Ichor by Trish D.W

Author:Trish D.W. [D.W., Trish]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Science Fiction
Amazon: B0B7TRW9FW
Goodreads: 61851860
Publisher: #PrB.rating#0.0
Published: 2022-08-25T16:00:00+00:00

THE TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER

I’ve passed go twice when I garner the courage to ask. “How is Sika?”

He rolls the dice, watches it land on a two, and then answers while moving his piece to its new destination. “She will be fine. Artemis is taking her to Asclepius, so she should be good as new in a few days. He has medicine that’ll expedite the healing process.”

“Asclepius is the god of medicine, right?” I pick up the dice, but not before seeing the small smirk growing on Hermes’s lips.

“Correct. Did China teach you that already?”

“Yeah,” my lie is quiet, but he can still hear it. I move my shoe forward six boxes, humming each number as I go. When I land on the box with the blue top border, I ask. “What does this say?”

“Park Place,” he answers. “And it’s three hundred and fifty dollars.”

“What color money do I need?”

He helps me count each dollar bill I place in the palm of my hand. I sometimes get confused if seven or eight go first on the count, but Hermes helps me with no semblance of judgement. Regardless of today and its atrocities, I still smile when I count three hundred and fifty dollars, moving the small stack from my hand to his.

“You’re getting better with the money,” he says, and whether or not he’s lying, my body warms with a newfound flutter in my chest. “What else has China taught you since I last saw you?”

“I know half the alphabet,” I answer while he shuffles the dice in his hands. “Or at least, I’m pretty sure I do. I get a little tripped up near the end.”

He stops shuffling the dice. My focus shifts from the dice to his face and it illuminates with joy. I stare at him as he looks at me with an expression on his face that bursts with pride for me. My achievement is minor, but I realize his happiness is my favorite sight in this world.

“Really?” A joyous laugh escapes from his lips. “That’s incredible. Can I hear it?” He is quick to add. “If you mess up near the end, then I’m here to help.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. “But we’re playing Monopoly.”

“I don’t care about Monopoly, I care about you… learning the alphabet.”

For a moment, I thought he was just going to say the first part of this sentence. That he only cares about me, a defect who should not exist in this world. I do not know why, but I wanted to hear that more than I’ve wanted to hear any other words in the world.

“Okay, I might go a little slow at first. We’ve only been working on it for two days now,” I sheepishly admit, a newfound burning growing on my cheeks.

“I’m sure it’s going to be the greatest version of the alphabet I’ll ever hear,” is his immediate, genuine response.

I take a deep breath, and the first letter slips from my lips. Then the one after that. I close my eyes near the middle, trying to imagine the letters China had me trace on the piece of paper.

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