Such A Small Thing

Pages 16 and 17

I sit up and realize that Garry's coat is on me, covering me like a blanket. I look around. There is a tall bookcase in the middle of the room and a door on the other side of it.

I hear what sounds like pages turning and look towards the bookshelf. Who's behind it I wonder? And where's Garry? I'm sure he wouldn't leave me in here by myself. He hasn't let me leave his side since I found him. But what if I'm not alone? What if I am? What if whatever is behind that bookshelf is-

"Oh! You're awake!" says Garry, walking towards me from behind the bookshelf. I was panicking for no reason. I let out a sigh of relief.

"You fell asleep as we were going up the stairs. I was worried that you had fainted or something," he says and lowers himself down to my height.

"Sorry," I say, looking down at me hands. I feel bad anytime I make anyone worry.

"Hey, it's okay. I know you're fine now and that's all that matters."

I look up at him.

"Take a look in my pocket. There's a candy in it if you want it," he says.

I put my hand in one of the pockets on his coat and come out with his petal instead.

"Oh. I guess it's in the other pocket," he says, laughing at his mistake.

I put the petal back in his pocket and put my hand in the other one. My fingers close around something that crinkles and is shaped like an oval. I pull it out and see that it's a butterscotch candy.

"I was afraid that I had lost it for a moment there! You can eat it if you want to," he says.

"Thanks," I say.

"You're welcome," he says then stands up and puts his hand on top of my head. "Next time warn me if you're falling asleep, okay?"

"Okay."

He lifts his hand off my head and walks over to the bookshelf again, completely hidden by it.

I look around, sticking the candy in my pocket right beside my petal, and see that the floor is actually carpeted in dark red, and the walls are a dark blue.

It is lit up by the same invisible lights that light up the rest of this place. The door is dark purple, almost black, and closed. The stairs are still there as well.

Such a strange and confusing place this is.

(Garry's P.O.V.)

A few minutes pass and H comes over to me with my coat draped over her shoulder. She takes it off of her shoulder and holds it out to me with both hands.

"Here's your coat back," she says. I take it from her and slip it back on.

"Thanks," I say and put the book I had been reading back on the shelf. I had gotten through three and found out nothing that will help us.

"Should we go?" H asks, looking at me with those big blue eyes again, the same look my little sister would give me when she was frightened. I want to tell her that everything will be okay, that we'll find a way out, but that's a promise I can't make.

"If you want to, we can," I say.

"Well, I don't really want to, but it isn't going to do us much good if we stay here," she says, looking down at the floor sadly.

"Yeah, you're right," I say.

She looks up again. "Does the purple door open?" Something in her eyes tells me that she hopes it doesn't, that she's rather stay here than go an face whatever's out there, and that she knows she'll have to anyway.