work early today. She did try to tell you herself but apparently you grouched her off,” her mother said, smiling. She made to move away.
“Oh, thanks Mom.” Donna paused, her expression strained. “Mom, about last night, did…“ she broke off, obviously her expression was enough. A strange little smile crossed her mother’s face and she nodded.
Donna’s eyes widened and cut to the spare room door that was open just a quarter; she could hear Ninah’s voice coming softly from within. Woodenly Donna walked down the hall and slowly pushed open the door.
Ninah was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the spare bed, reading aloud from one of her children’s books. Donna recognized the story, it was “WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE”. Surrounding Ninah were other assorted books dolls and toys.
Sitting opposite in an exact mimic of her sister’s posture, and wearing a pair of her father’s old denim overalls, was the angel. Donna guessed that with the over the shoulder design, the overalls were all he could get into with his wings as they were. He was wide awake, and his face had lost its fevered appearance, in fact he looked perfectly healthy and all the more attractive for it. He was looking at Ninah with what appeared to be intent curiosity. Occasionally Ninah would glance up from her reading and smile at him, at which he’d smile back.
Donna took a step into the room and he turned to look at her, his eyes widening in obvious alarm. Ninah looked up and over to her before turning back to him, saying, “It’s okay, that’s just my sister Donna, she won’t hurt you.”
“Hi,” Donna said, surprised into a knee jerk reaction and feeling silly. She raised her hand in greeting and the angel raised his own, mimicking her action yet saying nothing. His eyes never left hers and again she found herself lost in their innocent beauty. She smiled and he smiled back.
Abruptly she realized she was standing there, bare beneath her Mickey Mouse nightshirt with her hair all mussed up from sleep, and she blushed, her face going bright red. At this the angel cocked his head to one side, brows drawing together in obvious curiosity, and this along with her sister’s unconcerned wide-eyed look only added to Donna’s feeling of awkwardness.
“Um, okay, I’m just going to go and…“ Blushing deeper than ever and feeling like a total fool, Donna turned and left, heading for the bathroom. She went in, closed the door and took a look at herself in the mirror. “That was so cool Donna, you are such an idiot,” she sneered at herself. She let out an irritated sigh and turned to run the shower.
“Donna,” her mother called from the kitchen as Donna came down the stairs all showered and dressed, feeling much better despite her lack of sleep the night before.
“Donna?” her mother called again.
“Ok Mom, I’m here, there’s no need to bring the whole house down,” Donna said as she entered the kitchen to the smell of waffles and maple syrup.
“Sorry honey, I thought you were still upstairs that’s all,” her mother said, turning back to her cooking as Donna plonked herself down at the kitchen table.
“What did you want Mom?”
“Oh, I just need you to go down to the shops and pick up a few things for me. Have your breakfast first of course.”
“Oh Mom, do I have to?”
”Please honey, I’d go but I want to stay and keep an eye on Ninah and our guest.”
“Where’s Dad?” Donna asked, sounding petulant, but seemingly unable to help it.
“At work honey, you know that,” her mother said patiently.
“Alright, I’ll go,” Donna said sulkily. Ordinarily she wouldn’t mind going to the shops for her mother, because she usually bumped into one of her friends there, sometimes even Billy Kennedy. But in light of the winged Adonis sitting on the spare bed upstairs, Billy Kennedy was a fast cooling passion.
The sun was shining brightly and a warm breeze rustled the trees as Donna crossed the Town Square, heading for the mini market. Abruptly she remembered that Cassie was on today and changed direction and headed for the video store where she worked.
She stopped dead when she saw the two men in grey suits and dark glasses standing beside their black car outside the store, she’d forgotten about them. Swallowing on a suddenly dry throat, she walked past them and into the store, trying to seem natural and unconcerned, but positive they could read the tension in her poise.
She found her friend in one of the aisles, returning last night’s rentals to the shelves, a pile of covers in her arms. “Hey, Cass.”
“Hey Don, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be at home with you know who,” Cassie smiled.
“I have to pick up some stuff for Mom. Cass, can you believe this? I woke up this morning thinking it was a dream!” Donna laughed lightly.
“I know, so did I. I had to poke my head into your spare room before I left this morning to make sure.” she giggled. “He was still asleep.”
“When I got up he was awake and sitting on the bed while Ninah read WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE to him, and get this, he’s wearing a pair of my Dad’s old work overalls.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No! God, Cass, you should have seen him, he looked so cute.”
“You’re crazy,” Cassie said, smiling and shaking her head.
“I know and get this, I’m standing there in my nightshirt and nothing else, hair all messed up and he looks at me all weirded out, God I was so embarrassed.” Donna shook her head at the memory.
“Hey girls!”
Both Donna and Cassie jumped and gasped, snapping their heads around in surprise. Billy Kennedy stood there, slightly in front of two of his friends, his face a mask of self-assurance that Donna had once found attractive but now just irked her. Billy thought he was God’s gift to women, hah, he wished! Donna knew now what God’s gift to women looked like.
“Oh! Hi Billy,” the pair said sweetly.
Billy frowned slightly, sensing something was different. Usually the girls were pleased to see him, even if they acted like they didn’t care, he could still tell they were. This was a change, he didn’t know why but the cold indifference he was getting today was impossible to ignore.
“Whatcha been up to?” he said, trying for some small talk.
“Nothing much,“ they said and shrugged in unison, it seemed to be the day for short responses. Oh well, he thought, best come right to the point.
“Look, this afternoon some of us are heading down to the waterhole, I was wondering if you guys wanted to come?”
“I can’t, I’m working,” Cassie said, smiling stiffly.
“What about you, Donna?” he asked her, trying to look sensual and seductive. Inwardly she rolled her eyes.
“I can’t either.”
“Why?”
Caught off guard with no excuse ready at hand, having never needed one before, Donna flushed red. “I, I promised my Mom I’d help her clean the house today.”
Billy looked at her as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but then, he probably couldn’t. “You’re kidding?” he said.
Donna shook her head, enjoying this reversal of power, while behind Billy his two friends shuffled their feet in agitation.
“Well, maybe some other time then,” Billy said, spreading his hands in a ‘hey, no hard feelings’ gesture and backing up a step. The two girls nodded and he turned and left the store, his friends following quietly behind. As soon as he’d left, both Donna and Cassie burst out laughing.
After returning from the shops, Donna dumped her purchases down on the kitchen table and went straight upstairs to join Ninah in the spare room with her winged friend. Together they read Ninah’s children’s books and played simple games like tic tac toe and jacks. They showed him things as well, a yo-yo and slinky spring among them, and laughed, enjoying his responses and pleasure. When they smiled, he smiled.
Because he didn’t speak and derived such enjoyment from simple pleasures, Donna had started to assume, disappointedly, that that was the limit of his understan
ding and intelligence. The first indication that there might be a lot more to him came when Ninah showed him her Rubik’s cube. She held it up before him, showing him all six sides, each one color in the cube’s finished form. Then she began turning the cube upon itself, totally messing it up before offering it to him.
He took it gingerly and cocked his head to one side, pencil fine eyebrows drawing together as he studied it. He looked at Ninah and she nodded, indicating the cube. Slowly he turned one side, then another and another, getting faster, two minutes later he handed the completely reformed cube back to Ninah, a concerned look on his face as if to say, is that what you wanted?
Ninah and Donna looked at each other in amazement. Neither of them had ever finished the cube and the only reason it had been back to its original state was because their father had gotten a hold of it and after messing about with it for three days, finally did it.
Ninah grinned at him and he grinned back. She messed it up again and handed it to him. He handed it back to her complete, faster this time. They did it again and again, each time faster and Ninah began to laugh. The last time took him less than eight seconds, his hands a blur, moving faster than any human could, so fast Donna couldn’t even register the colors of the individual squares. He handed it back to Ninah, who handed it to Donna, surprised. The cube was warm from the friction; she sniffed it, smelling a faint odor of burnt plastic. The look on Ninah’s face said it all.
Donna had then fetched
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