(no subject)

[stillinsists]

Darrow’s bay reminds Bill of life before. Not just life before Darrow, but life before that awful day when everything changed. When he’d been caught at home by a cough and let his little brother wander down and off.

He often wonders if the cold had been something the clown had conjured up or just pure bad luck. It doesn’t seem to him that something as terrible as the loss of a brother could simply come down to bad luck but, well, he’s come to learn that most things aren’t what they seem.

No matter how badly you want them to be.

But other things, he’s discovered, are more than they seem, like the friendships he’s gained with Eddie and Beverly. The others, too, although they haven’t made their way (whatever way that may be) to Darrow yet. Every day Bill wonders if maybe this will be the day they’ll see Mike or Ben or Richie or Stan, but so far it’s only been them. The Losers Club, but incomplete.

Today’s colder than most of Darrow apparently like and he and Bev are alone by the edge of the water, kicking seaweed and stones and whatever else back into the surf. He’s a few steps ahead when he spots it, a moment later hears its call.

It’s like nothing he’s seen before and he’s seen a lot for a kid his age.

Half penguin, half something with big eyes that are filled with terror as he approaches. He’s no vet, but something’s wrong. Its wing is bent, or maybe its claw.

“B-Bev! Come here!"

Comments

[stillinsists]

"I don't know," Bill says, crouching down to get a better look. He doesn't want to get so close that it tries to escape – it might worsen its wounds if it does. Still, a mixture of curiosity and concern gets the better of him and he reaches out a careful finger.

The creature squawks.

"I think it's h-hurt," he says, withdrawing his hand and looking back up at Bev.

[runtowardsomething]

"We can't just leave it," Beverly says without thinking, half to herself, the words quiet. It isn't as if she thinks he would, but it's the first thing that comes into her head. Even if she doesn't know what the animal is, this strange little bird-like creature with big eyes and a squawk that isn't quite like anything she's heard before, it wouldn't be right to abandon it to fend for itself while injured. Chances are, no one else will stop. Or maybe that's just the part of her that's spent a lifetime in Derry talking, that knows without a doubt that no one there would have.

She crouches nearby, still hesitant in turn. "Maybe we should call a vet?"

[stillinsists]

"C-can we afford a v-vet?" Bill asks, unsure. The city gives them money – greater than any pocket money they'd get back home – but he knows vets aren't cheap and they don't even know what the creature is. Maybe it's one of those species that nobody really wants around.

Well, that's not going to stop him... or them. Both Bill and Bev know what it's like to not be wanted around. "I g-guess we have to try."