A Rainbow in Your Eyes

Irielle kept looking over her shoulder as she ran, hiding every now and then to ascertain if she was being followed. If she was fast enough, maybe she could outrun Nene and get to the koi pond and hide properly without getting found. Some days, Nene could be even worse than Mama! Why couldn’t they just understand that she just wants to be a little girl like everyone else?! She hated having to stay in the house every day! She could see the rain clouds coming just as well as everyone else. That doesn’t mean that she couldn’t play outside for just five minutes! She hated her dolls, she never told Mama, but she hated them and that doll house that they made her play with every day! The swans and koi were so much more interesting. Tripping over her long dress, she fell on her knees, having to bite back the tears as she looked at the scrape. Instead, she blew on it a little till the pain went away like Dr Morgan told her too. Then looking in frustration at the long dress Nene had made her wear, she groaned. She hated long dresses too! Why didn’t anyone want her to wear some jeans or shorts like other girls she saw through the car windows that went shopping with their mummies and daddies?! Mama never took her shopping! She was too scared Irielle would get ill and Daddy, well, daddy was never home anyway. He didn’t even like touching Irielle, never mind holding her hand and taking her shopping! Suddenly feeling very cross, she ripped at the long flowery skirt, tearing long pieces off. There! Now she could run. Getting up, she could hear the first sounds of the search at the house starting. Reaching the pond finally, she ran around it to her favorite spot. She had this special place that she found when they moved here a couple of months ago. It was right beside the hedge that led to the outside. But it was so quiet, that if she moved nicely and slowly, she could crawl right up to the swans’ nest. Then she would stay very still and watch the mummy feeding the babies and the daddy looking at the mummy with love! Her daddy never looked at her or mummy that way, he was too busy and at night when they thought she was asleep, she could hear them fighting. Last night was bad. Some days, she wished she could rather be in the hospital. At least then there’s no screaming and things crashing to the floor, even though the beeping machines drove her mad! Brushing her tears away angrily, she pulled her little legs up to her chest, making herself smaller in the little space, pressing into the wires of the hedge. She’s not a baby! She WON’T cry! And that’s when she first saw him. Curious big dark eyes looking at her in surprise right on the other side of the wires, also pressed into the hedge like herself. His eyes were very wide, as if her presence scared him in some way, and she suddenly felt the need to make him feel better. Reaching over, she pressed her hand against the wires. “Hi.” Her voice was just a whisper, she could hear Nene and Jasper calling as they were looking close to the house at first, but she still didn’t want them to hear her. Slowly taking her in, the boy lifted his hand and pressed it to hers. A slow crooked smile hovered on his boyish face. “Hi” he whispered back. “Why are we whispering?” He looked at her curiously as he spoke. “I’m hiding from my nanny.” This made him frown again as he tilted his head gazing at her. “Why?” “She locks me inside the house, and I don’t like it, so I ran away.” “Hmm, why? That doesn’t sound nice.” “I’m sick, so my mummy doesn’t want me to come outside. Why are you here?” She looked at the dark skin of the boy and felt excited. She knew her mummy would be super upset about her talking to a stranger, but she was feeling rebellious, and it was nice to talk to someone else for a change, even if he was older than her. The boy shrugged, looking beyond her. “I like to come and look at the swans.” “Yeah, me too. Where’s your house?” This time the boy looked down, almost sheepishly, his hand dropping and his fingers boring into the dirt, picking it up and dropping hands full at a time. “I don’t have one.” Irielle’s little face was shocked as she gazed at the older boy. “You don’t have a house?! What about your mummy or daddy?” Again, a shrug, this time with no answer to the question. Instead, he spoke about the swans again. “The swans are really beautiful and sometimes, if I’m lucky and the gardener throws them bread, I can grab some and eat that, so I like to come and sit here when I can.” Her little hand dug into the dress’s pocket before pulling out a squished sandwich. “Here you can have it. I brought it so I can feed them, but Jasper will be throwing them some later.” “You sure?” When she nodded, he eagerly dug into the fresh bread like someone that hadn’t eaten for days. The sound of frantic calling coming closer made Irielle glance up sharply, before starting to move out of her hiding spot. “I must go, that’s Nene calling. I don’t want them to see you. Will you come again tomorrow? I’ll bring you a sandwich again.” When he nodded, she started crawling to the exit, scaring the swans that started flapping and croaking. Suddenly she paused and looked back at the face peering at her through the fence. “What’s your name?” “Brian.” “Thanks Brian. My name’s Irielle. Bye!” With a last smile she scurried off, leaving the boy behind. A few minutes later, he could hear her being scolded and tensed, but instead of telling on him, she told the old nanny that she had come to feed the fish. That night when in bed, Irielle asked her mummy for an extra blanket as she watched the rain falling against the window and when mummy wasn’t looking, she hid it in her backpack, planning to take it to her new friend the next day.