Why me?

9

When Sticky heard thunder that followed right after a beautiful light show with lightning, he quickly ran off into his little house and Alice was reminded why she went to the shack at the first place, so now she started lurking around it, but that was quite a difficult task as it was very dark and very hard to see. The only light she had was from the gloomy day that was surrounding her, and even that didn't go deep into the shack so she was forced to touch through it so she doesn't stumble upon anything. "Looking for something?", a child voice suddenly asked her and she jumped, terrified. Her heart rate jumped up in a split of a second and the next moment there was that cold sweat again, running down her spine. "Who are you?", she asked carefully, her eyes quickly turning from one place to another. "I'm Patrick", said the child voice and then giggled. Alice let out a cry when she realized it was the same giggle she heard the first day there. Suddenly, a little boy about Alice's age stepped out of the darkness into the light that was shining from the outside, so Alice carefully examined him. He had a swollen face as if he had been bitten by the bees a thousand times and his eyes were barely visible, but she could make out that they were dark brown. He was wearing trousers and a blue t-shirt that had stains on it, as if he had been bathing in mud and mucus. Something was dripping down his arm and when he saw that Alice noticed, he quickly hid it behind his back. "Sorry 'f I scared ye", he said.

"Um... It's okay, I guess. Who are you?"

"I told you, I'm Patrick".

"Okay, let's try another question then... Where did you come from?"

"Er... Well, it says Sacks", as Alice couldn't quite understand what he was saying, she just assumed that it was the name of his village or his father.

"What are you doing here?", she asked again, trying to get out as much information as she could, but it seemed that the boy wasn't all in for it. "Just thinking. And playing".

"Playing what?" Damn, Alice thought to herself, I just bored myself with these questions.

"Um... It's a complicated game. You wanna play with me?", he asked and Alice shook her head. "Fine, then, your turn will come". Alice pretended that she didn't hear it, but she was certain there was something wrong with the child. "Can I get a hug? You know, hugs make kids grow". Alice turned to him and looked into his eyes that had no shine, they almost seemed as if he never had a reason for a spark of something that made him happy. "I don't know you. Plus, you shouldn't be here, go home", Alice replied.

"Oh, please, just hug me! I need a hug! I need it!" Alice raised an eyebrow. "Fine then. Come here"

"No, you come here. Closer to me. Then I promise I'll go home and won't bother you again... At least not today. You seem like an interesting player that I could use in my game". He pulled Alice closer and put his arms around her, then gently squeezed her. Alice could smell the horrible odor of his clothes and she could feel his ribs underneath her fingers. He's even skinnier than me, she thought as she let him go. "Here's the hummus you've been looking for", he pointed at a bag near his legs. "Okay, bye now!" Alice watched him run out of the yard and then picked up the hummus bag. "This is going to be a long day...", she murmured.

                                                                                ***
When she returned to the house where Berta was sitting on the couch, reading a magazine, she felt great hunger arise from her belly that groaned. "I didn't know there were kids in this village", she said.

"Well, there aren't. You're the only one".

"Then he must have been from another".

"He?"

"I've met this boy, Patrick. I think his last name is Sacks, but I'm not sure".

"Patrick Sacks? Don't you know?"

"Don't I know what?"

"He died three years ago".