Aila followed the woman back to her house near the docks. It was smaller than Aila’s home on the outskirts of Hargeon but it had a warm feeling to it. The outside was a simple white color, the shutters were drawn, and the area seemed peaceful. One could vaguely smell the scent of fresh bread emanating from the building. Aila immediately wondered if this is what her family home would’ve been like if her parents had chosen another profession. She was shaken from these thoughts when a cup of tea was placed on the table before her.
Huh? Wait where did her entrance go? H-had she really accepted the tea and entered while lost in thought? Perhaps she was more amazing then she had thought. The woman sat down across from her and sipped from the cup with shaking hands. Aila attempted to give a warm smile, “Why don’t you tell me about it, maybe I can find him”
The woman set her cup down and took a deep breath. “O-of course. My name is Samantha Lively, and my son Jack” She paused for a moment to collect herself “H-he has been growing increasingly distant, he keeps saying he wants to live on his own, but he’s only 10 he doesn’t know what that means.” Aila nodded, beginning to understand the request. “He had been getting worse and worse as time went by, I thought it was just a phase.” She continued, “A couple days ago he stopped saying it and started acting like his old self again, so I was relieved.” Her eyes drifted downwards, “but then, just yesterday, he ran away while I was out shopping.” The mother went on to describe the boy in better detail.
Aila peered up at the sky as she exited the house. Out to find a missing boy huh? Her younger brothers had often run away and gotten lost. It had usually been her job to hunt them down, because her older brother was usually stuck working. Before she knew it, she was walking down the road that led home. She stopped, “No… it’s far too early to get home sick…” So she turned down a nearby side road and began to question the shopkeepers, showing each of them the photo of Jack. A few of them recalled seeing a boy of about his size but none knew of his current whereabouts. Suddenly Aila recalled the boy that had run into her.
He was around the right size… Which way had he run again? She walked idly towards the spot she had been standing in at the time. Some white specks of rice were still there to remind her of the crash. She turned and began following the road that the boy had taken. Was it fate that he had bumped into her of all people? The road seemed to end at a nearby forest. There resting against a nearby tree was the sushi destroyer himself, Jack Lively. Upon seeing the picture in her hand the boy darted off. Aila was quick to give chase, and just as quick to trip on a nearby rock. With a crimson blush on her face Aila got back up and dashed off in pursuit. The boy definitely knew the forest far better than she did. He casually sidestepped various trees and slid down various side paths. Luckily for Aila, she was raised in the area and knew several of the hiding places. The boy revealed his trump card and began flinging acorns at her from a handy little slingshot, but Aila, being a mage, made short work of them with her cloak, gained some ground because of it.
Aila suddenly stopped. She recognized this area, her youngest brother had taken her this way during one of his escape attempts. She had stumbled down a hill and accidentally cut him off. Her eyes shot to the path Jack had taken and after a quick look around she found the small opening in the trees.
Jack smirked, he had won. No matter what he wasn’t returning home! He was off to learn to fight, maybe even to obtain magic and join a guild! He ducked behind a tree and slouched down to catch his breath. To think that such a klutz would be chasing him. Mom had made things far too easy for him. He took a quick peek back and began to walk down the path once more.
“Boo!” Aila exclaimed as she leapt from a tree and wrapped her arms around the boy. Both of them tumbled to the ground and the boy continued to struggle. Aila’s cloak began to glow and took the shape of a rather large hand. The hand grabbed the boy and began to tug him along as Aila made her way out of the forest.
Once she was out the cloak went slack and she grabbed his hand with her own. “It’s not good to make your family worry you know?”
“Who cares! All my family does is suffocate me! They’re always watching me, hugging me in front of my friends, calling me stupid nicknames it’s embarrassing.”
Aila thought back, part of her wanted to relate to the boy, but years of wishing they would come back had painted all of her moments with her parents in far happier colors.
“Even so… you don’t want to regret it later. I wish my parents were still around to suffocate me…”
Jack went quiet for a moment.
“My brother tried to do the whole overprotective thing” Aila smiled as the memory came to mind “but he was far too busy to keep it up, so I’d like to try and recall what you’re going through”
His face flushed slightly “Y-you’re weird, who would want their parents breathing down their necks all of the time”
Aila peered up into the sky, and muttered “Weird huh?”
After that Jack was quiet for the rest of the trip home. Upon their return he gave his mother a half-hearted hug and returned to his room with a flushed face. Samantha had tears of joy in her eyes, she had truly missed her little boy.
1689/1200
Tue Apr 05, 2016 4:10 am by 
