Here's the first part, the prologue, to that Gabriel story I promised. This little thing has taken a lot longer than I had originally anticipated, but ideas kept clashing until I found an ingenious way to mix a few together and create the perfect one! ^.~ So here we go!
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That day was a typical autumn afternoon. The air was just borderline being called warm, and the wind whistled by in a perfect breeze. The streets were littered with specks of orange, red, and yellow; items that were rightfully called leaves after further inspection. They tumbled about, lapping at the feet of nearby pedestrians and hitting the doors of cars. People walked around in hats and coats to keep themselves warm, and many stacked themselves in multiple layers of clothing. Dogs barked, cars honked, policemen yelled, and joyous laughter sounded from the open cafes. And in the midst of all this, there was a little boy on a lone swing, alone in the park.
Gabriel Silk sniffed, trying to keep himself warm by wrapping his skinny arms around his body. With a quiet hiss, he shivered as a current of wind whipped around his seat, but he still didn't put on the coat that was laying on the dirt before him.
"Hey, aren't chu cold?"
His head snapped up to look at where the voice had came from. To his left stood a girl with choppy reddish-brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a blue jacket that looked way to big for her and dirt covered blue jeans. Her head was tilted slightly to the side, making her green winter beanie slip off a bit. The young girl looked a little confused. "Umm… yes, sort of." He muttered quietly.
This only made her more baffled. "Well den, why don't you put your jackie on? You might catch sometin." She spoke mispronouncing her words the way only children do.
"Because I don't wanna." He answered back.
"But why not? If chu get shick then you won't be able to play and shuff." She walked over to the swing next to his and sat down. "I'm Melanie."
"I'm Gabriel." He hesitated before asking. "Can you keep a swecret?"
She smiled brightly. "Coursh! You can tewll me!" She puffed out her chest for exaggeration. "I'll keep it until dweath."
"Okay." He leaned closer to her. "I'm a clothes psychic."
"Oooh." Her eyes grew wide. "What's that?"
"I can feel other people's feelings when I put their cwothes on. So, I can see if their mad or happy or sad."
"No way!" She gasped, smiling brightly. "That's so cooo-well!"
He frowned. "No it's not."
Her grin faltered. "Whaddaya mean? Of coursh it's cool!"
Gabriel shook his small head. "Nuh-uh. I havta buy new cwothes all the time or I'll feel there oder people in them an' mommy can't affowd that. So sometimes, I get these cwothes an' they make me feel all…sad."
Melanie frowned. "So is dat why you ain't wearin' chour jackie?"
He nodded. "Yeah. The kid who wore dis was really sad and it makes me feewl bad."
She let out a small whistle. For a moment, none of the children spoke, each one lost in their thoughts, until a loud "Aha!" came forth. Melanie smiled brightly and stood up in front of him. "I gots an idewa!" She pulled of her blue jacket to reveal another one, although this one was much smaller and actually fit her. "Here."
Gabriel looked at the cloth that she held out to him with a puzzled expression. "Whaddaya mean?"
"Take my jacket. And den, if some bad cwothes make you sad, you can wear it. I pwomise to try and be happy awl the time for chu. Okay?"
"Are you sure?" He asked, although curiosity made him want to grab the jacket to see how she felt. "Your mommy might be mawd."
She waved him off. "It's okay, just take it. I have anoder one."
Gabriel hesitantly grabbed the lump and gasped as a feeling of elation blew through him. His frown brightened, transforming into a rather large grin. "You reawlly are hawppy."
Melanie nodded. "Yep. But I dink I have to go now. My daddy is cawlling me." She waved behind him, making him turn around to see a man waving from the sidewalk. He had the same reddish hair as her and was smiling.
"Awlready?"
She nodded sadly, and Gabriel felt some disappointment in her jacket as he pulled it on. "Yeah. But, maybe we'll see each oder again. How owd are you?"
"I'm eight and a hawf." He mumbled before popping his head out of the top.
The girl smiled. "Me too! So maybe we go to the same school."
Gabriel nodded. "Yeah. Well, you shouldn't keep you daddy waiting." He said reluctantly.
"Yep. Bwye Gabriel."
"Bwye Melanie."
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Aww..kids are so adorable, and fun to play with. Don't forget that. Hehe…Well, yeah. I think that Gabe would've been a bit more talkative when he was little, incase some of you thought that he was a little OOC. I still think he is though.
As another note, FF isn't letting me respond to my reviews right now. So those of you who have reviewed my other story, Untitled, as it stands on Ch….umm…well Tancred's Plan: Action, I'll try to answer as soon as I can!
Also, I know that this isn't 2000+ words, and I'm not sure if it counts as part of my challenge since it is only a prologue after all. (Read Untitled if you don't get this. Don't remember what chapter that note is in..) I'm going to say that this does count, so look out for that one-shot I gotta write….
Now…I say g'bye. And Nimmo owns Charlie Bone, not me. I do own Melanie though. Anywho…g'bye.
R&R!
~tubs.
Word Count:975
