Today Miss Eterson painted pictures with the patients of station 2, and nurse Sherman said it would be fun to play in the community room and everyone would be happy if Justin would come too to play Bingo, Scrabble and the game with the money. Justin had only looked to the side pretending not to hear nurse Sherman. He hated the Saturday afternoon game fun and wasn't in the mood to see all the other patients. They always were too loud and chattered and chattered. Justin didn't like too many words. He preferred to sit at the window in his tower and look outside at the prince’s huge castle because today everything was so exciting there. The servant had come with his feather handle in a backpack and a huge basket in his hand. A basket like Little Red Riding Hood had, but without the green bottle. Instead there were flowers, white milk and a large loaf of bread. “Of course. Toast from Prian. Certainly with milk.” Justin pressed his nose flat against the pane as the servant disappeared with the basket inside the castle. It took a little while but after ten minutes three windows opened. Every time the servant opened one, he looked through it and sniffed the good air. Justin laughed. The servant liked the smell of air as much as he did! “Pull, pull.” He rattled a little at the handle to open his own window. Then stuck his head outside crinkling his nose. Hmm. Today there was no rain and it also wasn't cold. It was... “... of course dazzling weather.” He said in the same voice as the man with the silver tray did on TV all the time. “Hey frog.” Blake opened the door, but stayed outside in the hallway. He wore civil clothes – jeans, a white shirt, a gym bag over his shoulder and sunglasses in his hand. “I'm going home. Do you want to say goodbye?” "Yes Plake." Justin remained still at the window and blinked up into the bright sun. It was round like the shiny gold ball which the frog had... "... in the well." Blake smiled friendly. "No I go rollerblading. The weather is pretty good today." "Yeah." Justin rubbed his eyes. They didn't feel that well and flickered funny. With little red and blue flying dots. Blake put his sunglasses on his nose and changed his gym bag to the other shoulder. "You could go outside too and take a walk in the park." "Yeah." The flickering dots made Justin's head all dizzy. He would've preferred to not... "... look out of the window." "Look out of the window again later. Now you can go for a walk in the park." "Yeah. Of course funny noises." Justin really didn't like the way stones. Blake waved. "See you tomorrow frog. I told the nurse that you wanted to go outside." "Yeah." The boy looked to the door as Plake closed it. Then he blinked heavy a few times because the colored dots just wouldn't go away. Now they also flew over his bed and they were even at the table and on the shelf. "Hhh." He sighed and put his hands on his hips. Of course it would take some time until he could catch them all. He scratched his forehead and rubbed his ear with two fingers. Hmm. Maybe he could get some help from... "... Cinderella?" """""""""""""""""""""" Brian really hated Saturday afternoons. Or at least all Saturday afternoons Lindsay had to work and put a hyperactive four year old in front of his door. "You want what?!" He almost couldn't believe his ears and gave his son a totally disgusted look as he grabbed for the latest issue of Mens Health. "I want to go for a walk!" The boy bounced with joy in a small circle on the expensive hardwood floor. "We can collect stones!" Brian frowned in deep skepticism. "What good would that do?!" "We could paint them!" Gus jumped a little higher. "With color!" "Pfft. Yeah sure." Mister Kinney had heard enough and buried his face in the magazine for cover. "Why don't you go and watch TV?" "Mom said I'm not allowed to watch TV in the afternoon." Gus was slowly running out of steam, but nevertheless jumped along. "Only in the morning and when she's really tired." "Hmm." Brian turned the pages until he stumbled upon an article about brand new ab training. "Well, then read a book." Gus breathed heavy and had to try really hard to jump 20 centimeters one more time. "I only can read the large G and the M like Mommy." "Hff." Brian moved the magazine down because the steady jumping really got on his nerves. "What do you want to do then?" "Go for a walk. Collect stones." A bright artificial smile appeared on Mister Kinney's face. "Why don't you go in the garden and start? I’ll meet you later." "Okay." The boy immediately jumped in the direction of the exit and Brian leaned back and relaxed as the entrance door closed and nothing but complete silence pleased his ears. """"""""""""""""""""""""" "Justin?" Nurse Sherman touched the boy gently on his arm as her pager beeped three times. "Would you like to stay outside a little longer?" Justin turned his head in the other direction because he would never speak with male nurses who had big chests and weren’t called Plake. "I have to go back to the ward. If you don’t feel like walking here any more, simply come back inside, okay?" With a friendly smile, the nurse walked away and Justin remained completely still until she disappeared from his field of vision. He then looked contently from left to right, took his book tightly into his arms and walked with little steps over the pebble-way, careful not to make too much noise. A crooked piece, a straight one, crooked again and crooked once more, and then he stood in front of the many bars and sticks and could see the big castle from behind. With the pear tree, the well with blue water and the big, soft meadow. A quite ticklish feeling engulfed his belly and he sighed before beginning to rock softly, while holding his book a bit more tightly to his chest. He could smell the good white beet, the silver sword and the frog water all the way from where he was standing. He really would’ve preferred to go... “…across the street." Awkwardly, he lifted one foot over the hip-high fence, stayed in this position for a moment and then heaved his other leg over it. “Of course for a visit." With little steps and his book tightly in his arms he toddled over the pavement up to the roadside and stopped. He looked to the left and to the right and remembered he had to look forward too. "Hh!" He was given a horrible fright because in front of the prince’s castle he saw a very little man. “Of course. Certainly the dwarf.” “Hello!" Gus grinned happily and climbed on the low stone wall which hedged the Kinney property. “I’m waiting for my daddy!” He called explanatorily across the street to the strange fair haired boy. “We’re going to collect stones and paint them with color!” Justin looked nervously to the side and bobbed up and down while twisting a thick strand of hair around his finger. “Of course seven. Seven dwarves… six are missing." Perhaps the other dwarves were still in the mine? Gus looked at the odd boy thoughtfully for a moment and simply decided to talk a bit louder. “I am already four, and you?" Justin felt very uncomfortable. The dwarf talked and talked, but of course dwarves were never in the beautiful castle. Only behind the… “…seven, seven mountains." “Hmm." Gus said with understanding. “The kid who lives next to my house is already seven too. Of course you have to go to school then." Justin looked up to the clouds and then over to the other side of the street. The dwarf had no cap and no beard. “You can come over here to play with me till my daddy comes." Gus suggested generously. Could he? Justin looked back where the big tower stood and then forward at the black street. “Of course. Of course never cross the street without permission." Gus climbed from the wall and hopped along the pavement. “You can come now. There is no car." Justin wasn’t sure whether the dwarf really was right or not but he wanted to play at the castle and see the golden ball in the well. So he made a careful step forwards onto the asphalt. It worked well and he tried it once again. After four steps he was in the middle of the street and needed only seven more steps to get to the castle and directly in front of the dwarf. “You walk funny!" Gus giggled and ran in the direction of the courtyard. “Come with me! You can help collect stones!" """"""""""""""""""""""""" Brian raised his head in irritation from a really interesting article about the prevention of impotence. He could hear his sons excited cackling in the garden. The boy didn’t talk again to his invisible friend Izzy, the pink guinea pig, did he?! Slightly concerned, he rose from his place on the sofa and went over to the terrace doors, searching out into the mirrored pane. What he found had little similarity to an invisible pink gnawer. No, it was rather slender, blond, had a noodle necklace around the neck and sniffed interestedly at the water in the swimming pool. While Sonny Boy bounced right beside like a doped up kangaroo, up and down. “What he fuck…” Immediately he pulled the terrace door open and trudged quickly over the lawn. "Daddy!" Gus smiled broadly and ran cheerfully to his father. “Justin and I are looking for stones and the frog!" “Justin!" Brian ignored the boy and marched furiously towards Justin. “How’d you get here?" “Of course." Justin padded two steps to the left and leaned closer over the pool. “The shiny gold… gold ball." “Hey!" The older man grabbed his unwelcome visitor tightly by the arm and drew him in an upright position. “You walked alone over the damned street again, didn’t you?" “Hh!" Something stung at his arm and the prince was terribly loud and held him tighter and tighter. “Aah!" “Daddy!" Gus stood close to Justin and looked up frightened at his father. “We only wanted to play!" Brian shouted and pointed at the terrace door without even looking at his son. “Go into the house Gus!" Immediately the boy’s dark eyes filled with tears, but one look into his outraged fathers face clearly showed that he better obey. Upset and frustrated, he ran away, turned around three times, and finally disappeared in the house. Justin pressed the old fairytale book close to his chest and, whimpering, tried to escape the prince’s rough grip. Brian shoved him away. “Go home, Justin! You had no permission to come here!" He left the boy wailing at the edge of the pool basin, went quickly into the house and pulled the mirrored door shut with a loud bang. Justin's heart pounded fast and his head buzzed. His arm was hurting and he didn’t know what direction he should go. He walked a couple of steps to where the castle stood and then turned to the left in confusion before he stopped and looked up into the sky. The prince was angry and he didn’t know where the dwarf had gone and why Plake had glasses today, although he certainly wasn’t the grandmother. He really would’ve preferred to go to… “… Harrisburg." """"""""""""""""""""""""" Brian lit a cigarette and threw the lighter furiously onto his coffee table before he slumped against the sofa and inhaled deeply. Fuck, he really had enough of this bullshit! Who the hell did people think he actually was? A fucking babysitter? He had never been good at taking care of other people and everybody knew that damn well! Gus appeared beside the armrest of the couch and looked at his father; sulking. “We only wanted to play." Brian took a drag of his cigarette and opened his mouth to say something but only blew smoke out, deciding to ignore his son’s sad face. Gus waited a moment and received no reaction. Finally, he stomped away and pressed his little nose flat against the terrace door. Brian turned his head slowly after three more drags. First he looked at his son, then out of the pane. Justin still was there. Rocking back and forth while he stood in the middle of the lawn and curled blond hair around his finger. He walked around for a couple of small steps as if he was confused, said something to himself and stopped again to rub his upper arm. Brian looked away and inhaled his Marlboro deeply. Damn shit, why didn’t everyone simply leave him the fuck alone… """"""""""""""""""""""""" Ten minutes later the cigarette lay stubbed out in a sinfully expensive crystal ashtray and Gus crawled on the sofa, curling up next to his daddy. Irritated, Brian looked quickly aside and ignored the unpleasant burning in his stomach. But after a moment he put his hand carefully on Gus’ head and stroked the dark hair. “You don’t like Justin?" Brian really didn’t want to speak and hated how cold his voice sounded as he did. “Where do you know his name from?" “We introduced each other." The answer came in the deepest implicitness and Brian ventured a small peek down at his child. “Mummy says I can’t play with people I don’t know." Brian played with the small, soft strand behind Gus’ ear and looked away again. “She’s right. Why didn’t you call for me when a stranger came into the garden? Justin is not norm-… he’s not well." Gus sat up and looked at his father. “I invited him to play with me and took very good care of him." “You invited him?" Gus nodded. “He is not allowed to cross the street alone but I looked to the left and to the right for him. There was no car." “Th!" Brian shook his head and huffed a short laugh. Damned brats. One like the other. “Can Justin come back again now? We weren’t finished playing yet." Brian wrinkled his forehead and looked at his son scrutinizing. “Justin has gone?" The boy nodded. “He is already seven but I can climb over the wall better than he can." "Fuck." Brian ran a hand through his hair and lifted Gus off of his lap. "Stay here." He told his son and hurried out of the door. Quickly, he jogged over the lawn, around the house and finally found the blond boy on the sidewalk in front of the court entry. He stopped. “Justin." Justin looked at the ground and immediately plodded away to the edge of the street, but not one step onto the black asphalt. “Justin." Brian followed him slowly. “Can you stop, please?" “Of course." Justin rubbed his arm and moved his book protectively up to his chin. “Never cross the street. Very angry." Brian sighed, stopped and rubbed his neck. “Do you want to go across the street?" “Certainly they are seven." Justin looked up into the sky and marched further with small steps. “Always seven dwarves, never only one.” “Justin." Although the distance between them got bigger, Brian didn’t raise his voice. “Where are you going?” After another two steps, Justin stopped. He stood with his back to Brian and rocked. “Nine…nineteen." There were so many clouds in the sky now and one was directly in front of the bright ball-sun. “You want to…” Brian pinched his nose and looked irresolutely aside. “You want me to take you home?" The boy scratched his forehead as two clouds, which he had counted already, floated against each other and became a very big one. “Of course. This is all wrong." Mister Kinney looked up to the sky too, but didn’t find clouds particularly interesting and looked quickly away again and then slightly frustrated at the boy. “Justin. Don’t you want to talk to me?" “No." The younger one rubbed his arm and walked a couple of steps further away. Brian followed him. “Can you at least look at me then?" “No." Justin looked uninterestedly aside and crinkled up his nose. “Why not?" Justin picked at his hair ends and said nothing at all. “Justin." “Yeah." “Turn around." With three small clumsy steps, Justin turned around; his book tightly in his arms and his gaze fell uneasily to the side. Brian’s hard features softened and a little smile could be recognized on his lips. “Thank you." “Yeah." Justin rocked back and forth nervously. “Certainly always bites." “Bites?" “Yes, always." "Who bites always?" “Of course." The boy changed his line of sight up to the sky. “Prian bites Justin Taylor." Brian wrinkled his forehead. “I bit you?" “Certainly." Justin toddled away. “Again, again." “Justin!" Brian held the boy firm by the arm. “Stop!" “Ah! Oh no." Justin looked at the large hand that held him tight by the arm and immediately began to pull at his hair. “Of course. Not alone. Certainly very angry." “What?" Brian tried to turn the kid around to create visual contact. “Cut it out!” The blond squinted his eyes and started to scream disturbingly loud with five fingers clenched on his book and the others tangled in his hair. "Fuck!" Brian took his hands away, kicked the low wall in front of his property in frustration and sat down on it all the while cursing. In the next two minutes he did nothing but simply sat there, head buried in his hands, and listening to Justin’s shouting. In the third minute the boy gradually grew quieter. In the fourth one, he only swayed softly back and forth and mumbled to himself. “Not without permission. Prian says." Brian turned his look towards Justin's feet, while he played with one long blade of grass that grew out between the stones of the old wall. “You have shoes on today." Justin didn’t stop rocking, but looked down to his shoes. The blade of grass tore off and was wound around a long middle finger. “They look fucking old." Did they? Justin was quiet now and stood almost completely still with an attentive look towards his feet. He wiggled his toes in his shoes. They were really very old. Almost… “...seven hundred days." “Hmm." Brian threw the grass away. “Who buys new shoes for you?" “Yeah." Justin looked up to the sky. There were new clouds. “Justin?" “Yeah." “I’ve hurt you?" Justin wrinkled his nose and squinted his eyes a little. It was very bright in the sky. “Justin. Look at me." "Yeah." It took almost a complete minute till the boy looked in the direction of the prince. As he did he began to giggle. Prian sat on the wall exactly like the egg in wonderland! “What’s so funny?" “Of course…falls off the wall." “You think so, huh?" Mister Kinney raised a skeptical eyebrow and tapped next to him on the brittle stone. “Come here." “No." Justin looked away quickly. Of course one could… “…not sit there.” "Why not? Come here." “Of course no chair." “You can sit on walls too." Brian extended his hand. “Come here." "Yeah." The boy clumsily took hold of Prians fingers. “Well, come on." Brian drew the boy firmly to him until Justin finally sat a little stiffly next to him on the wall. “Of course." Fidgety, Justin rocked back and forth while peering anxious at the 30 inch depth. “Certainly falls down. One thousand shards." Brian grinned, extended his long legs onto the pavement and patted his trousers in search for his cigarettes. He found nothing. “Why don’t you sit still then?" “Of course." Justin looked nervously aside and clung to his book. “Always on the ground. All broken." “Justin." Brian put a broad hand on Justin's thin thigh. “You will not fall okay? The damned thing isn’t even 2 feet high." The boy looked skeptically down where his seven hundred day old shoes stood on the ground and wiggled his toes in them. “Yeah." “Yes?" “Yeah.” Justin looked at the prince with worried blue eyes. “Certainly lots of shards." Brian stared back, expressionless into a childlike face. After a moment, he smiled slightly, raised one eyebrow and put his left arm slowly but securely around Justin's shoulders. Justin froze and held his breath. Brian pulled him closer anyway and leaned his head carefully against soft blond hair. Temple to temple. “Better now?" The boy did not dare to blink. But he liked that the prince was beside him. Prian held him… “…tighter and tighter." The older man nodded and stroked with gentle fingers over Justin's shoulder and down a thin upper arm. “Sorry is bullshit." He really didn’t say it very loud and his hand remained on the place where he had grasped a little too roughly earlier. “But I promise no more biting, okay?" “Yeah." “Hmm." Brian put his legs loosely on top of each other and really wished he had a cigarette. “When is dinner time?" “Yes." Justin's eyes wandered unfocused aside. “Of course at six. Tuna and cheese." “Tuna and cheese?" Brian sat up straight again and looked at the boy. “You like it?" “Five.” Justin looked up into the sky and counted all clouds which were grey. “Six, seven." The older man stood up and stretched his hand out for Justin. “You like Thai food?" The boy took Prians fingers, got up awkwardly and let himself be led in the direction of the court entry. “Yes. Toast from Prian" “Not toast. Kong-Pow chicken." “Yes. Of course with toast." “No." Brian opened the door. “Of course with spicy bean curd." Justin loved the feeling of the big hand around his wrist and held his book tightly in his arms while he toddled with small steps into the castle. “Of course. First the beans then the toast." """""""""""""""""""""""""