The Song of the World (nanowrimo13)

Chapter 8

“Cher! Cher! Cher! Come quickly!”

Cherry could hear Thunder yelling from all the way down in the street. Drying her hands on her apron, she slipped her feet into her slippers and stepped out of the apartment. Wind was running up the stairs, Whip not far behind. 

“What is it?” she asked Wind as he came panting up to her.

“Something’s wrong with Shorn. He’s flapping around on the floor with his eyes up in his head,” he said in between gasps of air.

“It’s really scary, Cherry mama,” Whip said, grasping on to her skirts. 

“How did it happen?” she asked as she hurried down the stairs. There were days when she loved the privacy of being on the top floor. Today was not one of them.

“Don’t know. He just started shaking, all of a sudden. He was in the middle of saying something too. Then he just stopped. Then he fell down,” Wind said, running a few steps ahead of her. She paused in the middle of the landing, winded. 

“Cher!” she could hear Thunder shouting. “It’s getting worse!”

Somewhere above her, she could hear doors and windows opening as residents looked out to find out what the commotion was about.

“Keep that boy quiet,” someone yelled. “I’m trying to sleep here.”

“Sleep? At mid afternoon?” Cherry grumbled as she continued down the stairs. “Whip, go tell Thunder I’m on the way. Tell him to shut up while he’s at it. He doesn’t have to wake the whole building just to get me.”

The little boy nodded and ran off ahead of them. 

By the time Cherry reached the boys, Shorn lay still on the ground. Biting her lip, she hurried over and knelt beside him. He was flat on his back, his head thrown back and his arms splayed. If it weren’t for his chest that heaved up and down unnaturally hard, she would have thought he had already died. Thunder was still shaking him by the shoulder. 

“Get up, Shorn. Get up,” he was saying over and over again. 

Cherry caught Thunder’s hand, pushing it away from Shorn. “Let him be,” she said. “Come help me get him into a sitting position. Tell me what happened, clearly.”

Thunder nodded. “We were fooling around. Kicking a ball around. Then by accident, I kicked the ball and it flew and hit his face. He stood for a moment, scolding me for being an idiot. I told him it wasn’t my fault. Was just an accident. I didn’t mean to do it. And then suddenly his face turns white and his eyes roll up. I ask him what’s the matter, but he shakes his head and starts holding his head and moaning. Then his whole body starts to shake and his mouth is wide open. Then he falls and I tried to catch him, but I didn’t quite ‘cos he’s so big, see and he lands with this huge thump. I sent Wind and Whip up for you, and he’s still shaking all over and - well. Now he’s stopped.”

Cherry cradled Shorn’s head in her lap. His eyes were closed and his limbs were limp on the ground. 

“Shorn, can you hear me?” she asked. There was no response. A small crowd of residents had started to gather around them and Cherry looked up with some annoyance. 

“What’s wrong with the ‘fler?” someone asked.

“He’s fine. He just needs some air,” Cherry said firmly, trying to wave away the on-lookers.

“Don’t look fine to me. Look how pale he is,” another added. 

“Ain’t pale cos he’s sick,” a third voice chimed in. “He looks like them dandies from the hill. He’s pale for not nuff sun.”