Tearful Memories III

"You're lying," said Nina. Six years? If the boy had really been here for six years then why hadn't Nina seen him once before?

"I'm not lying, I really have been here for six years," the boy argued back.

"Why haven't I seen you before then?" Nina asked him.

"I don't know. I have never seen you before either, which is weird."

The two stood there silently trying to figure out why. "Maybe it's because we live on different sides of the house," Nina said after a little bit of thinking. That was the only explanation there was left. If they both lived here for that long then they must have been on different sides.

"There is another side?" The boy asked curiously.

"Yes, there has to be, or otherwise it would make no sense that we haven't met each other even though we have both been living here for years."

"Yeah, that makes sense! How do we get to the other side?"

"I don't know," replied Nina. "I got lost and found this side, and I am trying to find how to get back to the other side."

"Then let's find it together!" the boy shouted out in excitement. He really wanted to see what the other side looked like.

The two began to explore the second floor to find a way to the other side but after searching the entire floor twice, they gave up.

"Maybe, we should try the first floor," the boy suggested.

"I already searched there," said Nina. "There weren't any doors that lead to the other side."

The two sat down on the wall next to the boy's room and brainstormed places where the passage to the other side could've been. "Did you try looking outside yet?" he asked. "I have never been to the back of this place before."

"Oh! I haven't looked there yet!"

"Let's go right now then!"

The two hurried down the hallway towards the stairs when they heard a voice called out to them. "What game are you two playing? Can I play too?" The two stopped and turned to face the person that said that. It was a young boy with short blonde hair and yellow eyes. He looked a few years younger than them.

"Huh?" The boy stared at Nina with a confused expression for a moment and then his face lit up with excitement. "Are you new here? What's your name? How old are you? What about your favorite color? What food do you like the most?"

The little blonde boy bombarded Nina with questions, which made her feel uncomfortable. "I'm Heatherlord but because my name is too long, the grownups call me Heaths instead," the boy introduced himself.

"I'm Nina..." Nina hesitantly told the boy while hiding herself behind the first one she met. Even though they had just met, she already didn't like Heatherlord because of how scary he seemed. He asked too many questions and she didn't like that.

"Nina..." The blonde boy stared emptily at her for a few seconds before shouting out in delight, " So you are new here!"

"Um, not really."

"What do you mean?" the blonde boy asked.

"Umm, well..." Nina held tightly onto the back of the other boy's shirt. She didn't like that he was asking too many questions. She wanted him to go away but didn't know what to say or do.

"We're doing something important," said the boy that Nina was holding onto.

The other boy looked at the two curiously and eagerly asked, "Can I help too?"

"Sorry, but it is something that only the two of us can do."

"Oh..." The boy looked disappointed.

"Heaths, are you still playing?" came another voice from a nearby room. Just as quickly as his disappointment came, it left. He hastily said goodbye to the two and then ran into the room where the voice had come from.

Nina was relieved now the boy was gone and let go of the boy's shirt and said, "Thank you," to him.

The boy smiled and said, "Dinner is soon so we need to hurry."

Nina nodded in agreement. The two of them hopped down the steps and then ran outside the building. They then ran around the grassy side of the building to the other side where Nina supposedly lived. It was a long trip as the building was quite wide and they had to stop for a short break midway to catch their breaths before deciding to walk the rest of the way. They soon reached the other end of the building after a few minutes or so and turned the corner to find a big surprise.

"What!?" Nina cried out. The back of the building didn't look like her house. There was no gate or door or steps. It was just a wall. Then the realization hit her and she sat down and started to cry.

"Where is the entrance?" The boy asked while looking around. He hadn't noticed the Nina was crying and was still exploring the area to find where the mentioned entrance was. "I don't see-" The boy saw that Nina was on the ground covering her face with her hands and hurried over to her. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"This isn't my house," Nina told him over her sobs.

"Are you lost then?" the boy asked. He sat down next to Nina and tried to comfort her.

"Yes." Nina started to cry even harder after hearing him say that. She now regretted running away from home and desperately wanted to go back.

The boy hugged her and said, "Don't worry, your parents will come and bring you home."

"No they won't!" Nina yelled. She continued to cry uncontrollably while the boy sat there next to her, unsure of what to do.

After a bit of thinking, the boy came up with an idea to cheer her up. "Hey, do you want to see something cool?" asked the boy.

"No I don't, I just want to go home," said Nina.

"Trust me, it's really cool. Look!" The boy picked up a leaf that was on the ground and started to levitate it. "I can't do it for long so you need to look quick.

Nina didn't want to look up but curiosity eventually got the better of her and she slowly lifted her head up to see what the boy was doing. "Wow..." In an instant, Nina had forgotten why she was crying and stared at the floating leaf. "You can use magic?"

"Only a little." Nina watched closely as the leaf fluttered about and spun all over the place.

"I can't hold it anymore." The boy clutched his hand and the leaf suddenly stopped twirling around and spiraled down from the air and back onto the ground.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"It's really cool!"

Nina had gotten over the fact that she was lost and sat with the boy for the next hour and watched him play with the winds. Eventually, the tall man that Nina had met earlier found them and gave them a scolding. He had been searching for them the entire time and was really worried about them. He was afraid that they had gotten into an accident or even gotten themselves kidnapped.

*Sigh* The man ruffled his front hair with his hand which was in a mess from all the running and searching and then told Nina, "Someone is here to pick you up."

Nina's eyes lit up and she cried out in joy. They hurried back to the front of the building and Nina saw a familiar face.

"Daddy!" Nina ran up to her father and hugged him.

Nina's father picked her up and hugged her. "Don't give me a fright like this again."

"I'm sorry," Nina apologized.

"Don't worry too much about it. Your mother was just as rebellious when she was this age too."

"Really?"

"Really."

Nina's father carefully put down Nina and then said, "Okay let's go, your mother is worried about you." He thanked the tall man for taking care of Nina and then took her hand and began to walk but felt a tug and stopped.

"Wait!" Nina pulled on his hand.

"What is it dear?"

"Can we bring him too?" Nina pointed at the boy next to the tall man who was waving goodbye to them.

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