Time’s Running Out
The next day was largely uneventful, with Apollo coming into Maya’s room to make sure that she ate and moved around some. Her body didn’t seem to be entirely under her control, which upset her, but it wasn’t the first time in her life.
He was helping her walk around the room when there was a knock on the door.
“Daddy! I have—” A little girl with black hair came charging into the room, a book in her hand. She stopped and looked at Maya, her large gray eyes staring at her. “Oh.”
Still holding Maya up, Apollo said, “Misty, honey. Please return to the living room. I need to help Miss Maya for now, but we are almost done.”
“Okay,” the girl said, looking between them.
Maya smiled, “No, it’s okay. She can stay in here.”
Apollo immediately started to nix the idea. “I don’t—”
However, his daughter was faster, and she put her hands together, the book crushed between them, “Please, Daddy. I want to try reading the book. I’ve been practicing.”
“I would love to listen to you read,” Maya said, her voice light and friendly. “I haven’t been read to in a few years, and I’m very tired.”
“I can read you to sleep!” the little girl said, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her curls bounced around the side of her head, exposing streaks of yellow that matched her father’s. “Please, Daddy!”
Apollo spoke in a low voice, “You don’t have to do this, Maya.”
“Oh, please. You are the only person I’ve had to talk to in several days. So unless you want to get my tablet for me, I would love a bit of a change.”
“Who are you, and where is Maya?” he asked, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.
She laughed and pushed his chest, causing her legs to buckle under her.
Apollo was leading her to the bed as the girl followed. “Is she learning to walk?”
“She’s been … hurt, Misty, so she’s having to relearn a few things.”
“I can teach her to walk. See, I’m good at it.” She then walked around the bed. “You put one foot in front of the other, but you can also grab onto things. Like this.” Her little hand stretched out and pushed down on the bed.
“You are right, Misty,” Maya said as Apollo helped her onto the bed. “But I’m a bit taller than you, so it’s easier to use your father to walk around.”
The kid nodded. “He’s much taller than you, so he couldn’t use you.”
Maya smiled. “You are right about that. What book do you have there?”
The girl bounced over and put a picture book on the bed. With a bit of help from her father, she was able to sit in the chair he usually used when he was helping Maya eat or when they talked. “It’s about lunar dragons. Daddy says they are gone, but they are still alive in books.”
Maya looked over at Apollo. “Really? You think they are all gone?”
“Maybe we should get another book, Misty.” Apollo avoided Maya’s gaze as he looked at his daughter.
“No, no,” Maya said, reaching out to stop the girl from getting out of the chair. “I want to hear the story.”
Misty launched into the tale. With a bit of help from her father, she was able to get through all of it, even adding some voices that sounded much too deep to be her own. Maya realizedthe child was trying to imitate the voices her father made when he read the book, and she couldn’t help but smile when the girl wasn’t looking. Otherwise, she gasped and looked concerned at the right times. She took a particular interest in the images that the girl showed her, although there were far fewer of them than Maya had expected.
Finally, the child closed the book and beamed. “The end!”
“Beautifully done, sweetheart.” Apollo kissed his daughter on the head. “You are getting to be quite a proficient reader. Next thing you know, you’ll be stealing books from Uncle Cosmo.”
“No! I will always ask because I don’t want to steal.”
Apollo smiled wide, “That’s right, honey. I misspoke. If you would like to, please go see if Uncle Cosmo will order dinner.”
