A Reaper's Mission

Chapter 7: Moving (Emma)

I'm walking between my parents down the sidewalk. I'm holding hands with them both as they hold a bag in the other. My dad has an extra bag thrown over his shoulder. The sun still isn't up. I look up at my parents, confused as to what is happening.

About an hour ago, Mommy had pulled me out of my bed. She hastily dressed me and threw a bunch of my clothes into a bag. She had grabbed my one and only toy, my bear, and stuffed him into the bag.

"Mommy?" I ask, yawning. She doesn't even look at me. She rushes out of my room, yelling something to Daddy. I tottered out of my room, following Mommy as she rushed around the house.

"Just leave it. We don't need any of this stuff anymore." Daddy said, walking into the living room, holding two bags. Mommy looked at him and simply nodded. She dropped the thing she was about to stuff in my bag and walked to the front door. She grabbed mine, hers, and Daddy's jacket.

"Mommy? Daddy?" I asked again. They both ignored me. Mommy had put my jacket on me and then puts hers on. Daddy did the same. Mommy handed Daddy the small bag that had my things in it. Daddy threw it over his shoulder and grabbed one of the bigger bags. Mommy grabbed another and then snatched my hand. We walked out into the cold air and took off into the night.

 I look behind me at my home. It was tiny, almost like the shack behind my school. Daddy was always cursing about the leaky roof while Mommy cried about how worn out all of our clothes were. My room had been as big as the janitor's closet at my school. I don't think Mommy and Daddy's were much bigger. The living room was also the kitchen and dining room. Mommy always nagged to Daddy about how she wanted more. Daddy always grumbled and was in a bad mood when Mommy did that. I look at Daddy, and I see a smile. Daddy's happy. I switch to Mommy and she's smiling. Mommy's happy. I smile too. I'll be happy too.

Once the sun starts to come up, we make it to where Mommy and Daddy wanted to be. It's a neighborhood, not like where my home is. There is a man standing outside as if he was waiting for someone. Like the teacher did in the mornings. Mommy lets go of my hand and run over to him. When she makes it to him, she drops the bag she had carried for hours and hugs the man. When was the last time Mommy had hugged Daddy and me? I look at Daddy, but he was smiling. He walks faster and I trip. He doesn't stop he just drags me along the ground.  Daddy does the same as Mommy does and drops my hand and the bag to hug the strange man.

I pull myself off the ground and stand there, lost. Why are Mommy and Daddy smiling? Why are they hugging this strange man? When was the last time they were this happy? I look at our bags, and a bad thought entered my mind. Were we not going home? Did we leave our home?

The man notices me. He looks down at me with his black eyes that seem...empty. He crouches down until he is looking me in the eye. He had a kind look on his face. "Hi, young one. My name is Rufus." He says, sticking his hand out. I look at it.

"Introduce yourself." I hear Mommy say. I look over at her. Now she looks almost normal. Her lips are in a thin line. Her eyes look at me like how she looks at a spider. I look back at the strange man.

"Emma," I say, taking his hand. His smile lights up, like a candle.             

"What a beautiful name!" He exclaims, "I hope we can be good friends, Emma." He says. I feel Mommy tap my back, telling me to behave.

"Me too," I say, smiling at him. I hadn't smiled much either, not since Mommy hit me a few months back for whining about my clothes. I had wanted to wear pretty dresses as the other girls did. I never brought it up again after that.

Rufus leads us into the neighborhood. There are eight houses total (the teacher had taught me how to count), four on each side. On five of the porches were people. They were all smiling at us and waving. None of them come to talk to us though. Mommy is waving and smiling at everyone around. Daddy nods because he's carrying all of our luggage, except for my tiny bag. My tiny bag is being carried by Rufus.

Rufus stops at the third house on the right (the teacher taught me left and right as well). The house is pretty red, like a barn that I passed every day going to school. The front porch is white, it makes my eyes hurt. It's really cute though. "This'll be where y'all stay." He says, walking up the steps.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Mommy gushes, rushing after him. Daddy does as well. It's like I'm unimportant. I look at my bag and think of my bear. I want my bear.

"Bear," I say, reaching out, even though I'm on the sidewalk far from the house and my bear. All three of them turn around to look at me. Mommy has a sour look on her face. Daddy seems confused, as does Rufus.

"You can have it when we settle in," Mommy says, turning back to face the door. Daddy follows suit, but Rufus looks at me and glances at my bag that's still in his hand. He then turns to the door and opens it.

"Three bedrooms. Two bathrooms. You'll have a separate kitchen and living room." Rufus says, sounding excited. He starts up the stairs, Mommy close behind. Daddy follows while I stay at the bottom looking up. I don't want to be here. I want to be home in my own bed. I sit down at the bottom. I hear them all moving around and talking. I'm scared. Why did we leave home?

I hear a creak and I turn to see Rufus at the top of the steps once more, my bag nowhere in sight. "Come up, Emma! Let me show you your room." He says, waving his arm excitedly. I stay seated. Then I think of Mommy. She might get mad if I don't go up. I get up and walk up the stairs. Rufus offers me his hand. I take it after I think of Mommy again and her raising her hand. It's a lot softer than Daddy's and Mommy's. He leads me down the hallway. We walk by an open door and I see Mommy and Daddy taking out their clothes. They look like it's Christmas, smiling all big. Rufus pulls me along, and we stop at a pink door.

"I painted it, especially for you," Rufus tells me, smiling down at me. "I was so excited when your parents told me about you." He opens the pink door and I gasp. It's a pretty pink room. There are dollies, like the ones the girls at school were always bringing. The bed is bigger than the one at home. In the center of the bed is my bear. I scream and rush to the bed. I climb onto it and crawl to the center and grasp onto my bear. I pull him close to my chest, feeling warmth and safeness.

"I know it's scary leaving home." I hear Rufus say. He walks over until he makes it to the edge of the bed. He sits down and looks at me with a gentle look, like the way the other girl's daddies did. "Emma, were you serious when you said we could be friends?" He asks, looking shy. I don't respond, just stare. I tilt my head to the side. How do I respond?

He sighs, "I would be really happy if we could be friends Emma. I got all of this for you." He tells me, throwing his arms up wide. I look around at the dollies and the shelf with books. Mommy left my books behind. He notices my look, "Your mom told me that you liked to read. I do too." I turn to him, still feeling scared. How do I not make him angry? How do I need to act?

"I saw that your parents didn't bring any books with them. Do you have a favorite?" He asks. He gives me such a happy and excited look. I nod looking down at the blanket. I run my hand over it, loving the softness. Just like my bear.

"The Story of Doctor Doolittle," I whisper. Mommy hadn't stuffed that. She had only stuffed Bear.

Rufus gasps, "That's my favorite too!" He gets up and goes to the bookshelf. He pulls out a book and brings it back to me. I gasp to see the familiar cover. I drop Bear and rip it out of Rufus's hands. I pull it to my chest; I already missed it. I freeze. I ripped this from Rufus. Mommy's hand. I look at Rufus and his kind face with a sweet smile.

He makes Mommy and Daddy happy. He got me dollies and books. He painted this room and got a big bed for it. He even put Bear in the middle of the bed, to show me it's mine. It's all mine. He also has good tastes in books.

 "We're friends," I tell Rufus, patting the spot next to me on the bed. Rufus moves to it and looks at me with excitement. I open up the book and start to read.

Rufus is my first friend.