Chapter Six

That night Amber lay awake in her bed. It was a squishy little budget room and she could have reached out and touched Laura's bed from where she lay, but she didn't. Instead she waited until Laura's breathing slowed and deepened. Then she quietly got up and crept out of the room. Rocky was lying in a deck chair by the pool. Amber called out quietly, "Hey Rocky. It's me, Amber."

He jumped slightly. "Amber! What are you doing here?"

"Just come to keep you company" she whispered sitting down in the deck chair next to his.

"You didn't have to come out here Amber. Like I said, I'm quite used to being on my own out in the open."

"I know, but I wanted to. Probably wouldn't have slept anyway."

"Thanks Amber" he said. Then he held out his hand to her. She took it and they lay quietly together enjoying the feeling of their fingers being entwined.

The night was clear and the moon turned the pool into liquid silver, casting weird shadows in every direction. Occasionally there was the sound of a car going past but apart from the tinkling of water features and the distant hum of traffic, everything was silent.

"How do you think it happened?"

Amber turned to face Rocky. "What?"

"How do you think I came to be alive? At least I think I'm alive. Unless this is all just some crazy dream."

Amber smiled, "Sorry to disappoint Rocky. I'm pretty sure this isn't a dream."

He grinned back, "I know. But it must've been something you did to me. Are you a witch or something?"

"Oh thanks a heap! No! All I did was touch you."

"You did more than that" he ruefully reminded her.

She went to pull her hand away but Rocky held it tightly. "Hey, don't worry! I'm not holding it against you."

"I'm seriously sorry about that. How is it feeling?"

Rocky waved his bandaged foot in the air. "Couldn't be better" he declared.

Amber tried changing the subject. "It's a wonder no-one has noticed that you're missing."

"Not really. Nobody has ever taken much noticed. You're the first person that has actually touched me."

She fell silent again.

"What are you thinking?" Rocky asked after a while.

"Just the physical implications of you coming alive. People don't just appear you know."

"What's going to happen?"

"I don't know. But one thing's for sure, no one is going to believe that you're a statue."

"But it's the truth."

"They'd think you were mad."

"Would they put me in a mental asylum?"

Amber wondered how Rocky knew about mental asylums but she didn't ask. Instead she squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a comforting way.

"I don't know" she said for what felt like the thousandth time. "But I promise I'll do my best to make sure everything turns out ok."

"Thanks Amber."

They continued to talk in hushed tones, lying side by side, hand in hand until eventually they both slept. And that's how the sun found them when it rose the next day.

 

*****

 

Reviews

[alifeacoustic]

Nice. slept by the pool. I should have figured that out, duh!.
What adventure awaits next? How does Rocky explain? Will he be accepted? all this and more, coming soon. :-)