A Special Child

The road

I spent the morning attempting to 'Mono-proof' my home. And by that, I mostly meant turning off any device that could start ringing at any moment, and hiding away my horror movie poster. I didn't want anything in this house to startle my new little guest.

No need to pack a cheap lunch or prepare a gift; if he was really willing to see my home today, I could cook him a real meal! God knows how much he needs one...

So I took the car and left for the junk yard, soon parking into my little hidden spot, and walking up to the fence.

But as I got closer, I heard the sound of men chatting. It was the owner showing some of the scrap metal to a client, I assumed... I couldn't let them see me, it'd be a real pain to find an excuse for my presence. But I was not leaving without Mono today.

I crouched, and quietly moved along the fence, not daring to climb over it at the moment. It shouldn't be too hard to find Mono and get out of here, right...? He seemed willing to leave with me yesterday, he should be somewhere near the fence, hopefully... Especially with these loud men disturbing the peace and quiet of the junk yard.

"Psst!" I heard a small voice amongst the junk, causing me to jump and scan behind the fence, but I couldn't see him...

"Mono...?" I whispered.

Something finally moved, catching my attention. There he was! standing right there among the boxes of old electronics! He blended in surprisingly well. I guess the paper bag on his head was more useful than I thought.

"Hey!" I waved to him with a smile and gestured him to come closer.

He looked behind him, taking a glance in the direction of the two talking men, and quietly creeped to the fence. He looked up at the top of the fence, examining the whole thing. I could tell he was already trying to think of a way to get on the other side without being noticed by those men.

"Hold on." I said, then grabbed the bottom of the chain link fence, and pulled it up with all my strength... The opening was barely enough for someone of Mono's size... or at least I hoped so. "G-go... go!..." I whispered urgently. I wasn't gonna be able to hold it for long.

He tensed up under the stress of urgency, hesitating for a couple of seconds, but knowing he had to act fast, he quickly shook it off and dived down, crawling his way out under the fence.

I let go of the fence with a wheeze, the metal "clank" seemingly interrupting the conversation of those two men. Uh Oh.

Luckily, Mono was already running off into the woods. He knows what's good for him.

Me? I just froze in fear, hiding behind the remains of a car that was sitting on the other side of the fence. I heard the men walk closer, and talk about some "darn racoons"... before they finally walked away.

As if he had a sixth sense for knowing exactly when he should be hiding, Mono peeked at me from behind a tree as soon as the men were gone.

I gave him a sigh of relief and stood up, carefully approaching him until I felt far enough from the fence.

"Hah... So..." I looked down at him with a smile. "Do you still want to see my home?"

He replied with a hesitant nod.

"Aw... You know, Mono, I really hope you can feel safe there..."

He tilted his head. I guess he wasn't sure why I'd say that. But he seemed comfortable around me today, So that was good, right?

"...First, we'll have to ride my car. Do you know what that is?"

He stared at me, and hesitantly pointed at the car remains behind the fence.

"That's right, that used to be a car... mine is less rusty, and standing on its wheels." I explained. "...Eh, I'll show you how we'll ride it when we get there." I said as I finally walked away from the junk yard, hoping we wouldn't have to come back here again.

It made me happy to see Mono follow me, the way he gave me a curious look every time I stopped. I was so glad I made it this far in gaining his trust.

"Oh yeah- did you like the book I read for you last night?"

He thought a moment, looking at me, and nodded.

"You did?~" I couldn't help smiling. "I can show you more books sometimes..."

saying that seemed to give him a small boost of energy. He started walking a little bit faster to stay beside me instead of behind. Was it the books that improved his mood like that? Oh, I really hoped so!

Once we reached my car, I opened the passenger door wide for him to look inside.

"Well, this is my car!... Do you know how they work?"

".....They go places... with... the wheels."

"Well... Yeah! Basically... They can be noisy though. Here, stay right there, I'll show you the kind of noise they make..." I didn't want him to get spooked by the engine when we'd be inside the car. Even though he seemed to have seen a working car before, I desperately wanted to avoid scaring him with something he didn't see coming. Or scaring him at all, period. So I sat in the driver's seat and started the car.

Mono jumped a bit and took a few steps back, before looking at me again.

I tried to give him a cheerful smile and stepped out. "And... Now we just have to sit inside! And I'll take us home-... Well, my home."

He stared at the car, hesitating just like I worried he would... I let him take his time though, and he eventually pulled himself onto the backseat with a grunt. I would have helped him, but, I thought I was still very far from being allowed to pick him up...

"Are you okay?"

He looked around him inside the car, and nodded without looking at me.

"Okay... I'm gonna close the door now, okay...? I'm closing the door... don't get scared..." I shut the door, causing Mono to flinch. I felt my anxiety skyrocket from spooking him like that. I had to stay calm...

I quickly sat in the driver's seat, and turned to check on him. "Sorry... the doors are noisy, too."

He blew air out of his nose. Was he angry with me?? I was so nervous. I hoped for the rest of the day to go smoothly...

"Uh... Listen, car rides can be pretty bumpy. You should hold onto the seat belt, there." I pointed to the one next to him. He glanced at it, and wrapped an arm around the belt.

That was good enough... I already felt bad about startling him with the door, I didn't want to bother him with seatbelt rules too much for now... besides, the streets around here were empty a lot of the time. We were a little bit on the country side after all.

I carefully pressed down on the gas to start as smoothly as possible. I heard a nearly silent gasp from Mono as the car started moving. Taking a quick glance at him through the front mirror, I saw him pulling himself at the edge of the door's window to look outside. I always loved looking at the scenery from a moving car when I was a kid... I hoped he'd like it just as much.

And I think he did. He stared out the window for the whole ride, and only glanced at me a few times, as if to make sure I was still there. He looked calm now.

He seemed to have forgiven me for the startle.