The Little Harmonious Soul

Chapter 2

Melody had a new hobby over time, to watch Shaun. She was so intrigued by the little boy outside her wall. At times she would sit on top of a shelf so high up that he wouldn't be able to see her. Soon she found out his hobbies as well.

Shaun likes to be in silence or around soothing sounds like the rain, comforting sounds. Melody liked that about him, he wasn't one of the loud humans. She also found out he likes to read a lot, a lot of fantasy stories with happy endings or sorrowful stories that made him cry.

Sometimes he would go outside for hours. He would usually come back with a neat looking rock and put it in his rock collection. Usually he would bring back the small beautiful ones that are either shiny or colorful.

Melody found out that Cara goes out to somewhere called 'school' for hours. She only goes in four days in a row and then stays home three more and then repeats the cycle. She carry's something called a 'backpack' to hold all of her 'homework'.

Melody soon wondered why Shaun didn't go out to places like 'school'. Sometimes the mother did go out, but she waits for Cara to get home from school first to watch Shaun.

Shaun still had school, but he didn't have a backpack like Cara did, or even leave. He did 'homeschool' Melody thinks that's what she heard them call it. He sits down on his bed or in the living room with some kind of flip book, with a glowing side and tiles with letters on them.

Melody's parents taught her how to read and write, but she couldn't make out what the glowing screen said because she never had a good view.

Every time he gets done with it, he grabs a snack and heads into the woods. Melody wish's that she could see more of him when he goes out there for whatever reason.

She needed to identify why she always wants to be close to Shaun. He was a literal giant to her, if he saw her, there's no telling what a 10 year old could do. Children are unpredictable and unknowing. Melody needed to be more careful, her parents taught her better than this.

At least since the new family moved in, she at least had some more food to borrow. Her favorite food to borrow from them would be cookies, wrapped in plastic wrap sitting on the counter. They where so easy to borrow, and they were almost right next to her hidden door.

Other things they had that where very useful, and that she could never find in the woods, is tinfoil, teeny rubber bands, and cereal. They all where sitting somewhere out of sight so she could easily borrow a few and leave without leaving a trace.

The foil can be used to make multiple things, plates, silverware, weapons, etc. The teeny rubber bands where so small she could loop them together a certain way and make a rope. Also they are useful for tying things together.

The cereal was multiple flavors of food small enough to hold in her hands. They where kept in a cabinet like the foil so nobody would see her borrowing unless they needed something from that cabinet, so she usually just borrowed at night.

Soon enough, her sleeping schedule got a bit wonky. Since she borrowed at night, but wanted to see Shaun during the day, she set herself up to sleep the rest of the night after borrowing trips and then wake up to Shaun starting his day.

Since Shaun liked to read a lot at night, he would usually stay up super late sometimes, so he starts his day later in the morning or even noon.

Melody was reminded of her parents daily from one time or another, leading her to be thankful that this family had no pets that would sniff her out or hear her borrowing.

She did know how cats looked and acted, but she has never seen any other pets before. Her parents told her that they've heard stories of borrowers being kept as pets by humans. They don't know who was captured or how long ago it was, but it's one of the many stories passed down through generations of borrowers.

She imagined that dogs looked a lot like coyotes, she has seen a lot of animals in the woods, but at night it's a nightmare to be in, so she avoided going outside after sundown.

Every night, the crickets would play songs to each other, sometimes loud, but sometimes quiet. Melody soon forgot about her guitar as time passed, but her desire for music hasn't left.