It was the dawn of a new day, and Nikiole was up and early while Kaile was still sleeping in bed. It was around 6:00 in the morning, and she was the only one awake.
Nikiole grabbed her bag, picked up Kaile from his bed, and snuck outside of her home. She was leaving to both her and Kaile's favorite spot, a fake tree with small branches and stiff leaves. The way the plastic shined in the artificial light always made her happy.
Nikiole hugged Kaile in her arms trying not to make a sound. She crept through the hallway, hoping that the floorboards wouldn't make a sound as she walked. it took Nikiole a while of waiting and watching, but she made it to the front door and started to run towards the tree.
Nikiole sat down next to the tree and laid Kaile down in the plastic blades of grass with a pillow and a blanket that she brought from home. Looking up into the sky, she saw the lights change from a midnight blue, into a pastel pink. Her mind drifted to her life with Kaile, and how she could make the most out of life for the both of them. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes behind the tree. Nikiole's head whipped back to where the bushes were.
"Um hello? Is anyone here?" The rustling didn't stop. Nikiole got up and slowly made her way to the bushes. Her heart was pounding, and just as she was about to investigate, two boys jumped out of the bushes.
"Boo!" They both screamed, one softer than the other.
"Ahhhhh! Aspen?! Atlas?! You scared me!" Nikiole took a step back trying to steady herself, and calm her breathing.
"Oh my, I'm sorry," Atlas said in a softer voice, looking down at the floor.
"Pfft hahaha! We're sorry, we're sorry we just saw you here and we wanted to say hi!" Aspen's smile shined brighter than the sun.
"By scaring me?!" Nikiole's eyebrows raised.
"I guess? Well, we didn't mean to scare you." Atlas looked over at Nikiole, digging his foot into the ground.
Aspen laid on the ground laughing, "Speak for yourself! That was funny!"
"Kaile is still sleeping you two! What if you woke him up?"
"Whoops! Sorry! I didn't know!"
"It's okay Aspen. So, what brings you two over here anyway?"
"Oh, we just saw you over here and we know that when you're over here you're dealing with something serious. What's up?" Atlas said.
"Well my mom slapped me again... but this time it was in front of Kaile..."
"What?! Really?! Why did she do it this time!" Atlas said looking at her very worried.
"Kaile woke up in the middle of the night from having a bad dream about Papa leaving, so I told him a story! But as I was going back to bed Mama caught me and told me not to bother him. But then I yelled at her and that's when Kaile got up and saw her slap me..."
"Oh, I'm so sorry..." Atlas walked up to Nikiole and gave her a hug.
Aspen looked at his feet, "I'm sorry too..."
"What about you two? How are you both doing?"
"Eh, everything has gotten a little better but it's still the same as usual. It might as well just me and my bro at this point. I just wish she could pay more attention to us."
"Yeah..."
"I'm sorry," Nikiole's eyes softened. She didn't know exactly what they were feeling, but sympathy was the least she could manage.
"Don't be."
There was a long pause of silence, then suddenly a small yawn broke through it.
"Yawn! Hey Nikiole, where are we?" Kaile woke up rubbing his eyes.
Nikiole went over to him as he picked him up from the ground. "We're at the magical tree!" She spun him around and laughed.
His eyes were bright and his smile was from ear to ear, "Like the one in the enchanted forest story?" Kaile asked.
"Yeah! One of them!"
"Wow!" Pure joy was plastered on his face.
"You're such a good sister," Atlas said, looking at the two of them having fun.
"Yeah, I know!" Nikiole said smugly.
Atlas, Aspen, Nikiole broke out into a burst of laughter. Kaile joined in but he didn't know why.
"Hey! Do you want to go and see if Octavian and Ruby are awake yet? I'm bored and I want to play something!" Aspen asked.
"Of course! Let me just get my things!" Nikiole started to walk over to her bag.
"Hold on I got it! It looks like you got your hands full haha!" Atlas ran over to go and get Nikiole's stuff.
"Excuse me Atlas, but could you get my blankie?" Kaile asked.
"Hold on! I'll get it!" Atlas ran over to the other side of the tree and grabbed Kaile's blanket.
"Thank you, Atlas!" Kaile smiled a smile that he always did. He closed his eyes as he squinted slightly, his smile wide.
"Yes! Thank you, Atlas!" Nikiole blushed slightly, and gave him a side hug.
"No problem! Now let's go!"
"Yay! Oh, can we do a race please!" Kaile jumped out of Nikiole's arms then ran around Aspen and Atlas in a figure eight, almost falling over.
"Yeah, you bet!"
"Let's go!"
"Ok three... two... one... Go!" Nikiole picked up Kaile and put him on her shoulders and started to run full speed keeping up with Aspen and Atlas.
"Faster! Faster!" Kaile laughed.
"If you say so!" Nikiole went at full speed passing Atlas and Aspen.
"Haha! No fair!" Aspen sped up and aligned himself with Nikiole and Kaile.
"Hey wait for me!" Atlas raced forward trying to catch up.
They were all running around and having a lot of fun until Octavian and Ruby finally left their houses.
"Hey what took you two so long!" Aspen said.
Octavian glared, "I was sleeping, what else do you think?"
"Oh looks like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!" Aspen said.
Ruby walked towards Nikole, "I was also getting my beauty sleep. You might need some too, dear."
"Why thank you for caring!" Nikiole said kinda sarcastically.
"No seriously, you look exhausted! What happened?"
"Oh, I just couldn't sleep."
"Oh...okay."
"Can we play now?!" Kaile asked tilting his head.
Octavian sighed, "Sure I don't really care."
"Yay!" Kaile jumped off of Nikiole's shoulders, stumbled once he hit the ground, and went up to Octavian and tagged him. "Tag you're it!"
"Why you little- Get back here hahaha!" Octavian laughed as he chased after Kaile trying to tag him.
Kaile stuck his tongue out at him, "Nanana boo-boo! You can't catch me! Hahaha!"
"Look at them playing around and having fun... I kinda wanna join!" Nikiole said, crossing her arms.
"I don't, I don't really want to break a nail-"
"Okay! Your loss!" Nikiole ran as fast as she could, joining Octavian and her little brother.
"You know, I kinda agree with Nikiole. What about you Atlas?"
"Yeah, I do! so let's join in!" Atlas grabbed Aspen's hand and raced towards Nikiole.
Ruby pouted for a moment, "Oh fine! I'll join, but only because Kaile is playing!"
Hours went by of them laughing and playing together until the sky turned dark. Each one of them laid on the ground, exhausted from their latest adventure. Contentedness filled the air until they caught their breath and decided the winner.
"So how many times did you all get tagged?" Atlas asked. "I got tagged five times!"
"Wow, same!" Aspen said.
Ruby sulked, "How? I got tagged ten times!"
"Ha! I got tagged four times!" Nikiole smirked.
"Well, I got tagged three!" Octavian said.
"What did you get Kaile?"
Kaile paused for a moment counting on his fingers, "I got two!"
Octavian sat up, "What? How is that possible?!"
"Oh, I just ran away!" He smiled.
"I still don't see how you could win!"
"Well I don't know either!"
"Good game everyone! I hope we can play again soon!"
"Yeah, that was fun! See you soon everyone!" Aspen said.
"Bye, you guys!" Atlas waved goodbye.
Ruby waved from behind her, "Bye!"
Everyone said their goodbyes, and left to their separate houses.
Nikiole turned around, "Kaile it's time to go okay? ...Kaile?"
He was nowhere in sight.
"KAILE WHERE DID YOU-" She felt something near her feet. Kaile was curled up in a ball on the floor, blanket in hand. "Oh Kaile, what am I going to do with you."
Nikiole picked Kaile up and hugged him tight. She walked back home without a peep, leaving her favorite spot in the whole world until the next day