Under His Wings

5

Once I closed the door to my room, I burst into tears. I laid down on my bed and buried my face in my pillow. Being that close to Ernst was the scariest thing I had ever experienced. I really was too young to be out here. I don't know how long I cried for. I fell asleep for a couple of hours, then woke up to start crying again. Five hours later and I was still crying. Ernst's face was still in my head and I couldn't get rid of it. All of a sudden, there was a knock on the door. I held my breath. It wasn't an angry knock, but I wasn't taking any chances. The door opened and Manfred peered his head in. I finally breathed out in relief. He seemed upset about something. He grabbed the chair from the desk and placed it next to my bed, sitting down. I turned and faced the other way so I wouldn't have to talk to him.

"Edward," Manfred spoke, his voice stern. "What happened?"

I didn't reply.

"I know you don't want to talk, but if you don't, we can't resolve the situation."

I turned back over and met Manfred's soft gaze.

"I may or may not have pissed Ernst off.." I mumbled, looking away embarrassingly.

Manfred closed his eyes while I told him what had happened.

He sighed.

"I'll go talk to him about it," he began, opening his eyes. "But was it necessary to say all of that?"

"Probably not," I murmured. "But it made me feel good about myself."

Manfred laughed.

"I bet it did!" He replied, brushing away some of the teardrops on my face. "But now you need to rest. I'm forced to ask you questions tomorrow. I'll try to make them as easy as possible for the both of us."

I chuckled.

"Thanks, Man."

Manfred raised his eyebrow at the nickname.

"I guess I should've expected that with a name like mine." He said.

I smiled.

He then stood up and smiled back. Another genuine one. He then left the room and I was alone again.