The Saviors of Maria

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Remember what Dr. Hall told you to do this week." Charlotte told Arthur on the first of December, outside of Arthur's small room in their little apartment above her small clinic at the bottom of a hill.

"I can't quite think of it, Ma." Arthur responded with his face buried in his dictionary. "Could you remind me again?"

"He told you to go out and try to make a friend." His mother repeated, leaning against his door.

"Why?" He asked, aloof and uninterested. "Friends are distracting."

"Because, friends are a source of happiness, Arthur." Charlotte lectured him, shaking slightly. "Dr. Hall says it will make you healthy."

"I take the vitamins, Ma." He responded, barely invested in the conversation, thinking of the next word on the page. "I'm as healthy as can be. Besides, it's too cold to go outside."

"Please?" His mother pleaded with him. "For me?"

Arthur sighed, marking a place in his dictionary. He opened the door to his room abruptly, startling his mother.

"Ok, fine." He grunted to his mother, grabbing his winter coat, snow pants, snow boots, hat, and gloves. "I'll make a friend, but if I look like a fool doing it, I'm blaming you."

"Blame Dr. Hall, dearie, not me." Charlotte bantered as her son got bundled up.

As Arthur put his arms through the sleeves of his winter coat, he grabbed at the dangling zipper and pulled it up. The zipper stayed in place no matter how hard he pulled at it. His mother kneeled down to him, attempting to fix his zipper. She succeeded.

"Thank you, Mom." Arthur mumbled to his mother, with his gaze set on the floor.

"You're welcome, dear." Charlotte replied, touching his arm gently.

"I'll stay in the yard." Arthur told her as he exited his room and walked down the stairs.

"Don't you dare!" Charlotte yelled after him as he slammed the apartment door, passed through the clinic, and out the front door.

Arthur stepped down the icy steps warily, keeping a careful pace. He kneeled down in the snow, gathering a snowball in his hands.

"Dr. Hall wants me to make a friend?" Arthur grumbled to himself as he rolled the snowball on the ground. "I'll make a friend."

~

"I'm going outside, Ma!" Pup yelled to his mother, bundling up in his winter gear gleefully.

"Don't leave the yard, Pup!" Sharon yelled across the small apartment. "The road is too slippery for sledding today."

"But Ma!" Pup protested.

"No buts, Peter!" His mother countered. "Stay in the yard and build a snowman."

Pup stomped out of the apartment with a loud growl, ignoring her counter. He ran down the porch steps only to slip on his bottom. Pup carefully stood back up, using the porch step to push himself up. He walked into the side alley between his house and old Mrs. Berth's lair. He traveled around the back of Mrs. Berth's, where he knew exactly where he kept his sled, which would never fit anywhere in his house. Pup reached around the dumpster and dragged the sled from its hiding place.

"Hello, big boy." Pup cooed at the sled, tucking it under his arm.

Then, he traveled back around the house and back onto the slippery road. Pup placed the sled in front of his home on top of the steep decline of the hill. Pup pushed himself foreword, preparing for a wild ride.

~

Meanwhile, Arthur was attending to his new "friend," giving him a nose, a mouth, eyes and arms using sticks and rocks. He slowly backed away, resting his chin between his thumb and his pointer. He paced around the snowman, lost in deep contemplation. Why did Dr. Hall want him to do this? Why did his mother want him to do this? Arthur didn't feel any sort of fulfillment by building his friend, the snowman. He didn't feel any healthier. Was this some sort of test? Was there some sort of metaphorical message that Arthur couldn't grasp?

"Slow down, stupid sled!" A high-pitched voice screamed as the source came closer and closer.

Arthur turned to the sound coming from behind him, and, suddenly, he saw a flash of orange flame speeding past him and crash into the lamppost. The body of the boy went flying into Arthur's yard and landed in the snow with a thump. He rushed over to the body that was face down in the snow. The boy's orange hair shined against the snowflakes. Arthur turned the boy over by his shoulders, revealing his loss of consciousness. His head had a small cut where it hit the lamppost. Arthur took the boy's arm and placed two fingers on his wrist.

"Good pulse." He verified to himself. "Let's get you to Dr. Mom."

Arthur lifted the red-haired boy into his arms with a large amount of effort. The scene would have been comically sweet to any passerby as he carried him up the steps of the small clinic. Arthur bumped the boy's feet on the doorframe so hard the sound carried throughout the building.

"Sorry!" Arthur mumbled to him. "Mom! Help!"

Charlotte ran down the stairs frantically.

"What happened?!" She exclaimed, taking the boy out of Arthur's arms.

"He was yelling, and he sped down the hill, and he hit the lamppost, and he-" He tried to explain, stammering.

"Wait here, dear." Charlotte pleaded with him. "He'll be better in no time at all."

Arthur stood still in the lobby, breathing heavily.

As his mother took a look at the boy with fiery hair, Arthur's thoughts were all that he could concentrate on, not movement, not smell, not sound, absolutely nothing but his thoughts. What if he died? He could've been a suspect. He paced around in circles, not that he knew it. What if he had amnesia? He had no information about the boy's life. He squeaked and screamed, scratching his thighs, a nervous tick. He was lost in his worries.