The Eden Projects (Book I)

Chapter 3. So Below.

Kaspers wagon was full. He had used nearly all the money he had been given just hours earlier, Zero was clutching a brand new helicopter toy in one hand and in the other he held a small superhero action figure. It was the kind that kids longed for in drive thru lines. Cheap, but just fancy enough to steal their eyes away from the hefty cost the lump of plastic would incur. It just happened to be sitting square on an endcap at the checkout. How could I say no to him? The toy was quite perfect. With some maneuvering there was just enough space for the hero to fit (albeit sideways) inside of the helicopter. Much to the amusement of Zero who just had to have the small figure. Calling it his new best friend. He had many best friends. All of which were plastic. None of which would make a "good friend" if true companionship is what was sought. But they were good listeners. He would give them that.

You see, there weren't many kids who would ever want to hang out with anyone from the Farrow House, or parents that would let them. Lest they catch some communicable disease; or a lesser demonic entity ferry their souls away in exchange for something as cold and unfeeling as his family. Now that would be torment. Kasper thought of himself as fairly clean in comparison to the rest of its occupants. He didn't have demons, at least, the kind that could do real harm. His were the quiet, malignant sort. He wasn't some wild animal. Wild, well, yes. They all were. But an animal. Not yet. He thought. Not yet.

Not. Yet.

Various canned goods and bottles of juice jostled in the old wagon. He could confidently say it would last them some time given Adam and Eva didn't find it in a ganja-crave.

"Pretty good haul today huh." Kasper pushed the pathetic bike along the sidewalk towards home.

"Yeah, a good-pretty haul." Zero copied back as he slowed to rifle through some of the bags.

Throwing the kickstand down he helped him dig through the bulkiest of them. A small box of animal crackers was the prize. Zero chewed them limb by limb as they walked on. Taking extra care to savor each bite and nibble. Kasper's mouth watered thinking about them. He wasn't hungry, not enough to take one.

"Kassie, what if we eat all this food right now. Then we don't even have to hide it."

"That's just not the way it works..." When Zero called him Kassie, it was somehow less offensive than when others did. He actually liked the sound of it. There was a kind part of Kasper that he reserved for Zero. It was small. But so was Zero.

"But I promise I won't be hungry again for-" He quieted. "- a hundred years plus twelve." He held out his hands, pointing to his fingers. He had held up four. Not even close to the number he was trying for. Education was a loitering pastime that no one from Farrow house gave a second glance. It was pointless.

"A hundred huh."

"Yeah!" He skipped for a moment before pausing to dig out another cracker. He was busy playing with the red rope handle on the box, twisting it around the action figures legs like a snare.

Turning the final corner Kasper unhooked the bike, wheeling it into the brush. With the wagon in tow they crossed the dead lawn and snuck into the backyard. "Ok, this is why we can't eat it all. Your body needs food for energy and we have to make this last so we have energy longer." It was a textbook explanation for- we won't survive without it- but much kinder. "If we eat it all right now then I won't have enough energy to play games with you later." He took the food out and wrapped it in a blanket that sat on the back porch. "...and if mom and dad find this then I can't play anymore for a really long time. Do you want that to happen?" Looping the rope a few times Kasper chucked the end of it up to the roof.

Zero was quiet for a moment before he began again. "No... because of your arm again?"

"Yeah." He remembered the pain of being shoved down the stairs, and hearing his bone snap. "That's why we're gonna hide it."