Prologue

Foreword: This is the republishing and kinda edited version of my previous story Finally Found You.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I love it. Thanks for reading and don't forget to check my other books.

I remember some images pretty clearly. If I’m in a really calm situation, with no sounds or noises to annoy me, just in the calmness of my room, I can even remember voices.

--

Zane

I was really bored, with nothing to do all day long but watch T.V.

I had a feeling that summer was going to be pretty boring. What can a 6-year-old do anyway?

I had a few friends, of course, but our interactions were only at school, except for Jason. We visited each other’s houses and we went to the park together sometimes. I really wanted to go to the park but mum was very busy, and dad was at work.

I decided to just watch some more T.V. as the only other option was to annoy my mother. She hated when I did that. I wasn't supposed to do that.

I fell asleep watching cartoons, because when I woke, it was night and I was tucked in. I went back to sleep after checking the clock which read 2am. This meant I slept for about 5 hours already, but I felt like I could sleep more.

And I did.

She took me to the park the next day.

I played around a lot and got dirt all over myself. I really liked the swings. They gave me a rush when they glided downwards. It was all fwooshy.

Mum was sitting on a bench with a friend she knew. They seemed to be enjoying their time too. It made me glad that mom was having fun too.

I was wandering off a little farther to head toward the slides, when I noticed a small figure sitting behind a tree.

I got closer apprehensively and tried to not make any sounds. As I slowly approached, I could hear sniffling. It looked like a boy and he was definitely crying.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. I still hadn’t seen his face but he had brown hair and it looked so soft and puffy and messy. It looked like his hair was a stuffed toy.

“Go away.” he cried, his head resting on his crossed arms which in turn were resting on his knees.

“Why are you crying?” I was now standing in front of him. He didn’t look up but I was sure he looked at my shoes.

“I said go away!” He cried louder. He reminded me of something familiar but I couldn’t put a finger on it.

I sat in front of him cross-legged and didn’t say or do anything else. For a few minutes he was still crying. A few more and the crying stopped, but he still held the same position.

I was drawing circles with my index fingers in the dirt when I felt his eyes looking at me. I looked up and indeed he was looking at me. His eyes were red and puffy, and his face was a little red too. His eyebrows were scrunched in a frown and I still couldn’t remember what he reminded me of.

“Why are you still here?” He said, his voice raspy from the crying but it was not cracking anymore like it did when he yelled.

“I wanted to make sure that you’re okay.”

“Why?”

“You were crying and it's wrong to leave you alone while you’re crying.”

"Why is it wrong?"

"My mom always says to not leave someone crying alone ever. Even if they ask you to, it's better if you stay because they probably need help."

He wiped his eyes with the palms of his hands but didn't say anything else.

"My mom holds my hand to make me feel better, do you want me to hold yours?" he didn't reply but when I reached to hold his hand he didn't flinch away.

So I held it. It was a little wet with tears but it was soft.

"No one wants to play with me." He finally said after a long silence.

"Oh. why?"

"I don't know. The other kids run away when they see me."

"I'll play with you if you want."

"Really?" his whole face lit up in excitement. Even his hold on my hand became a little tighter.

"Yes. Come on let's go get a ball and play some footie."

"Okay!" he said jumping up.

"PUPPY!" I yelled while we were on our way. He reminded me of a puppy.

I finally remembered.

"What?" He asked confusingly.

"You look like a small puppy. Is it okay if I call you puppy?" I was really hoping he'd say yes.

"Yeah. Sure, I don't mind."

"Oh wait I have a better one, Pup."

"Okay. And what do I call you?"

"Umm, call me ummm, Zee"

"Yay cool."

"Now come on. Let's go play." I said as we started running towards the ball basket.

We played till our legs couldn't hold us anymore, but we didn't want to stop. Pup was really funny and played footie really well. We were having too much fun until the woman my mum was chatting with approached us and told him that they had to go. She seemed pretty nice even though she ruined our fun.

Mum soon followed her and said that we had to leave too. We both whined about not wanting to leave yet but Pup's mum said she had to leave now. However, she promised us that she'll visit us tomorrow and will bring him with her so we could play all day long.

--

When we got home, mum made me take a shower to wash off all the dirt. I don’t like to shower too much and I don’t like to go to bed early, but this time I was more than eager to do so. Because Pup is going to be here tomorrow.

I wanted to show him everything I own, and let him play with all my toys.

I went to bed smelling fresh and feeling clean, but before that I ate dinner, and finished all my veggies for the first time.

I didn't remember how long it took me to sleep, but I remembered it was a very hard task. I twisted and flipped and kicked and I just wasn’t able to sleep. I thought I’d never sleep, until I heard mum knocking on my bedroom door, telling me it was time to wake up, and that breakfast was ready.

I opened my eyes and realization hit me. Pup was coming today.

I jumped out of bed instead of lazily stumbling my way to the kitchen. I ate my pancakes and went to the living room to watch some T.V.

After a while, the doorbell rang. I jumped to open it. It was Pup’s mum but he wasn’t with her.

Suddenly her skirt moved on its own. I looked behind her and found him hiding behind her. He looked so cute and his cheeks were slightly blushing. My mom ushered them in, all the time while he was gripping his mom’s clothes. She almost tripped on him twice.

“I’m sorry, he’s just really shy about visiting people.” his mom said.

“Oh it’s fine!” mom said cheerfully. She was always a nice person to people. “Why don’t you both go and play upstairs?”

“Yes! Come on Pup, let’s go!” I dragged him by his hand.

“Aw, they’re so adorable aren’t they?” I heard my mom say as we climbed the stairs.

Once we were in my room, Pup looked awestruck. He marveled at the posters on my bedroom walls. There were posters of a lot of superheroes. Spiderman, Batman, and many more.

“Do you like superheroes?” I asked hopefully.

“YES! I love them!” he practically jumped. "Spiderman is my favourite!"

I asked him what does he want to do, but he said that he didn’t mind anything so we agreed on drawing.

Sixty minutes later and my bedroom floor was full off scattered and crumbled papers. Some blank and some had silly drawings.

Pup was drawing a character that looked like Superman. But instead of an S he had a Z on his chest.

He lifted the finished drawing in the air. “I drew a Zuperman!”

“Coooool” I said, my eyes widening at the not so bad drawing.

“Here keep it. I made it for you” he handed me the paper.

My face dropped a little, “But I didn’t draw you anything.”

He shrugged playfully. “It’s okay, you’ll draw me something next time.”

I didn’t want to wait till next time to give him a drawing, and we probably didn't have much time to draw more, and besides, we were both getting bored, so I ran to my closet quickly.

“What are—”

“One second.” I quickly interrupted him. I fumbled in my closet until I found it. A necklace I once made mom buy me but only wore it once. It was black and had a clover amulet attached to it.

I gave it to him and his whole face lightened up.

“Here you go, promise to always wear it?”

“Of course.” he nodded enthusiastically. “I’m not taking it off ever again. I promise Zee.”

We watched T.V. for a little while and we both fell asleep on the floor at some point. When they left, his mum looked a little sad, and mine was too for that matter. And they even hugged before they left.

“What’s wrong mum?”

She wiped her eye with the back of her palm and I think she even sniffled. She looked at me the look that means that what she’s going to say was going to hurt me. However, she took a breath and told me not to worry about it.

A/N: More Soon x.