The Boy and The Squirrel
Part Four
Trowa was
running for his life, his short legs unable to deliver him from his inevitable
fate. The snake was just too fast and slippery for his liking. No matter how
fast he propelled himself, the vicious reptile gained much needed ground by
slithering on the rocky ground with ease.
"This is the end." Trowa thought to
himself, his lungs feeling the exertion from running. "Mr. Anaconda over there
looks like he'll be enjoying squirrel meat for dinner. Ah, and all this sweat
is making me salty. I think he's trying to spice me up before devouring me."
Just as he thought that, he felt sharp
fangs puncture through half of his body and thick liquid engulf his lower side.
"He's going to swallow me!" was his obvious
and frantic yell. "Ahh..."
Catherine rubbed her sleepy eyes as she
approached Trowa's bedside, intent on thwacking his head with a pan for
disrupting her much needed sleep.
"Nanashi." she called. "Nanashi, wake up!
Who on earth is going to swallow you? ...And why do you have to talk so much in
your sleep? What is this, mute in the daylight, loud in the twilight? ...Argh!"
The irate woman continually shook the
screaming boy while she muttered questions and threats with every shake. When
she realized, though, that her roommate and partner wasn't going to wake up any
time soon, she grabbed a glass of water from the kitchen and poured it on the
face of the thrashing boy.
Trowa felt his whole face being swallowed
as well, the cold, wet venom spreading through his face.
"No!"
He sat up abruptly and came face to face
with Catherine's cream covered face.
"Ahh!"
A final slap from the girl finally brought
him back to his senses.
Trowa rubbed his red and swollen cheek and
sent his partner an irritated look. Catherine just shrugged it off, used to his
angry glares by now and asked him if he was fine. When she was sure that Trowa
wasn't going to run off and scream any further, she left his side and returned
to her spot in the small trailer they shared. She tucked herself in, snuggled against
the pillows and blankets and just before she fell asleep, she remembered
something that would soothe Trowa from the horrors of his nightmare.
"Nanashi, don't forget ...that blonde boy's coming to visit today.
Try to get some sleep."
With those words said, Catherine drifted
off into a long, satisfying slumber.
The next morning proved to be a lot less
horrifying for Trowa. He stretched his arms wide as a yawn escaped his lips.
The nightmare left him tired but restless enough for the much-awaited visit of
his blonde boy.
He had practiced so much the night before
and hoped that this time, his voice and face would willingly cooperate with him
if just for a few hours. This was his chance to win the affections of the boy
he longed to be with and he wanted to make sure that he wouldn't make any
mistakes this time.
He was just glad that the boy had decided
to come back after their meeting two days ago. He remembered that day, awful as
it was. Although he tried his best, he couldn't get the attention of the boy.
He would've hoped that he could yell because then, he would surely be noticed.
It seemed like too many people were fond of his blonde boy that he couldn't get
him all for himself for even a minute. Catherine wasn't much help either.
Everything was a lot simpler when he was a
squirrel, he remembered. During those times, the blonde boy would focus all his
attention on the little creature that Trowa didn't need any coaxing on his part
to be noticed.
Trowa sighed and looked far out into the
distance. This was getting too hard for him and he was beginning to regret
changing forms in the first place. He was beginning to weigh his choices and
determine if the risky change was worth all the trouble.
Trowa was so immersed in his thoughts that
he didn't even notice the arrival of the blonde boy. While Trowa was indulging
in his quiet and thoughtful reminiscing, Quatre stepped out of his car with a
couple of friends and waved goodbye to his father. He walked towards Trowa and
was elated to see the other boy once again.
"Nanashi!" he called out. When he didn't
receive a response, he called out again. "Nanashi!"
Trowa didn't look like he was going to
respond at all.
Mother Nature was watching Trowa and was
not pleased with what she saw. Trowa was once again too dazed to even notice
what was going on.
"Foolish boy!" she said, not believing the
boy's predicament. "You're still indulging in those precarious fantasies that
you don't even notice that the object of your daydreams is right in front of
you."
She thought it wrong to meddle with the
situation but she also thought it necessary to nudge him a bit if she wanted to
see her favorite weird-haired squirrel succeed. She was content on watching the
exchange but when Trowa looked like he was going to stay that way for the rest
of the day, she decided to go through with her plan.
Quatre stepped closer, making sure that the
young acrobat was okay and followed the direction his eyes were looking toward.
The boy seemed fine but he looked like he was thinking too deeply. He wondered
what was so important to him that he would fall into a very seemingly intense
daydream.
All of a sudden, the gentle breeze that was
evident turned into something akin to a storm. A fallen branch on the ground
was picked up by the violent winds and was swung directly toward Trowa's
behind.
"Ouch!" Trowa exclaimed as he rubbed his
now sore behind. Right after he said
that, the winds miraculously died down and he was once again jerked back into
reality.
Trowa was now angry as he looked up into
the sky and didn't even notice his new visitors.
"Nanashi."
He turned his head to face the person who
had called him and ended up with his lips connected to another pair of soft
ones. He looked away quickly and blushed. He hadn't known that his blonde boy
was standing that close.
"Those lips were soft." he thought,
savoring the feel of his first kiss.
He turned back to greet the blonde boy but
was surprised when he came face to face with furious black eyes.
"What was that?" the other boy asked
through clenched teeth. He raised his arms up in the air and decided to forget
the incident but his anger was still evident through his red and fuming face.
"Just my luck." Trowa thought. "My first
kiss happened to be with someone else. Hmm, that's one of Quatre's friends." he
remembered. "Oh, it's Mr. 'squirrels have germs.' Ha! Now look who has the
germs. I hope he gets the plague."
Trowa ridiculed the boy in his head, not
noticing that none of those thoughts were actually projected accurately in the
real world. To the outside world, he was still as calm as ever, his face not
even acknowledging the awkward situation.
"That was Wufei." Quatre said, pointing to
the retreating figure of his friend. "Don't mind him, he could get edgy at
times. Maybe Duo will like you better."
"Duo." Trowa's mind remembered. "The
braided clown. The one who called me a mutant. The loud, annoying one." He looked
at the approaching figure and remembered a twelve year old boy flipping him up
in the air and catching him a second before he hit the ground, his heart
thumping like a nervous wreck.
The now grown boy approached Trowa, a
friendly grin evident on his face.
"Oh I know what that look means." Trowa
thought as he warned himself of the oncoming mischief.
After all the time he spent with the boys,
he had learned just how to pick up the right signals. So, he decided that he
wasn't going to be ridiculed by the boy this time. It was his turn to play
tricks.
He stuck his foot out innocently, his face
not giving away his intentions. Duo
fell face first on the ground just as Trowa had intended, looking undignified,
his hair entangling him and rendering him bound and helpless.
The fallen boy looked at Trowa, having
recognized the culprit, and was unnerved to find that the guilty boy looked
unfazed, innocent and quiet, like nothing had happened.
"Creepy." Duo said as he picked himself up
from the ground and hid behind Heero.
Heero, on the other hand, chose to
introduce himself with a handshake, his cold stare rivaling that of Trowa's.
Suspicion was evident in his greeting which Trowa tried to ignore but found
both intimidating and unsettling. Heero knew that he'd have to watch this
individual. Quatre was too trusting at times and that trust just might get him
into trouble one of these days.
Quatre checked his friends' reactions and
concluded that the meeting did not go as smoothly as he had hoped. He was
really intent on getting his friends acquainted with this new person, a hopeful
friend. It looked like they wouldn't be getting along though. The quiet boy was
just too strange for his friends.
There was something, however, that caught
Quatre's attention. Although this had been the first time this young acrobat
had met his friends, the boy seemed to know them quite a bit, his eyes
registering with recognition when they came into view.
Quatre thought it strange, too, that he was
drawn to this boy. He was a big fan of the circus and its amazing display, but
there was just something else about this situation that was disturbing him. It
seemed like the green eyes screamed 'It's me!' but Quatre couldn't understand
why exactly. The only way to find out was to get the other to talk and Quatre
was determined to accomplish that task. It seemed silly, of course, but he felt
that it was his mission. Whatever happened, he would find out.
"Quatre!"
This time it was Quatre's turn to be broken
out of his reverie.
"What is with kids nowadays?" Mother Nature
muttered to herself. "Is daydreaming becoming some kind of hobby?"
She watched as the exchange went on and
cheered for her squirrel turned human, occasionally applauding his reactions
and one word answers but mostly commenting on his lack of expression and life.
This was becoming one of her favorite pastimes and because of this, the jungles
of Africa were starting to get cooler while the flowers of Greenland were
beginning to sprout.
She continued her loud, uproarious support
and ignored the fact that Trowa kept on looking skywards, annoyed at the all
the ruckus that was disrupting his meeting.
Soon, the sun went down and it was time for
the boys to leave. Trowa felt the dreary failure of not being able to have the
blonde boy all for himself. The day had been spent talking about random,
useless facts while Trowa listened on and stared at the sweet blonde who tried
to get the quiet figure in on the conversation. He just wished that his whole
day had been spent with Quatre and not listening to the voices of his loud
friend. It just wasn't as satisfying.
He was reluctant as he led his guests out
and assisted them as they boarded their vehicle. It was truly not one of his
luckier days. He waved goodbye to his blonde boy and hoped that he would return
again, his eyes revealing his misery.
"Mission failure." Trowa said to himself as
he looked up into the dark sky.
That night he dreamed again. This time he
was doomed to a smaller form. He noticed his size compared to the rest of the
world as he flew around the pond that seemed more like an ocean from where he
viewed it.
He flapped his wings as fast as he could
but he didn't know why he was doing so. His questions were answered, however,
when he felt something slick brush against him. He turned his tiny head and saw
a huge green creature projecting its dangerously lengthy tongue, trying to
capture him.
"Not again." Trowa said, this time the life
and expression drained out of his words. "What? So now I'm supposed to be Mr.
Froggy's dinner."
"Eww," he said, smelling something foul coming from his tiny legs.
"Have I been hovering around the trash dump all day?"
He decided that this dream had to end soon.
He was just too smelly that his lungs couldn't stand his own smell and he was
pretty sure that he didn't want to see the insides of the frog. And besides, he
didn't want Catherine to pour cold water down his shirt.
So, he did the only sensible thing that he
could do at that time. He didn't think any further before flying directly to
the tree off on the side. He made sure that his head bumped into the trunk as
hard as it could. His plan worked because within seconds, he was back to
reality rubbing his fake injury. These dreams were getting too bizarre and
frightening. Why did he always have to be the prey?
He decided to get out of bed and wash his
face and noticed that his shirt was soaked with sweat as if he had really been
flying around.
"This is getting too weird." he said as he
picked himself up from the bed and proceeded to change his shirt.
The following morning was not as pleasant
as he hoped it would be. Although the sun shone bright and the air was nice, he
felt like a storm was raging in his head and his entire being was being
swallowed by some unknown entity. Luck was not on his side. He felt like all of
his efforts were being put to waste. He just thanked Mother Nature that he
wasn't restrained to a time limit. Otherwise, he'd have a whole lot more to
worry about.
"Just wait until the last minute before
avoiding the lion's advances." he reminded himself, trying to concentrate on
another act he was trying to master. "That's it. Come closer. There." He jumped
high in the air, did a triple spin and landed upside down with his hand atop
the beast. "Perfect." he said.
"That was amazing!"
Trowa jumped down from the beast's back and
was surprised to see the blonde boy. He didn't known the boy was coming and he
was horrified. He wasn't able to perform some facial exercises the night before
and now he felt like he was doomed to failure for all eternity.
Before Trowa could even chide himself for
his own incompetence, however, Quatre pulled him out and led him to the back of
the tents.
"Sorry to pull you out of there but you
looked like you needed a break."
Trowa just looked at Quatre, not uttering a
word.
"I wanted to see you again so I just had to
come back. If I hadn't known better, I'd say that you wanted to see me too. Oh,
and don't worry, I didn't bring my friends. I know that they make you feel
uneasy. Now you can have me all for yourself."
Trowa didn't know how to react. This boy
had read through him so fast that he couldn't even believe his luck. It was
beyond belief. Maybe things were going to work out for him after all. The boy
had the remarkable ability of understanding his quiet responses and he was sure
that this was a step toward his success.
Somewhere in the great expanse of the sky,
Mother Nature clapped her hands and squealed in delight.
"Blondie can understand him!" she shrieked.