ASUNDER (I) : tmr newt

14: I'm Listening

14 Dawn

This is the fourth sunset I have seen. I slap Frypan over the shoulder as I stare over the Wall. He is laughing and speaking beside me, but I am distracted by the sun, and its beauty.

"At least there was no pig head today." He shakes his head as he laughs.

That much is true, and I let the thought slip out my lips in a tangled giggle. Newt stares at us, the hint of a laugh on his lips, but exasperation in his eyes.

"A pig head?" He asks. "You know, that could be serious Fry."

"They pull pranks all the time." He shrugs, squeezing my shoulder once before looking towards Newt.

The second-in-command doesn't buy it, and I am not surprised he doesn't. Part of me knows I shouldn't buy it either, but that sound is drowned by the adrenaline and thrill of being alive. There is nothing on this planet that can stop me, especially not either of these boys and their worries.

"When did the Runners come back?"

They pause their conversation as Newt looks at me funny. Fry just wears a klunk-eating grin across his face, and I playfully shove him sideways.

"What's your deal with the Runners?" Newt asks.

Fry looks like he is about to speak, but instead he just laughs. I roll my eyes, but back away from the two of them. Only staring, Newt stays stationary, while Fry is too distracted to even know I am gone. These boys will certainly be the death of me, honestly.

I look around, with no signs of the Runners anywhere, I decide I need to find something to do. The short girl is in the garden. She is sitting alone, with a rake in her hand and the sun setting in her curly brown hair. She doesn't turn, or even seem to notice me when I jog up and find her.

"Hey," I begin. I gave up on asking her what her name is a while ago, though I still can't help but wonder. "What's up curls?"

If she doesn't have a name, I have to give her one. So curls will stay for now, until another comes along.

She looks up at me, then down at herself and her own shirt. Her dirty fingers stain the white fabric brown as she examines it in her hands.

"Curls." She smiles as she looks past me. "I like it."

I kneel down, glad that finally something I am doing is working out properly. "Did you eat dinner?"

She shakes her head, as she stabs the dirt with her rake. I've never seen her quite as lucid as this, since she always seems to be staring off into space. This is the first time we have ever been alone together though, so that might be it.

"Yeah," she looks up at me, squinting as the sun fills her eyes. "I did."

She doesn't really talk, but I like her presence all the same. She is silent and reassuring, even if I don't think she sees half the things that go on here. I wonder if she has even heard my name yet.

"I'm Dawn." I tell her, a smile on my lips.

She nods as she thinks. "I guess I'm Curly."

I laugh, shaking my head. For such a quiet girl she is awfully funny. When she goes back to picking at the dirt, I realise that I don't think she is going to come back to our conversation. Wherever she is, is a place that is lost to me. This can't be just from being knocked out to get here like I thought, it's got to be something deeper.

"You managed to get her to talk?" A voice asks from behind me, curious.

I turn and recognise the boy. They call him Zart, and he is keeper of the Gardens. In charge of Curly it seems. I wonder if he knows her name.