The Fire Inside

29. Duck, Duck, Goose!

"Hey! Why don't you guys ever pick me!"

"Because. You're slow. You're gonna end up crying!"

The little blond girl began to cry. She wanted to be chosen. She wished she could run around her friends and chase the one who decided to make her "goose."

"Pick me! Pick me! Pick me!"

"Ok! Fine! We'll pick you!"

That quieted the girl down. She smiled as she waited to be called on, but little did she know her friends would never pick her.

As the sun began to set, the group decided to break up and head home. The kids ran towards the scattered homes across the plains. Their village glowed in the sunset and reflected how they felt—euphoric. As children, they had no responsibilities, no reasons to work, and could play all day long. It was their childhood after all. Even their parents didn't want to ruin that.

As one of the kids ran towards his home, he was grabbed by a taller individual. Freezing in spot, he looked up to see a young male around his age, although a few inches taller.

"Where's my sister?" The boy asked.

The shorter kid looked down.

"Where's my sister?" He asked again.

"Back in the fields."

"Why isn't she with you?"

"We were playing hide & seek. We looked for her, but she wouldn't come out."

"So you left?" The boy asked incredulously.

Before the younger could respond, the older ran towards the field of grass. He watched as more kids his age ran towards their homes laughing and smiling. They didn't seem to care about their missing friend. As the young boy ran, his heart pumped in fear of what may have happened to his sister. Was she ok? Did she get hurt? Lost? He finally stopped next to a huge tree in the center of the fields. He heard whimpers and began searching again. He called out her name as he searched every nook and cranny. He finally found her tangled in a thorny bush. Gasping at her state, he quickly helped the sobbing girl up and out of the bushes.

"Julien!" She wailed into her brother's shoulder.

Julien rubbed his hand against her back to sooth the pain coursing through her body. He saw a few thorns litter her arms and legs as she was wearing a little dress. He pulled a few out, but decided to stop when she started shrieking. He kneeled down in front of the girl and helped her onto his back. They were the same age, but Julien was noticeably taller. He walked back towards the village, trying his best to make sure the girl on his back wasn't uncomfortable. By the time they reached their front door, his sister had fallen asleep. Julien sighed as he noticed that the poor girl had cried herself to sleep. He placed her gently on a cot and sat next to her. He ran his fingers through his hair as he watched her breathe in and out.

"You seriously need to take better care of yourself."

As he removed his hand, her hand grabbed it. He flinched at the unexpected touch and looked at the tired girl. She gave him a smile before sitting up.

"Thanks Julien. You're the best."

"I just walked you back," Julien shrugged.

"No way. You saved me as usual!" His sister gave him a toothy grin.

"Cut it out! You should be the one taking care of me! You're older!"

"By a minute! Besides, it's not my fault the others are mean to me. You wouldn't understand. You don't have friends," the girl pouted.

"Dakota!"

Dakota laughed before tackling Julien and tickling him. They laughed as they attacked each other and tumbled throughout the room. Suddenly Dakota cried out. Julien immediately stopped and looked at her finally remembering that he hadn't removed all the thorns. He lifted her up and sat her down on the cot once again.

"I'll be back," he promised Dakota.

He returned with a tub of water and a washcloth. Wetting the towel, he wiped off the little drops of blood that dried on her arms and legs. Dakota winced but kept quiet. She began picking at the thorns embedded in her legs at a snail's pace. After a while, the twins finally cleared up the damage and Dakota stood happily with bandaged legs.

"I really don't like my friends," Dakota said.

"Why? Does it have to do with them leaving you behind?"

"The thorns were my fault. I fell into them while trying to find my way back. It's just that, when we're playing, they never pick on me! We were playing duck duck goose and they never chose me!"

"That's because you're a little duck. You're not an obnoxious goose so they wanted to keep calling you duck!"

"But I'm not little! You're literally younger than me!"

"Yet I care for you on a daily basis."

Dakota pouted.

"Ducky!" Julien hollered, "You're gonna be Ducky now!"

"Julien!"

"What? It's cute!"

"Fine then you can be Li."

"Li?"

"Yeah, just Li."

Dakota scrunched her face, but ended up in a fit of laughter with Julien's confused face. Julien ended up laughing as well and in no time both of them were dying in fits of laughter.

"What's going on!" A voice sounded from outside the house.

The twins froze. They looked up to see an older version of Julien.

"Dad!" Julien launched himself onto his dad.

"What are you kids doing!" Their dad chuckled as he watched Julien's unstoppable laughter.

"Just playing around," Dakota said while fidgeting.

Her dad looked at her before walking towards her. Dakota smiled at him before catching Julien's nervous glance. He crouched down in front of her.

"You're not gonna come give me a hug?"

Dakota chuckled nervously before wrapping her hands tightly around her dad. She was slightly shaking without her knowledge, and her dad could feel it. He rubbed her back before speaking.

"So, how'd you get injured?"

He pulled away to see his daughter's watery eyes.

"I-I'm really really sorry!" She said quickly.

Julien face-palmed at how quickly his sister crumbled. She just couldn't deal with their father's straightforward questions. Julien walked over and sat next to Dakota.

"It's not her fault. Her "friends" left her behind. I went and helped her back because she fell into some bushes."

Their dad sighed before pulling his children into a tight hug. They heard a cough and untangled themselves before looking at a young brunette.

"Mom!" the twins cheered.

"I didn't get an enthusiastic welcoming! Why does she?" Their dad complained.

"Because I cook and all you do is go out and have fun."

"Not true!"

"Kids. Does dad work at all?"

Dakota and Julien looked at each other with smirks before turning to their parents, "Nope!"

Their dad sighed before chuckling at his little troublemakers, "Well I guess I can't show you what I've been working on since I don't work in the first place."

"No! Wait! You work! You work really really hard dad!" Julien panicked.

"Yeah! What he said!" Dakota parroted.

"Alright then. Why don't you follow me," their dad said before picking up Dakota.