M A R K

It was a few weeks later since Sean came over for the weekend. School had just ended for me, and as for Sean, he needed to wait till the next school year to begin. So he sat at home with his toys each day, waiting not so patiently for me to get home from school. Most days he would be sitting on the porch of his home by the time the bus drops me off. He would dart across the road once the bus has left and run to me with a grin on his face.

Today, being my last day of school, Sean was overjoyed to see me, because he knew I didn't need to go anywhere anytime soon.

"Mark! Guess what!" Sean says running to me ecstatic.

"Yes, Sean?" I counter, smiling at him warmly. I tug at my coat due to the cold front that decided to stay on the first day of our summer. I then notice that Sean isn't wearing anything on his arms. "Where's your jacket?" I ask before he could respond to my previous comment.

He freezes for a moment and looks down at his shaking body that's been sitting in the cold for at least thirty minutes. "I must have forgot it," he replies while scurrying to my house without another word and a smile tied to his face.

I stand there, confused, for a few moments before moving my legs towards my house. He doesn't wait to knock on the door and by the time I make it to the steps, Sean is already inside greeting my mom, as he always does with an optimistic smile. I follow his actions by greeting her and shutting the door behind me. Sean and I go up the stairs knowingly of the routine by now.

Sitting down on my bed, I set down my book bag next to my bed and remove my jacket from my shoulders. "What was it that you wanted to tell me?" I ask Sean, watching him pace in front of me.

"Huh? Oh! I just wanted to tell you that I was excited that you'll staying at home now and I wanted to see if I could, uh, spend the night here this weekend?" Sean tilts his head and stares at me with pleading eyes. I couldn't say no.

"Of course under our parent's permission, but yes, I would love that." I flash a smile and Sean leaps at me with joy, which I've come to establish was his thing, I fall onto back against the bed.

"Awesome! Be right back!" Sean says quickly as he rushes out of my room. I get up from my bed and look out my window to see Sean running across the road and into his house. A smile forms on my face as I see him running out shortly after.

His footsteps are heard coming up the stairs and he enters my room with heavy breathing. "My mommy... she said yes. Isn't that great?" He says with a joy and nearly out of breath.

"It's wonderful. I'll get my stuff together now," I say smiling with my teeth at Sean.

After asking my mom and gathering my stuff, Sean and I went to his house. His room was fully set up and lively as I pictured it. He had a twin-sized bed with some stickers covering the sides of it. The room was a bright red, he told me it was his favorite color. It suited him.

"Why is it raining? I don't like the rain." Sean pouts as he sits crossed-legged near his window, looking out at the cloudy sky.

"It has to rain, rain is good," I reply simply as I move to floor next to him.

"Why? Do you like the rain?"

"I do like the rain, rain is nice. It helps me sleep," I say watching the droplets slide down the window.

"Why does it rain? It can get loud," Sean states.

"Think of it like this... If it didn't rain, flowers wouldn't be pretty. They wouldn't be here without the rain," I say smiling at Sean. He nods along. "You may not like rain, but it is very important. Things wouldn't be as pretty."

"Oh... I like rain now."

I laugh and move my eyes back to the window where the rain is becoming heavier. "Yeah, me too."

"Can we do something?" Sean ask as he turns his body towards me.

"Uh, sure. What would you like to do?" I question.

"Back at my old house, I would get me mommy to tell a story."

"You want me to tell you a story?"

"Yes, like a... an... happy," I notice he is struggling to find the right word.

"Happy story? You want a happy story?" I ask.

"Y-yeah, that. I like those stories," he says flicking his eyes to his hands. "Can you tell me one?" He brings his eyes back to mine.

"I can try, but I'm not good with coming up with stuff." Sean's face falls, "I'll do it though." and then his smile grows back.

"Alright, so," I clear my throat and try to look around Sean's room to help give me some idea, "there was once a boy who lived in a small house, with a small family. He loved all who was around him and he was full with joy. Always happy and cheerful."

"I like the story so far," Sean says happily as gets more comfortable on the carpet.

I laugh lightly before continuing, "Right, he was happy and he loved the smallest things about everything. His favorite thing to love was flowers and movies that were pretty. He found them so pretty, and it made him happy."

"That's true!" Sean exclaims.

"But then," Sean lets out a small 'oh no', "he found negativity. There was people who weren't happy like him. And that only followed with news that he had to move. He didn't know what that meant, but he stayed happy never less. He kept smiling even though he was leaving everything behind him, the good and the bad."

"And then what happens?" He asks, eagerly to know the rest.

"He starts from where he left off, being happy but a new start. He had trouble before with that negativity, but he stayed happy."

"How did he stay happy?"

"He played pretend and forgot," I reply with a sad smile.

"Oh..." He thinks for a moment, "did I play pretend and forgot?"

"Forget," I chuckle, "And, that's up for you to decide."

≫≫≫

holy moly, how does this almost have 7k reads?? thank you peeps so much! i hope you are enjoying the story so far, and i'm sorry that it is a bit slow paced right now. things will pick up as the story progresses!