Page 45 of Thrust into the Light

I nod at him. “I always dream of you. I just never knew it was you before. Now that I know your face, you are always there. Sometimes I have dreams that make me scared, but then all of your faces and eyes are there and it’s better.”

“If you have more dreams that make you scared, come into my room and wake me up, I will come lay down with you in your bed and hold you like this while we lay there and you can go back to sleep, okay?” This feels nice, so I nod to him. I feel his hot breath on my head.

“Good girl.” My stomach tightens again when he says that. It does it when Connor says that to me, too.

“Now, what do you want to eat for breakfast?”

“Bacon! No toast! Coffee….. pineapple!”

I sit down on one of the big chairs when Rhi lets go of me and goes into the kitchen. I still am a little sad about the big table, but if we get another big table before the other eyes become faces, then we can still laugh and eat at it.

I sit there for a little while, wondering how long until I can have some bacon. One of the other doors opens in the room. Vashu walks out of his room. He isn’t wearing any clothes. He is so big, all of him is so big. HE wasn’t that big. How is he so big? Why is it so big? He is rubbing his eyes and stops. “SHIT, one second, sorry!” He turns back into the door he came out of and shuts it. Why is he so big? Is Connor and Rhi that big? Is Xander that big? The door Vashu went in opens again and he has on pants, but no shirt. He comes over to me, “Sorry little one, I didn’t know you were up or I would have had clothes on. I smelt bacon and wanted to come out to see who was cooking.”

“Smelt? What’s smelt?” He scratches his head.

“Who’s up, little one?”

“Rhi, only Rhi makes bacon.” He won’t tell me what smelt is. Connor went to sleep more so I can ask him. He goes to the kitchen and I can hear them talking softly, but I can’t hear what they are saying. There is a strange noise that sounds like popping.

Rhi comes out with Vashu behind him. “Vashu said you asked what smelt is, it’s when you breathe in through your nose and it picks up scents in the air, like how you can taste bacon, but you can smell things with your nose.” He looks at Vashu, “Come here, take a whiff and tell her what you smell on me and describe it to her.”

Vashu comes over and takes a big breath in through his nose. “He smells like coffee and chocolate.”

“Now you try Farlen, come here and take a big breath in through your nose and tell me what you smell. You know what both things are. See if you can connect them to what you know them to smell like.” Walking up to him and take a big breath in through my nose, but don’t smell anything. I focus on my words, and they make me sad when I say them.

“I don’t know what coffee or cho-co-late smells like. Can’t smell them, and can’t smell you.” I look down at my feet. “Do I smell?”

Rhi gets down on the ground on his knees, so I have to look athim and not my feet. He puts his warm hand on my naked leg.

“You smell like home, Farlen.”

I look around. “This is home.”

“No, this is a house we are staying in, home is wherever you are.” That makes my heart feel funny, like it’s being given a hug. “I’ve almost got your bacon done. Why don’t you sit back down and we can eat in here this morning?” I sit down and Rhi and Vashu go back to the kitchen. I hear Rhi shout “WHAT THE FUCK?” and then they start whispering more. I still can’t hear what they say, but they stop whispering and come out with lots of bacon and my cup of coffee. I know it’s mine because Connor and Rhi’s coffee is black. Mine is the only one that is brown.

Rhi and Vashu sit down in the other big chairs and Rhi gives me my cup and puts a lot of bacon on a plate and hands me a bowl of pineapple. I don’t know how to hold everything. They push one of the small tables in front of me and I put my stuff down on it. I eat some of my pineapple and think about how I want to ask my question. I don’t know Vashu well. He may get mad at me, but Rhi is here. Rhi will protect me. I put my plate down and look at Vashu.

“How is it so big?”

Rhi makes a strange noise and hits himself on his chest. Why is Rhi hurting himself?

“I’m okay, sorry. That question just took me by surprise, and I swallowed my food without chewing it.”

Vashu looks at me and moves his shoulders up and brings them back down.

“It gets bigger.”

Rhi puts his hand on his face.

“How?”

“Gorgeous, that is a conversation for a much later time. Especially not while we are eating.”

I look over at Rhi.

“Is yours that big? And does it get bigger too?”

Rhi makes a strange noise. Vashu laughs. He has a nice laugh.

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