The Golden Rules 18

Chapter 18 - Two steps forward, one step back


It took a while before the Maya had calmed down, if it could be called that. At least her loud sobs, which Tom had never expected to hear from such a small body  in this volume, were slowly turning into an occasional sniff. He was quite happy that the Twimp did not took his comforting gesture  negative, but on the contrary, had reacted very grateful. He kept looking down at her red hair, which was pressed into the fabric of his gray T-shirt again and again.
He wondered what had happened to her family members, and that's what confused him again. Until just now he had not even known that Twimps lived in family groups, and had such a strong connection to them that their loss could drove them to such grief.
At the moment she reminded him of himself, as he had been crying three months ago until no tears were left in him, and everything was replaced by that dull feeling in the stomach. Nothing at that time could have prepared him for Melissa's death, and not for the emptiness that it would leave in his life. He did not know if he did make to much out of Maya's reaction, whether animals mourned just like humans. But for the moment this was not important at all. She felt bad and needed  attention.
Rina sat opposite to him with drooping shoulders and compassionate face, and was obviously not quite sure how she should react. Maybe she felt guilty because she had raised the family theme. After a while she seemed to recollect, and quietly began clearing the table.
Tom wondered what he should do now. It would certainly be heartless, to put Maya in her cage again and leave her to herself. But quickly he thought of something better. He shortly nodded to Rina and then slowly left the kitchen.
His path led him not into the living room but the bedroom. For a moment he stood beside his bed and intended to lay the Twimp on the pillow. But he had the feeling that she could feel lost on such a huge plain. The floor was also out, since she would intended not feel safe when there was the risk of being trampled by someone or had to look up to him from so far down . His eyes went from the closet near the bed over to the garden door and then saw something that might fit better. In the corner near the door was a light green and white striped hammock chair hanging from the ceiling. A small pillow lay in the set, which would surely make a good mattress for Maya. Tom was pretty sure that she would feel comfortable there. She would have a good view, protection from the back and sides and also was quite comfortable.
He looked back down at her, and noticed that she tried to look around, but  could not because he still held on tightly to her. He carefully took off his hand and moved it under her body  to give her a more secure area to sit on. She gave him a, as he suspected, grateful nod and turned around, wiping a tear from her eye. When Maya discovered the hammock chair, he said: "You can rest yourself there if you want."

-

Sophie still felt miserable, but she soon had no strength left to cry. She also found it a little embarrassing to show her deepest feelings to two people she barely knew.

But even if the tears disappeared, the terrible images in her head did not. It had happened four years ago, but suddenly it seemed as if only a few days passed since that fateful afternoon. If she just had not been there that day . She did not want to see how it had happened, seeing it made it real, much more real than she could cope with endure.
She had noticed that Thomas had stood up, and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He carried her like a baby that was placed over a shoulder to calm it, only that she was, in this case, still pressed against his chest. She wondered what he would do, but could not turn around to see anything.
Only a few moments later he pulled his hand away and let her sit down. Because her eyes were still full of tears, so she first did not recognize where she was, and especially what was before her. Not until she had thoroughly wiped her eyes, she recognized the room as a bedroom, but  to identify the strange Object in front of her was not so easy. It seemed to be a very thick, striped fabric, having a cave-like form, but which, as she realized after a closer look, had an open top and was hanging from the cieling on a construction of several ropes. In the middle of the cave was a large lime green cushion, perhaps twice as big as a double bed.
   "You can rest yourself there if you want."  She heard Thomas' voice, which sounded  after this long silence.
Sophie looked up at him with a questioning look. She did not understand why he did not put her back in the cage right away.
  "I thought, now you need a little more friendly place. Here you have some peace and can look out into the garden. This hammock chair was the favorite spot for ...", he stopped short, and his eyes got back this wistful expression. "My wife really loved to sit there.", He finished the sentence.
Sophie's mouth was wide open for a moment, but she quickly closed it again, because it sure looked awfully rude. She would have expected many things from Thomas, but not that he is married ... or was.
  "She is on the other side now , but I think she would not mind if you relax in her chair.", He added, and gave her a sad smile.
Sophie did not know how they should react. Should she be proud that he offered her such a meaningful place, or should she refuse strictly because it was burdened with such sad memories. But Thomas took her from the decision by making it easy to put her down on the pillow and sat down on the ground before it , so that he was only about two meters taller than her. The hammock chair swayed a little back and forth by his touch and made sure that she had to sit down.
  "And? Is that comfortable?" He asked with a smile, this time with a less sad look.
Sophie nodded simply, firstly because it was actually quite pleasant, and secondly to not to complain about the favourite spot of his passed away wife.
  "That's good. If there would not be as some hygienically problems, I would let you sleep the night here. I think this is a very good place for you."
Sophie could not tell what he meant. From here she surely was not able to flee. There was nothing on which one could climb down, under it and beside it was nothing but air. She had no problem with the height, but that she could not even leave this place in an emergency made her scared. It was like a prison without bars and walls.
Thomas looked at her a little quizzically, as if trying to read her thoughts, and then wrinkled his brow thoughtfully. She dared not really to tell him what she thought about his idea. In her condition she did not want to cause more stress or trouble.
  "Wait, Wait a second, I think I have an idea." He said suddenly, getting up hastily. The draft that resulted from the movement, made the hammock rock a little. He left the room and moments later she heard a low rumble and clatter which she could not really identify.
Resigned, she let herself fall into the pillow, that fortunately did not yield too much, and made a comfortable mattress. Thoughtfully, she looked at the ceiling, where the chair was attached with a giant metal hook. She tried to close her eyes for a moment, but when she did, those awful pictures  only came back to mind. Therefore, she turned to the side and watched as the sunlight glinted through the fabric. It looked very nice, almost pleasant hypnotic. There was a pleasant warmth in the room, and the birds out there really sounded  just like at home, only a lot louder. Slowly she began to wonder why this world was so little different from herr own. Except for the size of the animal and plant life it was pretty much the same. There was television, telephones, cars, and they even spoke German here. It was all very strange, but there had to be a reason. Maybe she would find out someday.
Tom suddenly burst into the room, but not with empty hands. He carried a kind of beside table in both hands, on which were some things she still could not identify exactly.
  "I'm sorry if you had to wait, but I tried to hurry." He said and then put the table down in front of the hammock chair. Sophie could now see what was on it: It was the washing chamber, her food and drinking bowl, and her backpack and sleeping bag and some loose clothes that he had probably picked up from the cage floor. At first she did not understand exactly what all this meant, but when she looked closer, she realized that the tabletop was less than half a meter away from the hammock. She would be able to get in the table without major problems to get to the washing area. And also the legs offered an escape  route for emergencies.
  "You can sleep here, and you can also live her. Is it not a bad idea, right?" He said, apparently very proud of his idea.
Of course, Sophie was glad of this opportunity. After all,she would no longer be stuck in this cage, which was often quite stuffy and here she had a much more comfortable place to sleep. The only thing that made her a little worried, was the fact that she would sleep in the same room with him. What if he snored awfully loud or talked in his sleep? But Sophie was trying to push these thoughts aside and gave him an approving nod. Maybe that was a big step to a much more pleasant life here.
  "Tom, it's half past eight, we must go!" Rina suddenly called from the hallway. Thomas started and looked at his clock:
  "Ah, she's right. Okay, I'll have already put food and water in the bowl. I'm back again this afternoon. Be a good Twimp." He said quickly and stood up, but stopped before he left. "I can leave you alone, right? I mean, you're feeling better, right?" He asked a little worried.
Sophie was not sure. She felt better, but if she thought about how boring it might be here, and what thoughts might rise again...
  "Maybe I'll take you with me." He said, and looked as though he had already decided. He put his palm next to her and then said: "It is not necessarily exciting at work, but it is certainly more varied than here."
She was not sure if she really felt able to go somewhere, let alone to a place where everything would be crowded with giants, but she was also pretty sure that it would be pretty boring if she  stayed here alone. And boredom would not distract her from her gloomy thoughts at all.
It would probably be good to see something other than the house and when she learned something more of this world, it would perhaps be possible soon to find a door back home. Carefully, she climbed on Tom's hand and sat down in the middle.

--

Tom thought about how he would carry Maya, so she would not fall. Because he could not keep her in the hand all the time. Then he remembered his old friend Sven  he had recently met at the supermarket. He had had his Twimp in his pocket. Maybe that would work with Maya, too. He walked fast, but still cautious into the hall, where Rina was waiting impatiently.
  "Please take Maya for a sec." ,he said, and put the Twimp gently on the hand of his sister, so he could quickly put on his shirt.
  "You want to take her with you?" Rina asked perplexed
  "Yes, I think she should not be alone today."
  "The poor thing will get terribly bored at your dull office job. I could take her to the studio, which would be certainly much more interesting for her. And perhaps some off my boss' Twimps are there, then she would have some company." suggested Rina.
  "Are there male Twimps?" He asked a little sceptical. And Maya was back in his hand after he had put on his shirt.
   "Yes, two of them are males." Rina said, and seemed not to know why he asked.
  "Then rather not, she comes with me." He replied sternly.
  "Hm? Why? "His sister asked confused.
  "They are males. They will surely harass Maya. And I honestly do not want any Twimp- cubs in the near future." He replied, wincing a little as he heard the Twimp coughing in his hand, gasping for air . Worried, he raised her to eye level and asked, "Is everything all right?"

- .

Sophie did not know whether she should laugh or cry loudly, as she heard Thomas* comment. What sick imagination he had of the people her size? Of course there were some men who try everything to get a woman into bed, but that humans would act like dogs in that case, was absurd. She wanted to laugh out loud, of course, but failed and led therto swallow and to cough loudly. When he lifted his hand concerned and asked her if she was ok, the cough gradually calmed down again and she nodded. But nothing was allright. Despite all the progress that had been made today, he still thought she was an animal.

-

Rina was a little amused at the testimony of her brother and laughed at him a little.
  "Dear brother, you really do not know much about Twimps, right?" She asked, grinning.
  "What do you mean by that?" He asked a little peeved, and turned his eyes away from Maya, who had now calmed down, to his sister.
  "Twimps are not rodents or dogs. They have themselves pretty well under control. My boss holds females and males together for years, and there had never been any...outcome."
Tom was still sceptical.
  "I think I'd rather be safe than sorry. Maya is much smaller than other Twimps, she could not defend herself if they are mean to her." He said, determined and held his hand, on which Maya was sitting ,very close to his chest. Rina did not know if she should assess Tom's suddenly awakened protective instinct as positive, but she now had no desire to discuss this further. After all, they were already very late, and it did not look like she would be able to sway him in the next minute.
  "Well, then maybe another time ... We really have to go, otherwise I'll miss my train, and you'll be late too." ,she urged him now, and opened the front door.

-

Sophie had indeed hoped to be allowed to come with Rina to finally see people of their size, but Thomas' sister's conviction talent was not as good today as yesterday.  However,  what made her much more concerned, was his overprotective nature, which he suddenly put on. It was true that she was smaller than most of the other people, but that he thought that she would therefore be suppressed, bothered her a lot. He certainly  had not a very high opinion of people of their size.
As Rina opened the door, he suddenly moved his hand up and held it in front of the large breast pocket of his shirt and seemingly waited for her to climb into it. She was not sure if she wanted to. When the girl  thought of what heat he had  emitted during their 'embrace', she did not know how warm it would be if she would be sitting in this pocket. But as the two siblings were in such a hurry,  she did not want to be cause of much more delay. So she turned  around and climbed carefully into the pocket in where she disappeared almost completely. Only if she would pull herself up at the fabric, she could look out over the edge. And without extensive effort, it was not possible to stand. For now, she sat down cross-legged, leaning her back against the sagging material that faced the outside. So she sat in it like on a beach chair and did not come into much to close contact with Thomas' body heat. He looked into the pocket and asked: "Is that all right?"
She nodded somewhat restrained but smiled a little. That seemed to satisfy him, so he looked away again and now set in motion. It was something else, to be inside here and not in his hand. Apparently he normally compensated his strong rocking movements with his hand. But in the pocket, she was exposed to the undamped ups and downs. Although the fabric was somehow elastic, it was not necessarily pleasant. Moreover, in her position, she could hear his heartbeat that was anything but subtle. Sophie did not want to imagine how big heart must be for such a huge body.
Was it really  a good idea to accompany him? In any case, there was now no turning back now and she surely would have an opportunity to negotiate with him about convenient form of transportation later, for now she would have to go through this. So the girl tried to stay calm and rather focused on the sounds that came from outside.
Sophie could hear the wind and few birds ,apart from the volume, actually sounded like at home. All of these similarities with her home world were pretty suspicious.