Short Stories

The preschool was quiet as everyone gathered for the big show, all the little kids were excited to show their parents their little play. All the children except one, the parents had ushered their children away when they saw them go near the strange little boy they had come to know as a friend. His own parents hadn't arrived yet so he was all by himself in a corner, the show was going to start in less then 15 minuets and as 15 turned into 10 the little boy was on the verge of a panic attack.  The little boy ran his four fingered hands over his arms, chewing on his lip as he looked up at the clock for the 10th time, his teacher had come over a minuet or two before to sit beside him and fix his little dragon costume. "Im sure your parents will be here soon Archie, they promised they would come right?" His teacher, Mrs. Lee, asked him sweetly, adjusting the fake spikes that she had put in his hair a few minuets earlier.  "y-yeah... but they shoulda been here by now..." the little boy struggled to hold back his tears as they threatened to spill down his scale speckled cheeks, unable to stop the first sob as he hugged his teacher tightly, his small pale silver body trembling as he started feeling cold despite the room being warm, the little boy's determination to put on a brave face being seriously challenged by an impending sense of dread. He could hear a few of his friends parents gasping softly before they started talking rapidly about monsters and brave people, a few of them started saying about something being disgusting before the whole room went quiet.  Archie sniffed softly as he looked up from his teachers shoulder, his racing heart calming slightly as he saw both his parents standing in the middle of the room, his daddy still dressed in his work clothes and his mommy wearing a pretty pair of glasses with a headband keeping his hair back. "MOMMY DADDY!!" Archie cried out, pulling away from his teacher to run to his parents and hug them. He hugged his dad first, grabbing handfuls of his black cloak as he hugged his father tightly around the neck. "I thought you weren't gonna come..." he said softly as his father hugged him back and stroked his hair with one of his dim grey hands.  "we wouldn't miss this for the world Architect." The Reaper said softly after setting his Scythe aside to hug his son, "sorry we were almost late baby, your mum lost track of time." The Reaper smiled softly as he looked back at the Demon, "you really have to get an alarm clock Tory,"  The canvas colored Demon blushed, scowling playfully at his mate as he crouched down to get his own hug from his little boy. "I'd never miss this, not even for access to the Alexandrian Library. It's my little boy's first show, i brought a crystal to record it and everything. Are you nervous?"  "yeah... but... i feel funny... like I'm gonna fall over... my fingers are tingling... my chest hurts..." Archie whispered softly, trembling in his mommy's arms, his daddy frowned and put a hand to his forehead.  "no fever... he doesn't have any wound or infection... must be nerves." His dad took him gently from his mom, shifting him to one arm to pick up his work tool with the other hand and keep it away from curious parents and kids alike. "I think we should just bring him home, his heart is racing and he isn't breathing so easy..." His dad rubbed his back gently after tucking his scythe into the folds of his cloak, it was often enough to make him fall asleep but it wasn't helping today.  Going home sounded like a great idea... even if he missed the play. "Home sounds good." he whispered softly as he hugged his dads neck. One of the other kids overheard and she started crying. "B-but if Archie leaves we wont have a dragon! we wont be able to put on our play!" The little girl started crying, her parents trying to consul her while shooting dirty looks at the crying little half-Demon.  "just make him go on stage anyway, he's a tough little boy he can take it." The father of the two said crossly to the non human currently holding Archie, The Reaper in return glared at the man.  "i will not make my son go on stage when he's clearly unwell. You may be willing to put his health at risk but i am not. Now get out of my way." The Reaper's glare made the man back down while Historian laughed at his glare.  "you look so cute when your mad." he said softly, hugging both his partner and his son. "how about i play the dragon in the play? i look enough like one to pass for it, and that way you and Archie could stay to see the show too." Historian let out a little play roar at some of the kids and had them running off to hide behind their parents, giggling at the silly big Demon while their parents shirked and pulled their children away from him, one of the mothers even fainted causing a few dirty looks to be sent towards the Demon from the parents. "ill go ask the teacher, be back in a minuet Gram." he said with a grin, not bothered by the dirty looks directed at him from the other parents, giving The Reaper a sweet kiss on the cheek before heading off through the crowd to find the teacher, the other adults moving quickly away from him as if he would try to attack them, a few of the braver parents rushed to find the teacher first, not wanting the huge creature to be so close to their children without a proper adult to protect them.  "how's that sound baby? you wanna watch mommy in a play or do you want to go straight home?" Gram asked his son, his voice soft as he spoke to his child, his eyes raising when he heard a scoff. His gaze snapped to the woman who made the sound and the coldness of his eyes made her take a step back allowing him to once again focus on his little boy who was still ignorant of what was going on around him. Archie hid his face in his dads neck as he thought about his options for a moment. "stay and watch mommy." he said softly, hugging his dad tightly, his little heart finally starting to slow down. In a few more minuets he followed his dad into the gym and took a seat beside him, holding his hand as he looked around excitedly. The play went on smoothly, only with a few pauses when one of the children forgot their lines. The play was based off a storybook, with a princess stuck up in a tower guarded by a fierce dragon that was eventually slayed by the townsfolk, the teacher had changed the story slightly to make it a bit less dramatic, so the dragon instead became friends with the townspeople and the princess. The play ended well enough, some parents gasped with worry as the huge Demon took their children's tiny hands in his own for the bow. With the play over the little Reaper family headed home and Archie was tucked into bed by both his parents, he smiled sweetly up at them before closing his eyes and cuddling into his little teddy bear. He hadn't gotten to be in his school's play but he had had a great time watching it with his daddy. It had been a great day, and he couldn't wait to see if tomorrow was another great one. And with that last thought, Architect Reaper fell fast asleep, still innocent of the hate that filled the world.