The ABCs of Growing Up

Chapter 1

In the hospital of 439 Mortimer Way there are many floors, and on those floors there are many halls, and in those halls there are many rooms, and in those rooms are many children. From one room, at the end of the long hall, a screeching noise sounded. A screeching noise mirroring that of an eagle gliding through the skies, the air in the form of wind billowing it's wings like a sail. A sound founded of something majestic. However, this screeching sound was not of such dramatic nature. It was merely a child, playing with her dinosaur figures. Currently said dinosaurs were neck deep in a ferocious battle.

"RAH!" Came the shriek again from the little girl's mouth as she threw the rather large pterodactyl figure at a severely disproportionate T-Rex, sending the two dinosaurs flying across the table.

"Oh no!" She cried in an unsuccessful attempt at a smaller, almost pained voice. "The mighty T-Rex has fallen! Defeated by the..."

She faltered off and pursed her lips a moment before her eyes were overtaken by furrowed brows. Her short pigtails bouncing as her arms dropped to her sides, grumbling "Dangit! I forgot what it's called..."

She stood up from her cross legged position, her reason for being in the hospital becoming clear. She had a cast all the way up her left leg, a brace around her waist, and a cast on her wrist. Her injuries were the result of her brother being left alone with her in his care. Of course, he hadn't intended to hurt her. But accidents happen, older siblings become too bold, and the younger siblings become injured. Unfortunately, the accident had triggered a respiratory response in her and she faced an impending corrective surgery.

Despite the fright that she had bottled up inside her, the girl was a trooper. She wasn't about to let this stifle her spirit. The same spirit that allowed her to believe that-because she could not remember the name of the dinosaur she had thrown-the game was no longer entertaining and she required a different past-time. Of course, as any child her age would be if holed up in a hospital, she was extremely restless and she craved adventure. Adventure like in the books she was too young to be reading, but were read to her by her father every night. Her father wanted to raise his daughter like his son and his son like his daughter.

In a lapse of judgement, she hobbled her way too the door and, after some struggle over how to hoist herself high enough, she yanked it open. The hall was empty and smelled strongly of rubbing alcohol. 'Perhaps they rely too much on it.' She mused, tilting her head. Her copper eyes meticulously studied the new environment and she slowly stepped out into the hallway. She looked almost like a rabbit trying to sneak back out of it's burrow after a previous encounter with a hungry wolf. When still nobody jumped out and scolded her for leaving her room she made a quick but halting beeline for the doors that lead to the rest of the hospital (or the doors that lead to adventure as she considered it).

She slowly pushed open the large doors and peeked out, careful not to make a sound. As she scouted the area, she heard a familiar voice coming from down the hall. A soft kind voice. The voice of her favorite nurse. She perked up immediately and felt around in her pocket for the folded piece of paper she had intended to give to the nurse as a gift. When her fingers grasped it she confidently started down the hall towards the voice. As she got closer she heard another voice interacting with that of the nurse. A male voice. He sounded scared and angry.

"No! I am not in need of any further assistance, thanks to your oh so beneficial efforts earlier." The voice was biting and harsh. The little girl didn't understand why.

"Fine. Fine. I'll leave you alone! Just take your medication will you!" Her favorite nurse was exasperated, her voice strained and almost gasping.

The little girl flattened herself against the wall and scooted closer and closer towards the open ward. When her destination was reached she-with great care-pushed her face around the corner and looked in. To her delight, her favorite nurse was in fact there. She was actually just stepping away from a young man who looked angry enough to kill. He had a black undercut and sharp features. He looked like he should be in a movie with other beautiful people, not in a hospital filled with the sickly and the not-so-beautiful. Although he looked upset, the little girl sensed that he wasn't actually that bad.

She didn't trouble herself with him much. He wasn't the reason she was there. The nurse was. She pushed herself off the wall and hobbled her way into the ward, only slightly intimated by the fact that it was lined with atlas a dozen, nearly completely filled, beds. Upon catching sight of her nurse again her excitement got the best of her and she made a run for her. However, seeing as she had a cast constricting one of her legs, that was not the most successful and she was sent sprawling across the floor with a gasp. She was too consumed by pain to notice that her paper for the nurse had flown from her hands. It felt like she had laid there for an eternity, whimpering and trembling as fat tears fell from her eyes before the nurse noticed her. The nurse, a soft young woman with kind blue eyes and a motherly aura about her, rushed over to her and picked her up.

"Katie?" She cried, checking her over and making sure she hadn't worsened her injuries. "Why are you all the way out here? You should be in your room!"

The little girl-Katie-just put her face in the nurse's neck and cried as she was held. She was hesitant in blubbering, "I wanted to see Maya."

The nurse's eyes widened a moment before she softened and smiled a little, "Oh sweetheart...you should've had one of the nurses call for me."

Katie didn't respond after that, just held on tight to the nurse and nuzzled into her. Maya rocked her gently and started back towards the hall, patting her back. Neither realized that, after they passed, the man that Maya had been arguing with earlier was watching them intensely. Well, he was of no consequence to them at the moment.

It took until after she was tucked in her bed for Katie to remember her reason for pursuing Maya. She gasped, "Maya!"

The young woman looked to her from where she knelt, organizing the toys Katie had left strewn across the floor, and smiled an inquiring smile. "Yes?"

"I have something for you! I have something for you!" Katie felt around in the pockets of her pants, scrunching her nose. This time, however, her fingers found no folded up paper. Her face dropped as she remembered that she had been holding it when she fell and it dawned on her that she had dropped it. As she was only a child, this event felt like it would end the world and she teared up. "I lost it..."

Maya noticed the shift in mood and stepped back over, tying up her long black hair as she sat besides Katie. "What did you lose, little one?" She cooed and pulled her into her lap.

"I drew something for you." Katie leaned into her as Maya pet her hair. "A present..."

Maya let out a soft sigh and held her closer, "Maybe I'll be able to find it when I go back to that room?" She knew the likelihood of her finding the gift was slim, but she had to put Katie to bed and it would not due to let the little girl fall asleep distressed.

Katie pouted a little but nodded, grunting in affirmation. The nurse again sighed, this time out of relief for stopping a meltdown before it started. "Do you think you can sleep now?"

Again a grunt.

Maya chuckled softly and laid the child down, pulling the covers up to her little shoulders. "Good. Now, if you promise to go right to sleep I will read you a story." She smiled, speaking in a hushed voice as if it was supposed to be a playful secret.

Katie's face split into a grin and she nodded, whispering excitedly "Yes! I promise!"

She pushed herself further under the covers as Maya got up to get a book from the shelf. When she returned with Katie's favorite story, she proceeded to read it to her and it was not long at all before the child was fast asleep. With such a soft lulling voice, nobody would have been able to stay awake for too long while listening to Maya read. With a final pet of the soft auburn waves and a flick off the lights, Maya made her exit.

Meanwhile, back in the ward where Katie had ventured, the man with the angry voice was wide awake. In his hands he held a paper that looked like it had been folded quite small and then unfolded again. It was Katie's drawing. Most others would have disposed of the paper after seeing what was on it, but this man didn't. He just looked at it. He didn't look quite so angry anymore and perhaps that was good. Perhaps this would be a new start.

For who?

The imagination.