KZ's and Dragoln's Short Stories [2022 EDITION]

Ain't a Burden

13.9.22

He kept absolutely still as the footsteps got louder.

Dante was next to him, signing wildly with his hands as he shook and strained with fear. "Is he leaving?" 

Bailey didn't want to think that Dante would be such a burden in this present moment. But having a deaf friend didn't help the fact that they needed to stay out of the predator's line of vision.

"Don't make a sound." Bailey's signs were small and his hands quivered, "he's getting closer."

"You forgot who I am, right?" The taller boy chuckled silently as he pointed at his hearing aids. 

The two became best buddies just over four years ago. Bailey's mother and father told him to dismiss Dante completely, trying to persuade him with the pathetic argument that friendships with the deaf were too much work. But the young teen was determined to make his new neighbor feel welcome. 

It definitely was awkward at first. Dante's parents never thought about offering him speech therapy. Still, that didn't mean his opinions were quieter than everyone else's. His fluent sarcasm was what gave him his personality. They resorted to using text first. But after Bailey had thought the language that required hands to communicate was cool, he worked ever so hard to learn and master it. His dedication was surprisingly as sharp as an eagle's considering the type of person he was at school.

Not quite the class clown, but the one who had the biggest imagination. The one whose creativity put others to shame.

They were very different, one conjuring up one hundred worlds in his head every day and another who'd blow away the minds of people with his sarcastic talking hands. Bailey liked to think they were both madmen with incomprehensible intentions and straitjackets. Dante always shuddered at any idea involving straitjackets. Chasing the thought of his hands being restricted was a huge risk. The deaf boy didn't want to be silenced or voiceless. It was his biggest fear. It was kind of ironic.

Nevertheless, Dante liked what he saw in him and they became inseparable. 

There they were, together now in this boggling quest not to get caught, because something was coming for them. 

Bailey felt as if the walls were caving in every second. He watched many adventure movies about how characters always got stuck in a booby-trapped room with giant stone walls eager to crush them if a trap had been activated. Getting out required quick thinking.

The intimidating husky voice increased in both volume and dynamic as seconds went by.

"Dante…Bailey…I know you're here somewhere…"

Panic started to gnaw at both the boys' guts. 

Bailey was the first to talk. "We need to move now."

"We're totally not going to give ourselves away doing that. Are you crazy!" Dante flung his hands around.

"We're out of other options," said Bailey as calmly as possible. The shadow of his articulate fingers wavered. "He's going to find us."

The boy took notice of his friend's hesitation so he pressed on with a question. "You can run right?" 

"I'm faster than you, you doughnut."

Bailey rolled his eyes playfully in response despite the grave situation they were in. His shoulders were rising and falling erratically and his breath hitched in his throat as he uttered the two words, "then run."

At his signal, they were off. They darted past the corridors and hurried through the abandoned hall in the community centre. Though Dante was ahead by a great deal, he had almost gotten his foot stuck in a loose floor tile. Bailey caught up. But so did the unseen chaser. The footsteps were now pounding against Bailey's ears and it was almost as if Dante could've heard it too. The boys saw a shadow of a figure emerge from the corner.

"Crud. Keep moving!" Dante just managed to shout back.

The other wanted to shout back that he couldn't keep going on. His stamina wasn't enough to keep him running.

So Bailey gave up without Dante even noticing.

Once he did, he turned back only to see that Bailey was leaning onto his thighs to catch his breath. Behind him was a teenager the same size and almost the same age as them. His lips tugged into a triumphant grin and he seemed to be overjoyed with his catch. His arm was slung around Bailey in a friendly manner.

So Dante returned, having retreated from the escape. 

"Okay. You win," he sighed, still panting, "you caught us, Reuben."

"You guys make hide and seek tag sound like a horror movie," Reuben laughed, not forgetting to sign for Dante. "Bailey, you're counting."

The three turned on their phones and opened their group chat where the only recent texts were sent by Ruben. They were a long list of numbers that started from sixty and counted down all the way to one as you got further down the chat.

Bailey's footsteps faded and once he was gone completely, Dante saw the new messages.

'60'

'59'

'58'

So the hiders ran to start their new game.

~