The snarls and roar may drown out the crying for Sadie, but the reflection of the past continues as it once had for Benjiro in the memory. He hears his sister even as he leaves the light to return into his dark room. His hands slap down on the mattress with the apparent intention to follow his mother’s direction, but instead, the boy halts still standing at the side of his bed once he reaches it. Slowly his arms relax to rest on the top of the bed, and his eyes search the fabric of his covers as his attention stays snagged on the sounds of his sister.
He looks over his shoulder first. Then lifts one hand. His second hand falls from the bed as he starts to step away from it, and he walks towards the door with steps shortening across the distance. Peering around the door left open enough for him to pass, he looks with wide eyes down the hall. His mother has not left the kitchen and is still talking on the phone as she laughs again.
Benjiro creeps from his room and over into the next dark room, which is illuminated better than his own by a night-light beside the crib. The crib is set in the master bedroom, one that speaks of two adults that keep awareness on their presentation to others by the looks of the arrangements for him and her. That however, may not be worth exploring as Benjiro approaches the crib where his sister lies crying with her voice starting to crack from strain. He steps up to the slats of the crib and reaches his hand through, feeling around as though looking for something near her as he speaks, “Emiko, she doesn’t like that.”
Sadie has the vantage point that would allow her to spot the pacifier on the far side of Emiko that Benjiro is after, but when he starts to try to reach over her, his hand brushes where she can feel it. Shaking as she is, Emiko responds to the touch with eyes opening, and a momentary delay of her next bar to come. His hand slides under her arm, and before he can withdraw it to check her other side, her hand catches his finger. Benjiro is too surprised to retract his hand forcefully and he watches as she undergoes a diminuendo to less strenuous cries accompanied by whimpers and whines.
He simply stares, bewildered. The pacifier is usually what has such an effect, even if this is not as dampening to her cries. Inquisitiveness replaces everything else for the boy, and he reaches his other hand in to lay over the top of her head. More contact. And again she quiets a little more. He has done nothing for her, no bottle, no change, no pacifier, and yet…she seems to be calming down from his presence. His captured hand settles on her chest, and he leans in to rest his head against the slates as he starts to brush his hand on her head in mimicry of what he has seen others do.
Minutes of this, and Emiko has quieted down, looking at Benjiro while her big brother stays fixated on her. He smiles at her, and she kicks her feet with a happy squeak. That prompts a bigger smile from Benjiro, and he whispers to her, “I can’t sleep here, you know.”
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He looks over his shoulder first. Then lifts one hand. His second hand falls from the bed as he starts to step away from it, and he walks towards the door with steps shortening across the distance. Peering around the door left open enough for him to pass, he looks with wide eyes down the hall. His mother has not left the kitchen and is still talking on the phone as she laughs again.
Benjiro creeps from his room and over into the next dark room, which is illuminated better than his own by a night-light beside the crib. The crib is set in the master bedroom, one that speaks of two adults that keep awareness on their presentation to others by the looks of the arrangements for him and her. That however, may not be worth exploring as Benjiro approaches the crib where his sister lies crying with her voice starting to crack from strain. He steps up to the slats of the crib and reaches his hand through, feeling around as though looking for something near her as he speaks, “Emiko, she doesn’t like that.”
Sadie has the vantage point that would allow her to spot the pacifier on the far side of Emiko that Benjiro is after, but when he starts to try to reach over her, his hand brushes where she can feel it. Shaking as she is, Emiko responds to the touch with eyes opening, and a momentary delay of her next bar to come. His hand slides under her arm, and before he can withdraw it to check her other side, her hand catches his finger. Benjiro is too surprised to retract his hand forcefully and he watches as she undergoes a diminuendo to less strenuous cries accompanied by whimpers and whines.
He simply stares, bewildered. The pacifier is usually what has such an effect, even if this is not as dampening to her cries. Inquisitiveness replaces everything else for the boy, and he reaches his other hand in to lay over the top of her head. More contact. And again she quiets a little more. He has done nothing for her, no bottle, no change, no pacifier, and yet…she seems to be calming down from his presence. His captured hand settles on her chest, and he leans in to rest his head against the slates as he starts to brush his hand on her head in mimicry of what he has seen others do.
Minutes of this, and Emiko has quieted down, looking at Benjiro while her big brother stays fixated on her. He smiles at her, and she kicks her feet with a happy squeak. That prompts a bigger smile from Benjiro, and he whispers to her, “I can’t sleep here, you know.”