open book, Joseph following in careful footsteps. He heard the door open downstairs and his father's familiar groan.

He peered above the open pages, his mouth agape as he saw the butterfly close to the pages; however, its appearance was that of a drawing. As every second passed the picture of the butterfly moved away from the pages, until it was only a tiny speck on the yellow grass. He looked at Echo who was surveying the pages thoroughly, the upstairs light then shone brightly under his bedroom door. "Shall we go in?" he whispered to Echo, crouching down to make his voice as silent as possible. He looked up at Joseph and sat down, "what? Are you a coward?" he teased.

Joseph held the cat in his arms and hid his nose in the black fur, hearing Gregory's thumping footsteps getting louder. "We'll be back before he even notices" he stood up and held his left foot above the pages, "he wouldn't care anyway." He closed his eyes and held tightly onto Echo, who had started to hiss in fear, and he pushed his foot into the pages.

After a sudden feeling of falling, Joseph's consciousness returned. "Who is he?" He heard a deep but soft voice ask.

"I've never seen him before" another voice replied, it was deep like the first but a stern tone lingered. "He's definitely not from here."

He heard hard footsteps move closer, "I think we should chuck him out; he's intruding and shouldn't be here." The voice was male and strict, making him tense as he heard the stranger speak, "no matter how young he is we can't let a child wander in here without punishment."

"Why do you hate strangers so much?" The first voice asked. Joseph felt a gentle hand move under his head, "we don't know what he's like; for all we know he could be royalty."

The strict man scoffed, "ha, royalty? That means I'm the Creator then – all bow down towards me, or I'll turn you all into otters!"

"Don't be silly, Mauro" the soft-spoken stranger grunted. "It is offensive to the real creator." There was silence in the room and Joseph felt a soft material replace the man's hand, "there, he should be more comfortable now."

"We're not leaving him in here!" the rude man roared, "You two move him, now!"

"Wait there!" the stern man commanded, "Raban, what do you think we should do?"

Careful footsteps walked towards the three men and stopped beside Joseph's face. He heard material shuffle as the fourth stranger leaned over him, and then felt a heavy mass rest on his chest. "Maybe this creature can wake him" a quiet voice replied, revealing no emotions, "it came though the crystal with the boy, maybe it knows how to wake him."

Joseph felt a furry object touch his neck; a cold padded area sent a shiver through his body. Joseph slowly opened his eyes and saw Echo staring at him. Luckily, he was intact, although his fur was messy and he seemed distressed; the pendant on his collar had broken, leaving only half a purple and green flower.

"Hello there."

**********

Don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!