A Life That's So Demanding

A few days later I made my way once again to the palace to see Gerard. I’d had a hard day gathering crops and I was pretty tired, but I still wanted to see him. I don’t know what it is but he always makes me happy whenever I see him. Just by him smiling my tummy feels funny and I can’t help but to smile back.

Double checking that there were no guards around, I slipped into the palace basement to see Gerard sat there glumly. He was messing around with a piece of papyrus, ripping at the edges and throwing them to the ground. He didn’t look very happy.

“Hey Gee.” I greeted him. He glanced up at me, offering a small smile before going back to shredding the papyrus. “Gee are you okay?” I asked timidly, taking a few steps closer to him.

“No, Frank, I’m not.” He mumbled, throwing the papyrus to the ground angrily.

“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked him worriedly, closing the space between us and wrapping my arms around him tightly. I heard sniff and looked up to see him crying. “Gee!” I exclaimed sadly, hugging him tighter and rubbing his back, trying to get him to stop crying. I hate it when he cried.

“I’m sorry Frank, it’s just … father isn’t getting any better, and they don’t think he will.” He sobbed.

“Well … I’m sure everything will work itself out eventually.” I tried to comfort him. I couldn’t even imagine what it’d be like to lose my dad; I’d miss him so much.

“But that’s not all Frank.” He said, sniffing. He’d stopped sobbing and was barely even crying now, which I was glad for.

“What else it wrong Gee?” I asked him.

“I … I-I can’t play with you anymore Frank.” He said. Those words made my stomach drop and a frown appear on my face. I also realised that he’s been calling me Frank instead of Frankie like he usually did.

“W-What? Why not?” I spluttered at him.

“I just can’t okay! Mother is keeping a close eye on me and I’m barely able to get away today, she said that she’d come back to see me in a few minutes.” He explained. I just kept shaking my head, not wanting to hear what he was saying.

“But Gee, I don’t want us to stop being together! We’re friends!” I tried to say, gripping onto him tighter but he shrugged me off.

“If you were really my friend, then you’d leave, now.” He said quietly. I sighed before getting up and heading to the window. I had to prove to him that I was his fried, but by doing that I had to leave him, something I didn’t want to do.

“Bye Gee.” I said slowly.

“Bye Frank.” He replied. Again, Frank, not Frankie. I climbed back out of the window and started to walk back home. I was really upset that I couldn’t play with Gerard anymore, he was my friend, probably even more so than Bob or Ray and I’ve known them my whole life. I was really going to miss Gerard.