𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 || 𝐀 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

02 | a single slip of paper

Him

After bargaining with myself for the hour since I've last seen her, I decide to go for it. I cross the small town we live in - one of the several that houses tens small population - until I reach the familiar road her cottage is down. As I'm slowly making my way there, a million thoughts are running through my head. None of them really matter apart from how much I truly love her, and how long it's taken me to realise.

Finally, I reach her house. I take a several beat walk up to the door, and knock. It takes a few minutes for my mind to catch up with my actions and before I can even think - or comprehend what I've just done - about what I'm going to say, the door opens. The frail blonde woman I hardly know is stood there, one hand still on the door handle, the other on a wooden cane that she's clutching to with seemingly all her strength.

She looks at me for a second, her eyes scanning my entire face before she utters the single word, "Jak ?"

I can feel my expression reflect my confusion as I awkwardly bring a hand up to scratch my neck. "I- er... no, I'm Maynes..." I pause, unsure of if she even knows who I am, before deciding on an appropriate approach. "I... know your daughter, we're..." I pause again, stuttering slightly, "friends... yeah? Friends." I finally decide on.

"Oh... you," she says, her voice sounds fragile, almost like if she speaks too loudly it may shatter. After a brief pause of once again just staring at me, examining my every feature, she begins again, "you look just like Jak."

I let my face relax as I realise who she's referring to. "Oh- no, no! Jak is my... dad, yeah, dad !" I awkwardly try to explain, fidgeting with my flannel sleeves.

After getting no response from the woman infront of me I bring up my hand to rub my eye before deciding not to and awkwardly making a jumble of my limbs. "I- can I see her... please ?"

"She's out," she responses bluntly. Her voice now with a slight chill to it, seemingly not purposeful; she sounds like she's been outside for too long, like she's literally cold and shivering.

I go to turn around but my feet get jumbled and I just reply with, "oh."

The blonde woman infront of me merely nods her head before moving her arm slightly and beginning to shut the door.

I take a step forward quickly and put my boot in between the door and the wall. "No !" I say eagerly before taking as step back as she reopens the door. "I- er... sorry," I mutter, rubbing my neck, "do you know where she might be ?"

She just looks up at me, the bags under her eyes becoming clearer in the light shining in from behind me. "No," she says simply before shutting the door - this time before I can stop her.

"Dammit!" I almost yell frustrated. But, with no knowledge on where she is, I decide against yelling - or looking for her at all - and instead, turn around. A slight hunch to my walk as I make my way through the lanes and back towards the butchers.

When I get in, my mother asks where I went. I brush her off and head up to my room, the
After a quick moments of rummaging, my father pulls out a fairly new looking suit from the wardrobe in my parent's room. He waves it up for me to see before folding it over his arm and crossing the room.

"Ah, here we are, May, my old suit !" He exclaims as he does so. His greying beard raising his face in a gentle smile. "I wore this when I married your mother... I'm much too large for it now," he jokes, patting his stomach.