"A child?" The woman asked.
"A child in the river, came a-floating down the stream in a little row boat with a damn cardboard box to cover 'em. Don't know how the poor thing made it here, but I recon he'll be just fine." The other woman replied.
"What's going to happen to him?" The first woman asked.
"'Prolly work on the farm. It'll be nice to have a wee boy of me own." The second lady said.
"You already have a child, don't you?" The first woman said.
"That devil ain't no child of mine. That damned wreck can go back to 'ell where it belongs." The second lady replied.
The first woman sighed, "how about I take the child? I've been gettin' kind of lonely by myself."
"Well dear, do what you wish with him then. I agree that you've been lonelay. You ought to find you a man to help take care of 'em. A young woman like you got ta have letters a-flyin' to your doorstep. Should read 'em." The second woman said, playfully nudging her.
"Stop it, I'll find someone soon enough." The first woman said.
"Whatever you say deary. The child should be in that cottage o'er there." The second woman said, pointing to a cottage to the right of the boat dock.
"Thank you." The first woman said quickly as she started to walk to the door. When she approached, the door opened in front of her and there a child stood in the doorway.
"Hello there, are you the boy from the river?" The woman asked. The child just stood, not knowing where they should go.
Then, a voice came from inside the house, "wait! I still need to check for injury!" The child looked behind them to see the towns doctor turning the corner to chase after them. The child ran away, past the first woman.
"Hold on!" The first woman said as she grabbed her dress and picked it up off the floor to run after them. The child ran into the marketplace, slowing down as to not bump into people and fall. The woman ran through the crowd, snaking through them easily.
Soon she caught up with the child and grabbed him by the hood of his didn't try to kick or thrash away, instead choosing to hold the box over his head. "What peculiar clothing you have." The woman stated as she turned him around to get a better look. The child stayed silent.
"Well, I guess you can tell me about yourself when we get home." She said as she moved her hand his shoulder so she wouldn't be choking him. He walked beside her as she went to her house.
"You know, any other kid would have just taken off their jacket and kept running. You could have also pushed me away easily, you're the same height as me. Now either you're stupid, or you don't want to make a scene." She looked at the child. He said nothing, only looked back at her.
"I'm going to assume that you aren't stupid for now, that would be rude of me." He gave no reaction, just turned to look back at the dirt path.
They made it to the woman's house and walked inside the house. "Now, you look to be a teenager, so I assume that you know how to bathe yourself." She said and the child nodded.
"See, you aren't stupid. Now I'll go prep the bath, you stay in here and get comfortable." She said. Then she walked passed the living room and walked into the room to the right. The child sat down on the wooden chair at the table, tapping his fingers as he waited for the bath to be made. He looked up from his fingers to see a price of paper with ink and a calligraphy pen next to it.
"Okay, you're free to go in now." The woman said. The child walked over to her and as soon as he was going to turn into the room, she grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked up at her to signal 'what?'
"You can call me Tate. Would you like to tell me your name?" She asked. The child thought about it. He didn't really have a name, they wouldn't call him anything that could be considered a name. He shrugged his shoulders.
"You don't have a name?" She asked. He shook his head. "Um, oh goodness I'm terrible with names." She looked around her house, not finding anything to really go off of. The child tapped on her shoulder and pointed to the table. She looked at where he pointed, a paper.
She went over to it and picked it up. '5k3ppy' was written on it. "Huh, did you put this on there?" She looked back at him. The child pointed at the page and then at himself. "That's your name? Marucho?" Marucho just stared expectantly at her.
"All right, I'll call you Marucho. It's very nice to meet you." She smiled and extended a hand to him. His gloved hand met her bare one as they shook in greeting. "Now go get in the bath before it gets cold!" She said and he practically skipped to the bathroom.
When he got out, he had the same clothes that he had on when Tate first met him. "Oh no, I have some new clothes for you to put on." She stood up and gave him a pile of clothes. He inspected the outer garments; a short-sleeved shirt and some shorts. He handed them back to her and shook his head.
"What's wrong? Do you wish to wear your same dirty clothes every day?" Marucho shook his head, then he pulled on the end of his sleeve, along with the end of his pants. Tate looked at him curiously. He took the shirt back from her and pulled at it's sleeve before pulling at his sleeve again.
"Oh! Do you wish to wear long-sleeve and pants?" She asked. He eagerly nodded his head. "Well, the summers here aren't too harsh. I'll bring you some different clothes." She got up and ran to her room.
Marucho sat down on the table again and stared at the shirt. The shirt would only be a little big on him the sleeves would actually cover up to his elbows. He thought about putting it on just in case it would be hot outside. But it would be way too risky, especially if he were to fall and the shirt rode up his arm. He placed the shirt back on the table and watched as Tate rushed to him with a different set of clothes
He took them and ran off to the bathroom. He quickly changed and looked it the mirror to see if he was completely covered up. The only part that was showing was an inch of his shoulder, but that didn't matter to him. He walked out of the bathroom to show off his outfit. Tate smiled and clapped her hands.
"Okay! I'll have your old clothes washed by the end of the week so that you can wear them next week. I'll let you wear them once a week from now on, okay?" Marucho nodded. "Great! Now let's eat. What would you like to eat?" She looked back to see no reaction.
"You know, that cardboard box really is boring to look at. Would you like to decorate it?" He shook his head. Then pointed at her. "What about me?" She asked. He put his hands on the collar of his shirt and pulled his head into it, making the cardboard box fall off. Then he scrambled to grab it with his lack of vision. Once he grabbed it he stuck it out towards her.
"You want me to decorate it?" He put his hand in a fist and make a nodding motion. "Oh, you know sign language?" She asked but he made the fist shake its head, 'no.' She smiled and grabbed the cardboard box from him, taking it to her room to decorate. "I'll be right back!" Marucho just sat there and waited.
It didn't take long for her to come back with the cardboard box. "Now, I know that you probably don't want to show your face, so I'll guide you to your room to look at it in private." He stood up from his seat and let Tate guide him by his shoulder, like she did when they first arrived.
He stepped into the room and felt the box go over his head and looked back at her, only to see a shut door. He sighed as he took the cardboard box off to admire the artwork on it. It was painted blue all the way around, except for the front.
The front had two eye holes that stretched a little to make them go from the sides to where he originally put eye holes. They were also covered in a thin black fabric that he could see out of perfectly, it just made his vision darker than it usually was. Then, there was a goofy smile painted on the bottom of it, red indicating a tongue. He smiled at the image.
It was a little childish for him, but then again, he really didn't have a childhood. He put the cardboard box on and ran out of the room to Tate. She was by the stove, cooking something in a pot. He was careful not to startle her, and made as loud of steps as he could to alert his presence.
She turned around and let the spoon in her hand lean on the inside of the pot. She smiled as she put her hands on her hips, "I did a pretty good job, didn't I?" Marucho walked up to her and gave her a hug. She was shocked but hugged back. She could hear him sniffle as he placed his head on her shoulder. She rubbed his back and leaned into the cardboard box.
It only took him a few seconds to go back to normal and pull away. He walked out of the kitchen and sat at the table, taking a gloved hand to his covered face to assumably wipe away tears. Tate just went back to cooking. Marucho waited patiently at the table. This was the best day of his life. Who knew that the world would have such nice people?
Allie sat in the back corner of the barnyard. He didn't really know if he should call himself 'Allie' because he knew that he wasn't Allie. But she really didn't give him much to choose from. Honestly, Allie was the better of the things she's called him. Useless, Devil's child, Runt, Demon. Allie was just one of the less harmful ones. Allie was cut off from his thoughts as the barnyard doors were opened and a sliver of light fell upon his face.
"Get up. It's time to work." Allie smiled as he jumped out of his corner and to the open door. His mom was there again today.
"Mom! How was work today?" He said as he bounced in place.
"Frederick to you, nothin' else, ya hear?. When will you learn to keep that filthy name out of your mouth?" Frederick scolded.
"But you are my mom, Frederick." Allie replied with a teethy grin.
Frederick cringed, "put ur god damn teeth away. Them things is hideous." Allie pushed his lips together. "There ya go. Now Tate's a comin' o'er today an I don't want ta hear a sound from 'ere. Ya hear?" Frederick demanded and Allie nodded his head excitedly. Frederick looked at him in disgust as she let him out of the barn doors.
"Ya know what ta do. Pigs, chicks, cows, an' me horse. Get to it." Frederick said as her farewell as she walked back to the house. Allie jumped excitedly as he headed to work. Every day he could at least be a little useful!
"Marucho, are you sure you don't want to just stay home instead?" Tate asked. Marucho nodded his head and walked out the door to her side. She smiled as she closed the door. Nothing of much value was in there, so there was no need to lock it. Besides, the towns people were nice folks, and they would never steal anything from Tate's house.
They walked back down the path and passed the market this time instead of through it. They walked down a path marked by tire marks. Big enough that they were probably made by a tractor. Marucho was scared to meet whoever Frederick was, but he assumed that she would be just as sweet as Tate. They were friends, and he didn't believe that Tate could be friends with someone mean.
When they arrived at the front door, Marucho's eyes wander to the barn behind the house. It was way bigger than the actual house, and had a huge field in front of it. Tate knocked on the door and Frederick came to it in seconds.
"Come in." She said as she saw Tate. Then she looked over to Marucho. "Ooh, ya made me think ye a damn murderer with that thing on ye head. Why dontcha take it off?" Frederick asked.
Marucho just shook his head. Frederick looked to Tate for an explanation but she just shrugged her shoulders. "Ah, well, a little secrecy ain't hurt no one. Gets ya all the ladies." Frederick said as she laughed. Marucho gave no reaction.
"Shy eh? No matter, in ya two!" Frederick stepped out of the way and the two stepped inside. "Make yerselfs comfortable while I get ye something to eat." Frederick said as she headed to the kitchen. Tate looked down at Marucho and nodded, looking away again to lead him to the table. From there, there's an open window showing a field and some barely seeable structures.
"Ya can go an' explore the barn if ye want. Beware the monster a lurkin' on ye way." Frederick said as she laughed again. Tate smiled politely at the joke and Marucho stood up. He's seen many monsters in his life, he wondered what this monster would be like. He quickly walked outside and to the barn.
"Monster?" Tate asked.
"Ha, I was just tryin' ta scare 'im. Ain't no monster out dere 'cept the runt." Frederick explained. Tate sighed into her tea. She didn't understand why Frederick would call a child a monster. But she had also never seen or met this 'devil,' so she couldn't defend him.
Marucho walked along the path separating the crops. He thought that he was far away enough from the house and lifted the box to his nose to smell the fields better. After a whiff, he dropped the box back down over him. Even if there was no one out here, a simple move like that could put his life on the line again. He passed the fields and into a gated area to lay down at the beginning of a grass covered area.
He sighed as he spread himself out on the floor. Then he heard steps coming toward him and he pulled his box down as he sat up to ensure that his face and neck would be covered.
"You really shouldn't be laying down in the cow's field. You could die." A voice from behind him said. He quickly turned to see the man. "Here, do you want some help up?" The man asked as he held a hand out. Marucho took the hand and stood up.
"Ooo, nice gloves." The man complimented. Marucho nodded. The man let go of Marucho's hand and instead put it on his hip. "I'm Allie by the way!" Allie said.
Marucho took a moment to look over the boy. He was about the same age as him, probably a little older. He had a black long-sleeve shirt with a hood that was outlined with red. He wore a brown belt and black pants with red checkers below the knee. The hood was over his head and created a shadow over his face.
"What's your name?" Allie asked. Marucho grabbed the man's hand and led him and led him back outside the gates and to the dirt path. Then he let go and squatted down to the earth. He used his finger to make an indent in the dirt and spell out his name.
"Marucho?" Allie asked. Marucho nodded and stood up. "Nice to meet you, Marucho. You know, you remind me of Mega." Marucho tilted his head to show his confusion. "It's someone I know. Don't worry about it. Do you want me take you on a tour through the barn?" Allie asked.
Marucho nodded and he was immediately dragged in the direction Allie was heading. "Okay Marucho! You'll be the first person I ever give this tour to!" Allie said excitedly.
Marucho just nodded as he followed Allie to wherever he was headed.