Aurora’s P.O.V
I shivered in the cold as I threw the fishing rod into the pond, watching the water rippling and hoping with all my heart that I would be able to find something here today.
It was five thirty in the morning and the sun had yet to rise, but there was still light in the horizon and it was enough to help me see my way around the broken pieces of wood and other debris lying on the muddy area.
The pond was located in the middle of the woods right behind my house, and usually, it wasn’t safe to come out here for fishing since this was a risk-prone zone and recently, there had been an increase in wild animals in the area.
However, when I had woken up this morning at five, after a fitful night’s sleep, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to school today and face everyone. I needed some time off to process what had happened to me.
Usually, I wasn’t one to skip school, but today, I wanted to spend the whole day with Riley, just so I could get my mind off of things. That’s why I had even called in sick at the Diner, and hopefully, Jeremy will forgive me this once, because I never took a day off before.
Now, as I watched the bob dip below the water surface, feeling the tug on the string, I quickly began retracting the string, hoping that I had managed to catch something. I fully planned on putting a fish on the plate for lunch today, and maybe cooking with Riley will be a new experience for both of us.
With a victorious cry, I pulled the string hard and as expected, out came a nice little fish, struggling as the hook embedded itself in its mouth. Watching it struggle made me feel sad, but we still had to eat, so I put the little guy in the bucket and began making my way back to the house, without wasting any more time than necessary in these woods.
However, just as I was about to leave the muddy area around the pond, something peculiar made me pause. Paw prints. They were all over the land. At first glance, they would look like regular paws, puppy paws…unless you take into account the fact that we were in a rundown neighborhood that didn’t even have dogs to begin with. But I knew what these were very well…wolf paws.
It was no secret that wolves lived in the woods next to our house and in the other forest areas of Maine. And even the shady neighborhood I lived in were all afraid of the wolves, so much so that no one ventured out of their homes after ten o’ clock. But the wolves never scared me. After all, what was the most they could do? Kill me? Wouldn’t that be sweet, sweet relief?
But I loved how I often saw two kinds of paw prints. Big ones and smaller ones, parents with their children, venturing out into the night to play.
Sometimes the bigger paws would be missing and it gave me this vague idea that the pups had come out on their own to cause mischief, while their parents rested at home. I envied those pups. I envied those wolves. They were free and wild…something I could never be.
The first rays of the sun hit my face then, making me look up in wonder as the circle of life appeared in the horizon, slowly becoming full. I took a deep breath, taking in the cool morning air. It gave me strength to continue on for another day.
So I hoisted up the bucked and held the fishing rod close as I headed back to my house to prepare breakfast.
*
Riley was sulking big time, that much I knew for sure.
He was one of those kids that absolutely loved school, and I couldn’t blame him. He was still young, and his friends group was so far non-toxic. So who wouldn’t want to go to school every day?
But even though I knew I was being selfish for him skip school with me, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to step out of the house today. So I decided to bribe him instead.
Turning off the flames to the kettle, I brought out the two packs of instant noodles that I had bought a few days ago at the market, and began pouring in the water to the fill-line inside the cups before placing the seal back on, so that the noodles could become chewy and bouncy.
There had been one single egg lying inside the fridge this morning and usually I would’ve given him the whole egg, but I decided against it. Wasn’t that what my mother would’ve done? Given him the whole egg? Or would she have done what I was doing now, cutting the par-boiled egg into half so we could both share?
I didn’t know how my mother would have reacted, but all I knew was that I was the mother figure that Riley had. And unlike my father, who had at least been decent while my mother was alive, she had never hated me.
Until she got pregnant with Riley, I had been the apple of her eyes. And it made me feel sad all over again that Riley never got to know what a wonderful person she was.
I waited for about five minutes for the noodles to bloom before removing the lids and bringing them to the table. But as soon as I placed the cup in front of Riley, his entire face changed from sulky to wonder.
“We have noodles?” he looked up at me through big blue eyes filled with hope and I almost felt sorry for making him skip school with me…almost.
“Yes.” I gave him a warm smile. “Eat up.”
Riley immediately picked up his fork and dug in, blowing on the noodles to cool them down before stuffing his mouth. I couldn’t help but smile at his puffy cheeks and I had the urge to pinch them…so I did, much to his protest.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked, looking down at my noodles instead of his adorable face.
“No.” Came his gloomy reply.
Surprised, I looked back at him to find him looking up at me with his wide blue eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I wiped away at his lips where he had some soup. “Did you eat it while it’s hot?”
He shook his head, making his long hair fall onto his forehead. “No.” Another sniffle as he looked up at me through long lashes. “I…had a bad dream.”
“Oh? Then why didn’t you ring the bell?” I asked as I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around him to provide him some comfort.
“I didn’t want to make you sad.” He sniffed. “I know you were sad yesterday…something had happened, but you didn’t tell me, so I didn’t want to make you worry.”
“Oh…Riley.” I hugged him to my chest, feeling tears well up in my eyes. How had he known? I thought I had hidden it to the best of my effort…
“Are you okay, Aura?” Riley asked in his little voice. “I dreamed that you were gone, and that I couldn’t reach you. You wouldn’t answer me even when I started crying.”
His sniffled out words broke my heart. He wasn’t just scared; he was worried that I was gone. Poor Riley…how could I ever think to leave him alone in this cruel, cruel world?
“You won’t leave me, will you?” His voice broke and as I held onto him tighter, I knew he was crying as well.
“Never,” I promised. “No matter how tough life gets, I will never abandon you. I promise. So next time, if you have a bad dream, ring the bell, okay? So we can sleep together for the night and I can protect you from all the bad dreams.”
“Alright.” He nodded and we both turned back to our food before it became cold, rubbing at our eyes to wipe away at the tears.
Suddenly, the second half of the egg that I had given to Riley plopped into my noodles, startling me. I turned to face Riley in surprise to see why he had done that.