8
'But you must have some friends.' I question Alden. He rolled his eyes, with a glimpse of a smile.
'Society seems to be built on 'having friends' and people mock one another for not having a human companion. Even if they actually do have a friend, or multiple friends. The insult, 'you've got no friends' has never made sense to me.' Alden explained, bitterly. His eyes narrowed,
'But, personally, there isn't anything wrong with not finding someone who interests you. Maybe you will find someone. Maybe you won't. Why tease someone about that? Why joke about it? How is it entertaining to the youth?' He asked, genuine confusion ringing in his voice.
I nodded, understanding what he meant. 'Many of the kids in my village had teased me for not getting along with them. But I never thought they were interesting enough to care about, so I'd just shrug it off.' Alden nodded,
'And what about me?' He asked.
I tilted my head, 'What do you mean?'
'Do I interest you?'
I hesitated for a moment. Of course, he does. But can I really tell him that? I pushed away the thought, he'd know if I were lying. He always does.
'Yes. You do.' I said, my voice bland, 'Do I interest you, though?' I countered.
'Well, duh.' He chuckled without a moment of thought. 'The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were something, kid.'
I grinned at him, but the smile soon faded as mist gathered around Chewy's hooves. I stared around, my expression becoming blank in thought. The fog clouding my vison, and I reached out for Alden's shoulder.
'Don't worry, Misty. We're approaching a deep cave that leads to an under-ground gorge, beneath the mountain. It's nothing.' He reassured me, placing his hand on mine. I felt slightly better at his calm tone. But, I wasn't one for small, caved in spaces.
They scared me, made me feel sick.
They were too cramped, stuffy.
'How long till we reach it?' I asked, paranoia fluttering in both my gaze and tone.
'I don't know, do I? I didn't time it.' He chuckled, before glancing up at me and seeing my distress.
'Hey.' He whispered, gently pulling Chewy to a halt. 'I won't let a thing happen to you, Misty.' He promised, reaching his hand up to softly cup my cheek in his palm, 'After all,' He beamed up at me, 'I've kept you safe all this time, right?'
His gaze fell to my mangled leg, 'At least, I hope I've kept you safe.' He bit his lip, almost as if he felt guilty. I wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault, I wanted to tell him he'd been my saviour in so many ways. I wanted to tell him I loved him like family. But, my words failed.
The brushed past my lips, and slid away into nothingness.
Finally, after a painful silence, I caught my breath. But, the only words I could cough up were, 'It wasn't your fault.'
He sighed and clicked Chewy on ward and walked with an empty expression.
Reaching the cave entrance, Alden rustles through one of his bags and pulls out a torch with cloth wrapped around the end.
Lighting it, he moves towards the cave and I cringed. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tucked my neck down into my raised shoulders and held my breath.
After a few minutes, I hear Alden's voice echo around the cave. I can't see due to my closed eyes, but the gentle torch light-orange that was shining through my eyelids turned a soft turquoise-aqua colour.
YOU ARE READING
My Patchwork Child
Adventure'Listen, Bean.' First time he's used that name. I thought it was sweet. 'You've struggled through way too much. You've done the unimaginable. You've survived something many wouldn't have. At such a young age. You've made it through something no one...
