As we lost sight of the hospital in the distance, Brandon started to hum a creepy tune that I didn’t recognize. Kendi and I both tried our best to pretend he wasn’t there. He hadn’t dressed warmly for the walk outside, yet the cool air didn’t seem to bother him as he kept his eyes on us instead of the nature around us.
“I never was a fan of Christmas growing up,” I admitted. Halloween was an easier holiday to not be home for; Christmas, on the other hand, you were expected to spend the time with family.
“Your family didn’t have any traditions?”
“If we were lucky enough to be with my grandmother, we did all the traditional stuff. Gingerbread houses, Christmas cartoons, and Communion at church on Christmas Eve. If we were with my parents, it would have been a little less enjoyable. On the rare occasion we did get gifts, my mother tried her best to make my dad feel guilty for spending money on us.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I was lucky; both of my parents were so full of Christmas spirit that it was contagious to anyone around them. Do you do anything fun for Christmas now?”
“My sister and I usually celebrate together. It’s just the two of us, so we don’t do a whole lot. The only thing we never miss doing is making Santa’s cookies.”
“We did that too, my mom always got the cutest cookie cutters for the cookies. My family wasn’t super big on Halloween though. My mom worked as a 911 dispatcher, so she was always paranoid. Certain times of the year were worse than others from what she noticed in her line of work.”
“Halloween and what else?”
“Full moons tended to bring out the,” she drifted off, glancing around us to make sure no one was listening too closely, “crazy people. Her friends in the hospital agreed with it too, I know it sounds crazy, but I completely believe it.”
I laughed, but not in a cruel way, my breath visible in the cool air, “You know, after meeting certain people, I would tend tobelieve it as well. You never know what might bring out that side of someone.”
“I’ve always said there’s crazy good and crazy bad, with a nice gray area in between. But with any kind of crazy, you never know what you’re going to get. No offense, though, to anyone here, I’m not judging.”
“It’s okay, I believe you, trust me, I know on some level I’m crazy, I always have. It’s who I am, so I accepted it a long time ago.”
“Well, I like who you are, so other than getting stronger, don’t ever change.” She looped a slender arm through mine as we continued walking behind Cindy.
The deeper we walked into the woods, the more erratic Brandon's humming became. Randomly, he would break from his routine to start whispering to himself. I could never make out what he was saying, and a big part of me didn’t want to know what the words were that came out of his vile mouth. Whatever it was, I didn’t even need to hear it for the hair on the back of my neck to stand up with goosebumps.
My legs were starting to burn from the incline the trail was taking us up. The lack of exercise lately was evident from the soreness in my thighs. Unlike myself, Kendi however, breezed up the trail like it was nothing.
“Seriously, what is your secret?” I asked, ignoring the pain in my side as I caught my breath.
“Running, I just run,” she saidsimply.
“I might need to try that sometime.”
“It’s a date, when we’re both out of here, let’s go running together. I promise to go easy on you,” she smiled hopefully at the idea.
“I would love to do that,” I said, standing up straighter as we reached the top of the ascent.
Her smile grew, “That’s great! There’s a marathon in April we can train for!”
“Um, how long exactly is a marathon?”
“Only twenty-six point two miles,” my eyes bulged, “it’s not as bad as it sounds! We would have months to train to get up to that distance.” The cheeriness in her tone didn’t waver as she suggested we run an unimaginable amount.
“You’re not crazy, you’re insane.”
“I promise it’s not that bad; it would be a really good goal to set once we’re out of here.”
I laughed at her persistence; she was nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet with excitement. The thought of spending more time with her and turning this into a true friendship away from these walls was a heartwarming goal on its own.
“I’ll consider it, let's give it a few weeks once we’re out of here and then decide.”
“I’ll take that as a maybe, and a maybe basically means yes, since I’m difficult to say no to,” She said confidently.
“Keep bouncing around like that and I won't be responsible for my actions, girl,” a harsh voice said frombehind us.
“Go drop dead in a ditch and let the crows feast on your entrails,” I snapped, not bothering to turn completely around. Out of the two people behind us, I didn’t have to take a guess as to which one spoke. Thomas was close by, but somehow Brandon had started walking closer to the two of us, his steps unnaturally silent on the fallen leaves.
