Fraction

Fraction Chapter 39 - Blue Blood

I shall skip the "As I sat on the mountain and wrote" routine to save both you and my fingers the trouble. I'll get to the point. I'm not good at sloppy scenes that make your heart melt. I have half a mind to just skip this scene entirely. However, since I already gave the green light, I can't just stop this train without facing serious repercussions. I'm just writing this so that you are aware of my disinterest in this matter. So, here goes... and don't go blaming me if it turns out boring...

The little red-haired girl ran under bed and waited for her father to find her. That day, he did not come. After a few minutes, she got bored of waiting and came out of hiding. He was not inside the house. Confused, she ran out to the front yard. No two-legged vertebrates in sight. She ran back to the backyard. "There you are!" she shouted. It was strange to be the hunter for once. She noticed that he was staring at the scribbles on the sand. "Daddy! You're supposed to find me!" she shouted to get his attention. He did not turn to her. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Sapphire, did you write these?" he asked, still staring at the scribbles on the sand. "Huh? That? Oh, I see you doing that with a pen and paper all the time. So I tried to do some myself. Did I make any mistakes?"

"Do you know what you've written?" he asked. "Eh? It's grown up stuff, isn't it? Of course, I don't know what it is..." she replied, "Now come on! I'm going to hide again!" He did not know how to react. 10 years of research and data was all scribbled out on the ground in front of him like it was child's play. She ran back into the house and ran straight into his room this time. Under the bed again. She heard his footsteps nearing the room. She suppressed a giggle as he walked in. He did not approach the bed. He went to his table and sat on the chair. Her smile withered into a frown. "No fair!" she shouted as she came out of hiding, "You can't start working now! You have to play with-" she stopped when she noticed he wasn't working. He was holding up a pen. "Come here my little litchi." he said, holding it out to her. "That's... your pen." she said as she took it. "Very observant." he replied, "I'm giving it to you." She looked at him with confusion on her face. "But you can't work without this." she said while holding it out to him. "Ah, there are many pens in the world." he said, "I can get many pens but this one is special." She nodded and said, "You told me. It belonged to mommy when she was alive so you keep it with you all the time and make sure it never runs out of ink. Why are you giving it to me?"

"She would have wanted you to have it... and since I see you're so great at writing, I'm giving you this pen. Do you like it?" he asked. She looked at it. "Eh? It doesn't look as nice as the stick... but I love it!" she replied. He laughed and said, "Ah, I suppose Nature does have Her own charms... some things even daddy can't surpass..."

"But you are trying to do just that?"

"Yes. Yes, I am. My friends are helping me too. You remember Mister Leo and Miss Rosa, don't you?"

"The guy who grins a lot and the scary lady? Yeah, I remember."

"We're working together on something... Once you grow up, you can help us too!"

"I want to grow up fast so I can start helping you tomorrow morning!"

More laughter. More happiness. For now, this is all the sweet we can all handle without getting diabetes. I am very considerate of my reader's health, after all. Later that night, he put her to sleep and went back to his room to continue his work. I wonder how many of our parents close our bedroom doors, certain in the knowledge that we are fast asleep when in reality, we are not asleep. For there is always more story waiting for those who are willing to stay awake and hear more of it. She thought she heard sobbing. Why would her father cry? He was always happy when he was doing his work. But this wasn't the first time. Enough was enough. "Tonight, I'm going to find out!" she said to herself. She got up and walked to his room. The sobbing sound wasn't there anymore. She wasn't even sure if it was real or if she had dreamt it all up.

She looked into the room through the open door. He wasn't working. He was holding a photo. "Daddy?" she asked. He turned around and looked at her. There were no tears on his face but it wasn't exactly cheerful either. "Are you crying?" she asked. He didn't answer. He rubbed his face and sighed. He then looked at her like nothing had happened. "Why are you up so late my little litchi?" he asked as he picked her up in his arms. "I can walk by myself, you know?" she said, "Hey! That's not the point! I thought I heard someone crying! And why were you looking at a picture of mommy-" She was interrupted by a "Shhhh now... Go to sleep. You won't grow up faster if you don't sleep... and then how will you help daddy?"

"Ah! I'm not sleepy!"

"Shall I tell you a story then?"

"Um... I guess that would help..."

"Have I ever told you about Little Red Riding Hood?"

"What's that now?"

"I am a terrible father. Anyway, shall I tell you about Little Red Riding Hood?"

"Okay!"

There was once little girl named... Sapphire. "Hey! She has my name!" I know. She was very smart and cute, just like you. "Really?!" Yes. Well, maybe not AS smart and cute as you... but close enough. Anyway, everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood because she wore a red hood which her grandma had knitted for her. "That doesn't sound right..." Eh, I don't really remember this story properly. I think it was a hooded cloak or something. Let's just call it a hood for now. Anyway, she, uh... has to go to some place through the nearby forest, for... some reason. "This is not a very interesting story, is it?" No, it is a very good story. I'm just not good at telling it. "Um, I guess I can fill in some details myself. Go on." okay. So, before she leaves, her grandmother tells her, "Beware of the big bad wolf. He will eat you up if he finds you. He will-"

He was interrupted by a beep. He looked at Sapphire sheepishly. She pouted and turned away. "I'm sorry..." he said, "I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow!" She didn't turn around. After a few seconds, she turned to him and said, "Just go. I know the beep means important work. I think I'm sleepy now." He looked at her and made a sad face. "Go!" she said, "Don't worry about this! See I'm sleepy! *fake yawn* I'm so sleepy I could sleep all night!" He smiled and patted her on the head. "You are such an awesome little girl... Daddy is so lucky to have you..." he said and walked away. Amidst the rustling leaves and beneath the prickling moonlight, there lay a girl on a soft bed that night... a girl who slept comfortably so that her father could work hard.

Nothing of note happened the next day. As usual, she woke up in a lonely house. Breakfast was waiting for her to brush her teeth. After that, she ran to the backyard to play around. She then remembered the pen. She ran back into her room to find it on her bed. She picked it up and noticed a few sheets on her table. There was a note. "Try these out. You may eventually like them better than the sand. Love, daddy." She smiled and sat on her chair. She sat down and tried to write something. Nothing. She put her pen on the paper. Blue ink spread around a small area around where the nib touched the paper like blood flowing from a wound and then, spread thinner and thinner until it looked like blue roots were emerging from the blood, reaching out in search of nourishment or like thorny blue vines crawling around in white mist. Still nothing.

"Urgh!" she said and let go of the pen. "It's so easy to scribble on the sand!" she thought. She went to the sand and picked up a twig. Nothing. She was screaming internally. This was not good. Scribbling in the sand was her favourite thing to do. Without that, how else was she going to spend her day? She was alone and bored. Nothing on her mind. She ran back into the house and picked up the pen. She touched the paper with it again. More blood. More roots. More vines. She frowned and then smiled. "Looks like there's something I can do after all!" She touched the paper in another place. Soon, the paper was a forest filled with roots, branches and vines. "Huh? How much ink is there in this pen?" she wondered as she looked at it with curiosity. She then looked down at the blue forest. "I wonder if Little Red Riding Hood walked through a blue forest..." she thought. She then grinned and took another sheet.

"Little Red Riding Hood" she wrote. "There was one a little girl who lived next to a blue forest. She was named after the forest, Sapphire. But everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood because..." And as I sit on my mountain, writing, "She continued writing her story, not keeping track of time, only hoping that the ink in her pen would last till she completed her story..." it appears I have lost track of both my time and my ink...