WHO: Thorne Proudfoot and a new friend WHAT: Once upon a time, Thorne was told a story about a very brave boy. WHEN: November 2002 WHERE: Proudfoot family home WARNINGS: None. Thorne doesn't even swear once!
Thorne didn't know how much he liked this new house and family. But he'd been here for a couple of months already and wasn't sure if that made it still new or not. There were Saturday morning cartoons, a star-shaped nightlight in his room, and nobody made him eat bananas when they made his tummy feel yucky. So maybe it wasn't all bad.
He had to go to the healer that morning and he maybe liked this one better than the one he used to go to. Not by much, though. She treated him like a baby and he didn't like it. Joe said he had to listen and be polite even if he didn't like Healer Gonzalaz. And then Joe made him go lay down and rest after they got home, which Thorne really meant that he was supposed to take a nap, but he was too old for naps. He wasn't a baby.
Rubbing his eyes, Thorne could admit, maybe, that he was a little tired, but he didn't need a nap. He eyed the door. Maybe he could go downstairs and convince Joe to put on Fantasia again. He would rest much better with all the animals and music. His mind made up, he slipped out from underneath the quilt (because Joe said he didn't have to get all the way into bed) and headed to the door.
Just before he got there, however, the door opened and a smiling woman slipped into the room. "Ah, mi cielito, I thought you were resting."
"I'm not tired," Thorne lied automatically. "I was bored. Can I watch Fantasia instead?"
The woman held out her hand and Thorne looked at it warily. The woman sounded friendly and had a nice smile, but he already knew that people smiled even when they weren't very nice. He simply stood there. A look Thorne didn't catch and wouldn't understand even if he had, crossed the woman's face as she dropped her hand. "Joe is on the telephone. Maybe I can sit with you for a few minutes?" She moved over to his abandoned bed and sat at the end, patting the spot he'd recently abandoned.
The six-year-old didn't move from where he stood. Instead, he watched her carefully, head tilted as if he was trying to put together one of the jigsaw puzzles that were downstairs. "You're the lady in Joe's pictures," he declared, finally. She was in the pictures Joe kept in his study and Thorne wasn't supposed to find. But he was curious and bored and went exploring. "Joe said you died before Ethan came. You left him alone." The accusation was said with such sharpness in defense of his guardian that Thorne didn't quite know what to do with it. So he just stood firm, jaw set.
"I didn't want to leave him, mi cielito, but sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. Even grown-ups. That doesn't mean we love you any less, Thorne. It never means that I promise." The lady looked sad and Thorne maybe felt a little bit bad about that, but she gave him a small smile and beckoned him forward again. "Why don't I tell you a story while we wait for Joe?"
Enticed by the promise of a good tale, Thorne climbed back onto the bed. His sheets had dinosaurs on them and were very soft. They didn't scratch his skin like a lot of beds he had slept in. And Joe didn't mad when he got sick all over. He tucked his feet under the quilt. "What kind of story?"
"A story about a very brave boy who wanted to explore the stars," came the gentle answer as she brushed some hair out of his eyes. Her hands, just as soft, took off Thorne's glasses and placed them on the bedside table. "But you must be very quiet so I remember all the best parts."
Nodding his promise, Thorne settled back into the pillow. The lady was a little fuzzy now, but she had a pretty voice. This was better than Fantasia, he decided, as he listened to the adventures of Emilio as he learned the stars' secrets in his quest to find the Moon Princess. He struggled to keep his eyes open just as Emilio began his escape from the wicked space pirates, but eventually, the day's events began to catch up to him. He fell asleep with a hand rubbing soothing circles on his back.
Thorne woke up an hour later to the quilt tucked firmly around him and Joe shaking his shoulder lightly. The six-year-old peered up at his guardian. "Joe, can we watch Fantasia?"