Learning to Play

That night, Amanda and Mel went back to the park with the hand-sized boy and searched around the ground in hopes of finding some additional clues as to why he was all alone. Amanda showed Mel where she had found him and, sadly, there was no sign the area had been disturbed or returned to. 

It was heart wrenching. 

Was no one looking for him? 

Amanda and Mel even set him back down by the base of the bench and walked several steps away, but that proved to be a disaster when the little boy chased after Amanda, whimpering and crying. He even charged into the thick blades of grass after her. It must have looked like a menacing jungle forest, but it didn't seem to matter. 

When Amanda approached, he timidly sniffled and held up his arms, as if to say "hold me" as his little fingers grasped at the air. 

Amanda feared that the little boy might have seen something happen to one or both of his parents and that he knew Amanda was his only chance. She brought this up to Mel, who silently seemed to agree. 

Needless to say, Mel and Amanda returned back to Amanda's apartment and spent the evening discussing other facets of life. They had a picnic on the boxes and kept the boy between them as they ate and made plans for how to proceed. He had room to roam, but he mostly kept himself curled in Amanda's hand and looked back and forth between Mel and her while they talked. He absorbed every word and seemed to know they were talking about him. 

Specifically, how they were going to come up with an explanation for his existence without revealing him to the world. 

"I'm just afraid of what'll happen if I take him anywhere else to get him checked out or if they want too much proof. If he's some kind of new species of human or some kind of government experiment that got out, I don't want him shuffled off to some containment unit to be experimented on," urged Amanda. 

"I get what you're saying, Mandy. But, that whole delayed birth certificate is going to be tricky," reminded Mel. "Are you sure you're up for it?" 

Amanda felt the pressure of the little boy climbing back onto her fingers after retrieving another fragment of cracker and knew her answer immediately. 

"Yes, I'm sure. If something happens or if I'm questioned, I'll find the right things to say. Until then, I can't just leave him," replied Amanda. She brushed the boy's shoulder with her thumb, which he leaned into. His thoughtful brown eyes gazed up at her as he gave her a crumb filled smile. 

It was the look on the child's face that said it all. 

Mel and Amanda continued to talk well into the night as the infinitesimal boy fell asleep in Amanda's hand, cracker on his chest and part of a blanket on his torso. Plans were made to meet up and have another check-up with the boy in a few days as well as plan out how they were going to get some documents for the little boy. 

"I guess I'll be seeing a lot more of you then," grinned Mel. "No more monthly calls. I got promoted to weekly. Maybe even bi-weekly. All right!" They hugged and then Mel headed home for the night while Amanda shut herself in for the night. 

The rule usually is never wake a sleeping baby, but the reasoning of making sure he was cleaned up and ready for bed was too much for Amanda to resist. She made sure the boy was tidy and had a little to drink before carrying him to her room where she placed him back into the box on his bed, fingers laying against him, as the two of them drifted off to sleep. 

When Amanda woke up, she saw the little boy was curled fully into her hand using her thumb as a pillow. It was mesmerizing seeing the way his light sandy blonde hair fell over his eyes as he slept peacefully. Amanda had slept much better than the night before, which wasn't much of a challenge, and was thankful the boy was getting some rest. 

Not willing to wake him, Amanda carefully proceeded with the events of her day while keeping her hand level and steady. She kept the blanket from the box draped over him as she washed her face, retrieved her morning coffee, and brought her laptop to her room where she continued to type up her reports with just one hand. 

Then, just like the day before, he stirred awake. He looked a little less confused than he did the day before, and his smile was the sunshine of the day as he looked up into Amanda's eyes. 

"Good morning," she said. "Did you sleep so good? Ready to get some breakfast?" He nodded sleepily and pushed himself upright, looking up at Amanda thoughtfully before she stood and brought him to the bathroom. 

While he ate on the kitchen counter, taking little bites and looking around while he chewed, Amanda thought about what kind of life he must have been living up until this point. Specifically, she was concerned when she brought up the concept of "play" and he had little to no reaction. 

She wasn't sure whether or not the boy knew how to play, which made her very sad. He was so sweet and deserved to know how to have fun. 

In the meantime, she needed to get back to work. She would have time to devise a way to have fun with him during her lunch break and during dinner. She collected the little boy, making sure he wiped up with a wet washcloth, before bringing him back to her room. 

The moment Amanda sat down, she knew working and keeping an eye on the child were going to be a challenge. For one, the little boy was gaining some energy back. Barely thirty-six hours after giving him some food and water and the boy was already climbing over the mountain of blankets on Amanda's bed. Each one must have looked like a massive, fuzzy hill to the boy, but he didn't seem to care. He climbed, hand over fist, to the top of each mound and rolled back down. 

He never went far, but how quickly and how easily he tumbled down the soft, squashy surface of the comforter made Amanda's heart pound and skip like a flat stone on water. 

Then, the boy took to climbing on Amanda, clambering up her leg and then to her arm where he would try to get to her hands. He was gently plucked up and set to the side each time, which made him smile and, at one point, giggle even. 

He seemed like he was having a good time, which was what mattered. 

Maybe he did know how to play. 

It was finally lunch time, and it was obvious the miniscule boy was hungry. When Amanda asked if he wanted to eat, he nodded and made no protest in climbing onto Amanda's hand. 

His ability to adapt is absolutely astounding. Seriously, he's already showing so much trust. Is it meant to endear me to him? Like a survival technique? Or is it him actually trusting me? 

Amanda thought about it from a perspectives point of view, and she shuddered to think of what it would be like to have something – someone – loom over her and be able to pick her up in a single hand. 

He truly is remarkable. 

Lunch was a very simple hot ham and cheese sandwich, which Amanda had to pinch because she was worried the boy wouldn't be able to bite through the thick meat. She made a mental note to get the finely sliced meat next time she went to the store. 

It was a surprise when he had no issue with it, small teeth obviously durable and able to tear apart meat. 

Good to know thought Amanda. 

The second half of the day involved Amanda giving the boy some cotton balls to toss around as well as watching him once again play daredevil and climb the new obstacle course Amanda had created out of pillows and blankets. His youth and size had nothing to do with how quick the little boy was as he darted around and climbed over the tall pillows. 

The few times he took a tumble down the blankets, his body seemed to move on its own and instinct let him find the best way to slide down without getting hurt. It made Amanda more curious about what he could and could not do, but she would save those questions for another day. 

She had something better in mind than pillows and blankets to test his abilities. 

Amanda sent her final emails and messages to her co-workers before hoisting herself off of her bed. Dinner was going to be simple tonight and it was a good thing too. Tonight was going to be about play and fun. 

Bringing him with her, Amanda set of into the living room and began laying out all of her boxes that needed unpacking in a kind of maze, creating passages and hallways while the boy took a nap in his much smaller box. She also included other elements like things for him to climb and jump off of. 

It was having something occupy her mind that made her feel almost back to normal. She remembered fondly how her father would make elaborate constructions of cardboard and bedsheets just so she and her brother and sister could live in tents for months on end. They even made a joke that they wouldn't need their rooms because they were going to live in tents for the rest of their lives. 

Getting to make something like this now really and truly made Amanda feel like she was sharing part of her childhood with the boy. It made her heart ache slightly. She genuinely thought she would be doing this with her own children one of these days, but getting to do it now let her feel like she was glimpsing a reality that might have come to pass. 

Perhaps one day, this dream could happen. Perhaps it wasn't out of reach. Just the thought of it made her choke up, chest tightening uncomfortably as she stared longingly at the door, expecting the man she once loved to come through the door so they could begin again. Her mind raced and began filling in the blanks when she heard a soft coo from the box. 

Amanda was brought back to the present as she glanced toward the sound, reminded of reality and saved from the life that could have been. 

Clearing her throat and wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she knelt and peered into the box where she spotted the child standing, hands pressed against the cardboard as he looked for a way out or up onto the ledge. 

"Hey there, sweetheart," smiled Amanda. He looked around and instantly smiled, holding her hands up and making a little grasping motion with his fingers to he could be held. "Good nap? I know. I know. Come on. Let's get you out of there. I have a surprise for you." 

She rested her hand in the box and the little boy clambered up onto her curled fingers as though he had done it all of his life. 

"We're going to play maze, okay? Like you were playing earlier with the blankets and pillows," said Amanda. He looked a bit confused at first, but the mention of the pillows and blankets earlier seemed to connect in his youthful mind. So, when Amanda sat on top of the nearest box and laid her hand down into the columns of boxes, it took a few moments for him to see the mounds of pillows for what they were – a playbox. 

He carefully walked off of Amanda's hand and approached the pillows before climbing on top of them. His fists snagged handfuls of fabric as he climbed to the top and, seeing the sheet slide, tumbled all the way down before looking back at Amanda and smiling. 

It was like watching him take his first steps, a happiness sparking in Amanda like nothing she had experienced. The boy scuddled up to the edge of the next box and instinctually peered around it before running to the next bundle of blankets and climbing up them. This next one was taller, and his slide down actually made him laugh as he slid down the taut sheets. 

It made Amanda's face light up as she watched him go from activity to activity. 

Another element that fascinated her was how the little boy approached the maze. Despite his age, he took the same left turn until he seemed to recognize an area. Only when he recognized where he was that he would add in a new left or right turn. It was almost like he was memorizing the paths Amanda had laid out for him. 

The other activities were a little harder for the young child to get. Rolling the marbles and hitting the others made Amanda realize he was strong, but not quite that strong. Chasing him with her running fingers made him squeal in fear until he realized Amanda wasn't actually chasing him, and soon it was his second favorite next to tumbling down the sheets. 

The two of them played in the box maze for nearly an hour before the boy showed any indication of tiring, and even then he was reluctant to return to Amanda because he wanted to rest in the maze and keep playing once he had recovered. 

Amanda's compromise was to let him stay and play as long as he stayed close to the pillows she left him by while she got dinner started. She hurried over to the kitchen and quickly poured in noodles for macaroni and cheese and set the water to boil before hurrying back to the boxes to see the boy. Like she asked, he hadn't moved from the stack of pillows and was waiting patiently for her to come back just as she said she would. 

It wasn't until the two of them made eye-contact, however, that made Amanda question her action. The boy looked worried, his little chest rising and falling quickly as he looked up at Amanda, before melting into relief. His hands immediately lifted, and he made the familiar grabbing motion for her to pick him up. 

Amanda's mouth slackened as a horrid thought occurred. 

Was that what his parents told him? Did they ask him to stay… and he obeyed? Only to be abandoned and left alone? 

"Come here, sweetie," smiled Amanda. "See? I'm back, just like I said I would be." After a minute, Amanda realized he didn't want to be left alone, no matter how fun the boxes were, and elected to stay with her. It made her feel guilty and was something Amanda wanted to work on to give him a secure attachment, but it was alright for now. 

The rest of the evening went smoothly as they fixed dinner together and ate in relative silence. Amanda decided she needed to wear something with a front pocket so she could place the little boy there while she worked on baking and cooking. The two of them cleaned up in the bathroom, Amanda needing to coax the boy into the water once again, before tucking him into bed all snuggly and clean. 

She drifted to sleep with her hand in the box and the feeling of the boy pressed against her fingers. Today was the first of many steps for the two of them. Tomorrow, she would investigate the playground again and keep doing so until she was satisfied no one was truly coming for him. 

The thought, however, made her heart hurt. He was growing on her so quickly, but it would be the right thing to do. 

Even if she, only after a couple of days, was already so attached to the little guy.