Over the next few weeks Lou’s life became a mess of confusion, loss and chaos. He had to relearn how to walk after regaining the strength in his legs and learn a schedule that his life was to follow until things got better. Finally two weeks before Christmas, Lou was given permission to leave his room and see what the outside look like. He was able to accept his parents’ deaths after being given some of their stuff including his mother’s lamp and an old photo of them all together. It was taken when Lou was around five years old while they were spending the weekend at a waterpark. It was before Lou got his diagnosis and his father became extremely busy at work trying to prepare for whatever way Lou’s health could go. With the assistance of his father’s butler, Lou wasn’t sure how long he was going to stick around. Once Lou had a formal suit placed on, he was assisted into the wheelchair before making their way outside.
“What are you going to do now?” Lou asked.
“Young master what do you mean?” his father’s butler chucked.
“Well your main job is to care for my father but now he is dead!”
“Don’t you remember young master. My main job was to pay for your father and his family!” his father’s butler said. “I am still employed by your family since you are still alive as long as you required or if my company decided!”
“I understand” Lou replied, unable to hide the joy in his voice that he wouldn’t be left alone with strangers.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes!” Lou replied as he was wheeled down a simple, empty hallway towards a large staircase. Looking through the pillars Lou saw that the three kids were running around when the boy suddenly stop and stared at him. During his recovery Lou had been informed that the kids sometimes act weirdly but are harmless so he shouldn’t have need for concern. Giving a careful wave, Lou saw the boy wave back before he was moved away, and they were met by Koby and Luke.
“So how do you want to do this?” Koby asked.
With no reply Lou found himself being held carefully by his father’s butler.
“Ok we will bring the wheelchair down!” Koby stated as he and Luke lifted the wheelchair up before making their way carefully down the stairs, his father’s butler followed.
Reaching the ground floor the two girls begun running around his father’s butler legs.
“Girls now please calm down, allow the young man to be set down!” Miss Tamworth as she entered from a door followed by a maid.
Being carefully placed into the wheelchair Lou was made comfortable as Miss Tamworth clapped her hands and the maid was suddenly holding a blanket. The blanket was covered in teddy bears playing, it was placed over Lou’s lap. As the chair was being wheeled towards the front door, they were stopped by the boy who went in front of them. He was holding his hands out, wanting to be picked up. Staring at the kid Lou wasn’t sure what to do. The next thing he knew the boy had begun climbing up with the assistance of the two girls. As the wheelchair begun to move again, the two girls waked beside them. As Koby moved in front of them, he opened the front door. After the blinding light they were greeted by a whole bunch of people.
“Miss Tamworth insisted that you are given a quick welcome before we visit different parts of the estate!” his father’s butler said.
“That’s fine!”
Feeling the boy’s grip tighten Lou patted he boy gently on his head.
“You, ok?” Lou asked gently in a whisper.
The next thing Lou knew the boy turned his head into Lou’s chest, tightening his grip more. ‘I wonder what is wrong with him’ Lou thought as he looked around, it appeared that the two girls also appeared nervous but not as bad as the boy. ‘Guess I might ask Miss Tamworth about it later, maybe my father’s butler knowns’. Instead of going down the stairs, they went down a thin, wide plank that was surprisingly stable. Once down the crowd created a gap as Miss Tamworth joined them.
“Now children let begin the welcoming!” Miss Tamworth stated heartfully, clapping her hands.
No one moved or made a sound. Those around him looked uncomfortable and seemed to move away from the girls when they got near. It was strange.
“Let’s just skip this and do the tour!” Lou muttered into the boy’s hair. “They clearly don’t want to do it!”
“You sure about this? It’s important to get to know the others sooner than later!” Miss Tamworth stated with what appeared to be a hint of pity.
The wheelchair begun to move again as they begun to make their way to the waiting vehicle. ‘Guess the others don’t like the younger kids for some reason’ Lou thought as the others begun to quickly move away when the girls moved ahead, creating a path. Reaching the waiting vehicle Lou saw that it was a strange looking van. The roof was oval, and it was painted baby blue. From the side a person begun to run over, most likely the driver. The driver appeared to be in his late 70s, he was wearing a dark blue driver suit.
“Hello, I shall be driving you on your tour, you can call me Sam!” Sam stated as he bowed low.
“You don’t have to bow!” Lou stated, feeling slightly embarrassed.
As Sam stood up, he board a giant smile.
“You can call him Lou!” the boy stated, his voice muffled.
“Thank you, child!” Sam stated as he leads them to the back of the van where a machine was used to lift them up.
Even though Lou knew he was safe, he felt worried that the machine would break, or the wheelchair roll off. Feeling trapped on his forehead, Lou was interrupted from his thoughts.
“I’m going to be ok!” Lou stated as confidence as he could muster.
The wheelchair was chipped into the side of the van by Sam before he ensured that everyone was safe, and the back door was secured before he climbed into the driver’s seat where he turned on some music. A map popped down from a slip from the roof showing the whole estate with names for some specific locations. These includes the main house, the farm, a lake, and houses with numbers. Just looking at the map Lou felt that the estate was giant ad he wouldn’t likely visit or see everything during his time here.
“Our first location shall be the lake which as shown by the map is located in the middle of the estate. There is a bunch of fish so it’s a good fishing and swimming spt. Just make sure that you have enough drinking water on you or money to ger some whenever you need from the vending machine!” Sam stated cheerfully as the van begun to increase in sped.
“How far away is the lake?” his father’s butler asked as he begun to go through his bag.
“At our current pace it’s between 20 to 30 minutes, however with other methods it will be shorter or longer!”
Reaching the lake, the van slowed to a stop before Sam got out and opened the back doors.
“Give me a second and I’ll make sure that your young master can get down safely!”
“Its alright, since we won’t be here long, I’ll just carry young master!” his father’s butler stated as he placed a thick hat onto Lou’s head before picking him up. Being carried out Lou couldn’t hide his surprise on how large the lake was, you could barely see what appeared to be the other side of the lake.
“Quiet normal to be shocked at see the size of the lake. The map doesn’t do it justice!” Sam chuckled as he led them closer, in the distance was a shack.
Upon reaching the shack Sam stood in front of them with a broad smile.
“Welcome to the shack!” Sam stated proudly. “While it looks like every other shack on the outside, the inside is where the magic happens!”
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
The shack’s doors suddenly spung open and out came an old man. He was wearing a set of old, worn-out clothing. His eyes were bright blue, straw-coloured hair and was carrying a broom in his hands. Out from behind him raced a bulky cart bolt that did a spin around the old man before coming to a stop beside him. The bot was carrying a bunch of cleaning equipment and other assortments. Sam turned around and lowered his arms.
“Come on man! I was getting them excited!”
Heading inside, everything was hidden in the dark beside the immediate area that was dimly lit from the open door. Sam clapped his hands twice before the lights begun to turn on one at a time.
“Wow” Lou stated in amazement.
As the lights turned on, its presented multiple vending machines, a ping pong table and a staircase which appeared to head down.
“As you can see there are many different vending machines. There are a few for sunscreen, tanning scream, personal health products as well as many different snacks and drinks!” Sam stated while he spread his arms. “There are ones that have the option for hot and cold meals since some prefer staying for the majority of the day!”
Sam led them down the stairs to a long hallway. Efore them was a large sign on the wall. It stated that the bathrooms were on the left with the changing room and the tanning and nurse room was on the right.
“We will start on the left before going to the right and then have a snack. I’ll then explain some things, show you the other locations before we head to the place you will be staying!”
“What do you mean?” Lou asked confused about what Sam meant.
“You are getting your own residence like everyone else!” Sam stated pleased. “Don’t worry, you are going to love it!”
The first place they came to on the left was the bathrooms, there was an arrow stating the changing rooms were further along. Entering the male bathroom they wet about a bend to see a long row of cubicles, and six different sinks with automatic soap dispensers connected to each. The bathroom smelt amazing, a mixture of a meadow smell and the scent of roses.
“As you can see the bathrooms are always kept clean by the janitor, the old man you saw back there!” Sam stated. “If you see him, just wave since his not a fan of talking.”
Leaving the room they headed to the changing rooms that were separated in two areas, the males, and females. Entering the male changing room they were greeted by an open area with wide benches and showers before a row of cubicles which contained showers and a bench.
“Alright lets visit the right side quickly so that we can eat!” Sam stated cheerfully as he led the way.
Making their way out, they took a peak into the tanning room where there were separate rooms covered by curtains and the sound of a bed being on. Heading to the next room they saw that some people were in there chatting. Deciding to not disturb them, they turned around and made their way back up to the top room.
“Alright I’ll give you some money to spend so if you want you can try a bunch of different things!” Sam stated as he pulled out a small pouch of money.
Handing the pouch over to Lou, Sam begun to move around looking for something to eat himself.
“Young master where do you want to start looking first?”
“I don’t know sir, there is so many choices!”
“Alright then let’s start over there”! his father’s butler stated as he pointed out a specific machine.
The machine looked like the others but appeared to be a bit taller and had a cowboy hat on top. As his father’s butler walked Lou took a better look at some of the machines that they passed, many had products that he had never heard or seen before.
“Do you know what these items are?”
“I know most of them, young master but there are also a few I heave never heard of or seem myself!”
“So what the machine we are headed to?”
“You’ll see soon!”
As the products inside of the vending machine came into view, Lou realised what they were.
“Meat buns!” Lou exclaimed in excitement.
“Yes, young master, I knew immediately upon seeing the design of the vending machine!”
Being carefully placed down, his father’s butler begun to scan the options that were available, there were many. These included pizza buns, double and triple meat buns, hamburger buns, cheese buns and so much more.
“Let’s see, young master, do you want to have the mash and meat bun?”
“Yes please!” Lou exclaimed, being unable to hide his pure joy.
He had only had these types of buns a few times but there were so tasty and made him feel happy and at peace, especially during times of turmoil.
“Ok, then I’ll have the rice and meat bun!” his father’s butler stated as he got up.
Watching in excitement, his father’s butter inserted some of the coins in before choosing their selections. Hearing the machine buzz to life, a few moments passed before a shaft opened and two packages of steaming buns popped out.
“Be careful young master, I’ll grab them since they will be very hot!” his father’s butler stated as he pulled out a small plastic bag and placed the buns into it.
Getting picked up, they turned around.
“Let’s see, young master do you want something to drink or maybe some desert?”
“Yes, please!”“Any idea on what you want to drink?”
“Maybe something cold that goes well with the meat bun!” Lou asked hopefully.
“I understand, young master!”
Moving around they begun to move, there were a few different options before Lou ended up choosing some cold chocolate milk while his father’s butler chose some cold ice cream tea. Before they begun to look for something for desert Lou’s stomach begun to growl.
“How about I set you down to start eating while I got some desert and snacks for later?”
“If that what you think is best, sir!”
“Yes, I think it is best!”
They headed to the benches where Lou was placed down and handed his mash and meat bun, and his cold chocolate mil.
“I’ll be back in a bit so if you need me, just yell my name!”
“I will!” Lou stated as he took a big bite while his father’s butler left.
“It’s so good!” Lou muttered to himself as he took a sip of his milk before returning to the meat bun.
“Enjoying that?”
Looking up Lou saw that Sam was heading his way with a strange bag and what appeared to be black coffee.
“Yes, meat buns are so delicious, and I never have them often!”
“Ha ha well don’t eat too quickly, more will be available, and you can always order to have some delivered to your place whenever!”
“That’s cool, I might do that once in a while!” Lou stated happily at the thought.
“So what is the cost of having things delivered. I know Miss Tamworth doesn’t do it for free!” his father’s butler stated as he came into view, holding his half-eaten rice and mean bun in one hand and the stuffed bag in the other.
Once his father’s butler placed the bag down, he threw the pouch of money bac to Sam.
“You got me!” Sam stated with a chuckle. “Miss Tamworth provides all dependants and other people living on her estate a large sum of money each year. I’ll go further into it once we reach your new home!”
Finishing off his food and drinks, Sam got up and dusted off his clothing.
“Ready to go?”
“We are ready!” his father’s butler stated as he carefully lifted Lou up before making their way out of the shack and back into the van.
Being carefully placed on the bench, the seat belt was placed on before the van begun to move.
“Where are we heading to now?”
“Think we will basically stop at the shop which holds everything before heading to your new home since I don’t want you to feel too exhausted!” Sam stated.
“By everything you mean I can just get anything?”
“A lot of things you need to be a certain age to get and of course nothing that are severely illegal!”
Lou wasn’t sure how long it took for them to finally come to a stop, but Lou felt a bit tired.
“If you want, we can head straight to your new home since you starting to look exhausted!”
“If we are already at the store, I want to look inside for a bit!” Lou pleaded.
“Ok, we will go in there for 20 minutes before heading out, that’s fine with you?”
“Young master, I’ll be keeping time so when it time do not complain!”
“I won’t!” Lou replied as he took off his seat belt.
Getting lifted up, everyone got out of the van. Looking around there was only grass, trees, and the road around the store. The store looked like it was two stories with flower beds at the front and a large sign hanging over the door. It read ‘The shop of everything’. As the door opened a sweet tune begun to play. In front of them, there were rows upon rows of different things. The next thing Lou knew they had turned around and was heading back to the van already.
“What is going on?”
“We will explore this place tomorrow since 20 minutes isn’t even enough to explore one single row properly!”
“I can’t wait then!” Lou replied with a yawn, feeling slightly annoyed.
Once they were seated, his father’s butler somehow pulled out a blanket from the bag. After being wrapped up Lou leant against his father’s butler as the van started up. Closing his eyes, Lou drifted off, exhausted.