Hymn of Ame (COMPLETED)

[03] Foresteo Guvat

My father didn't move an inch throughout my cleaning, so I guessed I did a fantastic job. On the other hand, it could also mean that his fever was that high he was stripped of his senses. Panicked, I shook the lump of blankets on the bed. It stirred. And groaned. Then a head slowly came into view as my father pushed the blankets away. It revealed a face so pale and battered. There were purple blotches under his eyes and his skin was dry. I fought the urge to wince at the sight of him.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Fine," he answered. Coughs were released as he struggled to sit upright. The coughing developed into a constant thing over the course of the day. It was heaving, chest-rattling coughs that sound like they should only be coming out of the bronchitis wing in the hospital.

"You don't look fine." I assisted him upright. I cringed when my fingers brushed the damp sheets underneath. His back was also damp with sweat. "You shouldn't have gone there, you know, at the park."

My words lingered in the air thickly for a moment, and then he said in between coughs, "I was worried."

"I'm grateful." The words struggled to find their way out of my mouth. "I'm grateful you care so much for me, but next time it happens again, just think of yourself. I'm fine."

"I can't do that." He coughed again, pressing a hand to his chest with a sour face. "We can't do that. No parents can do that."

He coughed so hard whenever he spoke, so I chose to end the conversation. "All right," I said. "Don't sleep yet. I will call Mom to help you get in a new set of clothes."

Before I left, I handed him a glass of water.

IT WAS late at night, and I was still up. After some tossing and turning in my bed, trying every sleeping position there was and found nothing worked, I decided to just get up. I looked at my mobile that was lying next to my head, pressing a few buttons until my conversation with Fritz was open.

Fritz texted me a while back, saying sorry (which was unnecessary) for leaving first. The guard's words and Fritz's message added up that she really had been picked up by her father. I hadn't seen her father yet, but he must be a thing of beauty too, like Fritz. He must be energetic and friendly, too. I didn't dare imagine how her mother would look like, because even just the thought of it already made me envious.

Sunshine rubbed himself against my legs, demanding attention. I scrubbed his underjaw for a while before I started on the paperwork that had been collecting dust since yesterday.

I would've actually done it yesterday, but we went to the the park and there was this sudden rain that effectively kept my mind off them. I usually pride myself on getting my work done in record time, and the fact I forgot about them just meant I was so bothered. It didn't take much time, and I finished them right away, of course with plugs in my ears. I set the volume so high it almost blasted my ears off. I thought there was ringing in my ears when I finally removed the plugs, but it was fine.

All was done, and yet I was still up and about. Sunshine curled up on my lap, and I was forced to stay put in my chair. Because he would hiss every time he sensed movement. But he didn't complain when my hand unconsciously went down to pet him from time to time. He wouldn't admit it, but he loved the touches.

Pedre seemed to influence me to go and check out some videos about aliens. Because, for once, I refused to believe in logic. The rain was so sudden that something supernatural must be behind it - not to mention the river.

A string of videos popped up on my laptop's screen, most of them were uploaded by a channel called HISTORY. The thumbnails showed a grotesque four-limb creature (apparently they believed aliens looked like that). The more I browsed through the entire selection, the more I believed they were not the ones behind it. The videos mentioned they could control minds, do telepathy and telekinesis, and ultimately, live among humans, but they didn't specifically mentioned they were capable of controlling the weather. Perhaps they could, but they weren't that powerful to control it for too long. Most of their powers heavily relied on their ship, but I didn't see a UFO that night at the park. I only saw orange lanterns scattered in the sky, and after that was chaos, light objects flying around.