Paper Hearts ▪ Lams

16

July 28th, 2016

John's Apartment

Senior Year

//trying to remember all good times//

John held his two year old sister as she cried for her mom.

"Darling, Ma is going to be gone for awhile," he choked back tears as he retrieved a necklace from around his neck, "Here, why don't you hold this? Ma is in there."

The little girl took the chain in her small hands and sniffled quietly. She looked at the container on the end of the chain and tilted it back and forth, watching the black dust in it move around with it.

"Ma," the little girl pointed to the container, "Here?"

John smiled sadly, "Yeah, Ma's in there," he pointed to the ashes in the small glass container, "She is the magic dust."

His sister's face lit up and she held the necklace close to her chest, hugging it tightly. John smiled and hugged her tighter.

He perked his head up when he heard a baby crying.

"Baby?" his sister asked, looking around their trashed apartment. The crying got louder, and John picked his sister up and placed her on his hip, trying to follow the sound of the cries.

"Jacky room!" his sister pointed towards the room they shared.

He looked at her expectantly, "Is that where the crying is coming from, darling?" She nodded her head.

John followed her instructions and went into their room, stepping over the loose nails and wooden floorboards that were coming up.

The crying became louder as John made it closer to their bedroom. He looked around the messy place in search of any sign that there was a small child that had been abandoned.

It was suddenly silent as John paused. He looked at his sister with a raised eyebrow and she copied his expression playfully. He chuckled softly.

Then, he saw a flash of blue on the fire escape.

John placed his sister on the bed, the only place that wasn't infested with glass shards and old food wrappings.

"Stay here, okay?" he said. She nodded and folded her hands in her lap obediently.

He walked towards the window slowly, as if someone was going to pop out and scare him at any given moment. He perched his head out of the window and found a baby boy wrapped in a blue blanket. His nose was tinted pink, and there was a worn out bag laying next to him. John noticed that the baby was put under a fan, making him shiver.

John climbed out the window swiftly, mumbling, "Fucking idiots."

He picked the crying baby up and cradled him in his arms, "Sh, baby boy it's okay. You're going to be okay."

He climbed back inside after grapping the bag that was left beside the baby.

"Aw! Baby!" his sister cheered and climbed to the end of the bed, wanting a better look at the child in her brother's arms.

"Yeah," John breathed, brushing the blanket out of the baby's face. John's breath hitched when he did so. He hadn't gotten a good look at the child until just now. John could practically feel his world changing.

"Keep baby?" his sister asked eagerly.

John stared at the baby for a few more seconds before smiling. The child smiled right back at him, reaching his arms out to grab John's face.

John chuckled, "Well we can't leave him outside."

"Yay!" his sister kissed the baby's head sloppily and John laughed.

"What's his name?" she asked, pointing to the baby.

John removed one of his arms from under the small child and opened the bag, only finding some clothes and a few boxes of formula.

He shrugged, putting his hand back under the baby, "I don't know. It doesn't say what his name is anywhere."

"Jack!" John's sister pointed at the baby. The baby giggled and grabbed her finger, putting it into his mouth and drooling all over it, "Ew."

John raised his eyebrow, "You want to name him Jack?" His sister nodded.

"After me?" she nodded again.

John smiled and looked back down at the baby in his hands, softly running the back of his hand over his cheek, "Okay then."

"Welcome home, Jack."