Be Somewhere

Light was already coating the room when Ricky peeled his eyes open. He glanced around and tried to get his bearings. The world was spinning and Ricky tried to contain his nausea. His vision continued to become focused and unfocused as his consciousness adjusted to reality.

Ricky didn't dare stand for the first few minutes as he knew without a doubt that he would simply keel over again. When he could look at an object for over thirty seconds without it becoming blurry, he stood. The floor beneath him was too solid and the daylight was too bright.

Disorientation clouded his minds and he searched for a clue as to where and when he was. The last time he had been awake it had been a tuesday; he had been in Danny's room and they had been carrying on about not leaving him alone. He swung his head from side to side and grinned when he didn't find them lurking in the corners.

Searching for a sign of some sort, his grin grew to a smirk when he found his iPod in his pocket. He checked the date and time; it was 1pm on thursday afternoon. Ricky did a double take when he saw that he had slept through wednesday.

“Shit,” he muttered as he strode towards the window. He pulled himself up onto the sill and squirmed his way through it The window was getting to be a tight fit and Ricky patted his stomach accordingly when he had finally managed to wiggle himself through it and plant his feet firmly on the grass outside. “I am in so much trouble,” he moaned as he dragged his hand over his face.

Ricky began the twenty minute trudge back to his house and sighed with resignation as he began to turn the knob. The door swung open and he searched the entryway for any signs of life. The pitter-patter of little feet had his heart racing with excitement and he turned to see his little sister staring daggers at him.

“You were gone,” She said angrily, “Why?”

Her little eyes conveyed pain and abandonment. Ricky felt shame take over his mind and he wanted nothing more than to make it up to her. He knew that his mother would be out again; and Richard would be too, unless he had passed out somewhere. Out of guilt he tip-toed towards her and put one of his hands in hers and the other to his lips; saying that she must be quiet.

Aggie nodded and allowed herself to be led into the backyard. He picked her up by the waist and set her down on the other side of the chain-link fence that separated their backyard from a small patch of woods. A few seconds later he had hopped the fence and was standing beside her. His smile was returned with a frosty glare and he shied his eyes away from hers.

“Why were you gone?” He pulled her into a tight hug and scrambled to find words suitable for a four year old. The small girl made a small unsatisfied noise in the back of her throat and Ricky couldn't help but grin. She most definitely had his and his mothers eyes; she was only four and she already had the ability to put him under a microscope and have him squirm like a student who didn't know the answer.

“I was sick.”

“You're better now?” Her wide eyes and concerned tone made his heart break. This small, sweet, innocent child cared for him and that gave him a faint sense of hope. Ricky felt her shift so that she could hug him back.

“Yeah Aggie,” he replied after he kissed her forehead, “I'm a lot better now.”

~-------------------------------------------~

The day's light filtered through the leaves and Ricky felt a small smile. It was slow to come, but it was genuine; something not to be overlooked, as it didn't happen often. Sunlight rested on his little sister's hair and made the brunette strands shine golden. Her green eyes started to flicker in all directions and he searched in vain to find what she was looking at.

“What are you staring at, sweetheart?”

“The butterfly! Can't you see it?” She pointed to a small cluster of twigs and he tried not to laugh at her mistake. Among the wreckage she had spotted a small moth who was trying to rest. “Isn't he pretty?” she said breathily, trying not to frighten the small insect. Ricky stared at the bug and tried to find something attractive about it. its pale wings were tattered and worn at the edges and its mud-brown body was limping.

“Can I be a butterfly?” Ricky tilted his head to see the smiling face that he adored.

“If its what you want, I'll even help you make a pair of wings.”

A fair amount of the remaining afternoon was spent gathering twigs and leaves to build a pair of butterfly wings. Ricky pieced them together; the sticks making the frame, and he used the wings as canvas. He ran back to the house and retrieved paints and the wings turned into a beautiful cornucopia of blues, greens, pinks, and oranges.

When the last of the sun's rays were beaming down at them through the canopy, they started a game of hide and seek. Ricky smiled as his little butterfly flitted through the trees; completely oblivious to the world around her, and how her bright colours made her stand out and brighten his dreary world.