[discontinued] Golden Days (Sleepy Bois Inc+ fic)

The Cookie Jar [Chapter Three]

{Wilbur's POV}

The small boy that had snuck inside of Philza's hidden forest house was now sitting at his large dining room table, which was made out of smooth and polished logs. He sat with his shoulders pulled in and his chin tucked down, trembling with fright as his mind went over what just happened.

The boy tried his best to suck in and hold his breath as he shoved himself into the cabnet to hide from whoever was coming downstairs to shout at him. He managed to sqeeze into a space full of pots and pans, hiding himself from the direct line of sight of the man coming down the stairs. He could feel the handles of saucepans jab into his ribs and the old cobwebs tickle the back of his throat. He squirmed to try and get more comfortable, but fear held him still as he heard the footsteps of the man draw closer. He could smell the soil from the plant pot that he guessed was spread on the counter and across the ground, and the smell of fresh trees and sap from outside. He couldn't see much besides the small gap that was left from the cabnet door which was refusing to shut all the way, but the rest of his vision was just darkness and fear. His heart seemed to race and pound against his chest as he drew his knees closer to himself, trying not to cry from the petrified fear he was feeling. In his left hand he was clutching a cookie from the cookie jar, and he shakily brought it up to try and take a hungry bite. However, he became nasous the moment he took a bite, feeling as if he was going to throw up from the fear.

Before he had the chance to throw up, however, the cabnet was suddenly thrown open and the boy tried to push himself even farther back. He let out a whimper of fear as he quickly hid his face with his over-sized sleeves. Tears sprung up in his eyes and he couldn't breath. His mind raced with images of some sort of monster finding him and getting ready to eat him- or even a really angry man getting ready to scream at him and hurt him.

"Hey hey hey- Hey its okay," came the voice of the man, his voice sounding more confused than angry, with a hint of comfort or pity. But the boy knew that mean people always sound nice before they shout at you- thats how it always went. He just whimpered some more and let out a fearful sob into his sleeves.

The boy suddenly felt hands grab his arms and he let out a screech of fear, his arms being pulled away from his face. He tried to kick with his legs, his whole body trembling now. His arms shook and he began to thrash to no avail. He let out another scream and whine, hot tears streaming down his face now.

"Hey hey!" repeated the man, who the boy could now see more clearly- at least as clearly he could see through his blurry tears. The man was blond with messy hair, and he had some sort of jacket on with green around the edges. His blue eyes seemed... concerened to say the least. It reminded the boy of... someone.

Slowly, he relaxed, but refused to leave his hiding spot. He trembled and held onto the cookie in his left hand tighter, not wanting the man to take the only food he had seen in a while. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his breathing was staggered and petrified. He stared back at the man and he tried his best to take his arms back. His throat began to hurt from his uneven breaths and from the sobs that caused his throat to grow tighter.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt ya," the man softly told the boy, his eyes seeming to trail over to the cookie, "If... If you come out I can give you more cookies and some milk to dip it in!" he suggested lightly. He still seemed to hold a hint of confusion trailing in his words, but the boy was too focused on getting himself free to notice it.

The boy seemed to think for a little bit, his tears slowing to a small trickle- although his eyes still swam in his fear, hunger, and a flight instinct. He slowly nodded, still trembling. The man seemed to understand this as a term of agreement and he slowly let go of the boy's arms. The boy quickly brought his arms to his chest again, holding them close to him as he gave himself a hug. He could feel his own heart beating strongly against his chest and he held his breath, wanting to stop it before the man picked up on its beating. He watched as the man stood up and stepped away, not seeming to notice the deathly fright the boy was trying to calm.