11 Chapter 10: An Old Reunion

I cough and gaze out the window of the plane as it begins to land, "We're almost there."

"Are you alright?" the light voice asks. I nod and smile.

"But you're getting worse," he says.

"Kiddo, I'm alright, I promise you," I reply with a smile.

"If you say so," he says, not sounding convinced. Time flies by and we finally depart from the airport, catching a taxi on our way out. I gaze out the window during the whole trip, looking at how much has changed since the last time I've lived here.

"Do you think someone else lives at your house?" he asks, looking at me.

"I'm sure someone does," I reply, looking over at him, "It'll be nice seeing the place again." Time goes by as we soon arrive at the front of my childhood house. I felt warm, being back at the house I grew up in.

"Time really flies by when you hAvan't been to your hometown in such a long time," I say, mumbling to myself before turning towards him, "If only I could've shown you the place before everything changed, kiddo."

"It's okay," he replies, looking happy, "It's still your home."

I smile down at him and nod, coughing badly, "Come on kiddo, I want you to meet him." We start to walk around the house, looking like no one has lived in there for two or three years now.

I stop in front of the woods, taking a deep breath in, "The only place that still looks the same."

He looks up at me and tugs on my shirt, "Do you want to go back?"

"No, I want to meet him again too, Elija," Papa says, looking down at me. I wonder if the creature is just like what papa said. I'm excited and scared.

"Let's go kiddo," papa says before walking into the woods as I follow behind him. It was a long silent walk as my legs were getting tired. Papa carried me half of the way through the woods before he had to stop and take a breather. Papa sounded like he couldn't breathe.

"Don't worry," he says, catching his breath, "it's just been a while since I've walked this much in all my years."

"What about your lungs?" I ask, tugging on his pants.

"My lungs are fine," he replies, standing up and groaning, "We're halfway there." I nod and walk beside him as he begins to walk again. We walked a bit more before I see the log house papa talked about, where Bosque lived in. Papa walked over to the steps and stopped, looking at the house for a while. I heard a quiet sniffle from him as he wiped his face with his sleeve. I walk over and pat his back.

"Are you okay papa?" I ask, looking up at him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he says, sniffling, "just some nice old memories of this place."

"Of Bosque?" I ask as he nods slowly. I didn't really understand but I know she felt important to papa. A few minutes went by before papa walked over to me.

"You ready to continue kiddo?" he asks. I nod and sit up. We begin to walk further into the woods. As we kept walking, I could tell papa was getting tired.

"Are we almost there papa?" I ask, starting to get tired myself. He nods and smiles to himself.

"We're almost there kiddo, just a few more minutes to go," he replies. He was right. At long last, we came up to the other log house. As we stop, I glance over at papa and see a smile on his face as he looks at the cabin before coughing hard, much harder than I've heard him before.

"Papa, it's getting worse," I tell him, looking concerned.

"I've said I'm fine Elija," papa replies, looking over at me as he leans against one of the trees, "I want you to walk in and see if he's there while I rest a bit."

"But what if he tries to attack me, like he did to you?" I ask, looking worried.

"He won't attack you," papa says with a smile, "just tell him that you're my kid, that I was the one who's friends with Bosque."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I have trust in you and that Watcher." I smile and nod before turning to the cabin, taking a deep breath in and letting it out before walking towards it. I walk up the steps slowly and stop at the door as my heart pounded, papa watching from the distance.

I build up the confidence and push open the door slowly, peering my head inside. Everything looked old, to the point that it would break in the wind. I edge myself inside, looking around constantly. I heard deep snoring in one of the rooms. I edge myself forward as I walk towards where I heard the snoring.

I stop in front of the doorway and slowly peer my head inside, seeing a white furred creature.

"Are you the Watcher?" I ask it quietly. It looks like he didn't hear me. I walk closer to him to where I could poke his fur.

"Hello Watcher," I say a little louder, lightly poking his side. He shuffled around and growled deeply, which caused me to back up a bit.

"Are you the Watcher that is friends with my papa?" After I said that, he stopped growling and moved around to where he could see me. I shyly wave at him.

"Don't you know manners," papa jokingly says as he walks into the room. The second he did, Watcher sat up and looked over at him.

Papa chuckled, "You still look as dead as you were the last time we've met." He got up and inches over to papa, sniffing the top of his head. Papa rubs the top of his head and smiles faintly.

"How's Bosque?" papa asks, looking at him. Watcher peers over his shoulder and back to him, nodding.

Papa looks over and nods back and smiles, "I'm glad to hear that. I see you still live in this old house." Watcher nods and sits down, looking at us. It's nice watching papa be so happy. I can tell this is bringing back memories for him. I've never seen him so happy in a long time.

"Do you think you can walk back out of here papa?" I ask him.

"I can," he replies, nodding his head. I nod back at him. Papa chatted with me and Watcher. It was almost night time by the time he was done talking.

"I think it's best to get going now," papa says, smiling.

I smile and look over at Watcher,"Bye Watcher. I hope to see you soon." He mimicked my hand waving and waved back. After that, we left. It was fun.

"Do you think we would be able to meet him again papa?" I ask.

He looks down at me and smiles, "I'm sure we will. Just wait until you're older." Wait until I'm older. I can wait that long.

"He looks as old as me," a light voice chuckles to themselves, "I see ya' still remember the old timer. A little youngin' too? He seems to have gotten better ever since he left town all 'em years ago." They see Watcher looking at them as they smile.

"I hope to see ya' again Gariga," they say, walking in front of him, "I can still see his kind face under that old face of his." After they say that, he starts to walk out of the house, as the little one waves at Watcher.

"He's a doll, ain't he?" they say to him as he gives a small nod, "I hoped to see 'em again, one last time. Such a kind kid he was."