Behind the Clouds ✔️

000

October 1988

It's raining to the point of nobody wanting to leave their house. A little boy, no older than seven, can barely see through his older brothers' window. A piano sounds as the young boy draws smiley faces on the window.

"Sure I won't get in trouble, Bill?" He says stepping away from the window. His older brother is sitting on his bed, surrounded by tissues and homework assignments from the day before. Bill's friends had stopped by after school to give it to him, one of them being sneaky enough to sneak a few cookies from the kitchen.

"D-don't be a wuss. I'd come with you if I weren't," Bill hacked up some more phlegm, "dying." He finished as he swallowed most of it back down. As he was talking, he was finishing creases on a paper boat.

"You're not dying. Ashton told me how his dad died, and you aren't dying." The young boy said, defiantly.

"There were m-many things w-wr-wrong with that statement. O-one, Mr. Hocks-stetter died in a c-car crash. A-and two, you didn't s-see the vomit coming out of my n-nose this morning." Bill explained, being a little dramatic towards the end.

"That's disgusting," the young boy said, dodging a Kleenex being thrown at him, "Hey Billy?"

"Yes, G-georgie?" Bill sat there, waiting.

"Ashton told me something the other day. Something I didn't quite understand." Georgie fiddled with his fingers, unsure of how to say it.

"Go on," Bill said, noticing his brother's discomfort.

"Well, in class yesterday, we talked about families and this thing called ances-an?"

"Ancestry?" Bill asked, as Georgie tried to sound it out. He smiled brightly, recognizing the word.

"Yeah, that. Ashton drew a picture of him and his sister, but no one else. I asked him after school about it and he said some families are too broken to fix." Georgie's voice went sad at the last part.

Bill sat there for a moment. He knew about Ashton Hockstetter. Ashton would come over to play with Georgie, almost daily. Other days, Georgie would be away at the Hockstetter's house, something that didn't always set right within the Denbrough parents bones.

The Hockstetter's were the family in most of the gossip in school and all through town. From Emmett Hockstetter's death, to their oldest joining a gang, things didn't look so good for them.

"Billy?" Georgie grabbed his brothers' attention again.

"I'll t-tell you later." Silence passed between the brothers for a few moments, before Bill's gaze rested on the paper boat, sitting on his lap. "Now g-g-go on, get the wax."

"I-in the cellar?" Georgie stuttered out. Unlike Bill, this stutter came from fear. Bill had had a severe speech impediment for the entirety of his childhood.

"You want it to float, d-don't you?" Bill asked Georgie. Georgie hesitated, before grabbing his Walkie Talkie and leaving.

As he hurried down the stairs, Georgie could hear his mother, Sharon Denbrough, playing the piano. She didn't notice as he went by, too transfixed by the music.

Going through the kitchen, Georgie came face to face with the cellar door. Almost holding his breath, he flings the door open to open darkness. Georgie goes to turn on the light switch, but comes up short when it doesn't work. The dark basement seems to glare at him, taunting.

In the midst of the quiet, the walkie crackles, making Georgie jump. Through the walkie, Bill's voice is now audible.

"C'mon! H-hurry up!" Georgie scrambles down the steps to the cellar shelf. Shifting through the junk on the shelf, he soon finds the box of paraffin. He snatches it and hurries back up the stairs, afraid to stay down their any longer. He slams the door and runs right past his mother, who now looks up at his fast figure.

Once he hands the paraffin to Bill, Georgie hears the doorbell ring. He dashes out of the room.

"I'll get it!" He yells through the house. Reaching the front door, he opens it to see Billy's friends standing there, alongside two of the Hockstetter children.

"Ashton!" He yells, grabbing his friend's hand, "Billy's upstairs!" He says, leading the rest of them.

"Ashton," the group halts at the soft sound of the other Hockstetter's voice, "Be careful." Ashton smiles and lets go of Georgie's hand to hug his sister.

"I will. I promise." He runs back to Georgie, the other boys staring at the girl's retreating figure into the pouring rain.

"Whoever she is, I call dibs." The boy with glasses says, as they all bound up the stairs.

"You don't even know who she is, and you still call dibs?" Another boy asks, before taking a puff on his inhaler, as they all enter Billy's room. Bill looks up, hearing the last part.

"W-who?" He asks, finishing up with the wax on Georgie's new paper boat.

"Some girl who dropped this little guy off." The glasses boy said, ruffling Ashton's hair. Ashton steps away from the boy, a look a disgust written all over his face.

"That's my sister, four-eyes." Ashton retorts, making all the boys crack a smile. Bill grabs the paper boat, handing it to Georgie.

"There you go. She's all ready, Captain." He pretends.

"She?" Ashton asks, joining Georgie's side.

"Yeah, you call boats she," Bill says, "You going to join him, A-ashton?"

"Vi told me to play indoors today. She doesn't want me getting sick." Ashton responds, getting shy.

"T-that's okay. You and I could p-play some board games, until G-georgie gets back." Ashton smiled at Bill. Georgie and Ashton wrapped their arms around him in a tight hug.

"Thanks, Billy." They both said. Ashton had always thought of Bill as a better older brother than his own.

"See you later." Georgie calls, leaving the room, ready to float the boat. Bill walks across his room to grab Monopoly from his desk.

"Oh, Bill. Here's your homework. Mrs. O'Connor gave us all a pop quiz today-"

"Lucky ass not having to be there," the kid with glasses spoke aloud.

"Shut up, Richie!" Bill and Ashton shared a look as the three of his friends continued to bicker. They both go to check on Georgie before he leaves. Georgie's yellow raincoat is noticeable as he waves up to the window. Bill and Ashton wave back.

"Be careful," Bill says into his Walkie. Georgie smiles and runs off with his new boat.

Georgie placed his boat in a small stream and took off after it into the pouring rain.