The girl hated going to the doctor's office. Her mom always took her on the train to get into the city, and there were always strange people on the train. Well, people weren't exactly the word she would use. They had two legs, two arms, and a belly like people did, but they looked like they were made of wet black paint.
The day came and the girl arrived at the train station with her mother. She held her mother's hand firmly as the normal people and the paint people moved around her. She looked down on the ground as her mother dragged her through the crowd.
Then she saw a shadow following her. The girl looked behind and found a paint person, but it was smaller. It was about her height, and it was following her. Most paint people wandered around, aimlessly and lost. This one was different. It seemed smarter than the others.
As the girl and her mother reached the platform and boarded the train, the paint person did as well. Her mother dragged her to a bench, to which they both sat on. The paint person sat there as well.
"Mama, there's something sitting next to me," the girl whispered excitedly.
"There's nothing there, sweetheart," the mother answered, worry filling her voice. The girl frowned, looking back at the paint person. She had gotten so caught up with her new friend, she had forgotten that her mother couldn't see them.
As the train rattled on, the girl held her mother’s hand and stared at the smaller paint person next to her. She wondered if it was a paint child, like she was a human child. As she looked at it, it occurred to her that she wasn’t sure if it was looking at her. She leaned forward. Then the paint person leaned forward. She stifled a giggle.
Her mother hushed her as the girl attracted the attention of other passengers. The girl bit her cheek in annoyance as the paint person leaned back again.
Much to the girl’s surprise, the paint person followed them off the train and out of the train station. She didn’t usually see paint people outside of the terminals, but she was glad to have her friend next to her the whole time.
The three of them walked quickly to the doctor’s office, her mother telling the girl how late they were going to be. The girl pouted, still unwilling to go to the doctor. She wasn’t sick after all.
As they arrived at the doctor’s office, the girl sat in the waiting room with her friend. It swung its legs playfully and the girl thought it smiled. She smiled back at it, swinging her legs as well. Her mother returned with a clipboard of papers and a pen, writing something the girl couldn’t read.
The girl played silent games with her friend as the doctor called for them. The friend followed them into the backroom, where the doctor was. She sat down on some paper that crinkled underneath her. She hated that feeling.
The doctor poked at her knees and stuck a popsicle stick in her mouth. He looked in her eyes, ears, and nose, pulling and poking. She hated it, but she endured it for her mother. She remembered the last time she made a fuss, and she wasn’t allowed any dessert for a week.
Soon, the doctor finished his examination and sent the girl to wait in the waiting room. The paint child followed her out as the nurse handed her a sucker before helping her into a chair. The paint person again sat next to her, watching as she had the thing in her mouth.
Curious, she offered the sucker to her friend, who was surprised by the gesture. He reached for it, taking it from her fingers. He looked at it for a second before shoving it into his blobbed head. She laughed as the sucker disappeared from sight and the paint child leaned forward, curious of her as well.
After swinging their legs and have magazines and blocks disappear inside his head, the girl yawned. The paint child turned to her, startled by the sudden noise and gaping mouth. It watched her as she leaned on him, her legs crossed at the ankles. Soon, she began to snore as her friend kept her from falling down. The friend hummed something happily as it continued to swing his legs underneath him.
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