A Peculiar Time in 1944 - A Millard Fanfic (Miss Peregrine's Home) #wattys2020

Chapter 1

Aurora made her way through the fog to the metal trash bin on the curb, she didn't see the point in taking out the trash anymore; there was a war going on for crying out loud! But her mother had insisted so she had smiled and picked up the smaller bin from the kitchen and made her way outside.

Aurora turned at the sound of metal hitting the ground. Across the cobblestone street in a small alley was a tiny white kitten, playing with an old tuna can trying to get a meal out of anything that was left. The poor little thing had black patches of soot staining his fur making his blue eyes jump out at Aurora. She knelt down to make herself look smaller and held out her hand calling to the kitten. It gave a small meow and dashed down the street toward the small wood that lay between neighborhoods.

Letting her curiosity get the better of her she followed the kitten without a second thought. Her feet splashed through puddles as she dashed into the woods. Eventually she lost sight of the kitten and slowed until she was walking at a normal pace again. She pushed small branches out of her way searching for the tiny cat, she was about to turn back to town when she heard the small meow again. As she climbed a small hill she found the kitten, actually she found more than just the kitten. The soot covered fur ball was rubbing back and forth along someone's trousers, but when Aurora moved another branch aside she was shocked, she could see clothes but no person. A floating cap, which seemed to be on the strange person's head angled downward to look at the kitten as it purred, then they crouched down and the arm of the brown jacket began to move repeatedly over the kittens back as the invisible hand pet it. The kitten purred more and Aurora heard a soft chuckle come from the invisible body.

Her breath caught in her throat as she gasped, perhaps a little too loudly. The arm stopped moving instantly, the floating cap tilted in her direction telling her that the invisible person not only heard her but now was staring right at her. Timid and afraid Aurora took a few hesitant steps backward as the person stood up, the kitten forgotten at their feet. They took a step closer to her and she turned and ran.

"Wait!" she heard a young male voice call after her, but she ignored it and kept running. She pushed past branches and shrubs and only looked back once but in that split second her foot caught on a tree root and she went tumbling down the small hill into a ditch and landed in a muddy puddle. She pushed herself up but when she moved her leg a sharp shooting pain made her stop. Her ankle, now throbbing, must have been injured in her fall.

"Wait." She heard again, only now much closer. She looked up to see the invisible boy standing at the top of the ditch. "Please don't run off." His smooth English accented voice begged her.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He tried to get closer to her, angling his leg so he wouldn't fall down the wet hill too.

"Here." He stretched his arm out to her offering his unseen hand, "Let me help you out of there." Aurora tried to crawl away from him but even the slightest movement caused her ankle to scream in pain. The boy clearly saw her discomfort.

"You're hurt, let me help you."

"Qu'es tu? Je ne peux pas te voir." She replied, her voice trembling. "C'est impossible."

"Do you even understand a word I'm saying?" he asked as he shifted closer to her again.

"It's alright."

Aurora looked from the cuff of the brown jacket up to the floating cap then back down again. She obviously couldn't get up on her own, much less make it back to the town. The boy also seemed genuinely concerned for her and wanted to help, cautiously she raised her left hand out of the mud, supporting her weight with her right. She kept slowly reaching forward for the sleeve since she couldn't see anything else and froze when her fingertips touched skin. Warily, she traced his fingers with her own marveling at how he was so there when her eyes were telling her he wasn't, he couldn't be.