What is Left: Chapter 3 The Homely One

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Nedes's home was, as you might think, very...homely. Many of the items and furniture were made out of large human items that belonged to The Owner: an empty spool of thread was a table, buttons were used as plates, and a broken piece of mirror was...a mirror. Nedes, with the crumbs, pushed open the door with his back to his family's abode.

"Hey! I'm h..." He was cut off by surprise hug, more like a tackle to the ground, from his mother Lace.

"Oh sweetie, I was so worried! When I heard the screaming I thought something horrible had happened to you!" Lace was pressing her face against Nedes, with tears in her eyes. She was rubbing her face on his, like what you do with a doll or a very cute baby. Nedes, however, felt too babied and tried to get his mom off him.

"Mom! Mahm! Stahp! Stop it! What if Rapidas sees?!?!" Nedes flustered.

"So what if your sister sees? I can't show my love to my little baby boy?"

Nedes retorted, "No, you can't!"

Lace then stopped, got up to her knees and wiped her tears.

"You're so mean..." she whimpered with the most saddest and innocent face imaginable.

Nedes, still on the floor, felt kind guilty for talking back. With one one arm raised, he tried to console her.

"Mom, it's not like that..."

"Then what is it?" she whimpered, "You didn't even do what your poor mother asked."

"But I have it right he...re," Nedes began to say, until he checked his hands. They were bare of any bread. He panicked; twisting his head left and right trying to find it while on his hands & knees.

"I don't get it, it was right here!" Nedes gasped.

Lace giggled, "Check your clothes, silly!"

"Wha?" Nedes looked down to his overalls, where he found the now flattened bread on his chest. Without hesitation, his mother took the flattened bread mat and looked it over, smiling all the while.

"I'm sure Rapidas and Traves will appreciate this...whatever this flat, dust covered, mustard-smelling thing is. You did your best and you should be proud." Lace skipped to the kitchen without saying another word.

Nedes was still on his knees, processing what just happened. He raised his clenched fists into the air and then yelled to the ceiling:

"WHY DO THESE THINGS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!!!"

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Joshua stopped for a moment. He was in a hurry to leave for work, but he froze when heard a distant sound. He looked around to see what caused it, to no avail.

I just imagined it, Joshua thought uncomfortably, Like all the other times...

He thought he would get used to it by now. He would hear the occasional laughter, scream, or whisper. He didn't know whether he was going insane or sleep deprivation was causing him to hear things. His face saddened a little.

Probably both, he thought before closing the door behind him.

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Nedes sulked to the kitchen, clearly in a bad mood, to put his favorite overalls in his family's hamper that consisted of a thimble and metal wiring for legs. Without his overalls, he had a very long sandy-colored shirt which almost reached his knees with sleeves that came to his elbows, sandy socks, brown boots and white briefs(all made by Lace).

Nedes then turned to see his mom cooking over their little stove. At first glance, Lace can be very clumsy, over-affectionate, loud, a crybaby, and maybe a little manipulative. She had white skin, was thin, but tall(about 5 inches) which made it look like she would tip over at the slightest push. She was all that, but more. There was elegance in her walking stride, her raven hair flowed like water, hidden wisdom in her ever-green eyes, and a heart with undying love for her family.

Lace was humming an unknown tune while she was cooking. She was an excellent chef; one might say she was born with such a gift. Nedes then sulked down a hallway with 4 doors; 2 on the left and 2 on the right. The first door to the left was open and he peeked inside. There lay his older sister, Rapidas, and his father Traves, sleeping.

Nedes always worried that they would never wake up.