Brothers Apart

We have a winner!

#auv stands for An Unexpected Visitor! Certainly Dean never imagined who he would find sneaking about in his room, searching for food…

He was under the bed when he heard it.

A key, probably more than half Oscar’s height, sliding into the lock on the door. Ice surged through his veins and he froze. There was nothing else he could do.

Oscar had a view of the nightstand between the two beds, beyond a forest of dustbunnies, as the door creaked open. With agonizing slowness, a piece of wood impossibly tall and heavy for someone his size swung open to admit the human checked into the room. Oscar’s legs tensed. He’d gotten himself stuck in rooms with humans in them before, but it never got easier. He was too small.

Heavy footfalls that Oscar could never miss vibrated through the floor. Same usual routine; a few steps, then the percussive click of the door shutting. Oscar held his breath and stared straight ahead.

Something crashed onto the other bed, and before Oscar could glance in that direction, the entire world around him quaked. The bed frame and the mattress it supported both released noises of protest as the human crashed onto them. Thinking quickly before he could yelp in terror, the room’s hidden occupant lifted his hands and clamped them over his mouth. Oscar stared upwards at the underside of the mattress with wide brown eyes.

For a kid barely more than two inches tall, just a step could cause a small earthquake.

Oscar was used to the feeling of humans walking around. They were always stomping about as they got ready for something or other, and Oscar tried his best to keep himself well out of their way. He was still learning the routines, though, and hadn’t expected anyone in this room for some time.

It was hard to learn these things by himself, but he didn’t have any other options. Oscar’s mom was gone and she had been for a while. He had been seven when he last saw her, and he was eight now, he was sure. It was so hard to navigate a world so big by himself.

She would have known what to do in this situation. He was under the bed with a human in the room, and he didn’t have any exits into the walls. It was safer in there by far, where he could take quiet steps and keep to himself and the humans never bothered with it. They were giant, unpredictable people in most things, but at least they could be counted on to ignore the space that Oscar called home.

He glanced across the floor, past piles of dustbunnies and the wide expanse of worn out carpet. Past the second bed and the dresser was his vent, low in the wall.

It felt so far away. Oscar lowered his trembling hands from his face and took a slow, quiet breath. At least he knew how to be quiet.

He was frightened of the human above. Oscar had found a small, stale piece of a cracker. It was probably from the previous motel guest, but if this one found out he took it, he could be mad. Then he might want to hurt Oscar, and the tiny child would be helpless.

He crept towards the edge of the bed. His wrapped feet pushed softly through the dust piles until he was just at the edge of the bed. He stared straight up.

He almost ducked back immediately at the sight of a hand draped over the side. It wasn’t moving, so he took a slow breath instead. He could do this. All he had to do was move quickly and stay out of sight. So long as the human stayed up on that bed and slept, he’d be fine.

Biting his lip to steel himself, he clutched his bag closer. Then, he bolted across the space between the beds. All he had to do was dive under the other one, and he’d have a safe place to get closer to his vent.

Halfway out, he tripped on the thick carpet fibers. Stumbling, he toppled forward and landed on his front with a quiet Oof! that sent ice up his spine.