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Nature vs Nurture
Chapter 3
The thunder rolls and sparks of lightning crawl across the sky in the distance. Smokey clouds wisp into the valley and over mountains that loom above the town below. They disappear in a dream-like haze while another wave of rain follows a little boy running down the middle of a street. His feet clap down on the wet pavement as he races the deluge hot on his heels. "He can fly?" Saji inquires with excitement as he grins from ear to ear. He had been frightened earlier when the mysterious boy shot lightning from his hands and blew up the back wall of the Vet. But, when Saji burst through the back door and saw him take flight he knew he had to be right. He is so much like Space Boy. "Mom did it," the young boy beams.
Saji watches the small blue figure in the sky as it moves quickly above the buildings. His little legs can't seem to move fast enough as he tries to keep pace with the boy. Saji almost loses him through the cover of the rain but catches sight of him flying over the road. He starts to descend quickly to the street below. Saji hears a crash when the boy bounces off the roof of a vehicle. The little boy hears him thud on the sidewalk behind some parked cars, so he runs off the road and onto the sidewalk to see what was the matter. He sees the mysterious being a few blocks away laying face down on the brick walkway. Soaked awnings that embellish a bakery window, shield the beaten figure from the rain.
Red and blue lights flash in the reflection of the shop windows. A jolt of fear makes Saji jump behind the tire of a car parked on the side of the street. He looks under the car to see the wheels of another vehicle roll by slowly. It stops in front of the bakery and Saji's arms squeeze his legs. "No, don't take him." The lights strobe on the face of the buildings as it sits on the road. "What are they doing?" Saji wonders. The siren "whoops" twice then the car rolls forward and continues on its path. The little boy breathes a sigh of relief as he watches the lights fade away. When he stands up, the boy starts to move. The four-year-old springs behind the rear of the vehicle and peaks around the tail light.
He watches the boy struggle to his feet. Who reaches a shaky hand and grabs the edge of the bakery window to pull himself up. Saji watches curiously while the strange boy braces himself on the brick ledge. The insect-like-being examines his reflection in the window, but his head jerks in the four-year-old's direction. Saji flinches in surprise and falls back onto his butt. "Oh no, did he see me?" The little boy remains frozen in place. If he comes over here what should he say? He hadn't thought of that. What does he hope to accomplish by following him? He looks lost. Maybe he needs help finding his way. "But how can I help?" Saji ponders out loud. He didn't even know where he was.
Perhaps his mother knows. "Uh oh." Saji groans, as he remembers the promise he made to her. She's going to be livid with him. He promised her he would stay in the car. "I'm going to be grounded for a month," Saji whispers. He adjusts himself into a kneeling position the looks around the tail light again. The boy is nowhere to be seen. "Where did he go?" Saji sees a bit of movement through the rain. The blue boy is making his way down the sidewalk slowly while using the buildings as a crutch. "There." Saji smiles. He creeps out from behind the car and sneaks to the next one and ducks behind it. Saji musters up a bit of courage and steps out of hiding.
The boy is standing still, slouched against one of the buildings. "He's still hurt." Saji feels a spark of empathy. The boy looks over his shoulder and the sneaky youngster is overcome with anxiety. All his muscles tense up. They stare at each other for a few moments. To Saji, it feels like an eternity. The being shakes off, opens his wings and takes flight. Saji watches in awe as the boy descends above and crack of lightning lights up the hazy sky. "Wait!" Saji yells out as he bursts forward in pursuit. The blue figure moves too quickly for him to keep up, but he still chases after him. However, the boy drops down from the sky, stopping just before the ground. He flies low until they come to a three-way intersection.
Saji swallows hard as he looks at a forest of looming pine trees guarding the entrance to an ancient forest. The boy lands across the street and holds onto a pole belonging to a bus stop, then looks over his shoulder at Saji again. Before the little boy has time to react the being gets up and walks towards the forest. "Why is he running away?" Little Saji looks both ways and crosses the street while the creature disappears into the trees. He runs to catch up but stops when he gets to the tree line. "Maybe he wants me to follow him?" Saji says as he looks back at the town. The streetlights emit a glow, creating a dome over the urban area.
He knows full well his mother would not want him to follow this boy into the forest. But, Saji simply cannot resist the urge. If the blue boy can go into the forest than why can't he? His boots suction to the mud beneath his feet and he has to use his hands to keep his boot on when he lifts his leg. Broken ferns and other disturbed flora mark the boy's path. The wet plants rub on Saji's grey jogging pants and the cold water seeps through. The little boy shivers in response while following the purple stains on the leaves that reassures him. He trudges through the vegetation and large drops of rain hit his red hood. "Please don't be mad, mom..."
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Back in town, the rumble of a sick engine can be heard racing up and down various streets. The raspy motor billows hot air into the cab of the car, overcoming the cool breeze flowing through the window. Naida's hand grabs her coat and rips it off her body. "This is a nightmare. No, hitting that creature was a nightmare, this is much worse. What's worse than a nightmare, a tragedy? No tragedies end badly, this isn't Hamlet." Naida wines to herself. "I should never have left him alone in the car. He's a child, what did I really expect. You know what he's like." She leans out the car window and uses the last of her voice. "Saji!" Naida's hand moves up to her sore throat.
"Where could he have gone this quickly? He's a four-year-old boy, not a greyhound? He couldn't have gone this far." The car engine starts to rattle and the engine gives out. "Not now!" She screams in hysteria. Her hands bang on the steering wheel as the car coasts along. Naida directs it to the side of the street, then grabs the keys and revs the engine. Nothing, not even a sound. "No, no, no!" Naida screams out with all the air left in her lungs, then she presses her head to the steering wheel. "Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this? Tell me, please..." Naida's hand grasps the door handle and she lethargically pushes it open.
She lifts her heavy head off the wheel and pulls her keys out of the ignition. Her coat catches on the drive shift as she drags it off the passenger seat, so she yanks it out. When Naida steps out she tries to put her right arm in the sleeve, but it's inside out and she has the fix it. "Oh, Come on..." She moans, as she forces her arm into it. She zips up the jacket and runs down the street. "Saji!" Her aching vocal cords barely screech out. A cop car rolls into view and Naida sprints on to the sidewalk, hiding in an alcove of a building. "That was too close." The spinning lights on top of the car inch closer so Naida crouches down as it coasts by. When the lights disappear she hurries down the sidewalk.
"Where should I go?" Naida stops at an intersection and looks both ways, then throws her hands up in the air. "They could have gone anywhere by now. They might not be in town anymore." Heck, for all she knows Saji's dead. Naida's legs feel like a newborn calf's as she jogs down the street. "Why would you think such a thing?" She stops at another four-way intersection to catch her breath. Two small shiny orbs flicker under a car to her left. She squints her eyes and a twinge of hope embraces her. But, a small dark animal crawls out from under the car. It hunches on the sidewalk under a green canopy. A cat, not Saji. She sighs and her stomach flip-flops.
"I should just keep looking. It doesn't matter if I'm going the wrong way." Naida turns to her left and crosses the intersection. "You can't get anywhere standing still," she repeats her own mother's words to herself. She heard them a thousand times growing up. It used to annoy the hell out of her, but now she wishes she could hear her mother say those words again. It's funny how that works. Here yesterday, gone tomorrow. Now she would give anything to have her call multiple times a week with baby advice or to hear her complaints about Naru. Her mother was into cooking all kinds of strange things, disgusting things. Naida thinks of the time she accidentally ate organic pot scrubbers and a smile forms on her face.
When she gets to the green awnings she stops to shield herself from the rain. It isn't coming down as hard but it's frigid. It feels like ice water. "Where did that cat go?" Was there even a cat? Or is she seeing things now? Naida wonders. She tries to look through the downpour but the sneaky assassin is nowhere to be seen. "It must be frozen. Poor thing..." She shivers as she watches the rainwater stream off the awnings and patter on the cement brick walkway until a bit of movement catches the corner of her eye. She looks through the glass window of the building, but it's quite dark. Her eyes fall on a small dark mass.
Sitting on the counter inside is a black cat. It's tail waves back and forward as it watches Naida who is starring back mystified. "How did you get in there?" Is it even the same cat? She looks at the fancy calligraphy on the main window of the business. "The Black Cat Bakery." When Naida looks back up she sees the two green orbs still watching. It blinks with one eye and it almost looks like a wink, then it jumps down and dissolves into the dark. "An old fashion bakery," Naida whispers. She looks at the pastries in the window and notices a dark smudge on its surface. Naida wipes the smear and brings it closer to her face. Her eyes widen when she sees the purple hue.
The mother frantically looks all around. "Saji!" she screams out into the night. Naida winces and her hand grabs her throat. She looks on the sidewalk to see a few specs of blood and follows them but they are no longer protected from the canopy. They were washed away by the rain. Naida looks at the wall and starts jogging. "Saji!" She chokes out again. Maybe she should have waited for the cops? Maybe they already found him? She tries to convince herself, but she knows this isn't true, she just has a feeling, a mother's instinct perhaps? However, this time Naida hopes she is wrong. Her jog turns into a run and her run into a sprint. She hits a three-way and runs onto the road and spins around in all directions. "Saaajjjiii!" Her voice no matter how hard she screams is dampened by the rain.
"He won't hear you," Naida says to herself while she closes her eyes for a moment. She raises her head and submits to the rain. The water pellets run down her face. Each drop of fresh water hydrate her dry cold lips. They roll off her chin and tumble onto her jacket. Naida begins to look down each street in hope that she will catch a glimpse of her little boy's red coat. No one is around and that cop car is nowhere in sight. Are they still looking? They didn't seem like they were in a hurry. Naida's arms drop to her side and she walks over to a lone bus bench. The mother winces as she bends her knees to sit. Her whole body prickles from the cold. The clothes on her body cling to her like wet seaweed.
A burst of nausea pulls Naida off the bench when what's left of her supper leave her stomach and empties onto the street. She groans while she grips the pavement on all fours. "What was that?" Naida says and presses her hand to her forehead. She spits then tries to gather herself off the ground. She can feel another rush of sickness so she runs over to the padded grass and dry heaves. A sharp pain stabs in her stomach when all she can bring up are bubbles. Her hand grabs her tummy and she rolls onto the wet grass. The rain taps on her weak shaky body as she stares up into the empty dark. "Why don't you give up? You're tired, aren't you?...So tired." Naida rolls onto her side facing the bench.
She watches the water drops drip off the seat until her eyes focus on the pole of the bus-stop sign. She props herself up on her arm and looks at the purple liquid running down the rod. It disappears into the grass. Naida pulls herself to her feet and touches the pole. When she does so she notices a water-filled footprint in the mud at the edge of the boulevard. "Saji was here." Her head twitches in the direction of the woods and her heart starts to pound feverishly in her chest. "No." Naida shoves her hand into her pocket and when she feels the cold metal of the gun she hurries to the tree line. The sound of a siren startles her and she turns around. One cop steps out of their car across the street.
"Ma'am, can you step over here for a moment?" A female police officer shouts at Naida with her hand on her gun. Another police car pulls up. This is not what she needs right now. Naida turns around and steps towards the trees. "Hold it, we need you to come over here, ma'am." Naida's heart beats a million miles a second. She stops in her tracks. What is she doing? She has to find Saji. She can't be hauled off to some police station. No, she has to hurry. Naida runs for the tree line and doesn't look back. "Hey!" the police officer yells and she jogs after her. When Naida reaches the edge of the forest she can see a muddled path and some more prints. Naida ignores her nauseous stomach and runs into the brush. "Saji, I'm coming!"
.
"Are you sure you didn't see the car she drove, Mosley?" Says a surly law officer. The older man fiddles with a piece of paper in his fingers. "Yes. I-I'm sure, Officer Karasu." The cop sighs and shakes his head. "Well, there's not much we can do if we don't know who or what we're looking for, exactly." Karasu walks over to his partner checking the rubble for clues, "and you didn't get a good look at the little boy who ran away either, right?" Mosley shakes his head back and forward. "No, he didn't come in with her." The two cops look at each other with mistrustful expressions. "Right. Well, we will do a few rounds and see if we can come up with anything."
Mosley follows them through the office to see them off. When they exit through the main entrance, they say something to a female officer taking a smoke break and she nods in return. They get into their car and Mosley watches them while he taps his foot. He makes eye contact with the female officer leaning on her vehicle, but she turns her head away. The others drive off siren flickering while she takes a puff of her cigarette. She drops it under her foot and looks at Mosley behind the two glass doors. He raises his hand to wave, but she just turns around and gets into her police car. The siren turns on and he watches her drive off. Mosley rolls his eyes and a deep sigh leaves his mouth.
The rain had lightened since Naida drove off to find Saji. To any tourist, the weather would seem odd. In fact, many would-be hikers never returned from their trip. Despite countless efforts to educate them about the sporadic changes, there was always a few each year that would go missing. Search parties would head out into the woods, but most would come up empty-handed. One would think the statistics would deter people, but it did the exact opposite. Heck, even experienced long time hikers would succumb to the elements from time to time. It was mostly the odd meathead who worried the park rangers. They were usually in search of a temporary fix for their seething insecurity, but there are better ways to prove oneself.
Mosley returns to the back area and looks at the destruction of his operating room. "I hope my insurance will cover this." He groans. He shuffles through the rubble and looks where Naida's car use to be. He couldn't bring himself to convict the desperate mother who mere moments ago pointed a gun at him. Mosley leaves the room and walks into his office, then flops into a brown leather chair behind his desk. His hand reaches for a photograph of a young man in an orange uniform. He reclines in his chair and runs his fingers through his beard. "...I understand." his lids close to resist the sharp sting in his eyes. Mosley clears his throat and places the photo on his desk face down.
He should have gone in his car to help Naida look. No, why should he have to? He did enough, right? "...I think not," Mosley grumbles in earnest. He should have put the poison in the fluid, but he couldn't do that either. Not for her, not even for his own son. He can't bring himself to look into the eyes of the young man in the photograph. Kami knows he prayed for that thing to die on its own, but no amount of wishing or wanting would change what happened here. It won't fix his mistake. He chuckles and shakes his head. "You had one chance Mosley and you blew it." He thumps his fist down on the desk. 'All life is precious.' He repeats the words of his grandfather. "No, no it is not."
What a ridiculous saying, Mosley thinks to himself. It was the main reason he chose his profession. Same as his forefathers before him. He was young and full of purpose once. But now as the years bare down on him he is starting to wonder how he did it. How he woke up every morning like the sun rising in the east. The sun doesn't wonder why it does what it does, it just does it. Just like that little boy. "Just stay out of it, Mosley." He gets up out of his chair and straightens out his back. His spine pops and cracks. He hobbles over to the office window now dotted with rain. But no new drops form.
"Snow..."
.
"Yuck." the little boy complains as he wipes his muddy hands on his pants. Moms going to be mad when she sees how dirty he's gotten. How long has it been? It feels like he's been walking around for days. His jaw stretches wide open into a yawn and he breathes out. "How far did he go?" It's been far too long since the last time he saw any sight of the boy. The forest is quite dark, he can barely see where he is going. He plops on a moss covered rock and tries to remember what his dad told him about wilderness survival. Something about shelter from the elements and moss on trees. Some stuff on cloud formations. The little boy's jaw pops as he yawns even bigger than before.
He stares unblinkingly into the thick vegetation. The trees crack and wain as the storm pushes the tall pines about. Large droplets of water tumble down below. The thundering sound of the rain pelting the earth is replaced by silence. Saji picks at the lichen on the rock and throws the pieces on the ground. They fall on to the cottony-blanket of moss gracing the forest floor, which makes it soft and spongy to walk on. It would make a great bed, Saji thinks as another jaw-breaking yawn flares up. Normally, he doesn't care for the dark but he's too tired to feel much of anything. Saji pinches his arm. Nothing. He pinches it again. Nothing.
"Whats that?" He exclaims out loud. A bit of blue peeking up from the foliage stands out in the dark and Saji wonders how he even missed it in the first place. He walks over to the mound bristling with curiosity. When he's standing over the object he bends down to get a closer look. It's blue with dark spots, just like the creature. What looks to be an arm sticks up out of the ferns and Saji flinches away. He stands up and pushes it with his foot. It feels light as a feather. The shell casing rolls over to reveal a split down the middle. "Weird..." It looks like something burst out of the blue boy. Was he hollow? Saji wonders.
This feels very strange to him. He has never experienced anything quite like this, or has he? When it doesn't move he feels along the ground for a stick. When he finds a good one he prods at the casing. "Hello?" It doesn't answer. This can't be right? He's seen this before, hasn't he? Yes, he has. He thinks back on the time he went fishing with his dad and scooped up a giant water beetle in their fishing net. They brought it home in a leaky bucket. Saji kept it in a large jar on the balcony of their apartment complex. The water was pretty murky, so sometimes he had to look really hard to see the aquatic insect inside. It would usually hang upside down just above the surface. His dad told him it could breathe from its butt.
He called it Mikio, for the three trees that stood along the lakeshore. His mom might have helped him name it. On the weekends Saji's dad would take him to a big field with tall grass. They would catch grasshoppers together and bring them home for Mikio to eat. His mom would come along reluctantly, she didn't much care for catching bugs. Sometimes dad would sneak one into the hood of her coat and mom would shriek and leap around trying to get her jacket off. When Mikio ate enough food he would shed his skin from time to time. It would look like two beetles lived in the jar. It was confusing for Saji at first, but he would just tell himself there was only one in there. "Excoseleton, Esoseloton, exeoskeletoon?"
A warm wind blows over the curious youngster. It brings a brief spell of relief from the cool. He shivers in response. The warm air hits him again and a deep rumbling growl causes every hair on his body to raise off his skin. Saji slowly turns around to see two pairs of nostrils in front of him. A burst of air with flecks of warm sticky fluid hits his face. The beast rises up and up and up until it towers twenty feet above him. Run. A voice says within the little boy. The monstrous animal releases a booming roar that reveals its fifty jagged teeth. The thundering noise nearly breaks Saji's eardrums. Run! He jumps to his feet and darts into the thicket as fast as his legs can carry him.
It takes seconds for Saji to hear the crashing of its footsteps as it gives chase. Each one shakes the ground beneath his feet while he clambers over rocks and uneven turf. When Saji's boot hits a root jutting out he hits the ground face first. He tries desperately to wipe the dirt and mud out of his eyes as the monster comes upon him. He spins around to see the gigantic lizard ram into a pair of trees, wedging itself. It stretches out its neck and snaps its jaws down like a crocodile, it's teeth inches away from Saji's rubber boots. He spins around and claws his way up a large slippery slope. His boots kick out from underneath him as he tries to get traction in the mud.
The trees behind him snap and crack as the twenty-foot dinosaur tries to break free. It snarls and snaps at the little boy scrambling up the slope. He loses one of his boots in the process. When the dinosaur breaks free it tumbles headfirst into the incline causing Saji to fall back onto the lizard's snout. Two deranged bloodshot eyes leer down its broad nose at Saji. Each eyeball larger than the young boys head. The dinosaur rears up and the boy slides down the ridges on its back, teeth clattering. When his feet hit the ground he rolls on his back then springs to his feet. He can hear the giant lizard behind him thrashing as it tries to get up. He doesn't stick around to find out if it succeeds. Limbs from bushes smack into his body as he zips through the forest.
Saji crashes into a hard surface and lands on his butt. Did he hit a tree? A rock? What? He thinks as he holds his bloody nose. He looks up at the blue and black figure peering down at him. Saji scrambles to his feet and stares at the being through the dark of the forest. He can barely focus his blurry eyes, but when his vision normalizes the beings hand is stretched out before him. Saji looks into the boy's deadpan eyes, but he doesn't understand the gesture. Does he want a high five? The ground rumbles underneath Saji's feet but he can't look away from the boy's sharp pink hues. A bright ball of light forms in the kid's hand and Saji's arm raises up quickly to shield his eyes. Wait, isn't this what it did earlier?
Before he can act, the ball of energy zips past Saji's head. His hand jerks to his ear. "Owe!" Saji cries out as he falls down onto the mossy forest floor. The soft skin of his ear stings tremendously. A dark shadow blocks out the moon and the child turns onto his back to see the seven thousand pound animal falling towards him. His whole body tenses up when it stops inches away from crushing him. Drool slips out of the lizard's mouth like a gooey string of melted cheese and lands on Saji's fear-stricken face. His little legs kick himself out from under the animal and he sees the small alien holding it up with one arm. His gaze is fixed on Saji as he lets the gargantuan animal drop to the ground.
When the earth stops shaking the blue alien walks towards the trembling child. Saji turns around and runs off, but isn't this what he wanted? This is what he's been waiting for, so why is he running away? He is too young to understand his own fear. Years from now he might be able to look back and understand his primitive reaction, but today is not that day. His legs move without their commander's consent. Saji nearly chokes on his breath as he struggles to control the rate his lungs take in air. He can barely contain his small heart rattling in his chest. The throbbing in his ear feels like it will jump right off his skull. If he was tired he's certainly not anymore.
"BOO!"
A white face emerges in the darkness and Saji trips over a log and hits his head on the ground. The being flips down from the limb of a tree and lands grasping his stomach and laughing hysterically. He points at bewildered Saji. "Scared you!" He continues to chortle, then crouches behind the fallen tree and rests his head in his hands, smiling. When Saji does nothing the expression on the boys turns into a blank canvas. They stare at each other in silence. The moon shines off of his pearly skin emphasizing the dark markings on the side of his face. Saji waits for him to make a move. But the boy just stares at the child with a deadpan look. Saji didn't know what to think of this kid or what to feel. This boy's reactions seem strange. Like something is off or unnatural.
A single snowflake floats down and lands softly on the creatures snipe nose. A shiver crawls up Saji's spine. He slowly scoots away, then stands up and the blue boy rises in unison. He looks the mysterious being up an down and notices all the injuries he had before are gone. Is there more than one? Saji scratches his head. He remembers the shell in the woods. No, just one. He corrects himself when he thinks of the water beetle. "Why are you following me?" the blue boy says in a serious manner yet he smiles. Saji wipes the dinosaur slobber off his face, then answers. "I-I thought you were someone else." the little one's voice shakes. "Someone else?" asks the boy. Saji stares back with tense muscles. Should he tell him? "Umm...Space boy." Saji chokes out as he reaches into his pocket for his toy.
Empty.
"Oh no! I lost it!" Saji starts checking all his pockets feverishly. He has a bunch at home but this one was his favorite. It was a good one. It had all the details and everything. Some of them had wonky faces, missing details, or were painted a wrong shade of blue, but not his favorite one. It was really something special. "What's a Space Boy?" The creature asks with a hint of wonder. Saji sighs, then he looks at the individual standing in front of him. "He's a hero. He fights bad guys and can go into outer space with his Astral Suit." Saji exclaims. He can talk about Space Boy for hours. "This one time he even saved the whole earth from an asteroid with his buster cannons." He aims his arm at the sky fist clenched. "Blam."
His arm returns to his side. "Are you sure your not him?" The blue boy puts his hands on his hips. "I don't know? Do I look like him?" Saji examines the mysterious person standing before him and traces his chin with his fingers. He looks a lot like space boy, with a few differences. "I don't know, maybe? You kinda look like him. Space boy's suit doesn't have spots like yours does. His face is white, but he doesn't have the same markings." The creature watches the little boy circle around him like the earth revolving around the sun. "He has wings that come out of his back when he needs them, but they don't look like yours." The blue boy shakes his head back and forward in disagreement. "I'm not wearing a suit."
Saji raises a brow. "Are you sure?" The boy nods in response. Seeing the look of disbelief on Saji's face, he demonstrates by pushing up on his head crest. "See." When that doesn't work he bends down into a bowing position. Saji stares at the boy and blinks. When the four-year-old makes no move the boy points to his head crest. "Go ahead try." Saji hesitates but reaches out and grabs at the helmet. He pulls really hard. His hardest even, but it stays fixed to the boys head. Saji's fingers slip off and he falls back onto his bum. "Told you." the boy exclaims. Saji sighs and gets to his feet. Dang, he thought for sure. "What's your name?" The blue boy tilts his head and smiles gleefully. "No name."
Saji raises his eyebrow. Is this kid serious? "You don't have a name?" Saji didn't need a response to know the answer. "...If your not space boy and you don't have a name, then what are you?" The boy thinks for a minute. "I don't know? What are you?" Saji feels taken back by the question. "What am I?" he points to himself. The creature nods in response. He had never thought of that. He had never even thought to ask. 'What am I?' Saji thinks inwardly as he scratches his head. "A boy I guess," he says as he shrugs his shoulders. "Am I a boy, too?" The creature asks with peculiarity on the end of his lips."Maybe, you look like a boy."
He looked like space boy too, but he wasn't right about that. Maybe he shouldn't trust his own judgment. He knows the differences between boys and girls but he isn't about to ask for proof. "Do you want to be friends?" Saji watches the blue boy who jumps back into the tree, then hangs upside down. "What's a friend?" He never had to explain this to anyone before. In fact, he isn't too sure himself. "A friend is someone you play games with. Like tag or hide and seek. Sometimes you get to play with their toys too." Yup, that will do. The blue boy flips down from the tree and smiles at Saji. "Okay." Saji's face lights up and his hand shoots into his pocket. "Do you want some of my candy?"
Saji pulls the plastic crinkled bag out and shakes a few candies into his hand. "It's my favorite. Here." Saji's says as he thrusts his hand forward. The moonlight spills onto the colorful pebbles and they glitter like a pot of gold. The blue boy takes one of the moon-kissed treats and holds it up to his eye, then looks at Saji waiting for direction. "You eat it. Like this." He places a yellow candy in his mouth and bites down on the chewy treat and smiles. The boy mimics Saji's movements while holding eye contact and smiles just as he did. When the sweet particles dissolve on his tongue his eyes open wide and his pastel eyes sparkle like the night sky. He swallows the treat and balls his fists in excitement. "More candy!"
Saji's brows scrunch together and he shakes his head back and forward. The blue boy ignores the youngster's protest and snatches the rest of the sweets out of his hand. Saji didn't even see the boy move and stares perplexedly. "Hey!" Saji shouts. The boy dumps all the candy into his mouth and springs into the air. "Yummy!" he yells out in glee while he does a barrel roll. He then hovers upside down in front of Saji and holds his hand out. "More!" Saji's baby blue eyes water and his bottom lip starts to quiver. "There isn't anymore," He wipes his eyes with his sleeve. "More!" The boy yells at Saji in a demanding tone. The four-year-olds whole face crumples up. He jumps to his feet as he erupts like a volcano."There isn't anymore, you ate them all!"
In a fit of frustration, the blue boy grabs Saji's feet and drags him into the air. "Ah! What are you doing!" Saji growls. The blue boy proceeds to shake him like a bully from an old cartoon looking for lunch money. "Stop it!" The insect-like boy looks down at Saji's red face. "Put me down!" The boy releases his grip and Saji falls to the soft forest floor. "Oof." He sits up, then wipes the snot and dried blood from his cold nose on his sleeve. He looks at the boy hovering above him with a grin stretched across its face like a Cheshire cat. "You're not very nice..." Saji grumbles. The blue boy's cheeky grin dissolves away when his eyes meet Saji's pouty one.
"I don't think I want to be your friend." The human child stands up, brushes himself off, and stomps off into the woods. He walks into the boy blocking his path, then looks behind himself in bewilderment. All he did was blink, and this kid appeared in front of him like a flash of lightning? "Where are you going?" The blue boy says curiously. Saji frowns not wanting to answer, but the boy holds his gaze and it makes him squirm. "To find my mom," Saji says reluctantly. "What's a mom?" Here we go again, now he has to explain what a mom is? How is he supposed to know? He's only four. Well, almost five? "You don't know a lot of things do you?"
The blue boy grins at Saji. "Someone who takes care of you. Feeds you. Baths you, and reads you stories..." The four-year-old continues to list things, but the boy cuts him off. "So a servant?" he says with an impish twinkle in his eye. Now he's the one who needs to ask questions. What's servant? He's never heard that word before. "I don't know, maybe?" Saji walks around the boy slowly and continues on his path. He can hear the crunching of sticks and other plants behind him. He turns around. "Stop following me," Saji says in a demanding voice then turns around and continues on his way. He can hear more snapping and he wipes around again. The words 'go away' stick to the tip of his tongue when he sees no one is there.
Saji slowly turns around, bracing himself for a scare, but the blue boy is not there this time. Finally. The little boy thinks and walks on. He comes upon the body of the dinosaur and a joyous laugh erupts behind him. Saji turns around. "What so funny?" he yells out with his eyebrows pushed together as far as they will go. "You're lost, you're lost, you're lost." The boy teases repeatedly and titters some more. "Stop laughing, I am not!" Saji's blood rushes to his head. "Yes you are, so you're probably going to die." A crooked grin emerges on the blue boys face. Die? Dying means you go away. You can always come back when you go away, right? Just like when Nan and Pop come to visit. They go away but they are still here.
He's not so sure about that. Dad still hasn't come back. Saji shivers. Snowflakes dust the ground and foliage. The tiny ice crystals sparkle in the light of the moon. He looks at his smokey breath, then his eyes refocus on the giggling imp. The blue boy's expression turns blank again when Saji doesn't respond to his antagonizing. "My dad died," Saji whispers. The two stare at each other. The cold nips at his nose as they stand in silence. The forest is quiet. No crickets, no owls, just pure unadulterated silence. Saji is used to the sound of the cars and sirens in the city, so the silence was like honey to his ears. "Mine did too." The break in silence was almost jarring. The blue boy remains still. In fact, he could be mistaken for a statue.
His dad died too? Maybe he really needs a friend? He doesn't seem to know how this friendship thing works, though. He's kind of mean and he's kind of weird and a bit unpredictable. Maybe he can show him how to be friends? A little lesson on how to be nice might go a long way, too. Ho, hum. "Hey, I know where we can get more of that candy," Saji says cheerfully. The blue boy's eyes light up with desire for the glimmering spheres of goodness. "Where?" Saji brushes the snow resting on his shoulders and hood, then answers. "I never went there by myself, tho-." Before Saji can finish his sentence, the boy picks him up from under his arms and blasts into the night sky.
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