1000 Reasons To Smile

Chapter 15: I Am Rafiki

Eugene's theater room (above)

"Were you scared?" Eugene asked, looking up at me from where he was sitting on the couch.

"Nah," I said, sitting down beside him, resting my still-in-a-sling arm on the sofa.

"Not even a tiny bit?" He asked.

"Maybe just a tiny bit, but that was only for a moment." I answered truthfully.

I was at Eugene's house, baby-sitting for him. I had just entered the house when I got immediately ambushed by him, firing question after questions at me about the incident that happened last week, only to grow even more curious after each answer I gave him.

"I wouldn't have been afraid either." Eugene declared, puffing out his chest a little. I couldn't help but grin at him, he was adorable. He'd lost weight throughout the last few months, and grown taller. His hair was still wild, but it wasn't long so it looked more like a natural hairstyle than just a case of permanent bedhead.

He then proceeded to poke my slinged arm. "Does that hurt?" He asked, looking up at me with wide eyes.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "No bud, it doesn't."

I still didn't get why I had to wear this annoying sling, because the bullet had just grazed me and it had already been a week since it happened, my arm was healing just fine and it didn't hurt at all.

"Why don't we go to the park or something?" I suggested to him, after answering a couple more of his questions.

It was cold outside because it was already mid-December, but the park was still fun none-the-less, and tons of people still went there.

"Sure!" Eugene chirped, jumping off the couch to go get his coat. After insisting that he didn't need helping getting ready because he was a big boy, we left the house and entered the cold, frigid air of December.

I don't know how, but it always seems as if this kind of weather never affects little kids, or maybe it's just Eugene. But he was as active as could be, rushing to the park, which was about a block away, while I could barely move because my body was still adjusting to the fact that I had just stepped into a life-sized freezer.

Shaking my head, I quickly rushed after Eugene, also hoping to get warmer by running, and we raced to the park.

"I won!" Eugene exclaimed, laughing and jumping up and down.

"Psh, it was just by a little bit," I said, grirking.

"No it wasn't!" Eugene laughed, before running to the swings. "Flynn, push me!" He called.

Smiling, I walked up to the large swing set and went behind him and started pushing him higher and higher

"Flynn! I'm flying!" Eugene exclaimed when I had pushed him so high up that I had to tilt my head back to see him.

"Yeah, you are!" I called out, before sitting on a swing beside him and pushing myself. I was already getting even more cold, but I knew Eugene would want to play a little longer before going back home.

"Hey!" Eugene said, "Paul's here! Flynn, can I go play with him?"

"Yeah, sure bud," I said, stopping his swing so that he could jump off, and I chuckled as he rushed to go to Paul and ended up tripping, but then just got right back up and started running again.

I went to go sit under a bench right under the sunlight, letting the sun hit against my face serenely. Even though it was already December, no snow had fallen yet, so the air was just a harsh cold, and everywhere you turned you'd see trees with no leaves and dying grass.