Evolution - The Oasis Project Book 3

Eighteen - Linkin

"Why are we doing this again?" Alessia sighed as she attempted to wrap an chicken-shaped piggy bank with pieces of construction paper taped together.

It was hard to tell if she was complaining about wrapping or just with how poorly it was going. "To make Fang happy. None of us got a childhood; that doesn't mean he shouldn't either," I stated simply as I continued to focus on my own impossible task.

Alessia paused, flipping her brown hair over her shoulder. "Stuart had a normal childhood and look how he turned out."

My gaze lifted, the corner of my lips lifting as I looked to Stuart who sat there, tape in hand as he just stared at her. "You know, I think I should be offended," he hummed, his statement hanging in the air before we all laughed.

Today was one of Alessia's good days. She was smiling, teasing us, acting like a normal human would if every time they attempted to fold a piece of paper around a dumb toy, it ripped. On days like today, it was easy to forget the amount of times she threw me against a wall with whatever weapon she could grab pressed to my neck. "I think you should be too," I chuckled with a smirk.

Alessia blushed, glancing down and I nodded in her direction. "This is impossible though," her voice took a darker turn as she pushed the half-wrapped present across craft the table.

Stuart reached out and took the present, lifting his gaze to lock with mine as he kept his head down. I sighed, knowing it was turn to speak up. "I don't know," I started, shifting closer to her so only the corner of the table separated us. While the floor and short table was terrible on my back, it did make a good teaching experience.

"Linkin, I don't want to hear your fortune cookie bullshit," she grumbled, shifting back like a hesitant animal.

I nodded, motioning for her to come closer again. "I'd never," I teased to hide the fact that was my plan. "I think if we work together, we can get through it. I know it seems impossible to do alone, but-"

"You just said you wouldn't," Alessia sighed as Stuart did his best not to choke on the laugh he tried to hide. Still, she moved closer and held her hands out. "What do you want me to do?"

"Put some tape here," I said, tapping the torn purple construction paper I held together with my thumbs. She nodded and took the tape from Stuart who attempted to make it seem like he was busy.

Together, we used a quarter of the roll of tape and did the ugliest wrapping job I had ever seen, but managed to wrap the transformer Thierry had picked out for Fang. I had the feeling that the fact it was already out of the box meant it was stolen, but I wouldn't share my assumptions with anyone. "We'll only wrap three of them, then we're set for the next holiday we forget," I suggested with a weak smile to Alessia.

She relaxed some and nodded, sighing as she rested back on her hands. "I still think it is impossible and it is ugly."

I couldn't object, it was a horrible job. "But think about how happy it'll make Fang." I suggested. Even the most trivial tasks could be made into a learning experience for Alessia. Seeing the world in black and white was one of her largest problems. There was only right and wrong, good and bad, possible and impossible. She struggled to remember that we were all impossible, that we shouldn't exist together like a real family, but yet here we were.

Alessia had no imagination, no thought for herself. "I guess..." She said hesitantly, chewing her lip before adding in. "I did it again, didn't I?"

"Yes," Stuart seemed to lack patience since he was Robin.

I rolled my eyes. "No, you're doing fine," I told her and shifted back from the blue plastic table and stood. I stretched my entire body and turned around, pulling off my shirt.

"Really, Linkin?" Stuart objected with a sigh.

I wasn't shy or embarrassed as I sat back down, my back to both of them. I closed my eyes and focused. The numbness turned into pins and needles and when I opened my eyes, ink collected on my arms and turned them completely black and grey with storm clouds.

"What is this one?" Alessia asked, a hint of excitement in her voice and she shifted close enough I could feel her breath on my back.

I winced, but continued to focus. Everything that touched me hurt, but I continued to concentrate and slowly, flickering images ran through my mind like a flip-book. The images flashes rapidly, telling a story. This was one of my darker times. "It was the first time I ran away from home," I started to tell, the image of a girl sitting under a bridge in a rainstorm, shivering. "I was only nine, but I was young enough to know that I wasn't normal."

"What happened?" Alessia asked and I let the story do the talking.

It was a boy who approached, a Tim-Burton style man lanky character with an oversized coat, his name lost in my memory. "He was another street kid; he found me." I said as the character dressed all in white reached out for the trembling girl of my memories. "He brought me to a fire, gave me his own clothes to keep me warm." Clothes that were four sizes too big. "We spent the night talking, I don't even know about what."

"What does this happen to do with anything?"

"Let's skip ahead," the dark, stormy night under a bridge faded away to a hospital room. "I had hypothermia, he knew it, I didn't. I was too scared to go home, even when I lost feeling in my fingers and toes. I would have died if it wasn't for him, if he didn't see things I couldn't."

I opened my eyes and the images faded along with the ache which constantly filled my body. Once again I was numb and I stood back up to pull on my shirt and stretch again. "You never told me that story," Stuart said. Evidently he had paid attention as well.

I shrugged and glanced to Alessia, smiling. "We all have stories we don't tell. All that matters is that we have someone around to see things we can't."

"Linkin-" Alessia whined as I started to venture back to my fortune-cookie-statement.

Holding up my hands, I smiled. "I'm just saying, that boy saw something I couldn't. I see something in you that you may not yet. You're doing very well Alessia, you've come so far. You-"

My sentiments were cut off as I heard Thierry shouting from downstairs, "Aunt Ira!"

Stuart was quickly standing. "Wrap the last one, then come downstairs. I'll see what's going on."