Andrew to Andy

Chapter 8

After a breakfast of oatmeal and berries, Samuel set out some pages with words he had written up for Andy. He instructed Andy to rewrite each word ten times. Andy wrote out each word as carefully as he could, silently mouthing them as he did. He chewed on the eraser of his pencil and took quick breaks to lie on the bench of the dinner table and fiddle with his new shoes. Samuel enjoyed looking from his ledger to see Andy lying on his back and playing with his feet like an infant. He kept his pencil in his mouth as he knotted and untied the laces of his shoes.
By the afternoon, he had finished his letters and proudly brought the paper up to Samuel's desk. Samuel looked over the paper as Andy held his hands behind his back and nervously swiveled a leg back and forth.
Samuel looked up with a smile and said, "Good job Andy! You've made great improvements. I think that time spent on bedrest really accelerated your writing." Andy's face broke out in a big cheeky smile as he took in his praise. "Why don't you take a break and spend some time outside."
Andy walked outside and found a long pointy stick behind the cabins. He walked around the perimeter of the campgrounds and poked at various things he saw. In a bush he discovered a nest of blue eggs and marveled at how tiny they were. He scampered back to the big cabin and breathlessly told Samuel "Come quick! Come quick! There's a nest and it has eggs and they're blue and they're really really tiny and they look like marbles. You have to see it Mr. Anderson." Samuel quickly followed Andy out to the bush and oohed and ahhed obligingly. He loved the look of excitement and wonder on Andy's cherubic face.
He strolled around the campgrounds with Andy for the rest of the afternoon. Andy discovered little lizards and toads hiding under the cabin and reached out towards mesmerizing spiderwebs dripping with dew. In the late afternoon his eyes became heavy and running around became more arduous. His little face frowned, and he huffed and puffed around the center of the grounds, not knowing why he felt so sour. Samuel knew a boy in need of a nap when he saw one and took Andy's hand and led him back to the big cabin. He sat him down on one of the softer couches in the cabin and started reading to him from The Three Musketeers. Andy tried his best to stay awake for the story, but within minutes he was curled up on the couch, dozing softly in the late afternoon sun. Samuel placed his jacket over Andy and positioned a couch cushion under his head.
Samuel looked thoughtfully at the young boy and headed into the kitchen. He tossed a few herbs into a pot and let them singe over the heat. He waved a hand over the smoke and drew up his inner strength, placing them in his speech.
"I summon you", he spoke into the air. The smoke vibrated and shimmered before disappearing. Inside the pot, nothing was left. Samuel smiled as he thought of what tomorrow would bring.
As Samuel finished up his paperwork a few hours later, he saw that it would soon be time for the lumberjacks to return. He got and went over to the couch where Andy was sleeping. He kneeled down and gently shook his shoulder.
"Andy get up. It's time for dinner.", he whispered.
Andy stirred and whined, but he was already beginning to wake up. He slowly let out a big yawn and stretched his entire body, his fingers and toes brushing the armrests of the couch. He sat up as he tried to shake the last bits of sleep off. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and swung his legs off the couch. He was just about to say something when the men burst through the door.
Andy jumped off the couch and zoomed over to them, looking for John or Max so he could tell them all about his day. He finally bumped into John's stomach and craned his neck up at him with a big smile. John grinned and crouched down, so he was eye-level with Andy.
"How was your day? What did you do big man?", he asked as he took off Andy's hat and ruffled his hair. John patiently listened as Andy listed off everything he and Mr. Anderson had done. He proudly talked about his writing worksheet and animatedly used his hands when describing how tiny the bird eggs were and how slimy the lizards had felt in his fingers. John took Andy's hand and took him over to the dinner table and sat with him while the men prepared dinner. Andy told him about the new book he had started and how he was going to fight like the musketeers and how really wanted to keep reading it before bed.
Andy stayed glued to John's side all throughout dinner after which he rushed outside to join the men playing soccer. He had never been very good, but this night it seemed the men were not playing as well as they usually did either. He managed to score a few times before John called out to him to come to his cabin. Andy ran over to John's cabin and jumped onto John's bed, excited to read the rest of his musketeers' book. John got onto the bed, but this time, he lifted Andy by his armpits and sat him down on his lap. Andy suddenly quieted down and froze. He had never sat on someone's lap before, as far as he could recall. He felt John's warmth radiating underneath and around him as he wrapped his arms around him and brought the book up to his face. He started to read, and Andy reached out his little hand to follow the words as he told the tale. John gently rocked back-and-forth as he read to Andy. Soon, his eyes began to drift to a close and he was limp on John's chest, his breathing steady.
In all his excitement, he had failed to notice the new small cot in the corner of John's cabin. It had rails at the head and foot of the bed and was painted white. John quietly undressed Andy and tucked him into the little bed. His shiny chestnut curls splayed out around his head, giving the impression of a halo. Truly, he did seem angelic thought John with his long lashes and rosebud lips. Since the illness had receded, his transformation would resume a normal rate of change, which meant he would be this size for a while. John didn't mind that at all.