When We Were Young {Libby}

[timothy]

31st October 2009

Today was Halloween, one of Timothy's favourite times of year. But he really wasn't in the spirit for obvious reasons. Ever since he found out that he had this ability, he had been feeling somewhat down, and had no one really to turn to, unless he talked to his parents. But he felt he needed someone his own age, who was like him, who could help him cope with it all. But today was not the day, as most of the kids from his school were out doing the trick or treat thing, but he wasn't really friends with anyone, so it didn't really matter.

His parents didn't really question him, when he left the house without his costume on, which he was glad of. Timothy, headed out through the street, occassionally passing kids who were with their parents, on their way to parties or trick or treating. He soon headed in the direction of the park, at the end of his street. It was quite big, with lots of trees, and an amazing playground. So Timothy made his way over to the swings, and sat down on one. He slowly began to push himself on the swing, slowly thinking about the past month of his life.

[libby]

It was Halloween, one of the times of year Libby loved the best, when she could get dressed up and go trick or treating. She hadn’t wanted to bother her daddy with it, because he had been on and off with his mood recently between everything going wrong with Stacey and then Olivia, Libby was beginning to wonder if her daddy would ever settle down with a woman. He had after all, been through two since she’d come into his life. So Libby had gone to Uncle Gray to ask if he’d help her get an outfit for Halloween, and he was only too pleased to help. She knew he would, because she knew he would do anything for her, and besides, Libby had Grayson wrapped around her little finger. They were as thick as thieves together.

Libby had decided to cut through the park on her way to the Youth Center where the party was being held, because it was day time, she would go proper trick or treating later that night with Uncle Grayson. As she walked through the park, she soon saw a young boy, maybe slightly older than herself; she couldn’t be sure, swinging slowly on the park swing. Libby didn’t know why when she had the party to go, but she found herself making her way over to the young boy when she noticed he seemed to be a little upset about something.

“Hey, hope ya don’ mind me jus’ comin’ up an’ talkin’ to ya, but ya seem down an’ I wondered wha’ could be gettin’ ya so upset when it’s Halloween an’ supposed to be one of the best times of the year fer us kids.” Libby was so grown up at times it was scary, but mostly her personality was very much the same as Brendan’s and ever since she began living with him it came across even more so. There was definitely no denying she was Brendan Harris’ daughter. She decided, outfit or no outfit, to sit on the swing next to the boy and began to swing herself slowly back and forth too, just to see if he would reply to her, if not, she would just go to the party and leave him alone, as she knew boys could sometimes be a bit awkward, especially when it came to girls, although she had never had that problem with Alex when she met him.

[timothy]

Timothy continued to push himself slowly on the swing, scuffing his shoe into the park under the swingset. He was a mix of emotions right now, and hoped that he didn't get emotional over it all. It had been a month since finding out that he was able shift from his twelve year old self to a twenty-two year old of himself. It had scared him, and all this time he was still miserable about it all. Timothy just couldn't get the fact out of his head that he was never going to lead a normal life, ever, especially when he could do what he foudn he could do. It was just another thing to worry about in his young life.

As Timothy moved his head up to look around, he spotted a girl heading in his direction. Great, he thought, someone to feel sorry for me. Timothy then looked back down at his shoes, which were not quite white anymore, after kicking the bark around. The girl then came over and spoke to him. He didn't answer her straight away, kind of glancing and occassionally glaring at her. Then she sat down on the swing next to him. Great, he thought, company that I don't really want.

So in order to stop her curiosity, Timothy decided to reply. He turned to her and just looked. "Well I am down on one of my favourite days of the year. I don't mean to be, but I just have a lot to deal with lately, and it just just getting me down. I doubt a complete stranger wants to hear it." Timothy quickly got up off the swing, letting it move slightly hehind him, and he shuffled over to a nearby bench, sitting down on it. When he sat, Timothy put his chin in one of his hands, and just stared out into the playground. What a crap day he was having, or really a crap month.

[libby]

Libby soon began to wonder if she should have just left the boy alone and went ahead to the party as planned, but Libby being a helpful soul, just like Brendan, her daddy, she couldn’t just leave it and had to approach the boy. She wanted to help him if she could, but she also knew she would only be able to help him, if he allowed it. So, while she waited on him to reply to her, she had sat on the swing next to him and began to swing back and forth. He figured if he didn’t speak within the next few minutes, she would just leave him alone. Eventually she saw him turn to her, and she gave him a small smile thinking it might make him feel better about whatever was on his mind. When he did speak he said very little and then said he doubted a complete stranger would want to hear about it anyway.

She was about to reply to him when he got up from the swing and moved over to the bench opposite. Libby didn’t want to crowd him, and she had already moved to sit beside him on the swing, so she stayed where she was. “Well, ma name’s Libby Harris, so I ain’ a stranger anymore, so why don’ ya tell me wha’s gettin’ ya down, ma daddy says a problem shared is a problem halved ya know.” She didn’t want to be late for the party but she felt like she wanted to help this boy, and see if she could make him smile again. Maybe she could even ask him to go trick or treating with her later, she was pretty sure her Uncle Gray wouldn’t mind.

She wondered if she should tell him about finding her mommy dead, because that was pretty horrific for her, and she wondered if the boy was upset over something similar, she then couldn’t help herself, she didn’t think whatever was getting him down would be as bad as what she had to deal with and gone through recently. So she added, “Bet it ain’ as bad as wha’ I’ve been through in recent months. I found ma mommy dead, an’ thought I was gonna hafta go inta some kids home, an’ then they found out I had a daddy, I never knew he existed.” Alright, so maybe her story did have a happy ending, what with getting a dad and a whole new family, but no child should have to walk into their home and find their mommy dead like Libby had.