To Keep Him Safe

"Can we eat these?" little Willy asked as he held up a small branch of red berries. 11-year-old Mitch broke his gaze from the shrub he was looking at to face the young boy. He took the mystery berries from his small hands to observe them more carefully.

The two boys were rummaging through the forest trying to find any edible plants they could bring back to the school. They didn't have too much luck in their usually spot, so they decided to wander off the path a little bit and ended up finding a whole assortment of plants they had never seen.

"Uhhh..." Mitch mumbled as he scratched his head in thought. "I think so. They kinda look like raspberries." he gave them back to Willy.

"I wouldn't eat them just yet, though. Have Ms. Martin or Ruby look at them first. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time, right?" he questioned the young boy.

The 6-year-old cringed slightly and shook his head.

"Yeah...you're right," he agreed. "Being sick sucked." He declared.

Mitch nodded in agreement as he thought back to a couple months ago, when Willy ate a handful of berries without getting them checked out first, and they turned out to be poisonous. Luckily, the boy didn't get anything worse than an upset stomach. Mitch held back a snicker as he remembered the look on Aasim's face when Willy puked on him. As hilarious as it was, he still remembered how hard it was to see Willy confined to his bed with a wastebasket in close range and a ghostly paleness painting his face.

"But being sick wasn't all that bad though." Will continued, interrupting his thoughts. Mitch looked at him with teasing confusion.

"Oh really? Puking your guts out wasn't all that bad?" he asked jokingly earning a giggle from the younger boy.

"No, that part sucked, but spending time with you was fun." He said as he looked up at the older boy. Mitch looked down at him with surprise before giving him a warm smile.

He had offered to stay by Willy's side the whole time. He told him stories, jokes, and pretty much anything he could think of to distract little Willy from his sickness, even for just a second and to see him smile again.

Mitch ruffled his hair and replied. "We can spend time together when your healthy, dummy."

Willy giggled again and playfully swatted his hand away. "I know, I know. I guess I mean that you made being sick better."

Mitch's smile widened. "Well I'm glad I could help ya out."

He looked up at the sky, taking note of the orange, golden hue it was presenting.

"C'mon, let's head home. It's getting late." He looked into the small satchel he used to hold the mixed assortment of berries. "I'm not too sure about most of these berries we found. Hope we can eat 'em."

"Yeah, me too." Willy agreed, wishing there was more he could do as the two began to make their way back home.

~

Willy trailed behind Mitch as his eyes wandered around the forest, taking in the scene. "I really like the evenings. The sky and everything else looks so pretty." He thought with a smile. After letting his eyes wander for a little longer, he eventually spotted a small shrub full of familiar looking berries.

"Ooh!" he said to himself. He decided to stop and look them over by himself. He's a big boy, he could handle it. Besides it wouldn't take too long.

He ran over to the small bush to get a closer look at the berries. After observing them for a while, he concluded that they were blueberries. He picked all the ones he could find and placed them in his small bag.