Coraline panted, Wybie patting her on her back as she bit back the tears. Fear and worry were eating away at her as she stared at the Norman doll in her hands, the black eyes gazing at her emptily.
"We'll find him," Wybie comforted. He was worried too, But Coraline was a wreck. It'd been a day since Norman went missing and she was running out of lies for his mother. She had her hair in a loose bun, strands of hair falling across her pale face. Her eyes were rimmed with red from the suppressed tears.
To her, it could very well have been a year since she last saw him.
Coraline stood up and began pacing, muttering things under her breath. The cat sat on the bed silently, watching her walk back and forth.
Eventually, he jumped down and pureed against her leg to get her attention. He crawled over to her closet and put his paw against it.
Coraline smiled slightly and opened the door, taking out her old hat and the vest her mom had gotten her after she lost her old one.
"She can't be very useful with only one hand, right, Wybie?" Coraline asked, her voice hoarse. He nodded and stood up, helping her get her boots on as she zipped up the vest. "Let's go check the old well."
She ran a brush through her matted and knotted hair before tying it back in a ponytail.
It was late, so she grabbed a flashlight and the two stayed quiet as they snuck out. She tiptoed carefully down the steps before sprinting towards the trees.
Wybie followed close by her, focusing on the beam of light she shined from the flashlight.
Coraline slowed down once they approached the well. The moon was clouded over, so it was difficult to see before she moved her light to the wooden board.
She sighed in relief and bent down beside it, lifting it up to look inside. It was silent.
"Why did you want to check here?" Her friend asked.
"I just wanted to make sure her hand was still...you know."
Wybie nodded, looking over her shoulder as she shined the flashlight down into the well. It sent chills down her back when she noticed that the light couldn't reach the bottom.
"Let's head back. We can plan something, okay?" He asked, smiling with reassurance. Coraline hesitated before nodding, slamming the board down and standing up. "And you need something to eat as well as some rest."
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Coraline ate her bag of chips, leaning against the wall behind her bed. Sure enough, she was feeling exhausted from her lack of sleep. She yawned and crumpled up the empty bag, tossing it into her wastebasket.
Wybie had gone home to tell his grandmother that he'd be staying at her house again...until she felt better.
Coraline buried herself into the blanket and closed her eyes, hoping to wake up with Norman at home or beside her in the tent. She was terrified and she didn't want to admit it.
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Norman sat at the couch, watching as his Other Mother talked about the neighbors. She smiled brightly and lifted up her arms, explaining how Mr. Bobinski was a talented creator of the circus mice.
Norman focused on her right hand...well, the obviously fake hand that reached towards the ceiling dramatically. He remembered Coraline saying something about her hand, but he was pulled out of his thoughts when the doorbell rang.
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Another short one since i'm feeling a bit sick, but I promise that it'll be better next week. Please remind me to write because I completely forgot to post this one yesterday. Anyay, hope you enjoyed it. And i'd love to hear what everyone hopes to see happen. :)
