Gingerbread House

Chapter Three: The House

After walking along the wall of thorns and vines, the two came to an opening. Inside was as if summer was there!

Maple trees had their leaves a bright green color, while Apple trees were already forming their wonderful fruit! There were even cherry and lemon trees!

"Wow!" The place left the child in awe as there were beautiful flowers along with a small garden of vegetables in front of the house. There were even a few berry bushes!

"Come on now, kiddo. I don't want you bein' on that ankle anymore." The new monster quickly picked up the kid, causing them to drop their staff.

"Okay, Mister." The kid held a calm and peaceful smile that made the taller monster's soul skip.

Quickly, the older monster hurried to his small, two story cabin. He walked into a fairly large dining room. The stranger pulled out a chair for the child to sit on while he went to a room off to the side for a moment. He came back with some bandages and a small splint.

"Here, let me try..." The white skeleton gently lifted the other's pant's leg to see that the wound was covered with both gauze and bandages. Though, they were soaked through with blood. Most likely from the kid running from the wolf.

"This might hurt... I hope you understand..." The stranger unwrapped the bandages, quickly cleaned the wound once again, looking at it to make sure that there wasn't anything else that he could do.

Slowly, he gripped the two bones and forced them together. Paperjam forced his scarf into his mouth as he cried out, tears falling down his face. Once that was done and the extra blood was cleaned away once more, the pale skeleton wrapped it in clean bandages. The split went on next, it was to kept the bones together as well as help the ankle heal.

"You shouldn't be walking for a while now. You don't want to make it worse?"

Paper shook his head no as he looked down at the slightly worn equipment. It looked as if someone used it before... Like a lot of times...

"Are you hungry?" The stranger asked suddenly, standing up to go into the kitchen.

"N-No thank you, Mister! I have some food in my bag." The small monster smiled softly at his rescuer, pulling his bag close to him.

Opening it, he pulled out a chocolate granola bar to munch on for a bit. The stranger chuckled, lightly petting the other's head with a calm smile.

Jam leaned into the hand, purring softly. He loved it when people petted him, it kind of made him wonder that if in another life, he was a cat! It could be likely from the way he acts!

"Okay, well, then I should make myself a small sandwich." Soon the warm hand left and the purring stopped.

While the older monster was out, the young boy looked around the dinning room in awe.

The walls were a light creamy yellow color that was accented by the light mint green color of the trims. On the pale walls were a few pictures of the garden outside and a child with a younger version of the stranger. There was even a white cabinet of china dishes in it along with an old wooden box. The dining table had enough seats for about eight people, though only six chairs were out with some bright flora in the middle.

"Are you okay, child?" The stranger asked, sitting across from the young being.

"I'm fine, Mister. I just love your dining room. Mommy would've loved to see it! He would've loved to have painted this..." Paper explained, his eyes looking everywhere.

"You're mother is an artist then?"

"Yup! Though we're always on the move. Going from town to town... City to city..." The youngling sighed at the end, showing that he really hated the idea of moving. "Though Mommy says that if Daddy can find a job here, we can stay! This is the longest we've ever stayed in a town before, too!"

The stranger laughed at the child's excitement. It was amusing... Watching his expressions change... Going with what he's saying... It was funny...

"I'm Fresh, little one." Fresh held out his hand, waiting for the boy to take it.

"Paperjam, Mr. Fresh."

After the two shook hands, the room was filled with silence and chewing. It was a comfortable silence though... The type that normally was with the young monster when he was at home... The type you didn't want to break so quickly.

"Do you want to see the garden in the back?" Fresh asked softly, as if he didn't want to break the silence either.

"Sure, Mr. Fresh!" The young child smiled, swinging his legs lightly as he waited for his new friend to come back and help him walk.

"Do you eat a lot?" Paper gave a confused look at the taller monster's sudden question. "You're really light... It's quiet worrying..." He whispered the last part, but the small ink skeleton heard it.

"Don't worry, it's nearly impossible to get me to gain weight. Mommy was always worried about that, until one of my doctors told him that my body just was processing the food faster. I think that's what they said..."

The mysterious monster laughed at the little one's words, finding their company... Rather calming...

"Well, thank you for telling me that. I don't want to over stuff you!"

The child giggled at the joke, filled with calmness. The new monster wasn't threatening. They were just as nice and kind as the other people of the town... Though, he promised his mother that wouldn't trust strangers so quickly.

The blue-green plaid wearing monster placed the other plaid wearing monster on a stone bench. The stone was cool against the younger one's bones, but it was also soothing with warm air.

"How is it like this?" Paperjam closed his eyes, basking in the warmth and calmness.

"Dunno... I just found this place and figured out that it was always a nice summer's day... So... I built a house here..." The pale skeleton explained, letting his eyes watch the smaller one.

The darker monster nodded, listening to the wonderful sounds of birds singing. Everything about the place was a wonder... The bright plants with the song birds... The smell of the air... The tender breeze that blew by...

"This place is perfect..." The child whispered, reopening his eyes.

The taller one nodded, though his eyes wasn't on his garden... How could it? The perfect monster was right next to him! The shimmering eyes that only glowed more with happiness. The soul skipping smile that would put a siren's song to shame! The determination to be able to do things on his own!

"Mr. Fresh! Look!" The small being pointed to the sky, smiling peacefully, breaking the other from his thoughts.

The mysterious monster looked to where the kid was pointing, smirking. The sky was a clear tonight, even with the hazy color of the pink and orange.

"Why don't we go inside? I can prepare us something to eat?"

Paperjam nodded, making a grabbing motion with his hands. Fresh chuckled at the childish behavior, but picked up the youngling having his legs wrapped around his waist.

The boy closed his eyes, laying his head on the taller monster's shoulder and breathed in the scent of pine and something sweet. Maybe it was honey or sugar...

Slowly, with the warmth of the air and the calming atmosphere, the little monster fell asleep... It wasn't really that hard anyway, it was a long day...