Cancer Ward

Gather up kids, someone is here to visit you'"

The little kids' heads popped up like a game of whack-a-mole, excitedly staring to see who nurse Nelly was introducing.

"It'th not visiting day mith Nelly, nobody else comes to thee us but our parents" Little Gary wondered with his mouth half full of teeth as he was the youngest of the litter.

"Now kids relax , we don't want your blood pressure too high. Today we're having a very special visitor. He's a writer, and he is here because he is a donor to our hospital and he wishes to talk to you kids"

"Is he bringing any toys for us?!" Tiny Gabriela appeared from under her sheets as if she had suddenly waked from a deep sleep.

" Now now kids, let's not be greedy! You all have plenty of toys, besides Mr Workings is here to talk and ask some questions. But, I do think he will have some books to share with you kids!" Nurse Nelly finished her sentence trying to sneak in a sense of happiness even if she was aware to how the kids would react.

A loud dissaproval echoed in the long room, the tiny children now taking the roles of angry monkeys ready to fling their pillows and IV fluids to the nurse. "What are we supposed to do with books?! No one wants to sit down and read them to us." Big Oliver said in protest , as the brightest and oldest of their bunch.

"Hey hey now, what is this slunder that I hear about reading? Come on we have all the fun we'll need here" a giant man said as he held a giant plastic bag filled to the brim with random books. The room involuntarily fell in silence, the usually sign of respect they young were expected and taught to pay to the elders and visitors.

"What kind of books did you bring us mister?" John the smallest kid in size wondered in a sleepy tone; he clearly didn't care about these "books", where in second examination his comment seemed to brim with irony.

"Oh well this is mostly my stuff where I grab a book and start reading. But don't worry , I brought some stuff for you guys as well, my favourite children stories"

"We're not kidth anymore!!! We're big kidth now!" Tiny but brave Gary shouted to complain.

"Shut up Gary , why do boys have to be so loud all the time?" The half pair of a golden haired duo of girls, little Marianna complained back at Gary.

"But it's not fun if no one reads it the books to us mister Workings" the other half of the duo , Marissa explained politely to the man.

"First of all you kids can call me mister Larry, plus my job is write the damn things , you think I can't read a book to you kids?"

The tiny mouths formed big circles to produce big sounds, clearly the kids didn't expect that from Mr Larry.

"He said a bad word! He said it out loud!" Billy said, the "blob" as the others kids called him because he was , well let's just say he was the one kid you wouldn't have to worry whether he finished his meal.

"You can't say that word in front of us Mr Workings, we're not adults yet" This was Louisa, the oldest of the group , like a mother figure to the other children. Although obviously her title of "oldest" translated into a vague understanding of how swear words worked.

"What are you kids talking about?" A curious expression covered nurse Nelly's face.

"He said damn! Ha now I said it too, I'm more of an adult that all of you!" John sprung upright in his bed triumphantly.

"Oh Christ, kids look-"

"Nurse, how about you let me handle this? You seem busy enough"

"Yes maybe you're right Mr Workings, thank you" the nurse swung the door closed in a flash, clearly appreciative of the man's offers to take the children out of her mind.

"Have a good one"

As the door closed shut, the tiny dotty eyes of the kids focused on the man. Tall as he was, kids automatically found him cooler, plus he's grayed sides on his hair helped to build the backstory of the "cool, older man" stereotype. With his tired looking and blacked-out eyes he responded to their stares back with his own. After scanning the room once, he took a middle seat in the room confidently, a smug stroke painted on his cheeks.

"So who wants to hear a story?"

The room roared with excitement, an impatience played the role of a busy usher showing the kids to their seats where they carefully seated themselves in a perfect circle around Larry.

"You don't have many visitors huh?"

"Only once every week" proper Louisa replied in what she thought was an adult way.

"It could be more often if Gary's parents still were around" Gabriela added.

"Thut up Gabriela! At least I don't have my grandma come inthtead of my mom"

"Wow wow , kids. I thought I had a messed up head but you all are really putting me to shame. Let's drop the mean stuff " Gabriela copied Gary's tongue as they grimaced at each other.

"Ok , now who likes adventure stories?" Larry knowing how easy his audience was.

"I do!!!", Almost unanimous among the kids, other than little Billy

"Do you have any cooking books? Like with pictures of the food?"

"Um no , sorry about that buddy, your name? Actually, let's all go around and introduce yourselves to me"

After the kids properly introduced themselves Larry had a good idea of them all.

First, the youngest of them all , Gary. Unmistakable by his tiny gaps of teeth that made his speech a joy to translate.

Then you had Oliver and Louisa, the closest thing to adults in this prison of childlife. Both near perfect representations of the two classic stereotypes , the smart but socially awkward guy and the mature girl that liked to take care of everyone else. Although Larry himself thought these two hid more than they showed.

The other duo was the twins, Marissa and Marianna, both beauties in their own right and clearly very close to the other.

In clear opposition to those two, tiny Gabriela liked to make fun of the other girls for being, well "girly". She seemed stuck in that awkward state where neither boys nor girls want to play with you so she seemed the loneliest to Larry at first glance.

Similarly, John had given off a similar vibe, a thrashing personality fuelled by his spirit of rebellion. Larry managed to discern all that from a simple interaction.

"Pff, name's John…" and nothing else.

Last but certainly not least there was Billy. Billy seemed to have been blessed with one of those personalities that everyone seemed to be unable to dislike. Even if he was clearly the target of a bit more teasing due to his chubbier side, every kid seemed to emit a pleasant vibe towards him.

"All right then, how about some adventure boys and girls?"

Now the kids remained calm under the orders of their captain. Larry got the kids in the theme of the book " The adventures of Rusty and Sparky" . Quickly, without realising the passing of father time, the kids were enthralled by the storytelling of Larry Workings. Clearly his many years of writing novels had boosted his storytelling skills. The journey seemed long, arduous and dangerous to the kids as they marveled at the feats of the great pirate Rusty and his pet parrot Sparky. The experience and exhaustion of an entire Odyssey had washed over their tiny bodies and held them pinned to their chairs, clinging from Workings' thin lips for every single drop of heroic exploit. But before they knew it their journey had come to a sudden end.

"And that's why the secret of the Seven Islands was to never be relieved by Rusty or Sparky, an eternal reminder that their grand adventure was to never reach mortal ears."

"....then what?" Billy asked with his cheeks flopping from dissapointment.

"Then, that's it. That's the end of the book."

"Boooooo, boooo, laaaame, we need to know what happens next!" John had properly expressed the rooms feelings and made all the kids join him in unison. A tiny rebellion was building among the ranks steadily.

"Calm, calm down! Stop jumping on the beds or I'm calling the nurses"

Again, he knew his audience and how to work them, the kids stopped in a sec and turned into proper tiny people that wanted more.

"Now , I do agree that the end was not great. If I had to guess they do this so the kids react like you guys just did and then the parents have to buy the next book. Nothing really changed from back when I was a kid I guess….anyway as a writer myself I believe a work like this should be finished when the reader buys it. Now this is the reason why I'm here with you guys today funny enough"

Larry raised from his seat and flung open his huge plastic bag of books and stacks of paper. He found a yellow stack of writing, what he called "his most recent work".

"Now kids this is a real book" Larry showed of a thick pile of A4 sized paper. He was right , now this is an adult's book. As he flipped it once for them, they saw that the book had no pictures and it's letters' were tiny, so in that way more substantial and confusing words could fit into the pages.

"Wow Mithter Larry, ith that your book?"

"Not exactly Gary, this is only a rough manuscript, a first draft I guess we call it. Before you ask, this means it's not finished basically. And I've been working on this for a very long time, unlike the last book I read you. So that's why I'm here."

"Whatever, we want to know what happens with Rusty and Sparky, not your book" John was very sure of himself: and sure that he represented the voice of every kid as well. Larry would have to quash this little rebellion as well, keep those heads low while it's early.

"Oh I know what you kids want" Larry's slim thin torso seemingly twisting and turning so he could grab something from behind him.

It was "The adventures of Rusty and Sparky, Iliad Edition"

"This is it, right?" Larry dangled the book from its corner like you would a stake over a hungry mut.

"Let's go Mr Larry let's go, we have a lot of reading for you to do" Gabriela wanted to hurry Mr Workings into reading them the book.

"Nuh uh uh kids, that's not how this will go. You give something, you take something. You take something, you give something. It's only natural. So what I'll need is for you to help me finish my book."

"What's the books story Mr Workings?"

"Glad you asked Oliver" Larry seemed to appreciate Oliver's bright mind that was barely contained in his giant head that was mounted on a frame too weak.

"It's a horror novel I've been working on."

"What's a how roar novel Mr Larry?"

"Hahaha, horror, horror novel Marissa. Well I don't know if I should tell you kids this stuff to be honest…" the damned man knew how to bring forth the kids attention. Their little faces shined with the hypnosis that he cast on them.

"Just spit it out already! Don't tease us."

"Alright Gabriela calm down you devil. Horror…horror is basically when we write about scary things that make us anxious, what makes you cower under your soft , see through blankets that block none of the spooks. Horror is a lifestyle in a way, some unfortunately don't choose it for themselves.

"Like the Shinning ?!" Oliver loudly exclaimed with the small frame of his glasses hanging from a thread on his face.

"Precisely Oliver!" Larry halted his thoughts. Now where the hell does a small kid learn about a horror classic like that? Larry pondered, only to ask the young kid himself.

"Oh I've never seen all of it, my dad let me watch some of the scenes because he knew it all from start to finish."

"Ah I see, your dad sounds like he has good taste. Anyway, back to the subject. As I said I need you kids' help. I'm in a , how should I put this, a creative blank. A tough spot. The story takes place in a haunted part of the hospital, specifically an abandoned l and I wanted to come here and talk to you kids. It's part of the research us writers have to do before writing out stories."

The kids' excitement seemed to slowly boil up, clearly to their undeveloped brains a haunted hospital was an awesome setting, add to that the fact that the poor younglings must have spent a terrible part of their lives in these walls. Any sort of appreciation for their lives seemed to bear s strong sense of hunger for attention.

"That's so cool mister Larry , is the story about us specifically?"

"No Billy, I'm not here to "meet" you per se. It's been an honour and a laugh of course, but I'm here for something more specific. I just don't quite know how to bring this up…"

"Is it about our cancer?" Oliver wondered and asked in his usual quiet tone. He seemed to almost relax Workings, his adult-like understanding of their situation was almost scary in a way. But as Larry shifted his eyes around the room, he realised a similar feeling rested on the shoulders of every kid. They of course knew why they were here, you can't lock away a kid and hide the truth from it without it being cruel to no end. So in a way, they had been spoiled to the reasons as to why they had to stay in the hospital, something necessary yet seemingly cruel, wrong in many ways. How could anyone bring a kid to a spot where they had to face their own mortality, their health and safety? These kinds of moral questions and thoughts about the fragility of life and the innocence of their time had led Larry Workings down his path. A dark path that he seemed absolutely set on lighting with answers and knowledge that he would find here.

"Here's the deal kids, I'll ask each one of you about your situation, you'll only share what you wish to and the rest of you can have a go at this so wanted sequel of Captain Rusty"

"No! We already went over this Mr Larry, we don't want to read it ourselves, you do it"

Louisa figured it was her time to speak up, she hadn't had a word in in a while anyways

"Don't yell at Mr Workings Gabriella, he needs our help. Mr Workings, I think it's better if Oliver tries to read the book for us while you ask us what you want one by one. Oliver is the best at reading out of all of us"

"That's a great idea Louisa, how about it buddy? Think you can handle it ?"

Larry shot a glare of approval towards young Oliver, he's head hanging weakly by his neck as he weighed his courage right now.

"Please Oliver I have to know what happens next, please!" Marissa had jumped in front of him and bent down to her knees to plead. His tiny face was shot up with a warm red that made his cheeks look warm to the sight.

"I-I guess I can give it a try" as the side of his head was scratched awkwardly and his eyes averted from the girl he always thought was the prettiest, even compared to her identical sister. Everyone charged up with happiness , they praised Oliver.

"I'll be honest Oliver, I never thought a nerd like would do something Ike this"

"Thanks, John , I guess."

Larry , pleased as he seemed, called out to the kids. He wanted to pluck them from the pile they made around oliven and the book one by one.

"Marianna? Or maybe Marissa? Who wants to go first?"

Two sets of little feet dashed lightly towards the desk where Larry was sitting. Their arrival accompanied by a tiny curtsey, elegant yet amateur.

"I guess you two prefer to stick together huh? Well I can't blame you, company is important. Now, why don't you girls show me where the bad thing is?"

The girls' index finger each pointed at the other's face, the bad thing was in Marissa's right eye and in Marianna's left eye.

"I see , awfully poetic for both of you I guess… How does it affect you usually?"

"Sometimes some lines appear in front of me when they are not there. And sometimes I can't see from one eye."

"Yes but the other one is always there and so I also close the same eye that Marianna can't see from."

"To make the other feel like they're not alone huh?" Larry surmised. The fingers that connects their little hands tightened in a positive response.

"And what do your parents think about this?"

"Well Mommy doesn't want to talk about it , like ever. And she yells at Daddy if he brings it up."

"Yes but mommy is always the one that tells us that we will soon be out, but she's never right. I wish she could get it right for once."

Larry found himself enthralled by the way the kids spewed their darkest secrets so easily. He quickly grabbed his note book and started writing down everything he heard and anything his noggin could create from bus inspiration from the girls'storh. The little gals stood awkwardly across him as he had taken his sweet time to write it all down, paying no mind to the set of twins as they mirrored each others expression in a fit of boredom.

"Ok , thank you girls, Gabriela, can I see you next?" The gals seemed almost surprised as to how quick Larry was to drop his questioning but they shrugged it off and hurried back to the other kids to hear the story.

Gabriela took their spot and spat out a rough cough like she had been holding it for all this time. She set her back straight and sat proudly on her chair.

"Ok Gabriela, why don't you show me where the bad thing is?"

She raised her hand and rubbed it on top of her chest area , although the secret disease housed itself inside her lungs, filling their tiny tubes with its black smoke of death.

"Ok, and how does it feel usually? Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes. Sometimes I forget that it's supposed to hurt and I try to take bigger breaths but that hurts sometimes as well."

Her short breathing was obvious when she had mentioned it , obviously it must have been present before but Larry found it difficult to pick out from the craze that was the entirety of the kids.

"So what do your parents think about it? How did they explain it to you?"

"My parents don't know what's happening! The doctors don't know either. They just say it's rare for a kid to have a problem in here and they can't find what did it to me."

"Surely someone must have an idea how this happened to you"

"My mom sure does, she always says its daddy's fault for smoking in front of me or when I was in my mom's belly. Dad always says it happened because mom didn't want to pay for a babysitter and she'd have to drive me to her work in the city where all the gas is."

"Hmm I see, so how-". Gabriela couldn't hear the end of that question even if Larry had finished it. She found herself abruptly on the floor after John had pushed her and took her seat like the winner in a game of musical chairs.

"Stop talking all the time, you're more like a girl when you do that and it sucks"

"This is why NO-ONE likes you Jonny!" The girl run off to join the other kids, or maybe just run away from John that she would obviously hold a grudge against for a long time; for a couple of hours at least. Ok, at least an hour, maybe 30 minutes since John was the only kids that bothered to spend time with her.

"Why did you do that John? What's wrong with you?"

" I don't care about her, it's just so stupid how Sparky has to take orders from Rusty even if they are both friends. Just ask me your dumb questions so I can go back and she what happens.

Larry's face flared with interest in this one. This one had finally grasped the concept of character motivation. Maybe those damned booked weren't as useless as he thought. But those weren't the point right now, his own work came before and he'd get what he was looking for from the kids, that's for sure.

"That's ok, I was done with Gabriela pretty much anyway, now John, go ahead and show me where the bad thing is"

John pointed his finger to a small bump on his sides, you didn't have to have a degree to tell that this was kidney cancer.

"So how did you learn that you had the bad thing John?"

"I'm not telling you!" Larry did not expect that. He was almost in shock when such an answer reached his ears. What the hell was the point of him sitting down?

"Oh come on John you know the deal, I'm not asking much, plus I didn't tell you this but maybe the third book in the series is a Sparky solo adventure…"

"Really?!" John hid his enthusiasm as rapidly as it had spurted on his face like a spring flower.

"Whatever, I wanted to tell you this anyway. Sometimes I pee blood and it hurts a lot."

Larry's two eyelids raised in a confused , mental exhaustion from the kids nonsensical logic.

"That's great and all John but I asked how you learned about it"

"Oh do I really have to spell it out to you? I thought you made stories" Larry's mouth switched with surprise and soon followed by a big feeling of realisation.

"I see , a bed wetter huh? Must have been scary for your mom to find you like that I assume"

"My mom's not around anymore, just my father" that "father" painted a real broad picture, descriptive enough of the whole situation around John's cancer. And Larry was satisfied with the answer he had. There was no need for deeper probing into the daddy issues of a motherless child with kidney cancer.

"All right buddy, go ahead and continue with the story, I promise it gets better. And call Billy for me if you could" He spent some time examining, going over his notes he had taken maniacally as the kids rumbled off but he soon realised that Billy wasn't here. He's head shifted to find Billy slowly making his way towards the desk, taking his sweet time and chewing down on a tiny cupcake. Now where the hell had he found that? Larry thought he had found a superpower along with a bunch of cancers.

Larry asked Billy to sit politely and he obliged. Sitting seemed to be more fun for the kid anyway. He didn't hide what gave him joy. Especially this chocolates cupcake filled with white chocolate on the inside, he surely was there for the moment, enjoying every inch of it as he chomped down on it with a surprising gentleness.

"Eat up bud, I can wait" Billy wiggled his finger negatively and cleaned his fingers on his white hospital clothes.

"I'm good"

Larry continued the repeatedly question of were the bad thing rested and plotted it's evil plans. The kid showed off his belly clearly , no shame or irony seemed to exist for Billy himself.

"Wow, should have guessed. How is it supposed to affect you Billy?"

He licked the tips of his fingers like they were expensive desserts.

"Well you see mister Larry, doctors say I'm supposed to lose weight during all this because of the vomiting and this and that but they say I'm the only kid they have seen that has managed to gain weight during all this, so I guess I'm beating it"

"It seems the other kid aren't holding back about that, don't you find it annoying how they talk about your weight?"

The kids shoulders raised slowly with a sense of indifference

"Kids used to make fun about my belly before and after I was in here, so not much changed."

Larry found great interest in what Billy had to say, almost like a wise sage that shared a piece of his hard-earned knowledge with him. Different themes came alive in his mind, parts of life before and after the hospital life that someone can experience, the fact that at times we are actually better off sick and in care rather than healthy with no care, no-one to hunch over our bed and ask as how we are feeling. Half bred ideas raced in Larry's mind and fought for which one would be written down first, yet Billy didn't seem to mind since he was still working on his cupcake.

"I'll go get Gary for you Mr Larry."

"Yes yes sure" Larry replied with an air of ignorance.

Little Gary had stood silently on the opposite side of Workings, clearly not up to bothering him by bringing attention to himself but as the same wanting to make clear that he had listened to his orders and he was there. Only after the man was satisfied with his carvings in paper did he raise his brows to throw Gary a stare of small attention, as if he asked for it.

"Good, Gary. I'm glad you're here. Now , show me where the bad things is on your body."

The boy's face slumped down in disbelief, not of the man's request but of the sheer confusion of how he was supposed to explain his situation. When the child had gathered his thoughts enough , the best he could come up with is a small squat with his hands extending out and as he rose he showed off all of his body with his hands. Larry thought nothing could be more confusing that John's little thinking game but this was at least as baffling, if not ever more so.

The small kid started to get impatient with the man so he resorted to the one thing he never felt comfortable doing. He popped open the buttons of his hospital garb and revealed his bare torso to the man. Larry's eyes sunk into his throat and he threw them up again so he could take it all in. A massive field of disgusting flower like zits was covering the boy's chest, making for a horrid visual experience. Larry found himself thinking why he didn't pay more attention to all these kids before, especially young Gary. Some small creepings of red and yellow could be seen close to his collarbone but somehow he had managed to ignore them.

"I'm sorry Gary, can you tell me what this is called?"

"I think the doctors called it leukemia. They say it's not too special, a lot of kids have it." If this were any other situation Larry would be pissing himself by the boy's lisp but this felt like the exact situation he had to keep his mouth shut. From laughing of course, he wouldn't dare stop asking his own questions, he was here for a job and the job would be done goddamnit.

"How did your parents explain it to you Gary?"

The bit stumbled the words in his mouth as he went to respond. He knew that Mr Workings heard from before that his parents are not around anymore, yet he seemed to ignore that now. Maybe he forgot about it. Nuh that can't be the case, Mr Workings seemed nice, Gary didn't believe he could have forgotten so easy. The sickly figure of the kid stood restless in front of Larry, from his point of view the kid looked worse than the beginning of the day. Maybe the constant excite fests had taken their tole on Gary. Larry noted that he's skin seemed pale, paler than the other kids for sure, not that any of them could shine with bright colour in their own personal birdcage for a room. Now Larry seemed to be conversing with Gary's tired eyes, two black wheels that surrounded the bright blue eyes of the young kid. The two eyes tried to hide their new distaste for Mr Larry, although Gary didn't want to admit it, he felt betrayed by the fact that the man didn't seem to care as much as it seemed about him. Maybe it was everyone else as well, but Gary couldn't be sure right now, it felt like all the missing attention from Mr Larry was missing because Gary didn't deserve it. He didn't know it yet, but he was a person that took things personally, he bore his burden close to his heart.

And Larry could tell, he started to feel the awkward nature of the silence since the mid still hadn't answered his question. Unlike any other time where he wouldn't have hesitated, now Larry was almost afraid to ask again, as if he was standing right besides his middle school principal and he was under a severe stare-down. It wasn't quite clear but the tables seemed to turn ever slightly towards Gary's favour here, a slow and silent turn of the corner of the table from Gary, right until Larry would find himself on the wrong side of it. Yet still, Larry thought as he composed himself with no answer yet, he seemed awfully tired to actually attempt such a thing. Pity and prayers can always shower a person and have no affect, but turn that pity into a menacing threat and you'll the other person reform to a better person; no matter how tired they look. This exact thought awakened the winners spirit in Larry himself and he wished to stay on top while he was winning.

" It's ok Gary, i know my questions can be personal, it makes sense that you are not in the mood to answer anything."

The child's shoulders seemed to unstiffen and let his lungs breathe new air into his soul. He didn't know for how long he could keep up the "meany" persona, as exciting as it was for a new experience, he was glad he could drop it.

"Maybe I'll ask your parents this stuff when I visit again"

Young Gary attempted to calm down the tensions with a skinny smile, the most honest he could come up with. No matter how truthful his toothless smile seemed, it was only met by a condescending eye-stab from Mr Larry as his sight rose up from his notes that he was working on. Gary had only the choice to stare down at his own bony legs and wait for what would happen next.

After several seconds that didn't care to change into whole minutes, Larry excused Gary in a semi polite way and asked him to call for Louisa

"Hey mister Workings". He continued to spend several seconds writing and drawing in his papers, circular shapes formed that likely were meant to cement and separate the ideas that Larry was brewing. Harsh lines and letters formed as his writing seemed fouled with a rage noone could place why it appeared. Louisa peeked around inside Larry's vision and took up a spot with her tiny child face.

"Oh right, Louisa. I'm good actually, there's no point to drag this on any longer."

A sheet of confusion spread in front of her face.

"But didn't you come here so we could help you?"

"And you've done just that my girl. You and your friends have been excellent help." Larry's reply was given halfheartedly, like an excuse to get out of the awkward situation. Yet Louisa disposition didn't stagger.

"It's bone cancer if it matters Mr Workings"

Larry's sight drew back to her in a pitiful way.

"Yes Louisa, I see. It's good for you that you are the adult of the group, although unfortunately when you take care of everyone around you, people seem to forget to pay attention to you, see how you're doing yourself"

The soul of the small child filled with a sense of understanding. Finally, what she couldn't put into words all this time, this man she seemed to admire so much had perfectly described it. What a great feeling , now she only needed-

"All right kids" Larry had thrown the last of his work inside his bag. His face was refreshed by his defining shade of cockyness"I think we have to say our goodbyes slowly"

A unanimous loud sigh echoed in the long walls of the room. Suddenly all the fun they kids had found in reading by their own was gone. Larry hard just realised that the tiny humans had slowly wormed their way into his bag and they were reading anything they got their hands on.

"Hey don't read that John! It's scary even for me, this will give you nightmares."

"Mr Workings you can't leave yet, we're having so much fun" Marianna exclaimed as her sister supported her in a fancy stance.

"Yeah and why did you take the book away from me? It seemed fun, I want to read horror books" another united voice was created, the kids had a want to read horror, the kind of horror that Mr Workings wrote, they wanted his work.

"Kids , I'm sorry, that's out of the question. You're too small for this stuff still."

"How many times do we have to say this? We're not small!" Gary complained in his lispy rage. And the kids all agreed with everything, they wanted nothing more than to discover this new sensation of horror, the word dread would pop in their minds, barely comprehending the scale of its meaning. On the other side, Larry held a tight grasp on the concept, his years of horrifying readers with his creations serves their purpose. And with that strong grasp and his mind at work all this time, he had cooked up a solution to this, smiling sinisterly as he had liked to do.

"All right! Jesus. How about this. Since I managed to make you all into such avid fans of reading I'll make you a promise. If you form yourselves a little reading club, I'll personally write you a story , a personal story that is exclusive to you, as a special gift to everyone. And maybe, just maybe, I'll "adapt" some horror elements appropriate to kids your age."

The beds and tables were assaulted by the somersaults and dance moved of the kids. But the noise was cut through by a voice of reason.

"What is a book club mister Workings?" Tiny Oliver stood in question, pondering over the copy of Rusty and Sparky that he was reading aloud.

"As always a great question Oliver. Basically, a book club is a club where you share your reading. You can talk about the book you're reading. You can even read together with everyone else in a sweet, sweet silence, even theorise about what may happen in the book next. Now if you kids promise me that every night before you go to bed you spend a little time all reading together, I'll give you those books that I promised, all Workings original. And to help you out ,I'll leave all of the children's books here for you."

"We want some adult stuff as well Mr Workings!"

"I doubt they will have much popularity but let's see if you can handle it Louisa".

Unsurprisingly, τhat promise remained solid and unbroken. For weeks the kids had spent their free time in the hospital between check ups and family visits reading their favourite books , even passing them alone to the other kids when they finished and having long conversations about the favourite parts of their stories. Conversations that showed how important the adventures of Rusty and Sparky were to John and how beautiful the twins had found a story of love between two kids right about their age. Simple stories that cut to the chase for the kids and stuck to the point so they never lost sight of the story. So pure was the experience for the kids that not one of them could shut up about their stories, even from their parents, the first thing they would ask of them is to have them read the same story and ask what they thought of it. Things seemed a tiny bit more peaceful in the ward for the children, no matter how brooding and overgrown their cancers would become. Did they have anything to be afraid of to be fair? What was this unknown monster called a "tumour" before the great sea beasts that Rusty fought only with a rusty hook and a half chopped peg leg. There isn't anything scary about this cancer-thing anymore; at least as long as you remain ignorant to it.

A warm Saturday morning held in store a very special day for the kids. Last night nurse Tania had announced to them that they would be getting another visit by their new hero, Mr Workings himself. She sure had an earful from nurse Tabitha that Friday , they both knew that the kids would act mar from happiness, a surprise visit would be better. Again, Tania knew of this and from her perspective she just wanted to squeeze as many hours of happiness out of the kids as she could. She assured Tabitha that she would bear this cross herself, it was her shift anyway and Tania wanted to spend as much time with the kids while they seemed happy and active.

"Morning Tania" Tabitha weakly said as she mechanically sipped her coffee thermos.

"Hey there Tabitha, how's you're day"

"You know me, when it's not my shift you can spit on my face and I'll still head home with a smile" the light blue clothing rose lightly as their chests puffed with a small laugh.

"It's my funeral today right?"

"Sure it is, get ready in 5 minutes cause I'll have to go get Mr Workings in to see the kids"

"This early?"

"I don't know the man , he just contacted me and asked if it's ok to come this early, I laughed that he called this time early but anyhow, he's probably got other business" Tania closed her eyes in dismissal as she sipped her coffee.

A sonic squeak replaced the unexpected silence of the children's room- accompanied by Tania's cringing face as she damned the time she decided to open the door slowly. Her initial scan of the room revealed abnormal signs. 2 pairs of- now 4- no no 6,8…16 eyes were looking straight at where the door was closed and now glancing at Tania passionately with an expectation.

"You darn kids didn't sleep a wink?! Oh I knew I shouldn't have told you about Mr Larry coming in today."

"Hey that's my name!" Almost at the exact same time as the man had made his entrance , a legion of warriors starved from love has risen and attacked the entrance. Larry found himself swarmed by little torsos that clung to him with wild mania and happiness while he himself only responded with faint pets on the kids' heads.

"We missed you mister Workings!" Marianna held the man by his belt buckle as she swung.

"You should have visited us earlier Mr Larry!" Billy moaned as he stood away from the crown as if making a speech right at Larry.

"Did you bring us the books you promised mister Workings?" Gary was gazing at Larry's face from his descended position.

Tania struggled to pry the claw-like hands of the kids from Larry while he himself didn't move as much.

"All right everyone calm down, don't get too excited since Mr Workings won't be staying for long anyway". The hooks and claws unhinged themselves and the kids almost crushed to the floor with a shared thought etched in their face 'Why?'.

"I can read the disappointment in your face but I think I can fix this a bit" Larry bent and arched to grab his bag and pulled out 7 tiny books , all hastily put together but each one with a title that represented that it was all unique to each kids as promised. Instantly the frail disappointment of the kids turned upside down into a brilliant look. Their eyes tripled and quadrupled in size in an attempt to describe their cheeriness. They all then hugged each other and then Larry's legs in a group hug, always reminding themselves to be appreciative, or at least letting Louisa remind them.

"Everybody thank mister Workings, this must have been hard along with his real work"

"Don't worry about it Louisa or anyone, I still had time for my work , I actually plan to publish it quite soon."

"You better give us a copy of that book as well next time you come"

"I don't know about that John" Larry glared at the young rebel straight through the eyes , probably sick of the kid's shtick.

"Maybe Louisa was right , you guys better appreciate these books I made for you."

"Of course we will mister Workings, we will read it during launch with miss Tania and then we can talk about it at night."

"Ah so I see you listened to my idea about the book club. Glad I got through to you kids. But I disagree, midday is no time to read a scary story, if you kids want to have fun while reading horror, you should do it at nighttime, when the lights are low."

"But that's sounds so scary!"

"Come on Mariana, it's a scary story that's the point, just hug your sister if it gets too scary, don't forget I made an even more special one for both of you" Larry explained as he started throwing the books to each kid.

"All right now kiddos, I think it's time to say goodbye to mister Workings, he is already late"

"Don't worry about it nurse, I can always spare some time for future fans"

The kids huddled around Larry's ankles and gave a mournful group hug. They raised their heads to stare at the tall man as he raised one hand to say goodbye and turn immediately after.

"Now back to beds everyone please, I have to give you your medications"

Billy was crunching down on his dessert, a thick but small chocolate bar filled with nuts that noised in his mouth as he enjoyed this moment as if it was the last he would have like this. The rest of the kids were enjoying their meal as well in the floor cafeteria until something seemingly unimportant grabbed Gabriela's attention. She stretched her neck to the side to take a better look at Gary, hidden as he usually was behind anything due to his small frame. She had caught him red-handed in the act though and she would not forgive him for this mistake

"Hey stop reading your book Gary! We all agreed to read it before bedtime"

Everyone's heads turned towards the commotion, even the nurse seemed interested.

"Hey dumb dumb you can't do that, we've waited so long for this , don't ruin it!" John had grabbed Gary by the shirt and was threatening him like he owed him debt.

"Let me go John! You know I can't read as fast as you guys do, Mr Workings said the begining is the same for all of us, only the endings change"

"All right John stop grabbing him like that or you'll both get hurt accidentally"

Gary stared down almost everyone else at the table, his betrayal had dug deep within their ranks. If it wasn't for Billy he would have felt completely alone in this.

"I think you did the right think buddy"

"Thanks Billy".