Someone's Son Chapter 17 Balance

They had both waited patiently while his cake cooled. He looked up at his mom during this close encounter and noticed how tired she looked.

          Was she really happy with just one child?

          He had never loved his mom more than at that time. It was hard to believe it was almost a year ago. It was a different world from the woods. How come everything unraveled so quickly since then? He could still taste the neat cake and the butter frosting he had made with margarine, icing sugar, milk and vanilla.

          His design had been simple. Red and chocolate beads sprinkled on his knife-smoothed frosting. And the best treat, he got to scrape the bowl.

          His birthday had been great. Some of his classmates came over and they couldn't believe he had actually baked a cake.

          Melanie's words really cheered him. "Nice job, Sheldon," she had said.

He slumped to the ground feeling tiredness as an ache all over. If she could only see me now, he thought. He brushed his arm across the side of his face and looked numbly at the black ant scurrying around his foot.

          If he could turn himself into an ant, he might have somewhere to go. Sheldon scratched under his arm. He was itchy all over. Oh, to have a warm bath and soak for an hour.

          Evening shadows began to blanket the sun's colorful glow as several ducks swooped low surveying the huddled figure below. Sheldon watched in fascination through slit eyes. Flapping wings carried the mallards far away until they were distant dots. He began to think about survival. People must be looking for him.

          "If I get out of this, I'll show Larry I deserve another chance to prove myself." He even felt Ok about Troy. He would tell him he was sorry he was such a dope. He deserved to get 'bopped,' then at least he could be lying in his own warm bed recuperating from a million bites.

          He longed to see his friends again. And his dad, has he been notified? Probably wouldn't care anyhow. And the rescue unit would be looking for him. Would they find him in time? He was getting so hungry.

          Sheldon watched sunset become sparks of light crisscrossed through the clouds. Pink on purple stretched from his left to his far right. Speckles of clouds drifted lazily. A chill blew across his shoulder. It was hard to imagine being the only one around, seeing the magnificence of this beautiful sight. Sunlight flickered as lingering rays of warmth.

          He sensed tonight would be cool as the sun dipped low on the horizon. Clouds now gathered as a blanket of dark silhouettes. Trees became faceless.

Sheldon felt alone again. Just himself and the scribbled notes he made to keep himself company.

          “Very, very tired,” he wrote. “And cold.”