The Red Moon

Ch-10:Morning Memories

My heart was beating fast and my legs were trembling.  I took a deep breath. Calming myself,  I raised my right foot onto the first stairs as slowly as possible.  When I reached the upper floor, I tried to remember which one was Eden's room. Every step that I took, I made sure that each and everyone of them was as quiet as the night itself.
When I found myself standing at the front of Eden's room, I raised my little hand to knock on it. I knocked only once and waited. Probably he was asleep, I thought. 
I was about to make my return journey in disappointment,  when suddenly I heard the door open. My voice got struck in my throat as I looked up to see a tall figure standing in front of me.  My hands and feet turned cold. Probably it would have been better to give this scarf in the morning only when I gave John, Richard, Fredrick and uncle their scarfs. Then I suddenly remembered that Eden had left his chair and went back to his room as soon as I started to give the scarfs.
Eden was starring at the lit up dinning room, so as to figure out who had switched on the lights, or, if, by any chance,  uncle had forgotten to switch them off. He didn't notice me at first,  because I was way below his eye level. Then, feeling my presence,  his gaze shifted down to me.
" You, here, at this hour ? " he asked me, confused.
The weather was cold. Heaters are not supposed to be installed in corridors, so there was none in here. I was getting ready to go to sleep, so I didn't have a sweater on me. I was only wearing my full sleeved top and my woolen leggings.  I was supposed to turn on the heater of my room, pack myself into a warm blanket and go to sleep. Instead,  I was here, out in the cold, trying to break a wall of sand. Yes, I know,  throwing a bucket full of water would have done the job, but I thought that the bucket was made up of bricks and cement.
I looked up at Eden with a blank face and just lifted my hand with the scarf in it. He pressed his eyebrows closer and looked at the scarf. He pulled it out of my hand and examined it very carefully. 

" Is this for me ?" he asked.
I nodded
Gently, he placed it around his neck and adjusted it accordingly.  My eyes lit up. I started jumping and clapping in happiness.
Eden smiled slowly and dropped himself down to his knees. I looked straight into his eyes. They had an unusual green colour and his pupils seemed to have a tinge of red. I slowly smiled at him and he smiled back.
"  Now you should go back to bed, " he said to me, " and don't forget to switch off the lights of the dining room. "
I nodded.  He stood up straight and closed the door of his room while I went towards the stairs.
When I heard the door close, I had taken two or three steps down the stairs. I looked back at the corridor,that ran around the house from in front of the rooms of the upper floor. Five of these rooms were supposed to be inhabited. I counted. There were five doors from where the stairs ended from where light was coming out. I thought that there was something associated with lights coming out of rooms at midnight.  Probably someone had told me something like that, but I couldn't remember.  I felt scared for a moment.
When I woke up next morning and went to the dinning room, I was expecting that half- burnt bread and chilled milk only. Never did in my wildest dreams did I imagine what I saw on the rable that morning.
There laid on my plate, in front of me, two sausages,  a full boiled egg, cut in half and salt sprinkled on it, two bread toasts and mushrooms,  served hot with a cup of warm milk in a glass. It seemed steamingly delicious in that cold weather.  As I sat down to eat, every bite that I took melted in my mouth. It felt like home for the first time.
" Delicious! " I screamed and looked up at uncle.
" Not me, " said uncle, and enthusiastically pointed at Eden, who gave a confident smile, looking down at the table.
John cried out , " He has learnt all these things from mother and he won't teach us anything,  that's just so unfair!"
Eden did not say anything.  He just pulled out a chair and sat next to me with a slow smile on his face.
I smiled slowly and then looked at the falling snow outside the window.