Creative Writing Collection

Hesitate

“It’s asitoseatupon,” the nurse said with a small smile to calm the child’s nerves. “Just to help with your growing, okay?”

       The little girl named Grace, about seven years old or so, tightened her grip on her pink stuffed rabbit, the comfort creature’s seams falling apart and exposing the white fluff within. She didn’t give an answer otherwise. Her father that sat beside her rubbed her arm lightly.

“C’mon, kiddo, you can do it. It’s just one shot,” he said encouragingly. He himself didn’t like clinics or anything that had to do with putting in or extracting things out from his body, but his daughter was still young and unstable — she needed the medication.

“Asitoseatupon…,” she said quietly, deciding it sounded like a faraway kingdom daddy told stories to her about. The little girl nodded, her fiery red hair shifting like tongues of flame at the motion. She closed her eyes and buried her face into her father’s arm while the nurse gently send the needle through Grace’s neck, reaching a main artery. She whimpered and cringed, the skin healing itself over after the syringe was moved away.

“Good job there, kiddo!” dad said, golden eyes glittering as he beamed at his offspring.

She grinned happily back at him. ‘I did it! I got the shot!’ she thought proudly.

Grace was then allowed to run off into the Children’s Playroom with the other nonhumans, the young Shadow playing with aliens and creatures unknown to man. One of them was a young prince named Loki, who was older than she by three years, and also meet a man with quite a childish, peppy personality. He told her that he had traveled from a long forgotten land called Galifrey.

Sighing softly, the father leaned against the doorway of the room, the nurse lingering a while.

Asitoseatupon: a tonic used to stabilize the magic within young creatures not of Earth, and keep their power latent until they have reached an age of maturity; to help the children sit still for the mean time; uuh-sit-too-seat-upon.

       “Are you sure it will work? This time?” he asked, looking over at the nurse. This was the second time giving Grace the tonic.

       “I am sure of it — I gave her a double dose this time,” she said with a small nod.

       He looked away from her, though didn’t say anything else. A Shadow, persecuted by fear and curiosity. This had to work. This had to hide their secret existence.