Bring Glory(Us) Life

Chapter 12- Birthday Surprises

        The summer heat did not fade as the season wore on, and on days when Kilay dragged Lachlan outside, he baked inside his neat, formal clothes, smelling of damp wool whenever he came home. It was a struggle to peel off his vest each evening. Lachlan was certain one day he would get heat stroke.

         Today, it was raining. Lachlan sat on the padded bench below his window, the shutters thrown open, leaning on the sill. Water cascaded by his face, casting a cool mist on his cheeks, moisture catching in his thick, dark lashes. Above, the clouds were heavy and deep grey, gratefully releasing their burden to nourish the earth.

       Far below his window a pool of water was forming in the back gardens that pressed up against the house, creating a mud pit. Standing in tall rain boots with an umbrella was Kilay, looking up at him.

       “Hey, Locky, get down here! Don’t think a little water will stop us today! We have a mission to complete.” Lachlan stared darkly at her, then stood.

        “Fine,” he muttered to himself, pulling on a coat. He walked down the stairs, ignoring the slight bounce to his step, and met the odd woman at the side door, their regular meeting point. Kilay grinned at him as he emerged, as she always did, her hair let down like a fountain of fire around her shoulders today.

      “You look miserable today, as usual,” she chirped, looping her arm through his, nearly spearing him in the face with the umbrella.

      “Stop touching me,” he said, trying to pull away, but she was like an iron vice.

      “You seem more down than usual, Locky boy.” He shrugged.

      “It’s wet and gross outside, and dark, and depressing.” Kilay let go of him and let the umbrella down, holding herself out toward the sky, water pattering over bare skin.

       “Rain brings life. What’s so depressing about that?” she asked, drinking in the cool moisture. “It’s pure and fresh and beautiful. It makes me feel alive!” Kilay turned in a circle, dancing and skipping down the sidewalk. Lachlan trotted to catch up to her, pushing the umbrella back in the air above them.

    “You’re going to get a cold and die,” he growled, pulling his jacket off and draping it over the woman’s bare shoulders. Despite the chill in the air she was dressed in shorts and a tank top, as she often was during the summer. Kilay beamed at him.

     “You don’t have to do this, take it back.”

     “No,” he said firmly, hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders hunched up. “You need it more than I do. A stupid little cold won’t kill me.” Kilay reached out and tugged on his belt, smiling at him.

     “Aw, how nice. You do care.” Lachlan flinched.

   “No, it’s just...if I let you catch a cold and die, I can probably be implicated in murder or something, I don’t know.” Kilay giggled.

        “Whatever you say. Whatever. You. Say.”

        They walked in silence, listening to the sound of rain on the pavement, the whoosh of car tires slicing through puddles. Lachlan glanced at Kilay, looking at her happy face. She still looked healthy to him; it was hard to imagine she was actually dying. And in a few months he would be...alone.

        “So what are we doing?” he asked, trying to distract himself from the wave of panic welling up inside him.

        “We are going to the store. All you ever wear is the same fancy thing every day, and it’s freaking hot. It kills me seeing you wearing a wool vest when it’s, like, a million degrees out. It is seriously time for a wardrobe change. You’re way too old for your mommy to be picking out your clothes. And seriously, how have you not had, like, heat stroke or something yet.” Lachlan frowned at her.