The imaginary friend- Chapter 3

                 

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Claudia was literally dumbstruck. She had no idea what to tell David.  She was sure that there were no one else in the apartment. David finished eating and put down his fork. 

"May I go play now?" he asked very politely.

Claudia, still without words, nodded and saw how his face lit up. David quickly jumped up and nearly knocked over the chair to run back to his room. She heard his door close a minute later. 

She didn't know whether she should be worried or not. She decided not to. Moving was a major adjustment in life, and if this was his way of coping, so be it. She had heard about imaginary friends before, but never experienced it herself, and that was the only logical explanation she could think of. 

Claudia hardly touched her food. She took a few more bites before gathering the plates to wash the dishes. She looked around her and everything seemed to be perfect and in place. 

She was taking David to school in the morning and she just wanted to relax for a few hours. She poured herself a glass of wine, and took a seat in the living room. She picked up her book because she wanted to get in a few chapters before bed.  She was just getting into it when she heard noises in David's bedroom. 

She put the book down and quietly walked up to his door. The floor creaked, and she stood still. She could clearly hear him talking to someone. She couldn't decide whether she should disturb him or not, but knocked on the door in any case before turning the handle to walk in. 

David was sitting on the floor in the corner of his room and rolling the ball against the wall. She scanned the room quickly and was relieved to see that there was no one else there. The ball bounced back from the wall and he caught it. She watched him for a few seconds and then smiled.  

"Come on baby, it's getting late. You and Damian can play again tomorrow. Tomorrow is your first day of school are you excited?"

"Aahh man...I wanted to play with Damian in the park tomorrow."

"I'm sure Damian is not going anywhere. Come on get into bed."

Claudia sat with him and read him a story while he fell asleep. He didn't say anything about Damian again, and she didn't ask. He fell asleep rather quickly and she closed the book to put it on the bedside table. She left the bedside lamp on so that he could see if he woke up at night. 

She stood up to leave the room but felt a shiver down her spine.  The window was open so she walked over to close it, but when she turned around she froze. She could see the ball rolling on the floor and bounce back from the wall. 

She shook her head. 

"Claudia you are just imagining things that aren't even there. Of course it is the wind that caused the movement of the ball." she said to herself. 

The ball stopped rolling and lay still next to the bed. 

"I've watched wayyyy too many scary movies." she thought and closed the door behind her. 

- To be continued -

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