Bound To Rain

The River

That night, at around 10:00, I started thinking.

Why did Miss Medda choose Elmer and I to take here? She could have gone with Jack and Katherine. I think she's closer with Jack anyway. She chose Crutchie because Anne wanted him to come. But she could have gone with literally anyone else. Why us?

"What's wrong?" Elmer asked from across the room. He was admiring the bookshelf.

"Nothing." I shook my head. The boy came over to me.

"Is you sure?" He checked. I nodded, smiling. Elmer returned the grin as I noticed his eye lids drooping. Before I could ask if he was tired, they closed.

"Elmer?" He was definitely asleep on his feet. I shook my head with a grin.

How does one go about this? I thought. He's too heavy for me to carry like Jack does.

After a moment of brainstorming, I put his arm around my shoulder to lead him to bed.

"What?" Elmer mumbled, still asleep.

"Ya gotta get in bed." I told him, sitting him down on the right side. Almost instantly, he fell back and curled up. He wasn't even using the blanket. I then went to the left side, climbed under the blanket, and tried to sleep.

~Elmer's POV~

I wasn't actually asleep. I wanted to see what Olive would do. She stood there for a second. I thought she was waiting for me to 'wake up'. She then put my arm over a should. I stored a grin, then she sat me down on the bed.

I'm really gonna have to sell this. I decided, throwing myself back and curling into a ball. Olive let out a quiet laugh and fell asleep on the other side.

Once I was sure she was asleep, I wiggled underneath the big blanket.

"You ain't asleep." Olive muttered.

"Neither is you." I replied quietly, turning to look at her. She did the same. We didn't even talk for a long time, and I eventually fell back asleep.

~Olive's POV~

In the morning, Elmer was still asleep. I slept a bit later than I usually did, so it's around 8:00.

I'll let him sleep. I thought, standing up. Light was pouring in from the window. I then went over to see what it looked like in the morning, the river was almost blinding. A vaguely familiar smell caught my attention. I walked out of the room and down the stairs to see Medda in the kitchen cooking. She was making bacon and eggs. Anne and Crutchie were sitting at the counter eating their foods.

"Mornin', Olive!" Crutchie waved me over and pulled a stool out beside him. His crutch was propped up against the countertop.

"Mornin', Crutchie, Anne." I nodded to them both. Anne smiled at me and went back to her food. Medda placed a plate in front of me.

"Is Elmer still asleep?" She asked, smiling a little bit.

"Out cold." I told her, grinning.

"Is he over sleepin' a lot?" Crutchie asked through a mouthful of food.

"Yeah." I nodded, staring on my food.

By the time Elmer was awake and downstairs, everyone had finished their food. Miss Medda had made a plate for him, which wasn't quite cold.

"Do you want me to heat it up?" Medda asked.

"Nah, it's alright." The boy shrugged, taking a bite out of the bacon.

"Are you sure?" She asked again.

"Uh-huh." He nodded. After about five y, the image was empty. The black haired boy then rinsed it off and sat down beside me.

"How'd you all sleep?" Medda asked, looking around at the three of us.

"Good." We all said in sync. It'd be impolite to say anything otherwise, but I did sleep well.

"What are you all doing today?" Miss Medda pressed.

"I dunno." I shrugged.

"Maybe go down ta the river." Crutchie suggested.

"Good idea." Medda nodded.

"Let's go!"