Bring Him Home

By Mazelynne

OCs created by Mazelynne

Characters created by Ross Bagdasarian

Chapter 2

Grateful

I trudged along, the ends of my oversized sweatshirt dragging in the dirt of the sidewalk. Little flakes of snow fell from the sky and I rubbed my hands together in order to gain warmth.

I've passed plenty of people on my walk, but none of them seemed to notice me. Except for one small boy who pointed to me and said, "Hey momma!" He had tugged at his mother's dress with the hand that wasn't pointing, "Isn't that one of the chipmunks?" The woman, who was far too busy talking to a man beside her, waved her son off and continued talking and walked away. The boy waved to me as he passed by me though, a look of disappointment on his face. I had waved back of course, but I couldn't help the sorrowful frown that developed on my lips. That could've been my only chance to getting home.

I had tried to go to the train station again, but the guilt overwhelmed me as soon as I got fifty feet from the station. The last time I had tried to get to the train station, I got closer than that, twenty feet to be exact, and then he saw me, so I took off running to the house. But seeing a train had flooded memories into my brain that I really didn't want to think about. Memories of the day I left home. Why I left home.

I shuddered, not all from the cold either. Another woman passed me, looking me over with pity, but didn't stop to talk.

I wondered if it was even possible for me to walk the whole way home. I could always call home, but there are no pay phones in this town, and I have no money anyway.

"Hello." I heard a chuckle behind me. The voice had startled me and I spun on my heal, a surprised look on my face. "What are you doin' at this time of night alone kid?"

The owner of the voice was a child himself, only a few years older than me it seemed. He had dark hair with matching eyes. He was big, but not overweight. "Just… ah… heading home." I told him.

"Need an escort?" He asked with a mysterious grin plastered on his face. I was deciding on whether this was a good kid to talk to or not. Was he really asking if he could help me? Or is he just 'joking'?

"Erm… I think I'll be alright on my own." I said while nodding. "My home is close by, I can handle it."

"I was being sarcastic peewee." I didn't know what to say to that. I just remained silent until he went on. "Let's get down to business. Got any money?"

This was a bad kid. A very bad kid, I could tell now. I swallowed and shook my head no.

"Liar." The kid sneered. "Everybody carries at least a coin of money at hand when out of their house. Only a fool would have none."

"Then I am a fool." I snapped, glaring at him. "And so are you, for stealing."

Fire blazed in his eyes, he was angry with me. I could make anyone angry if I wanted to.

"Allow me to rephrase that," I smirked, and added, "in terms you can understand."

My brother used to say that to me, when he used big words and I would just stare at him with confusion. He'd roll his eyes and say just that.

I knew this kid understood what I said; I just wanted to make him feel as angry as possible. "You… did… bad." I said slowly. "Understand that?"

Before I knew it, his fist plunged to my stomach and I doubled over.

I awoke with a pain-filled cry. My vision was blurry again and I could see a green figure moving towards me.

"Oh, Theodore." I moaned and reached my hand out to retrieve my glasses. "Alvin's in a whole lot of trouble."

"What?" Theodore squeaked with panic. "What happened?"

"A large kid was confronting him, or is confronting him. I don't know when this dream took place."

"Why?" Theodore questioned, leaning toward me in worry. "What happened?"

"There was a kid, about a foot or two taller than me -or Alvin- and he was threatening to take Alvin's money, but he refused." I continued. "Then Alvin provoked him and I think the kid's hurting him for it!"

"Hurting him?" Theodore's eyes grew wide and watered up. "We've got to do something!"

I looked at the clock. 2:56… I wonder if I woke up Dave.

"Like what?" I asked. Theodore was puzzled, he shook his head.

"I don't know." He said sadly.

"Me either." There was a long, dreadful pause. Theodore spoke up.

"Should we tell Dave?"

"About what?"

"Your dreams." He answered in a low whisper.

"No." I told him. He stared at me, astounded. "If we tell Dave, he'll set out to find Alvin all by himself. He won't take us with him, saying he doesn't want to put us in danger, and he'll never get anywhere… not without us. Me being able to know where Alvin is… is our only clue."

"How will we ever get him back then?" Theodore said.

"We'll have to sneak away."

"You pick now to act like Alvin?" Theodore rolled his eyes. "Won't that cause more trouble? Dave would be so worried he'd faint."

"We'll leave a note." I said plainly. "Do you want to save Alvin or not?"

"Of course I do!" Theodore defended. "I'm just trying not to make matters worse! Use your head Simon!" Theodore glared at the bed sheets for a while, and then looked up. "Wow! I never thought I'd ever have to say that!"

I shook my head. "I'm sorry for not thinking straight. I got a little ahead of myself."

He took my hand. "That's alright Simon. We could sneak out, but we'll have to plan for it first… maybe we could go… tomorrow night?"

Was Theodore really offering that up? My sweet, innocent brother was going to sneak out of the house with me? "We'll have to prepare." I said. "We'll discuss this in the morning. Maybe we should get some sleep."

"Okay!" Theodore let go of my hand and went to his own bed. "Goodnight Simon!"

"Goodnight Theodore." I sighed and turned off the light, forgetting to take off my glasses.

"Sweet dreams." Theodore called softly.

I hated that. I hated how Alvin wasn't here to fill in that third 'Good Night.,' and his 'Don't let the bed bugs bite!' It made me feel such a sad feeling inside, not hearing it.

I sprinted down the graveled road, out of the world of only buildings. I went off the path, and onto the green grass and white snow. I got a far distance from the road and sat up against a tree. The sky was a dull shade of blue; I knew it must be early morning.

It felt good to be off the streets again. The last time I've seen a tree? Oh, I don't know. I've never been so happy to be leaning on one, never thought I'd ever be so happy to see atree.

I decided that I'm going to be more grateful when I get back home. If I get things, I will be happy with them, and I will never beg for more.

I gritted my teeth and let out a pain filled hiss. My head still throbbed from my head making contact on the ground. That awful kid, right after he punched me in the stomach, he pushed me over… head first. His cackling laugh still played in my mind. "That's what you deserve… for saying those rude things. Hadn't your mother taught you manners?" But he was off before I could insult him any further from before the blow. I had wanted to run up to him and push him down, but what's the use? I'll never see him again. That I am grateful for.

I haven't gotten much sleep. Honestly, I was exhausted.

I was in woods, deep woods, there could be animals. But I did come from the woods, the forest, when my brothers and I were very young. Why couldn't I trust this kind of area now? Maybe it's because I'm without my brothers? Plus, this isn't the same forest; I'm too far from home.

I wanted to keep my eyes open, but I couldn't. I found myself falling asleep in sitting position before I could even shift to a comfortable state.