Thomas Flair: encouragement
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I swear that I saw something.
Almost like a glowing blue bar floating above Noel’s head.
But as soon as I noticed it was there, it was gone.
I had to be imagining it. All this stress is getting to me.
Sparrow walked up to me, clutching a stuffed animal to her chest.
“What is this?” I knelt down in front of her, prying the animal out of her hand. It was a faded purple unicorn. The horn was hanging on by a couple of threads while the mane and tail were all matted. “Where did you get this, Sparrow?”
She hid her hands behind her back and looked down at her feet as if she were scared of me reprimanding her. “I found it in the attic.” She lifted her face and looked me in the eyes. “May I keep it, Tommy?
I smiled once she used her nickname for me. “Let’s go ask Elizabeth.”
She followed me into the kitchen where Elizabeth was pulling all the pans out of the cupboards and filling them up as fast as she could.
“Hey, Elizabeth?” I caught her attention and then pushed Sparrow forward when she tried to hide behind my leg. “Go ahead.” I encouraged the little girl.
“May I have this, Miss Elizabeth?” Sparrow held out the unicorn as far as she could, letting Elizabeth see it.
“My old unicorn!” Elizabeth got down in front of Sparrow, smiling at the memories it brought back. “Of course, you can have it.” She pushed the stuffed animal back towards the young toddler.
Sparrow jumped up and down with joy then ran back into the living room to show her new toy off to Carmen.
“Thanks,” I whispered to Elizabeth.
She winked at me and then returned to her task of saving the water.
I followed Sparrow into the living room.
“Thomas! Over here!” Hunter motioned to an empty spot next to him.
I smiled. Hunter was probably the first friend I have had since elementary school.
At least there was one good thing about this nightmare.
“Here we go!” Glenn entered the living room with handfuls of candy. “I always knew my secret candy stash would come in handy.”
He went around the entire group, offering them some of his sweets.
“Nope. Sorry.” Glenn yanked the candy away from Carmen. “The candy is for men only.”
“Then why did he get one?” She pointed to Josiah who froze mid-unwrapping his chocolate.
The teens nearby howled in laughter.
Glenn turned to Josiah. “She holds a good point. Fork it over.” Glenn held out his hand.
“Really?” Josiah stood up, threatening Glenn. “You wanna fight me for it?”
The boys tossed the sweets aside and started circling each other in the middle of the living room.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” the teens chanted in unison, enticing the four junior highers.
“How dare you?” Josiah stood tall, speaking in a strong English accent.
“Me? What about yourself?” Glenn mirrored his accent. “All I did was help you and look at what you did to me!”
Levi gasped, jumped off his seat, and stood in front of Josiah as if to protect him. “How dare you challenge my friend like that?”
Byrant pushed himself up from his stop on the floor and took his place as a guard in front of Glenn. “No! It was you all along!” he yelled pointing at Levi.
Levi jumped forward, crashing into Byrant and sending them both onto the floor.
Glenn and Josiah took one look at each other before reaching out and grabbing the other’s shoulders, forcing them onto the ground.
The girls on the couch picked up their feet to allow the boys more room to tackle one another.
The four boys tumbled around each other, trying to pin one another down.
Teens started to pick sides and cheered on their own champions as the boys continued to wrestle each other across the carpeted floor.
Everyone laughed as the junior highers continued their monologues while rolling around the floor.
Sparrow giggled from the sideline, watching the spontaneous production take place.
After moments of intense wrestling, the boys all lay on their backs gasping for breath.
The room was silent enough to hear the front door open and then slam shut as someone hurriedly left the house.
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