The Imaginary Friend

Chapter 4
Chapter 4

One afternoon, as Aaron was mulling around, the bedroom door slammed open and Ashley stormed in.

“You’re in the way!” she snarled as she pushed him aside, causing him to lose his balance and fall hard against the dresser.

“Eeoow!” he picked himself up, groaning. “What did you do that for?”

“I had a bad day, okay? Will you just shut up?”

“That doesn’t mean you can shove me around…”

“Talking back now?” her eyes narrowed. “I think we need to fix that.”

“What do you ruff! Woof woof!" Stunned, Aaron tried to speak again. "Arf arf arf bark!"

“You want to get your voice back?”

“Ruff!”

“Then beg me for it!”

His face contorting with fear, Aaron dropped down on his haunches and hung his hands forward. “Arooooo!" he whined as she pressed her palm down hard on his head.

But then she saw large hot tears well up in his eyes and dribble down his cheeks. Her expression softened, and she bent down and wrapped her arms around him.

“I’m so sorry Aaron. I just… I just had a really terrible day. Nobody likes me anymore, you are all I have left. Please don’t leave me too.”

“It’s okay...” he replied, as he comforted her and patted her on the back.

Over the past weeks, Aaron had noticed there was a darkness griping Ashley. She often came back from school in tears, and there were the regular shouting matches she had with her parents. He also observed she never hung out with anyone else, even during the weekends. Was it possible, he thought to himself, it wasn’t so much that he was her best friend, but he was her only friend?

As the days rolled by, living with her turned out to be a little like walking around unexploded landmines, and whenever her mind was in a bad neighborhood, he learned to be extra careful.

Once, in a fit, she took away his ability to stand upright, making him crawl after her like a baby for a whole afternoon. Another time, she had forced him to pose like an ancient Greek statue, right arm upraised & head twisted slightly, and left him standing motionless on the front lawn as a garden ornament. It was the one occasion when he had been glad nobody could see him.

But none of these acts diminished his feelings for her. On the contrary, her situation felt familiar, and he yearned to find some way to help. He started counting down the days to his second wish, and drew up a long to-do list once he got himself back to normal.

The evening before his time was up, he was taking a walk with Ashley, and as they were chatting animatedly, they ran into a trio of girls he recognized from school, who started sniggering and pointing.

“Oh look at the crazy loser! Talking to herself again.”

“They really ought to lock up psychos like you in a mental institute.”

“You leave me alone!” Ashley yelled at them, but they just laughed.

“Who lit the fuse on your tampon, you spastic bitch?”

“She does have at least one redeeming quality. I heard from the boys that she can suck a bowling ball out of a garden hose!”

“That’s a lie! I’ve never even…”

They roared with roguish laughter and a few passers-by stopped to stare. Ashley’s face turned a deep purple, her entire body shaking with rage, as if she was coming apart like a two dollar watch. She let out an anguished cry, and streaked across the road.

A moving car came out of nowhere. Aaron saw her bounce off the hood and roll with a thump onto the asphalt.

Then people were everywhere, shouting and stabbing their fingers in the air. Someone was talking urgently on the phone, someone else was holding the wrist of her arm and listening to her chest. And then the ambulance came, and took her away.

+-+-+

Aaron sat in the sterile hospital room, feeling as though his heart had been burned out of him. Directly opposite, Ashley lay with an oxygen mask strapped to her face, twisted plastic tubes plugging her body into a maze of blinking machines. A doctor had visited earlier to deliver the news, and Ashley’s mum had bolted out in a spasm of tears, her dad following close behind, face palsied with grief.

The hands on the clock converged on twelve, and the ring on his finger began to emit a soft, luminous glow. Without taking his eyes off Ashley, he clenched his hand into a fist, and made his wish.