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Chapter 006: quiet as a mouse
❝ I'm not grumpy, I'm focused. ❞
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━━━ As a child, Clove would frequently find herself uninterested and bored. She was always trying to run away from the sentiment by playing charades with her little brother and pranking the old man across the street. But that could only entertain her for some moments. For she'd quickly grow tired and in search of the next activity.
As for her younger brother, Micah, he would without a doubt follow wherever she went. Like she was the sun itself lighting the road ahead. Which was certainly a normal reaction for a seven-year-old whose mother is absent most of the time.
He needed somebody to look up to, and there was Clove.
The one person who'd put an effort into understanding his words when they'd get stuck in his throat or when they'd come out as a squeaky noise instead of his normal tone.
Actually, out of the three that lived together, Clove was the only one who took the condition of his vocal cords seriously. She'd go to the lengths of attempting to create her own treatment with random herbs and ointments by following a medicinal book she stole.
They rarely worked though. And right when Micah thought he'd have to live without the privilege of a voice, Clove found a way to communicate with him. All he'd need were his hands.
"Don't go too far from the shore, okay?" The older sister squeezed his shoulder to grasp his attention. And Micah just continued to nod excitedly. Waiting for her to let him go so he could run towards the water.
This lake tended to be so crowded, the keen yells of children would echo against the large rocks. But since it was late at night, there was not a single soul there to disturb them.
Clove had to hold in a laugh as Micah ran so fast he almost fell face-first. He looked back to let her know he wasn't hurt before flinging himself into the polluted water. His black curls undoing themselves under it.
