It was just a regular day at the park. There were kids running around and shouting, and adults stood around talking. Edd was looking for an empty bench to sit at to draw. The weather was just perfect, and he decided to draw outside, and on paper rather than the tablet.
Finally he found a bench underneath a tree. There was no-one around but a little girl sitting on the grass a few feet away, playing with an Elsa doll. Her bunny ear hood was up, and a small backpack sat next to her. Noticing him, she looked up and smiled shyly. Edd smiled back at her, and wondered about using her as a subject for a warmup.
He sat down and began to sketch her small form, shading her in properly. He drew for a long time, until he finally heard:
"Ouch! Stop that!" Looking up, he was horrified at what he saw. A little boy, slightly older and bigger than doll girl, towered over the girl with the Elsa doll, who had been his drawing subject. He was kicking the doll girl repeatedly, who shielded herself as well as she could as she stood up and, with one swipe of her head, shook off her hood. She placed one hand on her hip sassily.
"Stop using me to feel good about yourself! Why don't you go play with the Barbies you have hidden under your bed, you big wussy boy?!" She sneered at him. He responded by pushing her to the ground and pinning her down, punching her repeatedly. She was sobbing with pain and terror now. Edd was horrified.
"HEY! STOP IT!" He pulled them apart, but right before he did so the boy managed to kick her in the forehead. The little girl let out a sob.
"GO AWAY, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" He screamed. The boy ran off. He crouched down to the little girl's height. He felt his heart break as she picked up her doll, whose head had been popped off during all the commotion, and wept harder.
"Hey, it's okay, honey! Here," He gently took the doll from her and popped its head back on. "She's okay now. See?" He held it out to her, smiling. She stopped crying, and just stared at him, eyes wide. Finally, she whispered,
"Are you a magician?"
He was taken aback by this. "I'm sorry?"
"How'd you do that? Are you a magician?" She asked in wonder, staring at her Elsa doll. "She's thanking you. She thinks you're really awesome."
He laughed. "Well, so's she! And no problem, Elsa!" He patted the doll's head gently. "And about the magician thing, no. It just takes practice. Where are your parents? They should know about this."
"They're at home…wait, what time is it?"
He took out his phone and checked, before telling her.
"I need to go brush my hair. I need to meet a friend later, and it's really important. Thanks for helping us!" She picked up her backpack and waved at him as she headed off. He waved back, not ever suspecting that her friend also had connections to him, too.