Still Doll

“No! Asriel-she’s getting away!”

Kanon made her first step towards the moving critter, and instead of lunging down to catch her, she accidentally bumped into Alexander, which sent them both to the ground. She struggled to move, in a awkward position with him. As she looked up, she realized Asriel was already getting away. And she was heading towards the stairs!

“Asriel!” Kanon called, frantic. She looked down to see Alexander’s reddened face and his eyes staring back at her. “Alexander, she’s…” She trailed off, looking more carefully at him. He was extremely still and his cheeks were a colorful pink. Just then, she noticed the position she was in. On top of him.

Immediately, she backed away, covering her mouth with both of her hands. “I’m sorry!” Kanon apologized, not knowing what else to say.

“I-it’s alright,” Alexander said quickly. He sat up and placed his hand to his head. He looked pained and unbalanced. But as he looked at her, his eyes told a whole other story. “We have to go catch her,” he said after a while.

And Kanon instantly agreed. She straightened up and headed first towards she last saw the furry little thing. Alexander followed after her. “I think she went down the stairs!” she told him.

“Then she’ll be headed towards the servants’ hall,” he said, gaining more speed in his walk. “And if it happens to be our unlucky day, she might get outside,” Alexander added.

Kanon broke into a run, and then they were both headed down the stairs. She had to grab the hem of her dress and walked quickly but cautiously. Alexander and her stopped at the foot of the stairs and looked around. There was no sign of her yet. But they had to keep looking. They walked towards the door leading into the servants’ hall, where they begin their day. Alexander pushed open the door, attracting the attention of a few maids that were present. It would be strange to see the master of the household rushing through a place where only the servants usually were.

The maidservants bowed their heads, and one asked, “Is there something wrong, master?”

“Um, yes,” Alexander said carefully. “This is going to sound strange. But have you seen a rabbit around?”

The maids looked at each other with bewildered expressions, and the maid that had spoke said, “No, master. We have not seen anything that even resembled an animal.”

“I heard there was a rat,” the other maid said lowly.

“There’s no rats here, Margaret,” the first maid corrected, staring her down, silently ordering her to stop talking.

Kanon made her way quietly towards the back of the room, looking carefully at everything; her eyes lingering on anything that could possibly resemble a rabbit. She had to find Asriel, there was no need to try to figure out the reason. If she didn’t find Asriel, she’d feel…she’d feel…

As if she’d abandoned her.

“…and if you see anything, tell me. Understand?” Alexander was telling the maids. They were nodding and repeating, “Yes, master.” They clearly understood what they had to do. If ever a rabbit caught their eye, call the master’s assistance. Alexander was just taking precautions. He turned to look at Kanon, who was silently walking around, taking a good a look at the things around her. It was a small place, but not as small as the room she used to have at William’s household.

Alexander stepped beside Kanon, and cleared his throat. Kanon looked at him, startled. “Shall we continue?” he asked.

Kanon nodded without saying a word and headed first for the hall.

Walking down the desolate hall alongside Alexander, Kanon noticed that the door at the end of hall was shining brightly at the edges. A light that usually meant it led to the outside. Kanon looked at Alexander questioningly. Did he suspect the same fear Kanon did? That Asriel had probably already gotten outside?

Alexander caught her gaze and said, “Outside is the garden-” He broke off, starting to walk faster towards the door until he resulted into running. Kanon followed after him, trying to catch up to him. They both stopped in front of the door, and as Kanon looked at it slowly, she realized it was ajar.

“She did get outside.” Kanon sighed, and Alexander reached to push the door open.

A startling brightness blinded Kanon momentarily, and she raised her arm up to protect her eyes from the sunlight. She hesitantly stepped outside, feeling the concrete underneath the soles of her shoes. There was a moment of silence, while she blinked and focused on the area around her, and Alexander stepped away, ready to search for Asriel. Funny; he seemed a little more determined on finding Asriel than Kanon expected. Which was good, considering she very well could lose her. She could be anywhere in the garden.

Kanon walked towards the fountain, whose statue was the same small angel releasing water from its hand. She had never been to the garden, only looked at it from her window. She looked up at the side of the mansion, looking for a big glass window. Her window. This is where I saw the little girl…she thought.

“Kanon, look!”

Kanon snapped out of her closed off world and looked at Alexander who was pointing at something located somewhere on the large yard. She traced his finger towards where he was pointing…and her breath was caught in her throat. She didn’t even dare make any sound or movement. She didn’t want to spook her away.

Asriel was only a few feet ahead of them.

Alexander slowly and quietly reached for Kanon’s hand and pulled her to stand beside him. He concentrated on Asriel for a moment, then whispered, “We have to be careful not to scare her, and then capture her.” Kanon nodded. That sounded simple enough. How could she possibly get it wrong, being incredibly quiet long enough to capture a small creature that scared fast and ran very quick?

Kanon swallowed. It seemed to be a slightly good idea if she just let Alexander catch Asriel himself. However, that would mean depending on him to do all the work. That seemed hardly fair and unreasonable.

Asriel’s relaxed body was only just a few feet ahead of them; the small rabbit made no sound, of course, and she didn’t move at all. She simply laid there, her nose moving as quickly as usual, and her long ears down on her head. As Kanon stared intently at her, she didn’t notice Alexander was already taking steps toward her. She couldn’t bring herself to do the same. She didn’t have the confidence that she could be just as sneaky.

Alexander was slowly getting closer and closer, quietly and sneakily. The small rabbit made no sign of alarm or movement. She simply stayed there, relaxed, as if she was taking a break of daily life. For a moment there, Kanon wasn’t exactly sure, but she thought she could see Asriel looking at both of them. That seemed unlikely; if she would have spotted them, she would have ran away by now, scared away by the big man steps away from grabbing her.

Just then, as Alexander’s body stiffened and he readied himself to lunge, Kanon finally caught the sign of recognition she had been expecting. Asriel knew. She was about to whisper for Alexander to come back-but he was already stretching arms and throwing himself towards the rabbit!

It went by too quick, Kanon wasn’t sure what had just happened. Alexander was on the floor, groaning and stirring where he was laying down on the floor. She didn’t see Asriel in his hands exactly, if not on top of his head. Kanon covered her mouth with her hand to suppress any unnecessary laughter. Then, she went quickly to help him up and saw that Asriel was already on her way, stopping and looking back at them. As if she was daring Kanon to chase after her.

Kanon looked at Alexander sitting up and rubbing his head, again, in pain. She noticed his clothes were very dirty from that surprise attack, which did not go as expected. There were dirt stains all over his usually perfectly white pants, and his hair seemed to be loosening from the grip of the silk string holding it as a ponytail. He looked like a big mess, and his expression told her he knew this very well.

“She got away again,” Alexander groaned, looking up at her.

Kanon looked at him briefly before looking around to see where the rabbit was headed this time. She spotted Asriel not far away, but not at an easy distance at all. She was headed towards the maze of flower bushes at the end of the yard. If she got there, it would impossible to find her then. She couldn’t possibly ask Alexander for such a favor, after all that he‘d been through.

So, she ran.

“Kanon, wait!” she heard Alexander’s voice calling after her.

Kanon continued to run in Asriel’s direction, her determination moving her legs faster than she expected. Her dress slowed her down, making her fall down at some points, and having to get back up again to continue. She couldn’t see Asriel anywhere as she got closer; she felt her heart ache with defeat. She had to find her. Here, outside the mansion and in the backyard, it seemed dangerous. The idea of her getting through the gates with her small size left her restlessly kneeling down and searching through a flower bush before her.

“Asriel, please,” Kanon whispered, her breathing coming in short gasps. “Stop hiding. Come out, please….”

She heard fast footsteps behind, and looked to see Alexander running towards her. To help her. She couldn’t have asked for anything better than such a busy man even caring for this sort of thing. Kanon had to take a deep breath and blinked the wetness from her eyes.

“Alexander-”

“Did she go in there?” Alexander asked, interrupting her.

“I don’t know…” she admitted. “We’ll never be able to find her in there.”

Alexander sighed, looking at her. “Well, perhaps-”

“Asriel!” Kanon interrupted, straightening up and moving pass him.

Kanon followed after the rabbit’s slow steps, feeling the relief overwhelm her. It did not last long. As soon as she bent down to pick her up, Asriel broke into a run. She stared after her, slowly succumbing to the defeat that waited for her every time she failed. Her arms and legs ached, and her heart would not settle down. For a moment there, she thought a tear had rolled down her cheek.

“I’ll catch her!” Alexander promised her firmly. He seemed to have noticed the defeat in Kanon’s wounded expression.

Before Kanon could protest, Alexander broke into a run as well, running in the direction that Asriel went. As Kanon watched, on the ground, feeling useless, she felt very guilty for having Alexander do this. He must have been busy enough before all of this. She wished she wouldn’t have involved him. Alexander was still running after Asriel, and Kanon realized he was catching up to her. Her aching chest suddenly felt less painful with the small flicker of hope making its way in her heart.

Alexander was running exceedingly fast, and she could hear him yelling after Asriel. “You stop…running away…this instant!” he told the rabbit, through breathless gasps. “Get…back…here!” He threw himself at her before he could finish, rolling on the dirt, then becoming abruptly still.

Kanon’s eyes widened with fear, and she immediately got up from where she was and ran to him. “Alexander!” she called his name, thinking that maybe he wouldn’t be able to hear anything. She kneeled down beside him, looking to see any bruises. There were only dirt stains, and his hair was not held by the silk string anymore. She turned his body around and stared at the moving ball of fur in his hands.

He’d gotten Asriel. Alexander had done it.

Without thinking, Kanon let herself rest on Alexander and wrapped her arms around him. “Alexander,” she whispered.

Alexander stirred, and his eyes flew open. He let out a pained breath and looked at Kanon. There was confusion in them for one second, then just as before, his eyes seemed to be shining in that beautiful brown color of his. He smiled and held out Asriel to her. “I got her,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, and I know I wasted time-”

“Hush,” Kanon said abruptly.

Alexander blinked, surprised.

“You did wonderful,” she continued. “Thank you so much.” Again, she blinked away the wetness from her eyes, already becoming a bothersome.

“So you forgive me?” asked Alexander.

Kanon couldn’t help but laugh. Such a silly question he was asking. Of course she would! She tightentened her grip on her arms around him and sighed. What a silly question it was indeed.