[ partly dialogue ]
[ stand alone ]
// previously known as "Hey Neighbor | A Dialogue Story\\
When a mute foster kid moves in next door to a deeply insecure homeschooled girl that lives in the middle of nowhere, them meeting is slim even when the cl...
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"That one kind of looks like an elephant." Willa's index finger points towards the sky at a cloud forming above them. "Or maybe...maybe like a baby playing the trumpet. What do you think?"
She sits up on either hand to squint at the notepad Jasper shoves in the air from his laying position on their soft grey blanket. "Is that a...a beetle—no wait. A frog wearing heels?"
He rolls his eyes and lets the pad fall over his face.
"Oh come on, how am I supposed to know what that is? That looks nothing like the cloud."
Ping!
|| message from: Jasper ||
maybe it's the bug i've been watching crawl over your shoulder for the past ten seconds
the world may never know
WIlla's body freezes. "Jasper get it off. Get it off. Get it off right now. If it's a spider—I'm gonna freak out."
He throws his head back in a mock laughter and for a few seconds, she forgets about the bug until a tickling sensation starts making its way from the end of her shoulder to the nape of her neck. "Jasper, it's moving! Get it off right now or I swear I won't ever make sushi for you again."
The smile is still evident as he shakes his head, scooting closer until they're only a few inches apart. He takes the tips of his fingers and lightly brushes them over her skin. She has to hold back the shiver that desperately wants to react to his touch.
"Did you get it?"
A sigh leaves him and he nods, hesitating before scooting back.
She lets her gaze fall to the blades of grass tickling her feet while a sudden sadness creeps over her mind at the loss of warmth.
"Hey Jasper?"
Ping!
|| message from: Jasper ||
yeah?
"Do you...do you believe in an after? Like after we die, there has to be something, right? It's not just a dark void for all eternity?"
i haven't thought about it much
but i would like to think there's something
i'm sure there is
"Jasper?"
He looks up from his phone at the wobbling tone in her voice.
"I-I'm trying to be strong but...I'm so f...fucking terrified. Some days I thought it would be better if I were dead just because of all my mom has had to go through—and I know that's not right and I know she loves me but the bags under her eyes..." Willa turns away. "I've never seen her more exhausted before. This isn't fair to her."
A moment of silence goes by. There's not the sudden blip of a message on her phone, only the sound of wind chimes.
"I don't want to die. I-I don't...I don't want to die—"
She gets engulfed by the embrace of his arms. They hold her loose at first as he waits for some kind of repulsive response, but all Willa can do is sink into him and the moment sobs start leaving her lips, they tighten instinctively, wanting nothing more than to protect her from the world.
Jasper so badly wants to tell her that everything will be okay, he even opens his mouth, stammering on what to say but inevitably, after not speaking for years, nothing makes it's way out. All he can do is hold her until it gets too cold, until the stars come out, until she silently falls asleep in his arms from exhaustion. He'd love to see her eyes flutter close as a piece of hair falls over her face just so he can move it to the side. Any reason to be near her.
If only it weren't for these reasons...
🥀
Voila! Another update! And only two days after the last one, I think. If not, my bad haha. I was waiting until my next day off of work to write this and publish it.
This is the first chapter where we've run into him actually trying to speak, and the reason was for her. He wants to speak for her but he doesn't know how anymore. He's mute, but for how long?
Don't forget to
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