MHA/BNHA and Aftons Oneshots/Story Starters

Animals

Evan frowns at the window. The hummingbird that usually showed up to the feeder isn't here today. He checks the time— 11am. It usually shows up around this hour. "Mom, why isn't the bird here today?"

His mother ruffles his hair. "I don't know sweetie. Maybe it's somewhere else?" She walks away, and Evan frowns. He wants to see the bird!

Lizzy pops out of nowhere and grabs his hand. "Evan! Come look in the garden! There's a cat!"

Evan's eyes widen. "A cat!" He darts after his sister to the opposite window, peeking down into the carefully trimmed garden. Sure enough, a cat with yellow and orange fur is walking around, occasionally disappearing into the bushes. It looks interested in the flowers, sniffing at them.

"I wonder what the cat wants..." Elizabeth murmurs. Evan shrugs.

The cat sniffs at a large, colorful flower— Evan thinks Mom called it 'crane flower' and then stands on its hind legs and bites the stalk, pulling the flower off and immediately bounding away with the vibrant flower in its mouth. Evan and Lizzy stare wide eyed.

"I didn't know cats did that," Lizzy finally says.

"Me neither," Evan replies. "I've never seen a cat do that before."

"Cool."

~~

Mom tucks him into bed, smiling softly and moving to turn off the light. "Mom?" Evan asks. His mother stops, turning back towards him.

"Can you tell me a story?" Evan knows that twelve is too old for this, but he doesn't really care. There's nothing to do in the house other than help his mom with the garden or read the heavy books on runes, and stories are the highlight of each day.

"Of course. What do you want me to tell you a story about?" Evan prepares himself. He's going to ask her this time. He wants to know.

"Will you tell me a story about my big brother?"

Mom looks away. "...I'll get your father. He has more stories about your brother than I do."

She leaves the room and returns a few moments later with his dad. "So, you want to hear a story about your brother?"

Lizzy swings open the door between their rooms. "I wanna hear too!" She jumps back in her bed and looks over attentively.

Their dad shakes his head and smiles. "Well, I'll tell you about what Michael did on his fourteenth birthday."

"Actually, he was only a few months older than you are now, Eliza. He was out with his friends Bennett and Elliott because their friend Jackie wanted to go on a hike with them. All three of them were in the woods for at least an hour, and, well, I wasn't with them. So everything I know about this is what Michael told me.

"Apparently, they found a stream and followed it—he said they did it because Bennett was worried about getting lost so they could follow it back. So they followed this little creek into the woods, and eventually they found a spring. It was deeper than I am tall, according to him, and there was a tree over it. Elliott saw a pretty rock in the spring and waded right in to get it. But there was a root poking out from the tree and he tripped.

"Michael reached out to stop him from falling, but your brother was never very strong or very big, so they both fell into the water. And, well, Michael didn't really know how to swim so the other two had to fish them both out of the water. According to Jackie the spring wasn't very deep, but Michael and Elliott both managed to get underwater. Bennett and Jackie weren't too wet when they got back, but—Michael and Elliott both looked like they got dunked with a bucket of ice cold water, the way they were shivering.

"They actually got sick later, obviously. But Elliott did get his rock, so I assume it was worth it for him.

"So, kids, that's the story of how your brother nearly drowned on his fourteenth birthday. Elizabeth, I hope you don't do the same for your birthday." His father got ready to leave, when Evan opened his mouth for one last question.

"Dad, why are you always the one telling stories of Michael? Why doesn't Mom ever tell stories about him?"

Dad stopped. "Well, you know, Michael was a wild child. He was barely in the house, and your mother and I got tired of chasing after him. So all the stories we have are from what he told us, and he didn't tell them to your mother too often. So it's simply that your mother doesn't have that many stories of him." Father turns off the lights. "Now get to bed, kids."

~~

Lizzy smiles at Evan. "Come on," she tells him. "It's just for an hour. And Mom and Dad are out. It'll be fine!"

"I don't know, Liz," Evan hedges.

"Don't tell me you've never thought of sneaking out before?" Elizabeth asks him. "You have to have at least thought about it. Besides, it's my birthday! My fourteenth birthday! I want to see the spring that Michael did on his birthday!"

Evan bites his lip. "I guess I'll come," he mumbles. Lizzy beams. "Great!"

They creep through the garden, propping the gate open with a large rock on the other side of the wall. "Come into the forest," Lizzy tells him. "I bet it's really pretty from the inside."

———
914 words
7/12