September Surprise Story Week: 1.77245: Sebastian: Random: 1040 words

[k_a_webb]

On the way home from college Sebastian walked past a box. It wasn't remarkable in any way so he would have probably walked straight past it. Then he heard a noise. Someone else may have heard it and thought that it was their imagination. For a moment he did think it was in his imagination, but he decided he'd have a look just in case it was something. People did leave things, vulnerable things like kittens and puppies, in boxes. When he peered into the box it was dark. He didn't want to move any of the flaps in case he disturbed something. There was something that moved in it. A small something with a tail. The tail looked like it belonged to a lion. He blinked, sure that he couldn't actually be looking at a lion. Lions were wild animals and not the sort of thing you'd leave in a box.

“A lion?” he asked himself, wondering whether he should move the flaps to get a better look.

'I'm not a lion,' a weak feminine voice said, making him jump. 'I'm a griffin.'

“Why are you here?” he asked.

'My wing was damaged when I was born so my parent's owner didn't want me. He'd never have been able to sell me.'

“Is it something that's fixable?”

'Yes, but it will never be as strong as it would have been had it not been broken.'

“He just left you here to die?”

'That's what happens to damaged griffins.”

He shook his head and carefully picked up the box, not wanting to startle her. “Do you have a name?”

'My father named me Ida.'

“It's nice to meet you, Ida.”

'What's your name?'

“Sebastian.”

'It's nice to meet you too, Sebastian. Do you know anything about the care of griffins?'

“No, but I can learn.”

'Thank you for helping me.'

“There's no need to thank me. I did what anyone would have done.”

'Many people walked past without stopping so I'm not sure that I agree with you, but I know very little of humans. The only two humans I know are my parent's owner and you.'

“I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe they didn't hear you.”

'It's possible.'

“What were the names of your parents?”

'I don't know. They only had time to name us before their owner came in to check us over. We were a litter of six. I had four brothers and one sister, all older than me. My father named us in order. Kunibert; Arend; Emmerich; Detlef; Roswitha; and then me.'

“I'll find out your parent's names using the registration system.”

'I would like that.' Her voice was sad. 'They tried to tell their owner that I would be fine given the right care but he didn't listen. He is only in breeding for the profit and I would not have been worth the money to raise.'

“How long have you been in the box?”

'Time is something I don't really understand yet, but I think it was at least two hours. I haven't yet eaten anything.'

“What do you eat?”

'That's something I don't know either. I'm not much use to you, am I?'

“Ida, you're a very young griffin with no understanding of being what you are. We'll learn together.” He looked down into the box. “My dad's a vet so he should know something about your species.”

'That's useful. Maybe there's a reason why it was you that found me.'

He smiled. “Maybe there is.”

They were silent for the rest of the short journey. The box in his hands made it hard for him to get his keys out of his pocket, so he knocked on the door instead. He knew he could do that without dropping the box and hurting Ida. When his mum came to the door she looked at him quizzically through the window before opening the door.

“What in that box is so precious that you can't open the door?” she asked, almost smiling.

“I found a baby griffin with a damaged wing.”

His mum blinked. “I'll call your dad.”

“Thanks.” He stepped in the door. “She think she's about two hours old but she's not sure.” Using his back he closed the door behind him. “Are you still doing ok, Ida?”

'Yes, Sebastian.' She sounded almost amused. 'I am a little stronger than you seem to think I am.'

“You're a baby.”

'I'm a griffin cub. We're built to be resilient.'

He walked into the kitchen, where his mum was talking on the phone to his dad. Carefully he put the box down on the table and then crossed the room to put the kettle on. Part of him wanted to go straight to the computer to find out who Ida's parents were but he knew that there were things he needed to do first. Breathing deeply he looked at the box that held Ida. Looking after a baby griffin... griffin cub, he corrected himself... wasn't really something he'd been planning on doing and he couldn't help worrying that he'd get it wrong.

“Right,” his mum said. “I think we've got some white fish in the freezer.” She nodded. “I'll tell him. Bye love.”

Once she'd put the phone down she turned to look at Sebastian, smiling. “Your dad is very proud of you. He said that he'll come straight home to fix the wing and while we're waiting we should feed your griffin cub some white fish with a little milk. You make the tea.”

Smiling Sebastian got their mugs off the mug tree, listening to his mum rummage in the freezer. There was an 'ah-ha' noise which he guessed meant that she'd found the fish. He listened to her put the fish into a bowl as he put tea-bags into the mugs and poured water on top. When he turned to cross the room to get the milk she was right behind him holding the bottle. He took it from her, watching as she went back over to the bowl of fish which she covered with cling film before she put it into the microwave.

©K A Jones 2011

Continued here (LJ link).


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.