Not that this is a thought that Charlie Wellman has at the moment. He’s not all that concerned with the giant hole in the universe that lives to make his life complicated, he’s more concerned with weaseling out from under the attention of his former-girlfriend/current-babysitter Jane and go running free through Grant Park with the wind through his hair. In his current shape, however, the first of those goals isn’t all that hard.
After all, when your six years-old, you’re basically a professional at wriggling out of situations you don’t want to be in. Especially when you’re not hesitant about applying liberal amounts of saliva.
(Sorry, Jane.)
“Charlie! Charlie!” comes the sharp cry of her voice as he slips through her fingers and darts off across the grass and in the direction of the fountain. His feet pound against the grass, laughing as he goes because really this is all a game in the end. He hasn’t felt this light and free in years and while he has a basic awareness of who he’s supposed to be – thirty-odd years old, angel of death, the weight of having fought in a war on his shoulders but right now he’s not worried about any of that.
He just wants to be a child, even if it’s only for a little while.
He skids to a stop around the opposite side of the fountain, before dropping down next to a little girl who has a series of sidewalk chalks and bright red hair. She glances up in surprise when he stops, a shy, skittish look in her eyes, before recognition creeps in and she smiles.
“Hey, Charlie.”
“Hi, Evie.” Memories of his old life are good for something at least. He presses his back against the cement of the fountain, before peering at her drawings. “What’re you drawing?”
“A picture, for Fletch,” she says simply, shifting back to lying on her stomach because little Charlie is not a threat to her continued artwork. “I’m gonna do it all by myself.”
“Cool.” Charlie fidgets anxiously for a moment, knowing he probably shouldn’t sit still for too long if he’s going to stay hiding from Jane, but he wants to hang out with his friend too. Being a child on the run is so complicated. “Can I help?”
There’s a moment where she blinks because she just said that she was going to do it all by herself, but after a moment, the concern fades and she shrugs. “Sure. You can color in the blue.”
“’kay,” he says as he wriggles over onto his stomach and reaches for the blue chalk. “You need me to do the water part?”
“And the sky,” she says with a nod, pointing to them with her finger. “I’ll do the grass and the trees.”
He nods and gets to work, little brow tight with concentration as he starts filling in the bits and pieces and before long they’ve drawn themselves a beautiful sidewalk mural and he’s forgotten what he was doing previously – more specifically, who he was supposed to be hiding from.
“There you are,” Jane’s voice comes around the corner of the fountain, and two tiny faces look up from what they’re doing, a caught expression written into their features. “You can’t just run off like that. Something could have happened to you.”
“Sorry, Jane,” he says, letting his head hang just a bit, the perfect image of a child who knows he’s done wrong. “I just wanted to hang out with Evie. We’re drawing a picture for her friend Fletch!”
Jane sighs for a moment, exasperated, before nodding. “I see that. It’s very nice.”
Both children beam brightly at her before Charlie scrambles into a sitting position and asks, almost as though he wasn’t being reprimanded five seconds earlier. “Can we get ice cream?”
Evie brightens as well and she grins. “Yeah, ice cream!”
Jane glances between the two of them, before shaking her head. “Why do I have a feeling that giving you more sugar is just going to end badly for all of us?”
“C’mon, Jane! Please?” Charlie crosses his fingers in front of him in a praying gesture and Evie does the same.
“Please, please, please?” Evie asks. “Charlie and I always have ice cream together.”
Jane glances back and forth between the two of them for a moment, almost as though here was a connection there she couldn’t quite make, but eventually she sighs and nods. “Alright, c’mon. Let’s see if we can find an ice cream truck.”
Both children cheer and dart off ahead of her for the edge of the park, and Jane just shakes her head as she follows them, already knowing she’s gotten in over her head.
“I’m so going to make you regret this when you’re full-sized again.”
careful the wish you make ~ riftverse ~ 806 words
Not that this is a thought that Charlie Wellman has at the moment. He’s not all that concerned with the giant hole in the universe that lives to make his life complicated, he’s more concerned with weaseling out from under the attention of his former-girlfriend/current-babysitter Jane and go running free through Grant Park with the wind through his hair. In his current shape, however, the first of those goals isn’t all that hard.
After all, when your six years-old, you’re basically a professional at wriggling out of situations you don’t want to be in. Especially when you’re not hesitant about applying liberal amounts of saliva.
(Sorry, Jane.)
“Charlie! Charlie!” comes the sharp cry of her voice as he slips through her fingers and darts off across the grass and in the direction of the fountain. His feet pound against the grass, laughing as he goes because really this is all a game in the end. He hasn’t felt this light and free in years and while he has a basic awareness of who he’s supposed to be – thirty-odd years old, angel of death, the weight of having fought in a war on his shoulders but right now he’s not worried about any of that.
He just wants to be a child, even if it’s only for a little while.
He skids to a stop around the opposite side of the fountain, before dropping down next to a little girl who has a series of sidewalk chalks and bright red hair. She glances up in surprise when he stops, a shy, skittish look in her eyes, before recognition creeps in and she smiles.
“Hey, Charlie.”
“Hi, Evie.” Memories of his old life are good for something at least. He presses his back against the cement of the fountain, before peering at her drawings. “What’re you drawing?”
“A picture, for Fletch,” she says simply, shifting back to lying on her stomach because little Charlie is not a threat to her continued artwork. “I’m gonna do it all by myself.”
“Cool.” Charlie fidgets anxiously for a moment, knowing he probably shouldn’t sit still for too long if he’s going to stay hiding from Jane, but he wants to hang out with his friend too. Being a child on the run is so complicated. “Can I help?”
There’s a moment where she blinks because she just said that she was going to do it all by herself, but after a moment, the concern fades and she shrugs. “Sure. You can color in the blue.”
“’kay,” he says as he wriggles over onto his stomach and reaches for the blue chalk. “You need me to do the water part?”
“And the sky,” she says with a nod, pointing to them with her finger. “I’ll do the grass and the trees.”
He nods and gets to work, little brow tight with concentration as he starts filling in the bits and pieces and before long they’ve drawn themselves a beautiful sidewalk mural and he’s forgotten what he was doing previously – more specifically, who he was supposed to be hiding from.
“There you are,” Jane’s voice comes around the corner of the fountain, and two tiny faces look up from what they’re doing, a caught expression written into their features. “You can’t just run off like that. Something could have happened to you.”
“Sorry, Jane,” he says, letting his head hang just a bit, the perfect image of a child who knows he’s done wrong. “I just wanted to hang out with Evie. We’re drawing a picture for her friend Fletch!”
Jane sighs for a moment, exasperated, before nodding. “I see that. It’s very nice.”
Both children beam brightly at her before Charlie scrambles into a sitting position and asks, almost as though he wasn’t being reprimanded five seconds earlier. “Can we get ice cream?”
Evie brightens as well and she grins. “Yeah, ice cream!”
Jane glances between the two of them, before shaking her head. “Why do I have a feeling that giving you more sugar is just going to end badly for all of us?”
“C’mon, Jane! Please?” Charlie crosses his fingers in front of him in a praying gesture and Evie does the same.
“Please, please, please?” Evie asks. “Charlie and I always have ice cream together.”
Jane glances back and forth between the two of them for a moment, almost as though here was a connection there she couldn’t quite make, but eventually she sighs and nods. “Alright, c’mon. Let’s see if we can find an ice cream truck.”
Both children cheer and dart off ahead of her for the edge of the park, and Jane just shakes her head as she follows them, already knowing she’s gotten in over her head.
“I’m so going to make you regret this when you’re full-sized again.”