Chapter 2 - At Midnight

“Jannie! Don’t cry!”

“July! July! Mom, I don’t want to go to sleep! I—”

Jane was sitting on her bed pressing down her blanket with her hands and shouting at her mother. In fact, she wanted to see August even more than July. She even wanted to make friends with him or her.

“Don’t cry, my honey,” said Jane’s mother softly. She patted Jane on her head.

“But—” Jane did not finish her sentence. She lay down quickly. 

“Good night, honey,” said her mother, standing up.

Jane turned her lights off. She covered herself with the blanket and looked at her mother. She kissed Jane and shut the door. Everything was silent. After Jane’s mother’s footsteps disappeared in the doorway, Jane turned her lamp on. It was still dark, but it was bright enough to see her alarm clock. Thirty two past eight. Jane sat up and turned the alarm on at eleven forty. And then, she put her clock back to her small table and turned the lamp off. She lay down.

Everything was silent again.

Jane tossed and turned and could not sleep. She shut her eyes tightly in a vain attempt to sleep. She opened one eye.

The room windows were half opened. Wind blew through the windows, making the curtains open. The moonlight came in gently and seemed to be very mysterious, as if it was telling Jane something—maybe some secrets. Jane looked at the alarm clock by the moonlight. Eight forty. Jane shut her eyes again. 

Suddenly, Jane heard a sound. “Ding! Ding ding! ” Jane opened her eyes and looked up. It was her alarm. Jane touched the clock and turned the alarm off. She looked at the clock again. Eleven forty-two. The alarm had been ringing for two minutes. She rubbed her eyes and rolled over to get out of bed. She quickly took off her pajamas and put on a pink T-shirt, a yellow and white jacket, a pair of brown shorts, and a pair of white trainers. She went out of her room and shut the door silently and crept downstairs. She put a handful of orange candies into her pocket habitually. 

Jane opened the door of the house. It made a bit of crunching noises. She stepped out and shut the door gently. It was very dark outside. Jane was a bit regretful, because she was afraid of dark places. She suddenly remembered about August. She was very thrilled again.

Jane went out of her yard excitedly. She saw a lamp. And another. Another, and another! The lamps filled the street. She walked and jogged. She ran. Then she stopped. She did not know where the ceremony was and how to get there. Suddenly, she saw the small street which she’d seen July in the afternoon. It was crowded. Everybody was still waiting for something—maybe it was August! 

Jane made her way through the crowd to a fence near a little boy. The boy was not very tall but taller than Jane. He was skinny. He had short curly red hair, as red as the rising red sun. He had dark blue squinted eyes, reddish lips and a straight nose. There was no expression on his pale round face so he looked very emotionless. He was playing a needle! What a strange boy! Jane looked at her watch. Eleven fifty-six. She looked up. 

A woman was walking away from the square slowly. She was July. After July, some girls were coming in neat rows and holding glass bottles and branches with green leaves on them. Some boys were waving at the people and lining neatly. After the girls and boys, a four-wheeled carriage was moving towards the street. The carriage was very large, as large as a small house. It was pure white and globular. Four strong brown horses were pulling the carriage. The girls and boys stopped, and the carriage stopped too. A young man came down from the carriage and said,“I am August!” 

Jane was excited. She climbed onto a bench and waved at August, standing. “Are you mad?” asked a boy. He was the boy with red hair who stood beside her. “Who are you? I don’t know you,”asked Jane. She looked at the boy. His face was still extremely emotionless. He didn’t answer.

Jane didn’t care about the boy. She jumped over the fence and ran towards the carriage.

“You are mad!” shouted the boy behind her. He was chasing Jane! 

“August! August!” shouted Jane excitedly.

“STOP!” someone yelled at Jane. Jane felt somebody grab the boy and her. Her heart sank. She saw that  the boy was shivering hard. She felt her heart was pounding very hard. Sweat was running down her head. She was in a policeman’s grasp!

The policeman was very tall and strong. He had a flushed face and sharp eyes. He looked fierce. There was another policeman behind him. He was also very tall but he was very thin.

Will we be killed by him? thought Jane. No, he won’t eat us. But what should I do? 

“Take them to the place!” said the strong policeman.

What place? Where is it? Jane was frightened and nervous, but the red-haired boy still looked emotionless. 

The thin policeman grabbed the boy, and the strong one was still grabbing Jane. They pulled them into a small room. The room was very bright. On the outside of the room, there were a few large words saying:

POLICE OFFICE

Jane’s heart was pounding so fast. She tried not to be panicked, but she couldn’t. 

“WHAT’S YOUR NAME?” the strong policeman asked the red-haired boy.

“Leo,” murmured the boy. “I am Leo Parker.” His voice became quieter and quieter, but his face was still emotionless and even paler though. 

“WHAT?”

“Leo Parker!” said Leo pretty calmly, but you could even feel his fear in his eyes. This was the first time Jane saw his expression on his face.

“WHERE ARE YOUR PARENTS?” shouted the policeman angrily. 

“Th-they are sleeping—” said Leo quietly.

“WHERE DO YOU LIVE?” asked the policeman.

Leo kept silent for a moment and then recited his family address quite fluently. Jane meanwhile was trying to remember about her family address, but she could not. She didn’t know her parents’ phone number too.

“Well, Leo Parker. Oh. ANOTHER impish boy,” murmured the strong policeman. “TAKE HIM BACK HOME!” he shouted to the thinner policeman.

“Okay,”said the thin policeman, smiling. He looked friendlier than the strong policeman.

“Hmm,” said the strong policeman. He stepped forward and stared at Jane from her head to her toes.

“What’s your name, huh?” he asked.

“Jane C-Carter,” said Jane. 

“Where are your parents?” asked the policeman again.

“They uh—” Jane didn’t know how to say.

“Sleeping, aren’t they?”

“Y-yes—” Jane lowered her head. 

“WHERE DO YOU LIVE? WHERE?”

Jane’s voice suddenly disappeared.