Experiment Scarecrow

Tokens of Friendship

The boy made his way to school once again, only this time, he was alone. Grayson stayed home, sick, from school. His hands lightly trembled as he clutched to the straps of his backpack, trying to keep his head low as he grew closer to the school.

"Aw, look who it is. The freak!" a voice called from behind a tree. "Look like he's alone today."

He frowned, trying to move faster before someone grabbed his bag, yanking him backward. 

"Where do you think you're going?" the same boy from before sneered.

"P-Please... just let me go..." the boy pleaded.

The older boy tugged at his backpack. "Pay a toll. Then maybe I will."

He tried to hold back his tears, quickly pulling off his own backpack to search through it, handing him his sandwich. "Wh-What about this...?" he stuttered, watching as the older boy snatched it from him.

"No, no, this won't do. Gimme somethin' else!" he demanded.

Just as the boy began to rummage through his bag again, a fragile voice called from the porch of a home across the street from the school. "You leave that young boy alone!"

The two boys lifted their heads, watching as an elder woman hobbled down the steps of her white porch; her bony fingers gripped onto a cane in which she leaned heavily against.

"What a baby. Granny has to save you." The older boy looked to him, expressing his disgust before shoving him toward the old woman, sprinting back to the school.

He fell to his knees, trying to quickly collect the items that fell from his backpack. Once the elder woman reached him, she did her best to bend down to pick up the remaining items he dropped. "Are you all right?" she asked softly, despite her heavy southern accent. 

The boy stood up to face her.

The elder woman gently smiled in return, her light brown eyes twinkling against her weathered, dark skin and greying, curly hair. His eyes wandered down to her yellow sweater, embroidered with the image of a blue cat playing with a ball of yarn.

He soon smiled in return, nodding as he took the rest of his items she handed him in return. "Th-Thank you."

She gently reached forward, taking his hand in hers. "Come with me. There is no need to thank me. No one should be bullied, especially not like that," she replied, slowly leading him back to her porch.

He willingly followed her, although glanced back toward the school, dragging his backpack along with him. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"I'm going to get you a sandwich since he took yours. Now, you wait on out here, ok? I will be right back," she explained, hobbling into her Victorian-style, sky blue home.

The boy waited outside until the elderly woman eventually returned with another sandwich, and a surprise chocolate chip cookie. "I-I just made these. I figured you may want one too. I know I would." She winked with another smile.

He couldn't help but giggle, taking the separate baggies from her. "Thank you. What's your name?"

She smiled. "You can call me Ms. Thompson. And if those boys are ever picking on you again, you let me know and I'll give them a good beatin' with my cane, you hear?"

He nodded, moving forward to wrap his arms around her in a hug. "Thank you, Ms. Thompson. Thank you."

"Oh... there's no need to thank me. Now, you better get on back to school. You don't wanna be late," Ms. Thompson said, ushering him with her hand. 

He nodded, bounding back down her steps, racing across the street and to the front doors of the school. But he couldn't help but pause, looking back at her in which she waved to him. He smiled, waving in return before slipping inside.

Perhaps there was someone in this world, besides crows, who wanted to be his friend, and who truly cared for him.