The Shrink Program

PART FIVE

The boy behind the tree spoke flatly, not bothering to look as we drew close, sitting against the tree with his back to us.

All I could see of the new stranger was his narrow shoulder poking from behind the tree.

The person holding me seemed to wilt with the cold reception.

"But... "

"Now. Before it's mother finds it missing from the nest." The boy sighed moodily. "What's Green going to say if he catches you tormenting the wildlife again?"

The hands holding me shifted, arms wrapping around my torso and holding me against a chest, rather than above the stranger's head.

"Ahh... I think he might be a little more concerned with the fact that you're trying to sneak a ciggy..."

Sure enough, the boy behind the tree lifted the incriminating object up for us to see, along with his middle finger.

"Well excuse me, but last time I checked this was my body, to do with as I please." In a less snarky tone, he added. "Besides, it's not like it's going to kill me anyway... "

"No, but it's an expensive habit to keep when you're not even chemically affected by the things."

"Screw you. I'm legal, and I didn't pay for it or steal it so bite me." He growled back.

There was pause

"To put it delicately, Alexander, I'm not sure seducing cigarettes off an old woman to feed you pseudo-addiction is the better alternative here... "

With a groan of frustration, the boy pushed himself up from the tree. "Listen here you, I don't need your... "

The boy rounded the tree, cigarette clenched between his teeth...

And came face to face with the disapproving look of his brother...

And the child he was currently abducting.

In the sunlight, the stranger's hair proved itself to be an unnaturally vibrant red, left to fall wild about his face. Wide with shock and growing horror, the odd colour of his eyes stood out in his pale face.

One eye Green, the other blue.

For a long moment, the smoking teenager stood staring at us, unable to react as his brain crashed and he was left scrambling to reboot it.

In the awkward silence that followed, the person holding me hesitantly spoke.

"... can I keep it?"

Blue and Green eyes twitched as the other brother finally came back online.

"...seeing as kidnapping is generally frowned upon in civilized society, I'm going to have to say NO. ALAN ."

"...but I want it... "

"We've been through this. If even your pet rock dies, you don't qualify as a pet owner. "

"... My rock didn't die, you threw it out the window of a moving train..."

"It's not my fault if I firmly believe that wildlife should not remain in captivity."

"We were five Alex..."

After going through the gradual processes of shock, surprise and disbelief, I had finally lost my ability to deal with his situation.

"I hate to interrupt," I muttered furiously, feeling my eye twitch in that way it does when I'm failing to keep calm. I tilted my head back, trying to catch a glimpse at the person holding me captive.