Deadwood (The Chronicles of Mistar - Short Story)

···Delfie Caramon

Bastendin 18, 40318 BW···

I blew out my candle. People clapped and I smiled.

And then I saw him. His form was across the way. A pavilion shaded my party, the small park in the middle of Mayno. Gazar's business city was littered with small parks, small mothball courts and a pavilion in each. The one we were in now was Chautta Park, the name of my favorite candy and the flavor of my yellow birthday cake.

I wanted to be him. Alone at the corner of the park. I wished the people around me would go away. I mean, I loved my parents, my grandmother, my friends, but I wanted to be alone for once. He seemed so peaceful, reading a book by Elliot Elroy.

How do I know that? Well, I come to Chautta Park often and I watch him. I'm not creepy about it, I do like to people observe, but something about this boy intrigues me. At school, I watch my classmates, anyone who is carrying an Elliot Elroy book. That's difficult though because anybody who is anybody is reading Elliot Elroy. He's the celeb of the century.

I turn away when I realize my friends and family are still clapping and it starts to die. I give a fake smile when a present is shoved in my direction. Glancing over my mother's shoulder, I can still him but then she moves and he is gone. When she backs away, he is gone and I sigh.

My mother asks what is wrong and I respond with a smile. She seems relieved so I am too.

When I look at my grandmother, who the gift is from, I see her stare, or glare I should say. She knows. I know she knows. She saw me look. She saw the way I looked at him with curiosity and longing. Hopefully, I won't get a lecture tonight back at the cabin or on the long walk there.

We only stay at the cabin during Solstice, moving there the first month on the day of my birthday. It is a ritual every birth and a great gift, though I hope it doesn't mean I get another speech. Gama Deity loves to give speeches and I've gotten one every other day since last birth.

My mother, Mala Della, gently nudges me to open my gift once I lose eye contact with Gama Deity. Just as I thought, the word Delfie is written on top of the wrapping in black ink, scrawled in my Gama Deity's handwriting. I rip it open slowly, already knowing what it is.

A book. I knew it.

Its cover is hard and navy blue with gold and silver swirls. The title reads: Crescent Moon in large, flowing letters. Immediately, I loved it.

With everyone watching, I open to the first page, smiling at its fancy letters. I start to read and ignore the nag of my friends and the other gifts that are shoved my direction. I imagine the boy, the shadow, reading the same book, the same words.