Paperthin Hymn

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE

By the time we arrived at the mall everything made sense. I had been hurt and upset and needed someone to comfort me and Lexi had done that in the best way possible. She did and said all the right things. I was having too many mixed emotions and got caught up in the moment. There you have it.    

     Still, as watched her bend over a cage full of puppies, I felt strange. My stomach was slightly nauseous and whenever I looked her in the face my chest felt weird. I coughed, hoping to clear it up.    

     A fuzzy white and yellow puppy skidded across the tile floor to Lexi, licking her fingers and whimpering with excitement. It's whole body vibrated with pure joy. Lexi giggled, tucking a loose strand of mahogany hair behind her ear.

     "Hey sweetie," she cooed to it happily. "I wish I could take you home." She turned her eyes to me. "Aren't they sweet?" 

     "Yeah." I leaned down next to her, careful our arms didn't touch, and scratched the back of a black one. It wriggled under me, trying to nip at my fingers but it's stubby neck was too short to reach. It's fur was so soft. "I like dogs. I used to have one named Jack." 

     "Really?" 

     "Yup. He died a couple of years ago, but he was really old. He knew some tricks; roll over, shake hands, play dead."

         "I always wanted a dog," she sighed, straightening herself and looking around the small pet store. "Or a cat, or a hamster. Any animal, really." Seeing the glass cages of lizards and other reptile-ish things on one wall she made her way there. 

     I followed. "Why didn't you get one?"

      "My omma wouldn't let me." She stood on tiptoe, tapping the thick glass. A lizard with blue stripes down its back glared us a moment before darting into a plant. "Besides, our apartment was too small for animals. Last year I even tried leaving food behind my bed for rats, thinking maybe I could tame them. Like Cinderella." She frowned. "It didn't work, though." 

     I snickered. This girl had the personality of a five year old. 

     One of the workers approached us, a turtle in his hands. He had a round face with a pointed chin that somehow made him look younger than he was. "Hi," he said with a smile. "I'm Yesung, can I help you with anything?" 

      Lexi didn't even look at him, she went straight for the turtle. "Aaw! How cute! Can I pet him?" 

     "Sure." He gladly held the turtle out to her. "Be careful, though. If you're too rough he'll put his head back in his shell." 

     Lexi carefully stroked its head with her index finger, her lips parted in awe. "What's his name?"

     "Ddangkoma," he replied.

     "So cuuuuute," she moaned, bedazzled. "I want one!"

     "They're really easy to take care of," He gazed down at it affectionately. "Just don't put them in water. Ever. I found out the hard way that this kind of turtle doesn't swim."

     "All these animals are making me sad for what will never be," she said, obviously having to rip her eyes from the animal. "Thanks for letting me pet him."

     "No problem," he replied with a nod. "Come back to visit Ddangkoma any time."

     We exited the store and wandered around for a while, Lexi chatting nonstop about things I didn't remember five minutes later. It was so hard for her to focus on one thing. The subject changed often and randomly, going from proper hamster care to one of her neighbor's weird flowers back home to a kite hanging in a store window we passed. I just nodded and smiled, commenting occasionally, getting even more confused every time my heart flipped whenever her arm brushed mine.