Stars' Song: Clef

Chapter 13 : Cogency

13-1

Scratch. Scratch. I tried to climb a tree, carelessly digging my nails into the trunk and clawing onto the bark—the hanging apples seemed to have piqued my interest. At the branches of the tree was the tweeting of birds. The edges of my fingertips brushed against the arms of the tree, eliciting the birds to fly off. The tweeting vanished and was replaced; A faint sobbing took the place of its predecessor.

"Hmm?" I turned in the direction of the cries. I dug under my fingernails to remove any tree residue as I ambled towards the wailing. The grass tickled the side of my feet—a downside of sandals. The voice was hidden behind a thin line of bushes. I penetrated the wall of shrubbery and pushed it aside to see a minuscule figure kneeling on the ground.

"Hey," I called, although the person was already staring at me as I did. Perhaps the rustle of leaves alerted them. I inched closer to realize it was a young boy. "What's wrong?" The eyes returning the stare were watering.

When I interrogated him, he lowered his head and hid his expression from me. As I squatted in front of him, I spotted three claw marks on his forearm. Coming out of these wounds was fresh blood.

"O-oh! Uhmmm!" I brought myself up to my feet, shocked by the sight of red. I contemplated our surroundings, thinking of any possible solutions. Accepting my incapableness, I offered him my hand. "Is it okay if ya come with me? My mom will patch ya up!"

He snuck furtive glances at my palm, his hesitation emitting from his shivering frame.

"Don't be scared! My mom makes the best food!"

Thinking about it now, the things I said had no correlation to each other. What was I thinking? Despite my convincing statements, he kept quiet.

"U-uhm... p-please come with me. You're wound might get worse." I brought my hand closer to his.

Our eyes met momentarily. After a while, he raised his uninjured arm to wipe his tears off and grab my palm. As our hands clasped together, I dragged him upwards to help him on his feet. Without wasting any moments, I ran and led him back home.

"A-ah...!" He yelped.

I should've apologized to him back then. Suddenly running like that, he probably thought I was kidnapping him. I really like to run, huh?

"Don't worry! It's really, really, close!" I assured as we took giant leaps. After a couple of steps, I twisted the doorknob of the main door and pushed. "Mom! I'm back!" I brought the boy to the middle of the living room and scanned the area for my mother. "Mom! Mom~!" I turned to the kid beside me. "Take a seat at the couch, 'mmkay? I'll find the thingies." Our hands parted as I ran to the kitchen.

Some counters were above my head—even if I stood on the tip of my toes, I couldn't reach the handles. Luckily, the medical supplies were at the bottom drawers. I returned to the boy with two clean cloths, bandages, and a disinfectant.

"I wonder where mom is... Maybe she went outside to buy somethin'," I said.

I knelt before him and took a closer inspection at his wound. The middle claw mark seemed to be deeper than the others.

"This might hurt a little, 'mmkay?" I informed. As soon as I received a nod, I wiped off the blood with a clean cloth, his eyes closing tightly in response. "What happened?" I asked while I tended to his wounds.

"Cat..."

His voice was smooth—In spite of its shakiness, he sounded charming. His voice wavered, yet I didn't know if it was because of the pain or shyness. I caught onto his pusillanimous and subdued nature in an instant. No doubt he was afraid of me, although it was understandable since I was messing around with his wound. In the back of my mind, I realized I was having fun. It hasn't been a whole week since we've moved into this neighborhood, so simple things like this were enough to make my heart pound in excitement.