“Sheldon… Sheldon! Sheldon, oh dear Lord, Sheldon, please wake up!” that was Auntie Josie’s voice.
“Josie, stop crowding over him! He won’t get better if you’re worrying… let him rest.” That was Uncle John.
He groaned and brought a hand to rest on my forehead, “…’s cold…” he whispered to himself.
“John, did you hear that? He said that he’s cold! Stay here, I’m going to get him extra blankets!” Sheldon could hear the thumping of his Aunt’s footsteps as she ran outside of the room.
He opened his eyes and flinched when the strong light flooded his vision. It was so bright. Where was he? Looking around slowly, he realized that he was back inside of his new room. Beside the bed was Uncle John reading a book with his glasses.
John noticed the change in his movements, and glanced towards him. “Oh, you’re awake.” He gave him a relieved smile and placed his glasses on the side table next to him. “Your Aunt was so worried… when she went up here to call you for dinner, she nearly had a heart attack when she realized you weren’t inside.”
“’m sorry…” felt out of breath for some reason, and the room was a bit cold for my liking, but he is sure that he was sweating.
John sighed, “It’s alright, my boy, you should be getting your rest.” He ruffled his hair, but when his hand brushed against Sheldon’s forehead, a frown came upon his face. “your temperature is higher than normal, and your face is flushed red.”
“I’m back! I have the blankets an- “Sheldon switched his gaze to his Aunt’s face, whose eyes watered at seeing him. “Sheldon, honey, oh sweet dear, I have your blankets! Are you feeling good? What were you doing so far away from the house? John said to explore, but we didn’t expect you to go that far!” all the while she spoke, Josie was tucking him with three layers of blankets, “When it started raining, I didn’t know what to think! You were outside, and you didn’t even take an umbrella! It was so dark… we don’t have street lamps in here like the City, Sheldon, you won’t be able to see! When we found you passed out on the road soaked to the bone, I panicked like a chicken, and my goodness I thought you had already left us! Sheldon honey I-“
“Josie, Sheldon has a fever,” John said calmly.
“Wha-…” Josie shut her mouth and looked at him wide-eyed, “H-he does?” she placed her palm on his forehead with such force that it made a slapping sound on his head, to which he responded with a slight flinch. “Oh, I’m so sorry, dearie, but it is true… you have a fever!” Josie looked around worriedly, “Ahhh… what do we do? John!”
“Yes?” John looked at her.
“You go clean up downstairs; I’m going to make something for Sheldon to eat. The poor dear hasn’t eaten his supper yet…” she leaned in closer and brushed his hair back, its locks still a little wet from both his sweat and the rainwater. “Sheldon, we’re going to leave you for a while, alright? Don’t move, alright?”
“He’s seventeen, Josie. He knows what to do without any of your naggings, come on, I’ll help you cook.” John took her hand and led her outside of the room, her eyes glancing back at Sheldon’s form ever so often until the door shut close.
Sheldon breathed in and out. This was a little embarrassing. Seventeen years old and still getting fevers like this, but it wasn’t his fault entirely, the rain took part in it. It was the rain’s fault. Yeah. With the three layers of blankets, it was starting to get too hot for him.
Weekly, he pushed the blankets away until it only covered half of his body, allowing the cool air to fly over him. This was much better and less likely to get him to faint again. A sound reached his ears, something he wasn’t able to notice a while ago due to Auntie Josie’s worrying.
It was the rain.
Was it still raining? How long has he been sleeping? Looking at his watch, Sheldon saw it was already 12:30 AM. It was very late… should he really be eating something this late? Maybe if he slept until morning, he wouldn’t need to eat food. He didn’t feel hungry anyways.
Sleep. He’s been sleeping for a while, but a couple of extra hours wouldn’t hurt him
“Gah!” a thump sounded throughout the room, a painful one at that. After turning to the wrong direction, Sheldon fell out of his bed. He groaned from his place on the floor and tried to pick himself up.
He wasn’t used to such a bed, it was very tiny. Sheldon was used to having a lot of legroom to stretch around in, and he especially loved rolling around on soft beds.
Sitting on the bed, Sheldon sighed and looked out the window, it was already morning, but why did everything look blurry... What… why was it blurry. In panic mode, Sheldon brought both his hands to cover his eyes, trying to feel around for his glasses, but he jumped when he felt his hands brush against his eyelids instead of the familiar glass.
Where were his glasses?!
He jumped out, but the moment he stood up, Sheldon felt woozy, causing him to fall back down onto the sheets. It seems like he was still feeling a little unwell. What was the day today? Thankfully, he had a digital watch to tell him that. Monday… still early.
Sheldon massaged his temple, feeling a headache starting to form. Before thinking about other things, he must find his glasses. He was so sure that he was wearing it just last night, back when he was lying down on the fields.
His heart starting beating fast within his chest. What… what if he had left his glasses in the forest? It would be impossible for him to find it! The forest was huge! He held his breath, trying to make sure that he was calm. No… no, no, no, no… those glasses were expensive. They had a very high grade, and having a new one would cost a lot. He had neither the money nor the knowledge of where he could get that done.
It is not as if he could just go and tell Auntie Josie and Uncle John that he lost his glasses, they would think that he was asking them to buy him a new one. Sheldon would not want that to happen, he did not want to come off as a spoiled brat who would ask them for anything. He was not like that.
“You little BRAT.”
“Is that really how you are?”
“This is the way your parents raised you?”
“GET OUT.”
Sheldon felt his heart beating through his ribcage, and his breathing was already starting to grow erratic. He shook his head and covered his ears, trying to hold his breath. No. No, these were just his thoughts. There was no point in listening to them, they had nothing to do with him. Nothing.
“You expect me to spend money on a kid like you?”
“Seeing how you want it so bad, why not use your own money? Aren’t you rich, hm?”
“Do you not know how to do anything by yourself?”
Sheldon bit his tongue, his eyes frantically moving around the room. He needed to find his glasses.
He still wasn’t feeling very well. He had a headache, his temperature was a little higher than normal, he didn’t eat breakfast, and he was still tired, but he really needed to find his glasses. After getting his raincoat from one of his suitcases, he secretly borrowed one of the umbrellas he found by the door. Both his aunt and uncle were still in the kitchen, so they wouldn’t notice him leaving. He will never understand why their kitchen is on the second floor.
After a while through his walk in the forest, Sheldon was starting to feel stupid. There’s no way he would be able to find his glasses throughout this crowd. The forest was too big. Plus, his vision was cut by half, and so even trying to look at the ground was difficult. In addition, his blurry vision made his headache feel a lot worse.
Sheldon knew that his uncle and aunt were good people and that they might never even think about doing harm towards him… but he just couldn’t help it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop the thoughts. They were always trying to get him to feel bad, and feel horrible about everything he tried to do. He wished that he were a better person.
Looking around, Sheldon looked for another tree to mark. Finding the one closest to him, he took his Swiss army knife and carved in an ‘X’ mark.
“Sorry tree…” he didn’t mean to cause them any harm, but he didn’t want to go through yesterday’s events again. If he got lost this time, he didn’t know if he would be found a life, or eaten by some sort of wild animal.
He didn’t have his glasses, so that meant looked very close to the ground in an awkward position, just to make sure that he didn’t miss a thing. His back was starting to feel stiff. Well, at least the rain hadn’t started yet. The clouds were looking a little gray, so perhaps it would pour sometime soon.
Sheldon walked further into the forest, its beauty beautiful even without the aid of the sunset’s light. The sun’s dulled rays ghosted over the trees’ form, illuminating the forest with such a glow that it made him feel warm inside. It was such a peaceful scene. All it needed was a little snow, and the portrait would be complete.
A pitter-patter sound reached his ears, alerting him that it was already starting to rain. Preparing the umbrella in his hands, Sheldon placed it over his head, shielding him from the incoming raindrops. It was raining a lot lately. Perhaps it was because it was nearing the end of August.
Soon, the rain poured down.
He was starting to feel exhausted, and a part of his mind told him to turn back and return to bed, but the other part was focused on trying to find his glasses. If he could only remember where he was… but everything looked so different compared to when it was dark. It wasn’t like he was able to see anything, anyway.
Looking ahead, he saw the end of the trees. Sheldon walked faster and saw a familiar sight. It was the place where he took a nap in. Why did he take a nap in there again? He didn’t know, it was just the spur of the moment.
This place was close to where he lost his glasses. If Sheldon remembered correctly, the random direction he took was over… there!
The trees, the grass, the plants, and the area looked completely unrecognizable to him, but all he had to do was keep moving forward. That’s what he did, even after he saw that glowing butterfly. Speaking of which, he still can’t wrap his head around it.
Maybe after he installed a wifi router he can research about glowing butterfly specimens that are somehow able to fly under the harsh rain. The internet can be helpful sometimes.
It has been more than twenty minutes of walking, and Sheldon still hasn’t seen his glasses. Maybe he was walking the wrong way or maybe he already missed it. He should turn around and walk the path again just to be sure. No, that would take too look.
Sheldon squinted at what looked to be something black. Walking a little closer, he realized that it was the road. He even came all the way here, and yet there was still no sign of his glasses. Great. All that effort for nothing. Maybe when he finds his way back he can look again.
A soft glow caught his attention. Although he didn’t have his glasses, he could tell that it resembled the glowing butterfly he saw that night. The only difference was that this was colored orange, and not blue. With wide eyes, Sheldon saw it hovering close to something else. It was…
It was his glasses!
“Yes, thank the Gods!” Sheldon knelt down and picked up his glasses, cleaning it up a bit with his shirt, and then putting it on. Ah… it was such a relief to be able to see things in high definition now.
He looked around, a smile on his face, but after looking across the road, that smile disappeared.
It was that girl again, the girl that he saw last night.
Her red ginger hair rested on her shoulders, the freckles dusting her cheeks like stars, her green eyes almost seemed to dance like the leaves on the trees, and her lips curved into a smile. Her petite hands were wrapped around the handle of a rainbow-colored umbrella, one that sheltered both her and a flock of glowing butterflies.
This was… freaky. Sheldon didn’t know what to do, she was just looking at him. If that wasn’t creepy, he didn’t know what was. Unsure, and a bit insecure…
Sheldon breathed in and opened his mouth to speak a few words.
ns 15.158.61.46da2
