Rebecca

The rain patters upon the desolate house, leaving a strange echo upon it. From her room, Rebecca could hear this mischievous echo that woke her from her sleep. A small pitter patter. As if little children tiptoed on the ceiling. It made her sway from her dreamy world back into her now gloomy room. Her room was usually so vibrant. It had a bright blue wall with a rosy carpet, her blanket that she clinged too was a grassy green, and her bed hold was made of a firm brown wood that was lively in the light. But in this night of a dark pouring rain, everything had a grey and blue tone to it. Even her caramel like skin seemed blueish in this night. Perhaps it was just her, this house was new to her. It made her uneasy. She sat up and brushed her black, curly hair a bit with her hands before leaping out of bed. Rebecca looked around the room for her flashlight and after a bit of searching, found it. A toy flashlight that she had gotten from a food meal. She never explored without it, and it's matching detective badge. It was only natural. Rebecca was 9 years old you know.

Rebecca gazed down the open hall through her doorway. She wasn't used to it. It had only been a week since she first went to the orphanage, and yet she had gotten used to how it worked. In the orphanage, people were in and out, day and night. Now, it was… quiet. Really quiet. She crept down the stairs as the rain hit the huge, wall sized windows behind her. The stairs spiraled downwards with a even longer blue and gold carpet, which was already pretty dim to begin with.

Thunder crackled outside filling the room with it's light, and taking Rebecca by surprise. Her body tensed and her nerves went crazy. She felt in danger, even when the thunder's light dimmed, and she realized what had happened. Rebecca curled up, now fully awake. She stepped from off of the stairs onto the wet floorboard. Every now and then, it would creak and shift as she made her way to the kitchen. The light was on, unlike when she had gone to bed. Rebecca slowly made her way around the corner of the hall and saw that Harry was up.

Harry was strange. He was a huge bunny, or maybe he was a rabbit, that was a blueish white, at least 7ft. Tall. He wasn't bulky but instead his physique was just above average outside of height. He was hunched over something, moving his hands as if tinkering, or perhaps he was unwrapping a chocolate Carmel. Rebecca liked chocolate caramels, maybe Harry did too. Soon, Rebecca could hear something metal being wound up, which sent her theory out of the window. She tapped her foot, but Harry did not stir. He was completely focused on it as he sat at the table, and kept winding.

"Harry?" Rebecca said in a meek voice. He must not have heard her before, as he jumped a bit, but seemed to calm down after a few seconds. He turned his head to see her and let out a little sigh of relief. He put down whatever he had, stood up, and turned around. "Ah, Rebecca Rebecca, to what do I owe the pleasure?" He gave a little bow as he spoke and then began walking towards a cabinet behind her once he was done. Rebecca's answer was simple. "I had a nightmare, a bad one." Harry let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I hate when that happens. Those nightmares are the worst." He began looking through cabinet after cabinet, taking out everything inside and then moving onto the next. "Well, that's what I hear anyway." Harry laughed a silent laugh before he seemed to find what he was looking for. "Ah, here it is." He said somewhat triumphantly. He reached for something that was out of place among the noodles, canned vegetables, and boxes of cereal that for some reason came with waffles.

A small bunny plushie that seemed to look just like Harry, except for two brown buttons on its chest. It had pink eyes instead of Harry's green ones and two floppy ears. "Here ya go princess, this little guy will protect ya." He placed the plushie in her hands and took her toy flashlight. "Come on, I'll walk you to bed." Rebecca began pointing to her flashlight immediately.

"Could I please have my light back?" Rebecca asked, still pointing to the toy. She wasn't a scaredy-cat, but she liked having her flashlight, she loved whenever she got the chance to use it. It was a lot of fun. Harry seemed confused, it was only a toy to him, but for Rebecca, it was something more. Harry at the toy, and then chuckled. "Alright little Rebecca Rebecca, here's your trusty flashlight, you'll need to lead the way then." Rebecca smiled as she took her favorite toy, returning it to it's rightful owner.

Harry held his hand out, so Rebecca gripped the plushie with her right arm and took it. His hand was soft, and didn't clench too hard, but held on strong enough to make sure nothing would grab her away. "Your hand is really floofy." She said aloud. Nowadays you wouldn't catch her dead saying anything like that. Harry laughed a whole hearted laugh, nearly wheezing when he was done. Harry had told Rebecca that he almost never got the chance to laugh outside of a special occasion. What it was, he never said, but he said she'd probably never heard of it. She turned her flashlight back on using her right hand and began their march for bed. As they walked up the stairs, Harry broke Rebecca's train of thought, even though it had already crashed with a train about whether Rebecca should play Tea Party before she went back to bed. "So, what are you gonna name him?" He asked with his usual smile, now all but composed. Rebecca paused for a second before coming up with an answer. "Plush-Head!" She yelled. She was proud of herself with that one. So proud that she had made a booming echo with her response.

Harry was startled by the sudden outburst, but he went back to smiling again. "Plush-Head." He began as they got to the top of the stairs. "I like it." He rustled her hair a bit. "You come up with the best names, ya know that kid?" Once Harry reread Rebecca's favorite bedtime story, he tucked her back into bed, wishing her sweet dreams. This became a trend for the first week, Rebecca just waking up and calling for him to read her a story. It even became Rebecca WANTING to wake up so he would. Every night they read before and after bed.

Even when Rebecca was older, they kept doing the same routine. "Man, aren't you getting kinda old for bedtime stories?" Harry asked. It was an obvious question to ask. Rebecca was 11 after all. "Aw come on Harry, pleeeeease?" She persisted. She began giving him the puppy eyed look that she had learned so well, and Harry eventually began to cave. "You know, you're still just as persuasive as when you first moved in. I really gotta get trained to not fall for that look." He wagged his finger, but then grabbed a book filled with poems and stories. This one was called 'Daughter Dearest.' "Alright, I've got one for ya, but just one. We'll run out of stories again if we keep doing this." They laughed a bit before Harry began to read.

Little did they both realize that they had already reached that point. The previous night they had read their last new story. They had actually read this one not too long ago. It was a short story of a daughter who had lost her mother, and became lost herself in the forest with a monster. The monster tried to eat the little girl, but she was saved by her mother, and they outwitted the monster. What Rebecca noticed that she failed to last time, was that Harry seemed off when reading that particular part. In the end, the monster died, and Harry seemed twitchy, giving Rebecca glances. She soon realized what was troubling him, and got up, giving Harry a hug. "You know I wouldn't hurt you ya big funny bunny." She said with a smile. Harry paused, and hugged her back. As he did, Rebecca threw the book away, behind her bed.

"Yeah, well, I think I could handle you kid." Harry said now calmed. Rebecca suddenly loosened her grip. To her, that was a blatant challenge. Harry knew Rebecca. As soon as he said that, he braced himself. They both lunged for a pillow, a blanket, something involving a bed before whipping at each other. Unlike last time, no one could find the blanket in time, so they both had pillows. The two had done this one too many times for someone else's tastes, but for those two, it never got old. Though the first minute of going at it was them blocking each other, blow for blow, completely unintentionally. After all, they both planned to win, and they wouldn't stop until they did.

Harry lunged swinging his pillow like crazy, but Rebecca dodged with swiftness and managed to leap behind him, hitting him in the back of the head. She aimed for a second hit, but Harry grabbed her pillow and hit her with his. She let go of her pillow and grabbed for two others. The two pillowed warriors stared each other down. Each took their stances. What ensued was not a battle, but a war! A pillow war! They fired pillow cannons, sent pillow ships, and built dreaded pillow forts! Harry even found the vile Blanket Dragon, which threatened to destroy both sides! "You fool!" Rebecca screamed as the Blanket Dragon had them in it's clutches. "I told you, you could not control this beast! Now it will take us both!" But as they neared their demise, a knightly warrior slayed the blanket! "KITTY!" Rebecca yelled with glee. Rebecca's cat Kit, or Kitty as she called him, was an oddball. He was smarter than the average cat, in fact, he was down right human in Rebecca's eyes. In moments, the mauve cat had freed the two and, issued that a truce be made to end the pillow war. Thus, a treaty was signed. But then, Rebecca and Harry realized that you can't make a treaty on a pillow, so the war was on! It seemed like it would go on forever until...

Until one of them fell asleep. Rebecca was out first. She had gotten onto her bed during a small break and before she knew it, she fell face forward on her pillow and was out. It had been a long day, and she hadn't even gone to sleep prior, so it was going to happen eventually. Harry knew as much. Rebecca thought she had been sneaky, but he knew she was up before. He really didn't mind. Unlike most kids, Rebecca didn't go to school. She may have attended recess, but she was taught everything at home. Starting lessons a little later wouldn't hurt anyone. Harry placed his pillow on the floor, claiming victory, and then decided to head to the basement and get to work. The door creaked shut but just before it closed, it stopped. "Goodnight Rebecca." Harry whispered.