My New Home

The first of many

I got up the next morning to find a little girl across from me, sitting up against the back of a building. Her hair was matted together by a red, sticky substance. One word came to mind to describe it.

Blood.

I jolted into the back of the box when she opened her eyes not a moment later. She saw me staring at her, wide eyed, and she screamed quietly. She tried to scoot backwards, but since there was nowhere for her to go, she slumped against the wall.

After a few seconds, I had calmed my heart a little.

"Um... Hi. I'm Gregory. What's your name?" I asked her.

She seemed to calm down, but she was still on high alert. She muttered something inaudible and I asked her to speak up.

"Penelope. Call me Nel for short."

I nodded and relaxed a bit more. I was trying to get her to calm down a bit more, but a small part of me knew there was nothing I could do.

This girl was my age, and definitely just as traumatized as I was.

I could tell she had seen some stuff, just like I had.

I was caught off guard by her question. "Where are your parents?"

She still spoke quietly, which I kind of liked. My head was pounding today.

"They're.... Busy..." I lied.

She stared forwards at me and said something that caught me off guard even more than her question had. "Liar."

I looked down. What had happened to them?

"My parents are dead."

"Huh?" I asked, looking up at her.

"They died three days ago. Robbery gone wrong. When I looked at the man who did it, I told him I was sorry for what this world had done to him. He started crying and left," she paused. "What's your story?"

"I... I honestly can't remember. I know what happened, I remember being there for it. But I can't think of what it is."

She inched forwards and relaxed a bit.

"Your brain. It's not letting those memories through. You've blocked them off so as to not traumatize yourself, like you were when it happened. You're forcing yourself to not remember."

I looked at her confused, but then had a thought. "Wanna live together? We can be like roommates."

She smiled a little. "That would be nice."

I stood up and grabbed my Giraffe. I walked behind her and put him in the hole in the side of the building.

I grabbed Foxy and decided to take him on an adventure today.

"Let me show you around," I said.

I walked around town showing her the best trashed-food locations, the best places for boxes, even the general store that gave out free newspapers.

"There's one more place I want to show you, but first we're gonna have to get you washed up. Can you swim?"

"Yeah, a little," she said.

"Great." I smiled back at her and took her to the state forest nearby.

I stepped under the waterfall and ran my fingers through my hair. Then I stepped out and urged her on to do the same, but silently.

She stepped under and ran her fingers through her hair. The blood ran out and her hair started to unstick.

She stepped out and I grabbed her hand. I led her back to the general store and said hi to the man at the counter.