By Samina Ahmed
IV. Ethan’s Empty Words
~”You can trust me”~
August awoke to tousled hair covering her face and the morning light trickling in through the half-closed blinds. She gasped for air while slowly sitting up, wiping off the remaining sweat from her forehead and neck. She sat there for a while, bleary-eyed, until the ticking sound of the clock filled up her hollow mind.
6:20 am.
August could really go for a few more hours of sleep. She wouldn’t mind falling back into deep sleep… her bothersome thoughts drifting off to places that she didn’t have to worry about. Her limbs feeling as if they were being dipped in the world’s finest chocolate. The rhythm of her heartbeat slowing down to a more peaceful, and soft-hearted beat. Breathing steadily, along with the droplets of sweat forming near her temples. She wanted to believe that sleep was her best friend. That it would always be around at times when she yearned for it the most.
She wanted to believe that sleep was the only friend she ever needed.
But at times like these, she realizes the miserable fate that patiently waits for her while she’s in her state of tranquility.
August attempts to free herself from the remaining glimpses of the dream. Eventually getting out of bed and stumbling across to the other end of the room, she reaches out for the door handle and harshly nudges against it.
After spending hours in the bathroom and trying to recollect her thoughts, August finds a very surprising present. Placed near the edge of the desk there was a white tray with two pieces of toast that looked slightly burnt, strawberry jelly and a foam cup full of sliced strawberries. On the opposite edge was an elegant glass of water.
Right in the middle of the desk lay a blue piece of paper folded in half. August, ignoring the lovely food that sits in front of her, slips the paper into her hands and murmurs the words written.
‘Enjoy, Friend.’
She let the note fall between her legs and eyed her breakfast carefully. Her mouth instantly began to water the moment she inhaled deeply, and it felt as if her bones were close to crumbling. She pulled out the chair from the side of the desk and took a few sips water. August could feel the liquid sliding down her esophagus and igniting a sense of coolness throughout her body. She felt rejuvenated at once.
August left the tray empty, and leaned back. She had a tiny smile upon her face and breathed out a serene sigh. As she finally had all her thoughts together, she couldn’t remember the last time she had had breakfast, or even the last thing she ate.
Then there were sudden, hurried, footsteps that sounded almost child-like. August slid towards the bedroom door and swung the door open. She inhaled the pleasurable scent of jasmine as if were a drug. The warmth that inhabited the hallway diffused through her system like a rush of blood to the head. She looked down at her feet and found another present. A lollipop. August palmed the lollipop and was able to read the flavor off the wrapper this time.
Sassy Strawberry.
She slipped the stick of sugar in her back pocket and proceeded to walk down the hall. The door to her room shut with a loud thud. August looked up at each door’s number as she swayed side-to-side.
Room A3.
August touched the plaque that read
Ethan Brooks.
She knocked on the door gently and pressed her left ear against the door. The child-like footsteps returned and the door cracked open. A head full of curly black hair popped out. The boy made enough room for August to slither in, then fastened the door immediately. He made his way in front of August and had his hands clasped near his stomach. The thin boy wore a baby-blue ruffled t-shirt and milk-white pants, just like the ones August had received. His feet were hidden by black furry slippers. He tiptoed closer to August. His height came up to August’s shoulders. He had to be a few years younger than August. His oval eyes were a light green. His eyes were like a clear pond in a dark forest, where if you looked closer at that pond you could make out a circular shallow crevice filled with completely transparent water.
He looked down at August’s feet and waddled even closer until the tips of their toes met. He looked up at August and gave a cute giggle, showing off his straight teeth.
August was so confused.
“Hi! I’m Ethan!” he said cheerfully. Ethan pulled August’s wrist and walked her towards his bed. As she sat with a bounce on his bed, she eyed her wrist in disbelief. “You’re August right? What a cool name! You know I was named after my great-great-great-great grandfather. Well, his name was Evan but it’s the same thing right? Ethan, Evan…Evan, Ethan. Anyways, I have so much to tell you!” he shouted animatedly. He seemed awfully to ecstatic this early in the morning.
August studied Ethan’s room. Besides a few scribbles in colored markers at the bottom, his walls were bare. Although there was a bookshelf at the other end of his room, each shelf occupied by at least seven books. There was a fluffy black bear holding a pot of honey at one end of his desk and an empty mason jar with a black ribbon tied near the mouth at the other end. August tilted her head, which caught Ethan’s attention.
“Oh are you wondering what was inside there? Lollipops! Who did you think was giving you those all along? They’re my favorite kind of lollipops. My lovely Aunt Esther sends me a new jar of them every month. She lives all the way in Santa Monica with Uncle Edwin. Well I think she still resides in Santa Monica. She’s really friendly, you know you should meet her one day. Who knows, she might end up giving you a jar full of lollipops. I’ve…uh… run out of them as you can see. It’s fine, I can wait for a few more days until the month ends, I’ll make it. I gave you the last one today. Sassy Strawberry. That’s my favorite flavor actually. Oh but you don’t have to give it back to me, that is unless you don’t want it. Actually, keep it. I hope you enjoy it. Really.” Ethan chattered.
August could only make out a few words at the pace the boy was speaking. “Oh, do you want to hear some of my stories? Oh my goodness, I have so much to tell you!” His eyes brightened up even more. He plopped down next to August and threw his slippers towards his desk. August sprang up and moved further down the bed and away from Ethan.
Stories…wonderful.
“So let me start off with the time I saw a UFO. OH MY GOODNESS YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT AUGUST!! You should have seen it! It was this huge–” Ethan spread out his thin arms as much as he could. He was struggling, and he was close to breaking a vein in one of his arms. “I was with my friend Morgan. Morgan’s such a dork. He’s really funny though, not like extremely funny, but he can make you laugh over something stupid from time to time. So it was me and Morgan and we were walking home from a wood shop. It was really dark, maybe around 9:30 pm. Then we saw it! The sky was bright and clear of any clouds! There were so many stars though! Well, at least I think there was. Anyways, it was amazing! It flashed so many colors, you name it! I shoved Morgan real hard and I was yelling ‘QUICK TAKE A PICTURE, COME ON YOU DORK QUICK!’ You should have seen me. I was yelling like crazy. But as soon as Morgan whipped out his flip phone. He had a flip phone, can you believe it? His parents were really weird. Anyways, as soon as he pulled the thing out, it was gone! The UFO was gone. There was also something else missing. The stars. There was no tiny little stars. None. You know what me and Morgan thought? It’s bizarre but don’t tell anyone…okay?”
Ethan got closer to August and whispered in her ear.
“We think the UFO took all the stars with them.” He backed up and waited for her response. She sat there, mouth parted and stared at the floor’s tiles. “Freaky right?”
August blinked up and saw the clock.
1:37pm.
“Okay I have another story! You know Bigfoot right? What a stupid question, of course you know Bigfoot, everyone knows Bigfoot…even my Aunt Esther knows Bigfoot, right? So forget about Morgan now. I was with my older cousin this time, his name’s Maxwell. Most people call him Max but I call him Maxy. He says it annoys the hell out of him when I say that. I love teasing the little guy. So we were going out for a hike in the woods. He had a day off from work, he worked at a really famous shoe company uh… I forget the name. Anyways, we were walking and it was pitch black out. Maybe around 10:34 pm. Then we heard crazy rustling noises near some bushes. I wasn’t scared of course, Maxy was. He was so scared! He almost jumped on me can you believe it? He almost crushed me with his elephant weight. Anyways, then there was squealing—like a pig? It was really weird. It was really high-pitched though. I felt like my ears were about to pop any second and then blood would ooze out. Gross. Then, we saw its eyes. Neon yellow. We saw it come out of the bushes. THERE IT WAS! BIGFOOT! RIGHT IN FRONT OF US! RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! Maxy didn’t own a phone though. He’s so dumb. He own thousands of shoes but no phone. We didn’t make any noises though, we just stood there with our mouths opened as if we were ready to catch a buffet of buzzing flies. Then…uhm…I can’t really remember what happened next. BUT CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I WITNESSED BIGFOOT! Hey, how much you bet Bigfoot could speak English? He was probably too scared so he ran off. I wasn’t scared though.” Ethan concluded.
August peered at Ethan while he gave a quirky smile. She eyed the clock again.
2:01 pm.
August got off of Ethan’s bed and casually moved towards the door.
“August, leaving already?-” August turned back her head. Ethan began swaying his legs back and forth and his head side to side.
“But… I just started my stories. Oh well, you probably need to use the bathroom or something. Oh but did you like my stories? They’re really cool right? I still can’t believe I saw a UFO and Bigfoot. I have thousands of more stories to tell you, trust me! You can trust me. See you around though. Have fun, my friend.” Ethan got up briskly to retrieve his slippers.
Before August exited the room, she wanted to check out Ethan’s books. She looked over each book, starting from the top shelf. There were many genres, but mainly fiction. She read over the titles silently.
Ernie’s Adventures
Quest for Bigfoot: The Legendary Beast
Lights in the Sky
August steadily turned her back to Ethan. He paid no heed to August, just aimlessly watching his thin legs rocking back and forth. She skipped over to the door and closed it behind her. But before the door had completely shut, her eyes darted at Ethan one last time and saw a warm smile drawn upon the boy’s small face.
August moved a few inches away from his door and leaned one foot against a wall. She pulled out the lollipop she’d been given earlier, and rolled it around her right hand.
Oh Ethan.
[To Be Continued Next Month]