Little Miracles

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Sarah had never previously thought of a book as a particularly threatening object. True, one could cut a finger on its pages and the corners of their covers could be potentially harmful, but as far as she was concerned a peanut was more likely to be lethal than a book. However the way the dishevelled angry boy before her was brandishing it, you'd think he could run a man through with the battered copy of The Lord of the Rings.

 Walking towards the black leather sofa, over which the boy was draped, Sarah nearly tripped over a black cable that appeared to snake from the far corner of the room, across the tiled floors and disappear under the sofa. The boy glared at her like a coiled snake as she made her way towards him.

"My name is Sarah, what's yours?" she asked, bending her knees until her face was level with that of the hunched glaring boy. The boy looked like an old man from his posture despite being, Sarah judged, no older than her.

 "My name is not important." hissed the boy in reply, his voice had surprisingly good diction and clarity for someone who looked like a drunk beggar.

 "No and neither are you," cut in Sarah before the boy had a chance to continue, "Now move over, I want to sit down on this sofa too."

 The boy sat in silence for a second, blinking in surprise at the fact someone had challenged his absolute sole ownership of the IKEA store owned communal four person sofa. His frown deepened as he comprehended this unexpected turn of events.

 After a moment of stunned silence he began to rise slowly, with the reluctant speed usually only mastered by molluscs and rock formations. He slowly tensed his right arm which gripped the battered book, and hissed "Do you believe in gender equality?"

 "No." replied Sarah, enjoying the look of confusion which materialised on the boy's face. No doubt he had intended to shout a battle cry of agreement which somehow justified hitting a girl with a book.

"No?" whispered Pax in disbelief, this was not going according to plan. The strange girl whose name he had already forgotten had given him an unexpected answer, now his right hand was frozen mid swing and the words, "So do I!" had died on his tongue.

"No," continued the girl, an infuriating smile on the edge of her thin lips "I believe women are infinitely superior."

"Well consider this a counter argument!" shouted Pax, swinging the battered copy of the Lord of the Rings. People often noticed the book was battered and damaged, they just never thought to wonder how many people it had battered and damaged.

 In an instant the girl had blocked Pax's arm with the her left hand and another instant later the girl's right hand smashed into the bridge of his nose.

 Sarah watched a thin red trickle of blood creep timidly out of the unconscious boys nostril. Perhaps it had been a little bit of an overreaction, she thought as she wiped his grease off the palm of her hand. She slowly got up and headed for the hot water dispenser, mugs and tea bags at the other end of the food court.

 By the time she returned with two hot mugs of tea in her hand the boy was stirring. He blinked, then slowly opened his eyes, squinting at the comparative brightness of the interior lights.

"What's your name?" asked Sarah again.

Dazed and not yet fully awake the boy replied, "Pax."

"Here, have some tea." said Sarah softly, like someone attempting to comfort a child.

 The boy, Pax, took a sip, then he blinked as the tea brought him into full conscience. He looked up suddenly at Sarah as if stung, "Get away from me! You're insane!" screamed Pax, eyes wide and blood shot with dilating pupils. lank hair drooping over his sickly pale face, blood streaming from his nose and a bubble of froth at the corner of his mouth.