The Blue Boy

Cyrus woke up to find himself laying on a bed inside Willow Wood hospital. His head was bandaged, and a patch covered his left eye. Cyrus’s arms and legs were bruised and scraped. His head hurt something fierce as his mind began to wander. How had he gotten here, and what happened to the boy he had been playing with earlier in the day?

           It was a warm spring day and Cyrus was up early finishing his chores so that he could have the rest of the to go out and play. “Cyrus, time from breakfast.” Called his mother. “Coming Momma!’ Shouted Cyrus as he ran from the barn toward the house. “Go wash up, then come into the kitchen for some breakfast.” Stated his momma. “Yes, Ma’am.” Replied Cyrus as he headed to the bathroom to wash up.

           After breakfast Cyrus asked his mother if he could go out and play since he had completed all his daily chores. His mother said that would be okay and to be careful when playing out near the creek. Momma gave Cyrus a kiss on the cheek and of Cyrus headed for a day of fun and adventure.

           Most nine-year old’s love to have adventures out in the woods and skipping stones. Cyrus was no exception to the rule. He made is way through the woods near the family farm and headed down to the creek. There along the rocky banks of the creek Cyrus began to search for the perfect stones to skip.

           Cyrus found what he felt were the best stones for skipping. One, two, splash went the first stone Cyrus threw. “Nope, that won’t do.” Muttered Cyrus to himself. With a flick of the wrist he threw another stone. One, two, three, four went the second stone. That is more like it thought Cyrus as he prepared to throw his next stone. One, two, then the stone went completely off course and landed back on the shore at the edge of the creek. “What gives?” thought Cyrus looking puzzled and confused. He threw another stone and again a couple of skips then something or someone knocked his stone off course.

           “Hey, Who’s Out There ???” yelled Cyrus. No one answered. Cyrus looked around and saw nothing. Scratching his head in confusion Cyrus looked across the creek toward a clump of trees that edged the shoreline. Standing there between two of the front trees closest to the water was a little boy. “Hey, You there.” Said Cyrus calling out to the boy. “Did you knock off my stones I was skipping???” questioned Cyrus. The boy did not answer him.

           The little boy looked to be about the same age as Cyrus. The boy was dressed head to toe in blue. Blue jean overalls with a blue t-shirt, blue sneakers and a faded blue baseball cap completed the boys’ outfit. Cyrus had never seen him before and thought that maybe the boy had just moved to Willow Wood recently.

           “Do you have a name?” asked Cyrus of the little boy. Yet again the boy did not respond, he just stood there looking at Cyrus. “You don’t talk much, do you?” stated Cyrus. “That’s okay, I’d rather be skipping stones anyway. Would you like to skip stones with me?” asked Cyrus hoping to get some sort of response from the blue boy. The boy looked at Cyrus and smiled and gave a nod of approval with his head.

           The rest of the day Cyrus and the blue boy took turns skipping stones across the creek. Even though try as he might Cyrus could not get the little blue boy to talk. The two boys were having so much fun that they did not realize that the sun was beginning to set. Cyrus knew he was going to have to call it a day and say goodbye to his new friend the blue boy.

           “I’ve had a lot of fun with you today, but I have to be getting home now. Momma’s making supper.” Said Cyrus. The little blue boy looked at Cyrus with a look of disappointment but smiled and nodded his head in understanding. As Cyrus began his walk home, he looked back to see the blue boy waving him goodbye.

           Cyrus hiked his way up the hill from the creek and stopped at an old lookout deck that overlooked the creek and the rocky shore below. He walked to the edge of the deck and peered over the railing to see if he could still see his new friend. CRACK went the old weathered railing as it broke and sent Cyrus tumbling thirty-five feet down to the rocky shore below. Cyrus’s head bounced like a tennis ball being smashed between two boulders when he hit the ground and was knocked unconscious.

           Laying in his hospital bed Cyrus replayed the events of the day that had brought him to this point but there were still quite a few unanswered questions. A nurse entered the room to check on Cyrus’s vitals and give him some pain medicine. “You’re a very lucky little boy to have those men that were fishing downstream come to find you when they did.” Stated the nurse. “You also have a good friend that signaled to them that you were in distress, too bad he disappeared when they got there.” Said the nurse. “That boy saved your life.” The nurse stated.

           “How you feel son?” asked a gruff voice as a man entered the room. It was the sheriff who had come by to check on Cyrus. “I’m okay, just really sore.” Answered Cyrus. “That’s to be expected son, you had a nasty fall from that old deck near the creek.” The sheriff stated. Cyrus and the sheriff talked about the events that had led up to Cyrus’s fall. He asked about the blue boy. “I’m sorry to tell you young fella, but no one has seen hide nor hair of this blue boy as you described him.” Said the sheriff. “I’m going to let you get some rest and I will check on you tomorrow.” Stated the sheriff. As he turned around to leave the sheriff stopped dead in his tracks and turned around looking at Cyrus. He reached into his notebook and pulled out a picture and handed it to Cyrus. “Is that the boy you saw?” questioned the sheriff. A look of amazement came across Cyrus’s face. “Yes, that’s the blue boy.” Stated Cyrus. “That’s impossible. That boy has been dead for over forty years.” Stated the sheriff. “He drowned in the creek saving the life of another little boy when they were skipping stones. The little boy he saved was me.” Exclaimed the sheriff. “That’s the boy I saw. I swear that’s him.” Said Cyrus. “He must be a guardian angel or something.” Said the sheriff. “Get some rest son.” Stated the sheriff as he began to walk out of the room. This new revelation left Cyrus more confused than ever.

           Perplexed and bewildered Cyrus lay there in hospital bed thinking about what the sheriff had said about the blue boy. Cyrus turned to face the window of his hospital room. Staring out at the trees across the way he saw the blue boy standing between two trees looking back at Cyrus’s window. The blue boy was standing there smiling and waving his hand as if to say Goodbye. The rain began to fall and the image of the blue boy faded away into the night sky.