Out of Time

The raindrops crawled down the foggy window that the young Lupe gazed through. The baby Lupe, named Kuarii, sighed and pressed his wet nose against the window, eager to see his owner walking home in the rain, a warm smile on her face, waving her arms to say that she'll be okay. Kuarii was lonely without his owner, Rose. You see, some time ago Rose went alone to ice skating at Terror Mountain and the ice was very thin. Since she was alone, no one noticed that the ice cracked and she fell into the freezing water. She was in there for quite a while until a red Scorchio heard her screams and pulled her out. Rose's lips were blue and her face was almost purple. She was rushed to the hospital, and this all happened while Kuarii was at school. The doctors and nurses tried to warm her up, but she never seemed to get any warmer. She was always trembling and shivering, and when Kuarii heard the news, he dashed to the hospital and when he saw Rose, lying there, dying from the lack of warmth, he collapsed on the floor and cried.

      Rose had to stay in the hospital while Kuarii had to live at home alone. Every day when he came home, he returned to the lonely darkness. No longer was there a greeting or a hug to make him feel welcome at home. No longer was there warm milk and a cookie on the counter for him to eat. He came home to the lonely darkness, sad and angry that this had happened. He would only look out the window or lie in bed when he came home, or on occasions, curl up in a small, dark corner and scream and cry for his mother to return. He longed to feel her warm, gentle hand brush against his face, her sweet smile, and her caring personality. The only thing that he could almost feel her was a picture of her, sitting on a large grey boulder with Kuarii sleeping on her lap. When he rubbed it against his cheek, he could almost feel Rose close to him.

      Kuarii sighed and stared at the clock. 7:45 a.m. It was time for school, and it was already pouring rain. And, of course, he had to walk alone in the rain. Kuarii sat up and put one of the straps to his navy blue backpack on his shoulder. He quickly grabbed an umbrella, opened it up, put on a warm coat, and dashed outside. The slosh of Kuarii's feet stepping in a puddle, the rain pounding on the ground, and the loud thunder was all that could be heard. Kuarii panted heavily, his wet, cold hands trembling as they held and nearly dropped the umbrella.

      It seemed almost like an eternity until Kuarii reached the school. Heaving a sigh of relief, he charged into the school building and dashed into his classroom. He caught his breath and hung up his coat on a hook near the door. He looked around the classroom and saw that everyone was there, playing with the many toys that covered the ground. There was still five minutes left until class started, which meant that the students could play. A perky, chubby baby Kougra waddled over to Kuarii and asked, "Hey, Kuarii."

      "Hey, Kevin," Kuarii replied, his frown warming up to a smile.

      "Why are you so wet?" Kevin asked, curiously.

      "I had to run to school," Kuarii muttered, his eyelids drooping lazily. "My mom normally lets me ride on the back of her bike to school, but right now she's..."

      Kevin stopped Kuarii. "Yeah, I understand," he interrupted quickly. "Speaking of your mom, how is she doing?"

      "Not well," Kuarii sighed. "The doctor can't warm up her body, and they barely let me see her. She just gets colder and colder no matter how hard they try. I really want to see her and comfort her. But whenever I go into her room, they always push me out and scold at me for entering."

      "Oh," Kevin fumbled, his eyes pondering the room, not sure if he entirely understood everything Kuarii just said. He was about to speak, when the classroom door opened.

      "Take your seats, everyone!" the teacher called as she entered.

      Kuarii sat in the very last row, right behind Kevin. Kevin turned around and whispered to Kuarii, "Sorry about your mom."

      Kuarii didn't respond. He just stared at Kevin, until Kevin eventually turned back around. He looked at the wall and thought about Rose. Kuarii missed her, and he wondered why the doctor never let him see her. His thoughts were interrupted by the teacher beginning to talk.

      "Today, class, we will begin with an art project," the teacher explained, passing out a sheet of white paper to everyone. "Draw a picture of someone who is very special to you."

      Kuarii pulled out his crayons and stared at the paper. He pulled out a yellow crayon and scribbled down a yellow circle. He pulled out a brown crayon and drew a ton of messy lines down the side of the circle and the top of it. Then, inside the circle, he grabbed a black crayon and drew two eyes, a nose, and a big smile. Kuarii smiled at his picture as he wrote in neat letters "Rose."

      "Kuarii, look! I drew you!" Kevin shouted, turning around and showing Kuarii his picture. It looked like a Jubjub that was swimming in a blue circle.

      "That's good!" Kuarii lied, trying not to hurt his friend's feelings.

      "Thanks," Kevin said, admiring his new picture. "It's probably the best I've ever done."

      Kuarii smiled, then a nervous Christmas Gelert entered the room and handed the teacher a note. The teacher squinted at the note and read it several times in her head. She looked over at Kuarii and motioned for him to come up to her. Kuarii got up and walked over to the teacher.

      "Kuarii, they want you in the office," the teacher whispered.

      "Okay," Kuarii replied, nodding. He took his coat and backpack and ran to the office.

      On Kuarii's way to the office, he began to worry about what this was about. Did he get in trouble? Was he going to get detention? Was he getting a transfer? Or worse... was Rose... dead? Kuarii set that possibility off his mind for now. He turned the cold, gold doorknob to the office and stepped inside. He saw a busy Faerie Kyrii writing as quickly as possible on a sheet of paper. Kuarii cleared his throat, hoping the Kyrii would notice him. It didn't work.

      "Excuse me," Kuarii finally said.

      The Kyrii barely moved her head to face him. "Yes?" she asked, sorting through a box of hundreds of files.

      "My teacher got a note that said to come to the office," Kuarii blurted quickly.

      "You're the Kuarii kid, right? Yeah, you probably are. Yes, the hospital sent a nurse to come and request that you rush to the hospital as soon as possible," the Kyrii replied carelessly.

      "Okay, should I run there?" Kuarii asked, preparing to dash away.

      "Yeah, it's not too far. Only a few blocks," the Kyrii answered.

      Kuarii nodded in agreement, then quickly scrambled out the door. He once again had to run in the pouring rain. This time books and papers were dropping all over the wet street. Kuarii didn't care, though. He wanted to see his owner, his mother. All that he could see, all that he could think about was Rose. Kuarii finally saw the sign for the hospital. He ran in through the doors and saw a green Elephante nurse sitting at a desk.

      "Um, I'm Kuarii, here to see Rose," Kuarii panted, wringing out his soggy coat.

      "Oh! You! Go into Rose's room, quickly... she doesn't have that much time," the nurse replied quickly so Kuarii could get to Rose faster.

      Kuarii made his way up two flights of stairs and found his mother's room. He slowed down as he turned the doorknob and entered. He saw Rose and felt like crying. Rose looked almost completely blue; and she was trembling and shivering worse than ever. Kuarii fled over to Rose's bedside and hugged his mother. "Mom, are you okay?" he asked, a tear rolling down his cheek.

      "Kuarii," Rose answered weakly, her voice quiet.

      Kuarii nodded. He looked at his backpack and found that it was unzipped, and that many papers and books were missing. If they weren't missing, then they were wet, soggy, and wrinkled. Kuarii shook his head sadly as he sorted through every paper, only to discover that they were all ruined. Then the last paper he found was the picture he drew of Rose. And it wasn't harmed at all. Not even a tear or a raindrop. Kuarii's face was enlightened as he took the picture and handed it to Rose. "Look, Mom, I drew this picture of you," Kuarii said silently.

      Rose studied it and grinned. "I love it," she replied, her voice even more quiet. She closed her eyes and whispered, "Good-bye, Kuarii..."

      Kuarii's ears perked forward. He didn't understand. Where was she going? He grabbed her arm and shook it gently. "Mom, are you okay?"

      No response.

      Kuarii shook a bit harder and said a little louder, "Mom, are you alright?"

      No response.

      Kuarii shook her arm furiously, screaming, "Mom! Talk to me! This isn't funny!"

      A green Gelert doctor entered the room and saw Kuarii's attempts to wake his dead mother. He sighed, "Kuarii, she's passed away."

      Kuarii faced the Gelert. "As in... dead?" he whispered.

      The doctor nodded.

      "No, that's a lie! She can't be. She can't be! She isn't! She's sleeping!" Kuarii screamed, refusing to accept the truth. He shook his mother's lifeless arm as hard as he could and screamed, "Mom! Wake up! Right now!"

      "I'm sorry, Kuarii," the doctor muttered sadly.

      Kuarii stared at the ground and realized that she really was gone. She passed away. Her time had run out. Kuarii yelled and ran down the flights of stairs, and out the door. The rain hit his head, but he didn't care. He stared at the grey, cloudy sky and screamed, "Why me?! Why me?!"

      The only reply was the roaring thunder and raging lightning striking the land.

      Kuarii's face turned from sad to angry. He ran into an empty, dark alley and kicked a garbage can. Why him? Did he do something wrong? Why Rose? Why now? How would his life go from now on? Will he be able to survive alone? So many questions ran through his head that it overwhelmed him. He slid down the alley wall and covered his tear-covered eyes with his wet paws. Then he remembered something. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the photo. The photo of Rose sitting on a grey boulder with Kuarii sitting in her lap. The photo that pulled him through with it's odd ability to help Kuarii feel his mother again. Kuarii gently rubbed the photo against his cheek, and was surprised to feel nothing. It just felt like a cold, plain picture brushing against your cheek. He no longer felt the warmth of his mother's hand touching his face from the photo. It was officially true. She was gone from this world forever.

      Kuarii was alone. He always will be now. Kuarii stared at the photo and was enraged. He tore the photo into shreds and threw them on the ground, then stomped them until they were nothing but tiny bits of wet paper. He was more angry than sad. Why he was more angry than ever before he didn't know. Why he wasn't as sad as he should be he didn't know either. Kuarii was alone. He always will be now. He stared at the wall and sadly lifted his head. He let out the most sad, heartbreaking howl that echoed throughout the city for what seemed like forever. The amount of time that Rose would be gone from Kuarii's life.

The End

Author's Note: This story is dedicated to people who are dying or sick. Also to people who are suffering from a dying friend/relative.