The Imagination Machine

Chapter 7

When Courtney woke, she vaguely recognized the shape of the figure above her. A boy, maybe? Courtney's fogged brain was sending signals out for her to slip back into unconsciousness. Maybe I'm falling into a coma. Courtney started to close her eyes.

"Hey, no wait! Stay awake." It was definitely a boy's voice. Courtney started to sit up, but a hand eased her back down. A spoonful of something found its way to her lips and Courtney gratefully swallowed. Her mouth instantly burst into an explosion of lemon.

The next spoonful tasted like lime. After that, a flavor she couldn't place. Courtney could feel her mind beginning to clear and her muscles strengthened enough for her to sit up.

"Here." A cupful of water was placed into her hands. Courtney, seeing what it was, grabbed for it like a small children would grab for a candy bar and drank it in long gulps, occasionally stopping to gasp for air. When she was finished, Courtney held out her cup for more. Courtney drank until her stomach hurt and coughed up the last bit of water but still held out her cup when she was finished.

"Not a chance. You'll make yourself ill. Have some more medicine."

This time Courtney could see that the stuff being fed into her mouth was a clear color. Not like white, more like what you'd see if you looked at glass. Each time she tasted it, the flavor was different. Some she recognized, others she didn't. With each bite, Courtney felt a little better. Courtney had a better look at the boy who was taking care of her.

Black hair fell just past his head, brushing his neck. He was tanned from head to toe and had on brown pants, a green shirt, and a brown vest that looked as though they were made of silk. His arms and legs were skinny, and he was barefoot. He looked at her with kind, brown eyes.

"W-who are you?" Courtney stammered.

The boy grinned at her, revealing a gap where his front teeth should have been. "Nobody in particular."

Just then, a thought began to make its way to her still muddled head. Looking around, Courtney began to panic. "Hey, where's my brother?!"

"Relax." The boy pointed as he soothed her. "If you're talking about the little boy, he's over there." Courtney scrambled over to the figure lying near Rudy's backpack, canteens of water and a few containers of what looked like the medicine the boy had given her.

Courtney grabbed a canteen of water, unscrewed the cap and splashed it onto Rudy's face. Rudy spluttered, his eyes opened and he immediately began to cough. Courtney forced the canteen into his open mouth. Rudy began to relax and eventually took the canteen from his sister and drank until it was empty.

The boy, who had come over, began to give Rudy the same medicine he'd given Courtney. After he was finished, he tried to put the wooden spoon and carton away but Rudy grabbed his wrist. "More," he pleaded.

The boy shook his head. "I can't. I've given you enough for someone of your size."

Both children, who were hungry, were happy to see that the mysterious boy had bread and cheese in his sack. "You look like walking skeletons," He told the two as he handed them an equal share. Courtney and Rudy gratefully ate until they were comfortably full for the first time in days.

"Listen, we'd like to thank you. For helping us, I mean," said Courtney as the three of them sat in a small triangle after their meal, the grass soft and the sun warm.

They were in a large clearing not unlike the one where'd they had been tracking the rabbit.

The boy shook his head. "It's no problem. What is your name?"

"Courtney," she responded. The boy nodded and took notice of Rudy picking at a blade of grass.

"And this is your brother? He's very cute," the boy said, reaching over to ruffle Rudy's hair. Rudy pushed his hand away.