Single Stitches – 4: Infant
a Hey Arnold drabble fic series by Pyrex Shards
A/N: This is something I cooked up for another fanfic. I decided that it went into a plot direction I didn't want to go with said fanfic, but it would work as a drabble. Chapter 6 of Pink Ribbon will be posted this coming Saturday. My muse went on vacation for a few weeks and now I'm having to catch up. :(
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There was no discernible beginning to the dream, just that Arnold discovered he was in someone's arms. It was odd that he fit completely into the arms of another, but it all made sense when he tried to speak and his words came out in an infant gurgle. He kicked his legs and breathed, squeezing his fists shut. He was wrapped in a warm blanket. He then realized that his mother was smiling down at him.
"And how did my little guy sleep?" Stella cooed at Arnold, tickling his chin. He felt immensely happy, and he smiled appropriately. He giggled and squealed in joy through a toothless mouth.
He was a baby, and he had woken up to the careful, nurturing attention of his mother. It was as if someone had shut out all the complexities in life that were racking his brain lately, and replaced them with the happiest moment he could imagine. Stella gently rocked him in her arms while talking to him. "Are you ready for a busy day?"
The smiling face of his father, Miles, appeared beside Stella. He had his arms around her, his bold face resting on her shoulder as he reached out a finger for their son to grab. Arnold reached up, grabbed the strong finger, and held on tight.
Then they were outside in the middle of a rain storm. His parents were soaking wet with their hair matted down, but no raindrops hit Arnold. It was like a little patch of sky opened up and the rain missed his infant self completely.
Miles released Stella from his embrace and pulled his finger away from Arnold's grasp. "If we don't leave now we'll miss the flight." He said softly.
Stella shut her eyes and nodded her head in sadness, then sat Arnold down in a crib. Lightning filled the sky, and he could hear the sound of a plane make a low pass. He knew his parents where in that old plane. He was helpless to do anything but lay there and watch as the skies opened up and the little single-engine plane flew into a dark void. Immediately all sound ceased.
Arnold was alone. He yelled "don't leave me!" But it all came out as a blood curdling cry as some unknown force tipped over the crib into a street, and a two-year-old Arnold spilled out, immediately soaked in the rain, and kneeling down with his palms to the ground.
Rain... Torrents of rain beat down on him in thick drops. He looked behind him, there was no crib, just endless sidewalk stretching into a black horizon, yet lone shadows cast on the cement, like people were walking even though they weren't there.
Then the rain stopped. He looked up to see an umbrella patterned red and white like a circus tent, and a woman looking down at him. She had a huge pink bow in her blonde hair. The woman's hair was swept into two long pigtails. She wore a pink t-shirt over a plain white dress. He looked up at the blue eyed, unibrowed woman, as she scooped him up in her arms and held him to her body, he sat comfortably in her arms. He draped his own arms around her neck and held on as a sense of serenity washed over him. She turned to walk away from the place where she picked him up, and over her shoulder, Arnold could see the shattered remains of the crib.
The sight of the shattered crib hurt to look at. The toddler Arnold tightened his embrace around the woman's neck and shut his eyes. When he opened his eyes again, he realized he was standing in the doorway of his fourth grade class.
Helga sat in the classroom. Her fourth grade self with that juvenile pink dress and white shirt. Her childish pigtails jutted out from the sides of her head, themselves tied up with an impossibly larger than life pink bow. She cradled a baby in her arms, rocking it back and fourth in a motherly embrace. Her brow was soft on her face and she was looking at the little child longingly.
Arnold took two steps forward and realized he was staring at his infant self in Helga's arms.
End.
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Please review. Tell me what you think. Be honest, and thank you for reading!