The Invisible Child
It was a windy day and Brian’s family had decided to go to the shore next to the sea. They had settled down on a pier and were looking around when Paulina Mama said: “I’m so bored, nothing has happened in the past few weeks”. Papa Alex looked thoughtfully for a moment then brightened up as an idea hit him. He turned to Brian, who was sitting to his right and said:
“I’m going to push Paulina Mama into the sea”.
“What?!”, exclaimed Brain. He glanced over to see if Paulina Mama had heard. She hadn’t. He turned his head back to Alex Papa and continued in a lower tone. “But Alex Papa, you’ll scare her!”.
“Not if I can help it”, replied Alex Papa cheerfully. “Besides, she said she was bored. I think she’ll like it”.
“Oh, be careful”, cautioned Brian, as Alex Papa stood up and creped up to Paulina Mama. He had taken a few steps, and Paulina Mama had not seen him. She had her back to him and was sitting on the edge of the wooden bridge, staring out to sea. Alex Papa took a few more steps. Still no sign of her responding to the ever-so-slight sounds of him on the dock. Alex Papa continued to sneak towards Paulina Mama when Razali’s ribbon shifted. The pink cotton dress got up, and ran across the short stretch of grass, barely making a sound. She ran across the floorboards, her boots making the small thumping sound as she ran to Alex papa. Suddenly, the dress fell. A moment later, Alex Papa, screamed in pain as the marks of teeth biting on his ankle skin appeared. Paulina Mama turned around with a face of surprise. He continued to scream as he tried to step around like a madman until he fell into the sea. Thankfully, he surfaced and looked around and sputtered. “You don’t do that!”, said an angry feminine voice. “Huh? What in the world? Are you-“ But he was cut off as she continued to yell. “You don’t hurt people like that, especially nice people! You could have hurt yourself afterward! Don’t you know any better?” As Razali continued to speak, the color started to appear! Skin, eyes, nose and mouth, red hair, ears and an infuriated face ensured her appearance.
“Look papa! She’s here! She’s appearing!”. Brian stood up and took off running, all the while saying “ oh I’m so glad you’re visible, again, it’s nice to see a face to look at when one talks to you, I’m happy for you”.
“She might be visible, but she certainly has a strong grip on my ankle. Curse you, child! Invisible or not, my ankle hurts!” Alex Papa flailed around for something to grab on. Razali began laughing out loud. They had never heard her laugh out loud before. It was a wonderful sound.
“Why in the world are you laughing child? Stop that!”
“Oh Alex Papa, stop being so dramatic, what’s matters now is that she is visible! What were you trying to do dear? I hope it wasn’t anything too bad”, said Paulina Mama.
“No, no, nothing dear”, said Alex Papa. “I was trying to give you a surprise”.
“Well, Alex Papa, I’m sure you can do better than that”, said Paulina Mama over Razali’s hysterical laughter.
Written By: Tatterhood
