Page 86 of Only the Small Bones
“Okay,” I said, following along now. “So what happens if a kid’s bones aren’t small?”
“Uh, I don’t know. If you’re a kid, you’re a Small Bone. It doesn’t matter.”
“Asher—”
“Are you scared that you aren’t a Small Bone?” he asked, stepping in to squeeze my biceps. “Because you are.”
“Hey, I was in the middle of a growth spurt before I got here. I had some muscles.” My mom always said I’d grow to be as big as my dad. I had a couple pictures of him.
“Well, they’re gone now,” he said, brows furrowed. “You’re coming with me.” Asher yanked on my hands until I stood. I helped him onto the chair this time, then held the wobbly table still while he stepped on it. He stared into the sunshine wearing the biggest smile I’d ever seen, and I decided then not to steal his hope. Maybe this was the only way his mind could handle everything going on. Now I just needed to find a way for my mind to stop feeling like it was being ripped apart. Maybe pretending to believe in Gargantuan would help, the way pretending to be unafraid and strong for Asher had helped for a while.
“What about the girls that came here with us?” I asked, settling onto the edge of the bed closest to the shaky table. “Will Gargantuan save them too?”
“No,” Asher said sadly. “They’re too old. He only saves the Small Bones. But maybe Ferian will help them.” He brightened up at the idea. “She takes care of the grown-ups. The Big Bones.” His voice went low. “Ferian can’t wake the sleeping Bones, though. Only Gargantuan can.”
“Wake them?”
“Yeah. If Gargantuan can’t get to the Small Bones in time, he has the power to wake them. Children of Galasia are innocent, and the innocent get to come back. They just won’t have their powers when they do.” He shrugged. “But who cares about powers when you get to come back?” He turned to the porthole again.
I swallowed. “This sounds pretty morbid for a children’s book.”
“What’s morbid mean?”
“It means something disturbing, or spooky. LikeCoraline,” I said when his confused expression didn’t change.
He shivered. “That movie is scary. The Other Mother is mean. Gargantuan isn’t scary or mean.”
My throat no longer hurt and my headache had vanished days ago, but I couldn’t shake the heaviness in my body, or the strange thoughts bouncing around my head. I felt empty on top of feeling sad, and my stomach kept flip flopping around. I took the half dose of medicine I’d been taking, because maybe after enough days it would fix all the other things still wrong with me.
I listened to Asher hum for a little while, then I curled around a pillow and started listening to the voices in my head.
Malcolm
Asher spent a lot of time at that porthole, and I let him. I was too busy staring at the walls to stop him. As long as the sun was up, he only moved for bathroom breaks, or to huddle in close to me whenever the bolt slid back on the door. Sometimes, if I wasn’t too numb to move, I’d wrap my arms around him protectively.
“Gargantuan is on his way,” Asher said, getting down from the table to sit with me on the bed. He sounded less hopeful with every sunset, but he hadn’t given up completely. “I think the water makes it hard for him to find us, but he will.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he will.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t talk as much as you used to. Is it because I said you talk too much?”
“No, I’m just tired.” I lifted my arm so he could settle into my side.
“So why don’t you sleep?”
“I sleep when you sleep.”
“No you don’t, you talk when I’m asleep.”
“That’s because I talk in my sleep.”
Asher didn’t buy it. He gazed up at me with worry in his eyes. “You’re coming with me and Gargantuan, right?”
“Of course,” I breathed, forcing a smile. “We go together.”
“We go together,” he repeated. “Malcolm and Asher forever.” He balled my fingers into a fist before bumping it with his like I’d taught him.
Asher fell asleep, and I began talking again, only he wasn’t the one I spoke to. Not anymore.
