Summary:
Many an afternoon finds a boy sitting beneath the shade of an oak tree, reading books on advanced, scientific ideas and theories. A usual pastime for him when he isn’t busy excelling in his school studies. These afternoons spent reading are never usually interrupted, at least not by anyone aside from his foster parents calling him inside for dinner. But, on one afternoon, a new face beyond the family’s garden wall interrupts the boy, marking the beginning of more, rather pleasant encounters with each other.
(This is the start of a project that I’ll be quietly working on in the background, alongside my usual stories. For now, please enjoy this sampler piece!)
-Maple
(A.N. For context, the boy is around 7/8 yrs old)
The young boy sat underneath the shade of the lush oak tree. It’s vibrant, green leaves quietly rustled with the light spring wind, which when combined with the sounds of the town, made a calming ambience for him to read. Pushing his glasses up onto his face, Eugene turned the page of the book to continue reading the text. With how captivated he was by it’s subject, it being titled “Alchemy of Past and Present: Third Edition”, it would be very unlikely for the boy’s attention to be pulled from what he was reading. Unless he were to be called inside by his foster mother for dinner.
“Fascinating…!” Eugene had been quietly reading aloud to himself when, from seemingly nowhere, a droplet of water landed in the middle of the sentence he’d been reading. He blinked. Lowering the book a little, Eugene looked up and around to see where the water had come from. It was a clear, sunny day out—hardly a cloud in sight—so it hadn’t begun to rain. The tree above him was also dry, any dew from that morning being gone. Eugene set the book down for a moment so as to stand from his spot. This was curious.
From the other side of the yard’s stone fence, someone was heard muttering to himself in an annoyed manner. The young boy went over to the fence, carefully climbing atop the side of it by putting his feet in the crevices. He pushed his glasses up on his face again, before peering over the fence. On the other side of the fence, in the neighbour’s yard, was a man. He appeared to be in his late twenties, had dark hair underneath a blue cap, and had on a worn pair of overalls over a blue tunic.
Picking up his fallen bucket, the man sighed when he saw it to be empty—-as expected. Taking the rag from his pocket, he went about wiping the soapy water from his hands, having touched the wet bucket. While doing so, he noticed the boy watching him from the other side of the stone fence. The man blinked. “Hello, there.” The kid didn’t reply, however he did narrow his eyes a little. The man did, too, though waved at the boy. “You, on the fence.”
“Huh-?” The boy looked caught off guard, but quickly recovered. “Pardon?” The man shook his head a little. “Just sayin’ hello. And uh,” He scratched at the back of his neck, chuckling a bit in embarrassment. “Sorry about that crash you must’ve heard. Dropped my bucket off the ladder.” The boy blinked. “It’s alright, the clamour had no effect on my placid bout of reading.”
“Eh… Good?” The man looked puzzled, quietly commenting to himself, “… They weren’t kidding about him, were they?” Brushing his confusion aside, he was then asked, “May I inquire as to what you are doing in Mrs. Grayson’s rear yard, sir?” The boy wondered. “Ah, well, I’m cleaning her windows. I’m bein’ paid to, y’see.” At that, the kid hummed. The man briefly glanced back at the windows he’d been cleaning, which still had some soap suds on them. “Now then, kid- er, what’d you say your name was again?”
“I am Eugene Meltsner, sir.”
“Right, Eugene,” The man hummed in a satisfied manner, while also subtly nodding to himself. “It’s been nice talkin’ to ya, but I’ve gotta get back to cleaning Mrs. Grayson’s windows.” Eugene nodded. “Very well. I shan’t disturb you any longer.” Without another word or peep, the boy disappeared back behind the fence. He returned to his book—-whose page had now dried—-and sat back under the tree.
And for one day of each following week, Eugene would see the window washer return on the regular. Until one day, when the man didn’t come to clean the neighbour’s windows. After that day, Eugene never saw him again.
originally posted to ao3, here
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