Repairs

Date/Timing: 28 April 2006
Setting: Gottlieb house; Berlin, Germany
.
Bastien waits, lying on his side in bed, blankets up to his chin, his back to the closed door of his bedroom.
Father's footsteps come up the stairs, down the hall.
Washroom door closes.
Water runs.
Bastien yawns.
Water stops.
Washroom door opens.
Father's footsteps approach, pause at the door, start up again, fade.
Father's door closes.
Bastien counts down from one hundred, then slides from under the covers, gets his feet on the floor, pads to the door, eases it open, peeps out.
The hall is dark; no light leaks from under Father's door.
He bites down on a snicker, tiptoes to the stairs, to the ground floor—
No light under Manny's door.
—to Father's office. Inside, he flips on the light, makes a beeline for the rubbish bin.
Sure enough, the shredded bits of his comics sit on top.
Bastien gathers them—they're all there—cradles them to his chest, turns of the light, slips out.
««What—»»
Bastien jumps, just barely /doesn't scream.
««—on Earth are you doing?»» whispers Manny from somewhere behind him.
Bastien turns, fails to spot Manny in the dark. «Saving my comics from the trash.»
««Did you find them?»»
Bastien sniffs.
««Give my the pieces. I'll repair them and add them to your sketchbook.»»
Bastien shakes his head. «I've got another idea.»
„„Bunnyyyy ....““
«It'll be fine.»
««Please don't make Father more angry with you.»»
«I won't.»
Manny sighs. ««Goodnight, Bastien.»»
«'night, Manny.» He turns, sneaks back up the stairs, into his room, closes the door—quietly—behind.
He finds the torch he set on his desk, /clicks it on and works quickly with the sticky tape to put the pages back together.
With a grunt of satisfaction, Bastien neatens the stack, then tri-folds the papers, and slips them into the already-addressed envelope. He wedges it into the gap between the middle drawer and the side of the desk to wait for Dee's next visit.
Bastien climbs back into bed, nestles under his quilts, and smiles into his pillow.
Category:Ficlet
Category:Berlin (setting)
Category:Bastien
Category:Bastien's POV
Category:Bastien (ficlet)
Category:Lars (mention)
Category:Hermann
Category:Hermann (ficlet)
Category:Ficlets with images
Category:Celestial Mechanics
Category:Bastien is an artist
Category:Pages with comments