The Dollmaker's Son | lrh ✔️

Three

Luke never told me how his lips ended up like that, and I never asked.

I figured it would be too insensitive. I didn't know him. Not properly, at least.

He could have gotten into some freak accident. I didn't want to bring it up in fear of memories he tried to surpress making an appearance, so I stayed quiet.

I did ask Luke questions, though. Quite alot. Like how he ate, for example. He wrote that every night, he hooked himself up to a tube, and got his food that way. I didn't know what to say.

Most of our communication was done through pen and paper, but I actually kind of enjoyed it.

I was constantly surrounded by the loud chatter of the people in Presley, so this was a nice change. Luke was a nice change. And I told him that. I loved seeing his face light up.

We talked until the sun came up, and later on that day I swung by his house again to talk some more. He asked me about myself. I told him everything he needed to know and since I saw a potential for friendship in Luke, told him a little extra.

I asked him why he moved, and he wrote that he had to escape the bullying that went on at his old school.

I frowned; I hated bullies. I still do. Thankfully, my school was so small that there was virtually no room for any of the unpleasant actions linked to it to take place. Luke, however, wasn't so lucky.

Then I questioned him as to why he got bullied. He said it was because of his mouth, and what his parents did.

He got picked on because his parents were dollmakers. He also said that he got picked on because he was into dolls.

I said, what do you mean, you're into dolls? I wasn't being spiteful. I was just curious.

Luke wrote that he liked dolls, but not to play with. He liked them because of the detail. He liked them because they were intricate. And he liked how they were made, because dolls are like art and to him, his parents were artists more than they were dollmakers.

I wanted to ask him what he meant by liking how they were 'made'. Though I didn't press on, because I had to get home and Corey was waiting for me. But I told Luke goodbye, and I hoped to see him at the emporium sometime after school.

He just smiled- or gave me the slightest hint of a smile- and watched me walk across the driveway home.