dandelions are my favorite

Louis knelt at the edge of the pond. The water was a murky brown color. He stared into the water, trying to catch a glimpse of the life that lived down there. The hot July sun beat down on him and beads of sweat rolled down his face. It didn’t help that he wore that furry hat. Even when the temperatures climbed well above 90℉, he wouldn’t take it off. A frown grew on his face as thoughts, of Cora and Belle trying to take his hat away from him, bubbled up in his mind.

He took the stick he held and jabbed it into the murky water trying to see some evidence that there was life in the pond. With his free arm he wiped some of the sweat off his face. It had started to drip into his eyes. A loud sigh left his mouth. He’d been out here for god knows how long and he still hadn’t seen anything. He made a noise of frustration and switched from kneeling to laying down on the grass. As he stretched out his joints popped, which caused a slight grimace. He closed his eyes so as to not be blinded by the sun. However his eyes flew open as he heard the sound of dry grass crunching beneath feet. Whoever was trying to approach him was not trying to be subtle, or if they were, they were doing an awful job at it. Louis' breath caught in his throat and his body tensed. He hoped it wasn’t Cora coming to drag him back to the house littered with those horrible drawings by Baby.

As the footsteps slowed, Law’s hand tightened around the stick. He could feel the presence of someone off to his right. He waited until he knew the time was right. Suddenly he jolted up and held the stick up like he was about to hit a home run. There was a flash of anger in his eyes, but it died down when he saw one of the kids that had wanted to see a frog the other day. His blonde hair was slicked back and pulled into a ponytail. Louis scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“What are you doing here? I don’t make friends with babies.” His lips turned upwards in a cold sneer. Louis vaguely remembered the kids name, as Yuri. He stood in front of him unafraid. He blinked a few times, with his hands behind his back.

“I jus came to give you this.” Yuri suddenly thrust his hands out in front of him. They were covered in dirt and held what looked like a clump of weeds. There was a single yellow dandelion in the weeds. Louis’s eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t consider himself to be someone that people would go out of their way to give him something. He felt his cheeks heat up, but he made sure to keep a frown plastered firmly on his face.

“What's this even for?” He kept his voice steady. Yuri paused for a second, and cocked his head as if to gather his thoughts.

“Well aren't ya sposed to give people you like gifts?” Louis' heart thudded obnoxiously loud in his ears. He was glued to the spot of dead grass. His eyes went wide again. “And I like ya, so this is for you. Dandelions are my favorite. Cause you can make a wish on em too!” Yuri wore a goofy smile as he made a motion for him to grab the weeds. Unconsciously Louis found his hand moving to grab the weeds.

“Uh thanks I guess?” His face felt hot and it wasn’t just because of the sun beating down on him. Yuri beamed up at him, there was a gaping hole in his smile. Of course he was missing his two front teeth. Louis desperately tried to keep his stern mask up. He stared down at the yellow dandelion clump.

Suddenly, there were hands on his shirt pulling him down. Lips were on his and before he knew it, they were gone. Now he knew his face was bright red.

"That was my wish" Yuri whispered to him.

With widened eyes he watched Yuri run off into the hot summer afternoon. There was the slightest hint of a smile on his face as he stared down at the weeds. Maybe summer wouldn't be so bad after all.