Being Strong
(Part 7 of Little Sherlock)
William wakes up on a sofa. A sofa he hadn't seen or touched before in his life, at least not to his knowledge. His hands stroke the fabric of the sofa. It was used, used and loved. Someone had been sitting here for long hours and sometimes that someone was sleeping on it. There were prints of shoes on it. The person had stood on the sofa. A few spots of food and unidentified substance were everywhere on this sofa.
His parents would have punished the person for using the sofa like that. 'You don't jump on a sofa or touch it with your feet.' 'There will be no food or paint on the sofa.' 'Sit up, a sofa is for sitting not sleeping.' And so on. Mummy and Father get never tired of making new rules for using the sofa. William doesn't like it. He likes this sofa. The person that owns it likes it too, he can feel it.
For the first time since waking up, William looks around to find out where he is. The room was a bit untidy, not that he cared. He loves to put his things where he wants them to be and not where the cleaning lady puts them.
William starts to feel a bit lost. Why was he at someone´s flat? Did he do something wrong and why can´t he remember?
"Mr. Bee." William calls out. "Mycroft." No answer and William gets worried. First things first. He needs to find Mr. Bee. He could be lost.
"Mr. Bee, come out where ever you are hiding." He jumps down the sofa after he made sure that his beloved bee wasn't under the cushions or the blanket. "Mr. Bee." No bee under the sofa. "Please Mr. Bee." Mr. Bee wasn't on the table, the chairs or underneath it.
"Mycroft I don't want to play hide and seek anymore. Only when I can be in a team with Mr. Bee, please come out." William didn't want to leave the room. "Mummy, Father if I did something wrong and you are punishing me, please tell me what it was so I won´t do it again." William didn't want his parents but it was better them than being alone.
Tears start to fill William´s eyes. "Mycroft, Mr. Bee." The shouting for his brother and friend wasn't more than a desperate sobbing. William sits down on the floor and starts to cry. He doesn't like to be alone and when Mycroft is away he always had Mr. Bee, but not now. Someone must have taken his friend or him.
After a while William understands that no one will come and comfort him. He was alone. 'No more crying. I need to be strong.' He sat up and looks around the flat again. He tries to find out where he is. The flat smelled funny a bit like Father´s socks after his training mixed with the rotten apple he had found in his bag and a bit of the cleaning liquid he wasn't allowed to play with.
Looking around William found two windows but he was too small to reach the handle to open them. Before he could do something else he hears a noise. The sound of a closing door not far away. William quickly hides behind an armchair; he looks under it to confirm that Mr. Bee wasn't there either. So he continues to hide again. Who knows what kind of person will come through the door. He hopes for Mycroft.
The door opens and an old man walks quickly through the room and opens the first window. After that he opens the other one and sticks his head outside to breathe. The man doesn't like the smell at all. Looking closer William wasn't sure the man was really old but he wasn't good at guessing the age of people. Mycroft was better at it. William takes a step out of his hiding place to get a better look at the man and freezes as the floor under his foot makes a noise.
The man turns around and looks surprised. "Hello, little man, where did you come from?" William wasn't sure if answering was a good idea. He wasn't supposed to talk to people he doesn't know and the man could be evil. One of the bad people his brother told him about. But looking into the man´s eyes he finds only good things. Like love, patience, trustworthiness and so many more positive feelings that William was surprised he also found a bit of anger. But not the anger his Mummy showed when he did something that wasn't allowed. More the kind of anger Mycroft feels when he does something reckless. He didn't think someone else could show this kind of feeling. "My name is John, what´s your name?"
William steps out, deciding that the man was not one of the bad people. "William. My name is William and I don´t know where I am. This isn't my home." He let the part of being afraid, lonely and lost unspoken. He hopes the man, John would get him home to Mycroft and Mr. Bee again.