The boy stared at the big house in front of him. A boy, about the same age as our boy was playing in his house's garden with his toys. A bunch of cars, robotic figurines, stuffed toys. He made "whoosh" sounds while running his car on the little tracks. Our boy stood outside the fence holding his ripped teddy bear, hanging loose in his hands. He looked like a ghost, covered in dirt and ragged clothes hanging loosely on his thin body and his hair was a mess. His mouth was open like that of a fish and eyes silent and hollow.
The boy, who was playing in his garden looked at our boy with surprise and curiousity. "Why does he look like that....." he thought to himself, hesitant to talk to our boy. Initially he decided to ignore him till he walked away because he feared him but then he caught him staring hard at his toys. He decided to walk towards the fence and talk to him. "My name is Ivan. What's your name?" He asked cheerfully despite his initial nervousness and fear. Our boy didn't say anything, he just stared at the boy then at his toys and then at his house. "Oh...you cannot speak?" Ivan asked forming an 'o' with his mouth. "That's alright! Do you want to play with my toys? I have a lot!" Ivan asked again, with even more cheerfulness than before. Seeing our boy standing there like a ghost, Ivan decided to open the door to the fence. He grabbed his wrists and dragged him inside with a bright smile. Our boy tried to shake off his hand from his wrists, but he was too weak to do so. He felt scared, alone and paranoid. His expressions strained at the uninvited touch, but soon Ivan let go off his hand. He shook his head but didn't walk away.
He sat in his garden across Ivan silently, still loosely gripping his ripped teddy bear and staring at the scattered toys in front of him. "Your teddy is broken. Here, you can have mine!" Ivan playfully shoved a teddy into our boy's hands. Our boy couldn't bring up words to speak, he just stared at the new and bright teddy lying in his lap."Why…?" he spoke softly, returning the teddy back to Ivan. It was a bright yellow colored teddy with big buttoned eyes and a red bow on his neck. It was beautiful, our boy wanted it but couldn't gather the courage and trust to actually accept it."You don't like it....?" Ivan said with a small smile and a hint of sadness in his eyes, but he soon replaced it with a grin "then take whatever you like!!".
"Ivan? Who are you talking to? Is th- oh!!" a soft voice spoke from behind, making our boy flinch and quickly turn his head back to see the source of the voice. He scooted away from the figure standing at the doorway and gripped his own tattered teddy tighter. "Mom! I have a new friend!" Ivan said cheerfully, pointing towards our boy. Ivan's mom looked at the boy, her eyes turned from squinted to a concerned ones and her lips which were ealier in a scoul turned droopy. "Oh God..you look weak.....come.." she said grabbing our boy's hands softly and leading him inside. Our boy resisted and made some noises, and tried freeing his hands but the lady didn't let go off him in concern. She gently seated him in the big dinner table's chair and placed a bowl of noodles in front of him. Our boy looked around the surrounding with wide eyes and an open mouth. The grande chandelior, massive tables, plush couches, the dinner table filled with different types of snacks. All of this made him feel out of place. He sat at the edge of the chair and stared at the noodles before saying no.
"Why!" Ivan whined to which his mom shushed him. "Eat up, dear. Else you will fall ill" Ivan's mother said picking up a fork, twirling the noodles around it, and blowing on it before extending it towards our boy's mouth. She was a little disappointed when our boy turned his face away. "I will not force you to eat it, whenever you feel comfortable, dig in" she said with a smile, putting the fork back and leaning on to the table. She didn't question him on his name or address for now, just sat in front of him, silently wondering about his situation.
Ivan walked up and sat beside our boy, picked up the fork with the noodles still twirled on it, blowed on it and again extended it towards our boy with a big bright smile. Our boy stared at him and then at the fork. He decided to turn his head away, but his stomach growled. Ivan's smiled grew brighter once our boy finally took a bite, though hesitantly. "Good boy!!" Ivan chirped making our boy stare at him in confusion, squinting his eyes as if to understand what he meant by 'good boy'. "These taste really good" our boy thought after having one more bite. After being fed the entire bowl by Ivan, his mother carried him in her arms to bathe him. Our boy couldn't stop squirming and trying to get away from her. Ivan's mom realized that he might be uncomfortable with such close contact.
"Do you want to wash up yourself?" she asked in a soft tone to which our boy nodded. Ivan's mom sat outside the bath in case if our boy needed something. She passed him Ivan's clothes which were a little baggy on him. "You look so cute!!" Ivan said cheerfuly hugging our boy to which he froze and broke away. "What was that..? An attack..?" he thought to himself putting even more distance between the two of them. Ivan looked at him, confused, but didn't think much of it. Thought Ivan's mother started piecing some things together.
Our boy tugged on the clothes uncomfortably, feeling out of place and alienated by each and everything. "Why do they compliment me....why are they nice to me..." Our boy thought, while Ivan's mom blow dried his silver hair. "Your hair's so unique, I've never seen a boy with silver hair and such a beautiful face" Ivan's mom muttered to our boy with a wide smile making him uncomfortable and back away."Why..." Our boy whispered, audible enough for her to hear. The fear was evident on his face. Ivan's mom looked at his face and immediately apologized for making him uncomfortable. She raised her hands and amiled sweetly at him in an attempt to gain his trust.
"Something terrible must've happened to him...." she muttered to herself, distancing herself and Ivan from our boy to avoid any discomfort to him. "He is so delicate..like a flower. Like my…child..I cannot imagine letting him leave now…I need to keep him safe…"she muttered to herself with her lips pressed in a line.