A Little Friend

Chapter Four

One day, after classes, something very strange happened. Harriet and I were in the schoolyard, heading towards the gate when she spotted something. She gave me a brief look and pointed with her chin to another student, who was sitting on a bench. I didn't know him – I might have seen him around one or two times – but I couldn't say I gave him much importance. I couldn't say I was interested in anyone at all, but Harriet.

"You know him?", she asked. I nodded. "He's Hughie. Oh, poor thing! Watch him closely", she said and waited for me to do as she commanded.

My eyes moved from Harriet to Hughie. I was not certain what I wassupposed to see, but one detail caught my attention. In the beginning, Iwatched him rocking his body back and forth, with a look of anguish on hisface. But that was all – was it all, really? Watch him closely, Harriethad said. And so I did.

It must have been a couple of minutes since I started observing the boy, but it stretched on forever. I knew I had to see what Harriet had seen, I knew I needed to be patient; some things take time to unfold. As I was staring in his direction, never at him openly, I realized that he became more and more agitated, with hastier body movements and erratic head gestures. Without my consent, I must have taken a step behind in a futile attempt to walk away from that macabre scene I was not prepared for, but Harriet grabbed my hand and prevented me from leaving. "Listen, now", she whispered, her eyes focused on him.

I did not want to watch, nor listen to him. I did not want to be there, but Harriet's persistence made the time freeze. She made the clock stop and there we were, trapped in that cursed moment. As of today, I still feel like I am stuck in there sometimes, unable to move in either direction, helpless to the savagery I was forced to attend. Hughie kept rocking his body more and more uncontrollably to the point where his mouth became numb and he began drooling excessively, everything going on his clothes and shoes; when I thought I saw what Harriet needed me to see, I heard an unsettling voice humming words that made no sense to me at first. Listen, she had told me. So I kept listening, hoping I would make something out of that nightmarish piece. I became so absorbed in Hughie's little song, that eventually I could discern its lines. Up until this instant, there has been not one day Hughie's voice doesn't echo in my ears. He still hums away his pain, with the same words, same melodic line he did that exact day:

"Blood, bones – she's getting close

Fears, tears – there she is

Heart aches – watch your steps

Mouth cries – better shut your eyes" 

I wish I could blame my juvenile age for all the reactions my brain sent to my spine, but truth be told, each time I go back to that moment, I still feel like the devil was speaking through a child. The manner in which his body moved, his grave tone and chilling words – I could understand. Nonetheless, what haunted me the most was the look he gave us right after he finished his stanza. He stopped singing, stopped rocking – stopped everything, as if he became aware of the outside world and, out of everyone in the yard, he stared at us with a sinister expression I could not interpret, no matter how much I wanted to. I could not help, but think about the similarities between Hughie's warning and the shadow that had been following my every move. Unfortunately, I had no chance of unveiling the mystery. Before I could even finish my thought, the boy began to rock again, humming his tune as if he'd never paused. I must have been in a trance, when Harriet grabbed me by the shoulders and shook my whole body. "Let's go, it's enough", she said and advanced towards the gate again; as always, I followed her without hesitation.

To say I was moved by what had happened is too little. Harriet stood silent and I was in my mind, contemplating the terrifying scene I was faced to. I remember I was still in shock when I realized we had taken a path that did not lead to Harriet's house, but to the edge of the town. What to expect, I did not know. I was not raised to ask any questions, either.