A Tall and Small Collection | S2

Last Night Home

Soren took his time as he walked along the rafters and beams all the way back to their home. His head was buzzing, and it felt as though adrenaline had replace every other compound in his body. He was vibrating and shaking slightly, but not with nerves – it was excitement. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time, and this only brought a bout of crushing guilt.

Why did he feel excited? It was Ashlynn. He had seen her hundreds of times and, more importantly, he had not seen her in years. Sadly, he knew where the guilt was coming from – and he didn't know what to do about it except to lock it away like so many other things rolling around in his head.

He couldn't think about any of this now. What he had to think about was all of the things he needed to pack and what they should leave behind. Could they bring everything? Should they bring everything?

There was another question that tugged at the back of his head. Were there going to be other Borrowers? Ashlynn said she thought there might be others, but she hadn't really said she had found any exact evidence. Then again, they had other things to talk about that were more important than specific pieces of evidence.

Besides, they were going to find out soon enough.

Soren made it to the line and pulled himself up and finally crossed over the threshold of his home with Dorian, Rey, and his daughter. The moment he did, he could hear Rey and Dorian in some kind of dispute. It didn't sound serious, but it was enough to bring Soren from his spiraling thoughts to the present.

"You can't bring that," said Dorian from the other room. Soren walked past the postcard divider and peered into the boys' once shared room which now belonged entirely to Rey. Rey, who was currently packing some of his so called "inventions," stood defiantly in between his belongings and his brother.

"Who said I can't bring it?" asked Rey.

"We can't pack it all. It's common sense," argued Dorian.

"That's if we were packing it all ourselves. Ashlynn is helping us," pointed out Rey.

"Yeah? So?" retorted Dorian.

"So? So, Ashlynn could probably get all of our stuff in one load with one arm. So what if I want to bring a couple of my inventions along?" countered Rey.

Soren too this opportunity to step in with a chuckle and a grin.

"What are you two going round and round for? Rey's inventions? Or packing space?" asked Soren.

"A little of both," muttered Dorian. "Rey wants to bring a lot of things that don't make sense. We won't have room to bring everything and, frankly, a lot of these things don't work."

"Dorian, you have plenty of things that you are refusing to take because you are thinking that we have to move all of this stuff ourselves. If we don't have to start from scratch, then why would we?" emphasized Rey. "And for your information, if I had more borrowings, I could get these things to work. I'm missing a couple of key components and then they'll be good to go."

"Okay you two. You're old enough to compromise. Dorian, if there is anything you want to bring, regardless of how silly you think it is, bring it. I don't think Ashlynn will mind. Rey, you could probably do with a few less tinkerings gone awry. Disassemble what you can and bring all the parts with you. Deal?"

Both boys shared a mutual, dissatisfied look before giving a reluctant nod. Soren turned and began heading back off to his room when he heard his name coming from behind him. He turned to see Dorian walking up to him, something obviously on his mind.

"Soren?"

"Yes, Dorian?" asked Soren as he stopped just outside of his room. Dorian glanced behind him as if to check and see if Rey were listening in before looking back to Soren.