"Alice, are you ready? We're going to end up late if you don't hurry up."
Renfred's voice echoes from the stairs, grabbing her cd player and earphones, the blondie jumps down the steps two at a time to the doorway, the warm air of a summer afternoon enveloping her immediately after stepping through, she already misses the temperature of the house. Adolf's white car is dazzling under the golden rays of the setting sun, he must have cleaned it recently; she settles into the back seat, turns on her record and puts on just one earphone; she wouldn't want her master to scold her for not answering.
Her open window helps her to bear the heat, and she can hear the crickets and cicadas singing. Announcing nightfall, in about an hour's time, her master had told her. The heatwave has forced her to put away her sweatshirts, long T-shirts and leggings, which is why today she's wearing a sky-blue dress, white sandals and a hair clip to adorn her hair and stop the wind from bothering her. She sighs, Adolf talks a lot and yet she can't retain what he says, for a child her age talking about his work is just boring.
"Did you bring a sweater for tonight, Alice?" Renfred turns his head and scans the back seat. "No," the blonde replies nonchalantly, she had better things to do than burden herself with a sweater all evening.
The man sighs, "When are you going to listen to me? It's going to be cold tonight, you're going to get sick. "Alice shakes her head, watching the landscape go by rather than her master staring at her in the rearview mirror.
"It's crowded!" Adolf notes as he watches the crowd make their way to the festivities, night had almost fallen, the last rays of sunshine just enough for them to make their way to the artificial lamps; a cool breeze could be felt and Alice shivers, but tries to hide it. The girl follows the two men closely; during a small debate between the adults about eating before or after the boat parade, they watch other children her age playing tag, she thinks to herself how stupid they are to play such childish games even though she herself has never taken part in such activities. A tap on her shoulder attracts her attention, and with a wave of his hand Adolf asks her to follow him and leads her to a bench on the river bank where the boats will be paraded. Mikhail gives her his phone to keep her occupied until the show begins.
Alice had to admit she'd never seen anything like it, the sculptures composed of flowers of all kinds, with lighting placed to compliment them, all bearing different themes; the farm, books, music, board games... Each of the works had taken months to complete, for her part, Alice can't remember ever having put so much effort into anything. She glanced at her master, his face lit up by a passing boat, he wasn't very expressive, but she noticed a peaceful expression like she rarely saw, maybe this is what he looks like when he's happy.
"I've got the munchies! What about you?" Adolf stretches once out of the crowd, "There are food stalls all around us, what are we eating?" Adolf turns to look at Renfred, Alice does the same, she feels too shy to give her opinion without consulting her master first. "Why are you looking at me like that ? Eat what you want!" Adolf sketches a smile seeing his friend caught off guard, despite his combative air, he didn't have the mentality of a leader and feels embarrassed when people rest their decisions on him.
"Hmm, do you want a hot dog Alice? I've seen people walk by with them and they look quite filling." Adolf offered as he bent down to the girl's level, hands on knees, he's not good with kids her age, but he was doing his best to put her at ease. " Why not. " the blond girl shrugged, once again sporting a nonchalant tone without really knowing why, she was no longer among the street rats of her former life, yet she was still wary and didn't like being out in the open, she was afraid that people would use her emotions against her, that they'd think of her as weak, even for something as ridiculous as expressing her joy at a good meal, well... Her stomach doesn't ask so many questions and approves the proposal, Alice taken by surprise, looks down, embarrassed.
Adolf couldn't contain himself from laughing, and even Mikhail smiled slightly, touched by the child trying to be rebellious, but betrayed by herself. "Three hot dogs, please! Renfred, do you want me to pay for the three of us?" Mikhail refused as Alice expected, however, she thought she heard Adolf manage to negotiate to pay for the desserts, while her master would offer the desserts, she found it hard to hold back the conversations due to fatigue, she should have been in bed two hours ago and it took considerable effort to keep her head up; she felt like resting on her master, but didn't dare to do so.
"Here Alice, it's very hot so be careful not to burn yourself." Renfred gently places the hot dog in her hands until he's sure she's holding it securely, "Shall we sit over there? "Adolf nods in the direction of the benches set up so that the fireworks can be seen. The hot dog is better than Alice had anticipated, and she can't help but smile with each mouthful as it soothes her appetite. Again, she glances toward her master, but he notices and turns to her. "You're cold, aren't you? I told you to take a sweater, you'll get sick."
"I'm not cold..." The girl retorts, just hoping her master doesn't have a lie detector spell in his pocket, otherwise she's screwed. " You've got goosebumps, Alice. " She decides to just ignore him, she won't get sick just for that.
"Well, I'm off to get dessert. Churros to share between the three of us, how's that Adolf?" Adolf approves with a thumbs-up, unable to answer because of the huge mouthful he was chewing. Just as Renfred finally shows up, the first firework goes off, a green one, Alice has never witnessed anything like it, and the loud noise of the explosion startles her, "It's nothing Alice, you'll get used to it." Her master holds out a chocolate-covered churro, she bites into it before thinking she should probably take it in her hands, she doesn't feel as tired as before and swings her legs, proud to have beaten the fatigue, she couldn't say the same about the cold, forced to put her hand in front of her mouth to mask the chattering of her teeth, she'd hate to prove her master right.
For the first time in her life, she was able to witness the famous grand finale of a fireworks display, the missiles launched as if the technicians had forgotten to unpack another box, however it worked, Alice wasn't interested in knowing; the sky was so bright it looked like day, colour and pattern in the dark blue of night, bursting forth without wasting a second, this time Alice didn't turn to look at her master, too absorbed in the spectacle before her.
The show over, the crowd is already forming to head for the exit. The young girl is so tired that she can't walk upright any more, she has no choice but to hold on to Renfred so as not to fall and get lost in the crowd; he himself is very careful to keep her behind him. Finally arriving at the car, Alice makes a last effort to climb into her seat and put on her seatbelt, puts on her two earphones, but turns down the sound of her music, which seems too loud after so much sound stimulation; Adolf starts the car and long minutes pass before finally reaching a smooth road, people and other vehicles crossing on all sides to get home. She hears the two adults chatting, but can't hold back a single word. The soft warmth of the car, the soothing music and the voice of the man who took her under his wing take her to dreamland, and despite a fierce battle to stay awake, Alice drifts off to sleep.
" ... Hmm? " Tapping on her shoulder brings her back to reality, her master's lips move, but she can't hear his words, " Alice, we've arrived, get up, you need to go to bed. " She rubs her eyes and gets out of the car, she doesn't feel any more rested after her nap and her mind is confused. Renfred thanks Adolf as she heads for the already open front door, following only the call of her cozy bed, she hopes her master won't hold her lack of politeness against her, although Adolf probably understands the reason; she stands against the apartment wall and closes her eyes, her head is spinning, is this normal when you're tired? Mikhail joins her and helps her up the stairs to her room; she doesn't have time to pick up her stuffed toy before her body is too heavy to move, and she falls back into a deep sleep.
Alice wakes up with a splitting headache, glances at her alarm clock, it's midday; she never gets up this late. She can smell today's meal being cooked by her master downstairs, which smells strongly of onion and beacon, it must be the soup Renfred regularly concocts. The little girl strokes the fur of her teddy bear and smiles, but this action provokes a wave of pain caused by the migraine, and she slowly gets up and sits on the edge of her bed. It took her a few minutes to get up; she felt hot and everything seemed to be spinning or blurred, she wasn't sure. Alice painfully reached the bathroom, she looked at her reflection in the mirror to see a reflection as pale as a sheet of paper, except for those dark circles that would give the impression of having taken a hit. "It's quite familiar..." She said to herself, bringing her fingertips close to her discoloured skin; she had the impression that the contact would be painful, like all the other times she'd woken up with a black eye, but felt no pain.
"I've got to hide this!" Alice turns on the tap and splashes cold water on her face for about ten minutes, which seems to be fruitful seeing her face return to normal. Her voice is grainy, broken, she drinks a little tap water to soothe her burning throat, if she doesn't talk much nobody will notice. Imagining her master saying " I told you so! " makes her shiver; she hates being wrong, especially as he had warned her. With a final comb through her hair, the blonde begins the long descent of the stairs, and as soon as she places her first leg on her next objective, the 3rd step, she hears her master's voice calling out to her: " Ah! Alice, I was just going to look for you. Dinner is served, I'll wait for you at the table. "
And just as quickly, he's back in the living room, deep down Alice would have liked a little help, for him to encourage her and take her hand, to look after her. Her heart sinks, what's wrong with her? She's never needed anyone's help, is it the disease that's weakening her psychologically? Alice has to admit she's never felt so helpless in front of a stairwell. Using both arms to hold on to the railing, she closes her eyes and cautiously puts one leg down at a time, her vision blurred, she operates better without seeing anything. The girl hurries down before her master comes back for her; finally, her foot touches the ground, she opens her eyes and heads for the table.
With Renfred busy serving soup into their respective bowls, Alice remains focused on her next objective and second challenge of the day: the chair. She collapses onto it and almost miss, Alice joins her arms to form a cushion and block the strong white light of the living room, everything seems to be too much, the sound of dishes clattering, the brightness, the smell of food that usually whets her appetite...
"Are you all right? Did you catch a chill?" Her master's voice doesn't exude much concern, but he's always been an inexpressive person, so Alice shakes her head rather than talk too much, she can just pretend she's still tired. "I'm tired, 'want to sleep again." The girl does her best to look drowsy rather than ill, but her master looks at her dubiously. "After sleeping so much? Do you hurt anywhere?" He says, placing the bowl and spoon in front of the girl, the two objects clattering together, a shrill noise resounding, Alice refrains from reacting, which would certainly confirm her master's suspicions. "Nah, I got nothing." She looks to the side, hoping that a little of her usual mood will dissuade Renfred from investigating further.
They eat in silence, and Alice goes to the bathroom so as not to have to stand the noise of the dishes while her master clears them away. She thanks him and rushes to her room, sprawls out in bed and closes her eyelids, her headache so strong that she holds back her tears. After an eternity of staring at the nothingness in her eyes, her mind drifts off to sleep. When she opens them again, she can see the rays of the setting sun from her bed, her alarm clock telling her that in two hours it will be time for dinner. Alice feels even worse, although her headache has eased a little, her body is boiling after staying under the blanket too long; she throws it off the bed and rolls onto the cool side of her mattress.
She has to find something to occupy herself until tonight, so she grabs a book from a drawer in her headboard, but puts it down immediately after reading two sentences. She doesn't have the strength to get up to reach her games in her closet, so she hugs her bear and makes up stories with him. The blond girl feared that time would pass slowly, but with the help of her best friend, the brightness of her room quickly faded. Soon, the only light in her room came from the living room, where Renfred was no doubt preparing today's last meal. No sooner had she finished sighing than she heard her master knocking at the door.
"I hope I'm not waking you abruptly, dinner is served. Come and eat before it gets cold. " Her master's silhouette remains motionless for a few seconds, as if to make sure she hears the little girl get up, then she hears his footsteps coming down the stairs. Alice cuddles her teddy bear one last time before stepping out of the door and heading for the living room, where the same smell as at lunchtime emanates from the kitchen. Renfred observes her throughout the meal; should she have cleaned her face like she did this morning? With dinner over, Alice helps to clear the table, thinking she's feeling better, when all of a sudden waves of violent migraines hit her head, her vision blurring and spinning more than she's experienced so far, Alice falls to the floor and after a few seconds tries to get up again, to no avail.
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Thank you all for reading .
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