Chase, as with Adam and Bree, had never had a mother-figure in his life before Tasha came into the picture. And when she had entered their lives with Leo, it had been a little late to establish that mother-son bond. But now Chase found himself yearning for that bond, for Tasha's motherly care. Whether he liked to admit it or not, he was dependent on her, and found himself craving her attention.
Since she had comforted him, she had spent time with him, dealing with him patiently. She didn't laugh at him or tease him, but seemed to genuinely like taking care of him as he was. He followed her around for the rest of the day, making a point of avoiding his siblings as he did so. He helped her wherever he could, doing as she did. She even turned some of the activities into games, which he greatly enjoyed.
Tasha couldn't help but smile widely when she heard Chase's bright, bubbly laughter. She almost wondered if they could keep him this age forever. He was so cute and sweet, following her wherever she went.
Gone was the sullen boy who generally kept to himself, the arrogant boy who always tried to prove that brains were as important as strength and speed, the awkward boy who was never quite sure how to act with other people. This version of Chase was confident in himself, loving to play and be with other people.
Tasha was sad that the Chase she had known for the last couple of years wasn't more like his younger self. She wondered why.
Soon she had to cook dinner, and she couldn't keep a smile off her face whenever she caught Chase intently watching what she was doing. He would look away quickly when he realized that she saw him staring at her, but then he would slowly look back again, his eyes darting everywhere at once. Tasha found herself comparing Chase to Leo when Leo was that age, thinking fondly of the time they had shared.
That night at dinner, Tasha watched as Chase ate voraciously, which was unusual for him. Adam, Bree, and Leo also found themselves watching Chase, who deftly ignored them.
"Is the Transjuvenator fixed yet?" Chase asked at one point before shoving a spoonful of peas into his mouth.
"Almost. It will probably be another hour or two before it's ready to go," Mr. Davenport answered.
Chase slumped in his chair, not saying another word.
After dinner, Adam, Bree, and Leo began watching one of their favorite TV shows. Chase went to join them, but after watching a few minutes of it, he realized that it was really scaring him. This was out of the norm for him because he generally liked this TV series. His mind was reeling and he felt like crying again, and he most certainly didn't want to do, especially in front of his siblings. So, reluctantly, he got up from the couch and left, unconsciously seeking out Tasha.
When he found her, she seemed to immediately know that something was wrong, asking "Are you okay Chase?"
"Fine," Chase said tersely, refusing to meet her eyes.
After glancing at the TV, she knelt down so that her face was at the height of his, saying "It's okay to be frightened."
"No it's not, not for me," Chase growled with a scowl. "I'm supposed to be sixteen, but I look and feel like I'm seven!"
"It's not your fault," Tasha said, trying to calm him.
"Isn't it, though? I started this whole mess."
"Don't worry; Donald will have the machine-thingy fixed in no time, and you'll be back to normal, okay?"
Chase nodded distantly, stifling a yawn.
Realizing that he was tired, Tasha said "You've had a really long day – let's get you to bed."
"I don't want to wait until tomorrow to be changed back, though!" Chase argued.
"I'll wake you when it's ready, sound good?" Tasha suggested.
Chase sighed, nodding his consent. Tasha stood back up, and he let her lead him to one of the spare bedrooms (Mr. Davenport was still working on the Transjuvenator in the lab, so sleeping in the capsules wouldn't work). Chase climbed up onto the bed as she closed the blinds; she then turned and tucked Chase into the bed, but as she began to leave the room, Chase cried out "Wait!"
Tasha stopped and turned back to the little boy, who uncomfortably cleared his throat. "I'm still kind of... edgy," Chase admitted as he tried to dispel the gruesome scenes of zombies tearing innocent people apart that were dancing behind his eyes.
Tasha smiled sympathetically, saying "Just a moment Chase, I promise I'll be back."
Chase watched anxiously for Tasha to reappear, and after seven minutes and twenty-eight seconds, she returned.
"I brought you a nightlight and one of Leo's old stuffed animals, if you would like," Tasha said as she plugged the nightlight in. Coming over to the bed, she sat down on the mattress and handed the stuffed giraffe to Chase.
Chase examined it thoughtfully, unsure of whether he was grateful or humiliated. He decided he was a mixture of both.
"Did you know that this is a special giraffe?" Tasha asked him.
"How so?" Chase asked skeptically.
"I'll tell you," Tasha replied. "This is how the story goes: many moons ago, there was a beautiful land where all was calm and pleasant. Where the gods, perched drearily on their clouds above, looked down upon the perfect animals and conferred with each other and decided that all was good.
"However, one ignorant beast changed all this: one day Giraffe woke up from his quiet slumber feeling unusually like it was his duty to irritate everyone in the perfect land.
"Firstly, he went to Hippo. 'Why are you so purple? Did you pick a fight with someone bigger than yourself?' Giraffe taunted. Giraffe felt a strange happiness when he was nasty, so he decided to do it some more.
"He strolled casually up to Snake. 'Why do you wriggle on your belly?' he mocked. 'Did someone take your feet away?'
"This horrible way of talking to people had pleased Giraffe and he became progressively worse throughout the week. The other animals had had quite enough, so they went to the gods.
" 'Our hearts are filled with sorrow; Giraffe is always nasty to us. Please teach him a lesson,' the animals begged the gods.
" 'We'll see what we can do,' replied the gods.
"One night, when Giraffe was asleep, Rock god had a plan. He found lots of heavy rocks and sidled up to Giraffe. Rock god placed the rocks carefully around Giraffe's short neck. Rock god then went back to his place in the clouds, chuckling as he went.
"When Giraffe awoke and found his neck trapped in between some rocks, he was in a frightful rage. He tugged as hard as he could but he couldn't move; his neck merely grew longer and longer.
"Finally, after lots of tugging, Giraffe was free. He was astonished to see his beautiful neck was ugly and long. And so, to this day, giraffes have always had long necks to remind them not to say horrible things," Tasha concluded. "The giraffe you're holding, his name is Geoffrey, and he is the descendent of the giraffe in this story. He too has a long neck to remind him not to say nasty things to others."
All throughout the story, Chase had listened attentively, despite growing drowsier and drowsier. Now he came a little more awake, saying "That story isn't true, you know."
"I know, but it's nice, isn't it? I think it's one you and your siblings can all learn from," Tasha said simply.
Chase nodded absentmindedly, agreeing wholeheartedly with Tasha. His mind was whizzing a million miles an hour, soaking in what he had heard and making the connections to his own life.
Tasha snapped Chase back out of his thoughts as she said "Leo never played with Geoffrey very much, and I am certain that he's been lonely all of these years. You'll take good care of him, won't you?"
Chase sighed, reluctantly saying "I suppose."
Tasha gave him a warm smile before getting up and turning off the light. Before she left, Chase said "Tasha?"
"Yes, Chase?" Tasha asked.
"Thank you," Chase said, trying to convey all of his gratitude in those two simple words.
"You're welcome," she said with another smile before closing the door.
Chase was thankful for the nightlight, and even the giraffe; they seemed to effectively chase away the frightening visions that plagued him. He fingered the giraffe's soft fur, tracing the darker brown splotches on its neck. He wondered what his own 'neck' was, also contemplating the 'necks' of his siblings. As he thought about these things, without knowing it, he drifted off to sleep.
AN: Well, this was a longer chapter for this story, and it is one of my favorites. I hoped you all liked it as well!
How The Giraffe Got Its Long Neck was not my own creation, so the credit belongs to the owner of the website Myths and Legends. I tried putting the link in, but FanFiction didn't like it 0.o
And, as always, thank you for the kind reviews, the favorites and the follows :D
That's all I have to say for this chapter - see you in the next, Chapter 10!