Rainbows and Unicorns

Oriel stood by the lifeless body of her father, not knowing what death meant. "Dad! get up! Dad!" She shook him to exhaust all her strength, expecting him to wake up any minute.

Collin, who had witnessed the same feeling earlier that day, could communicate with her pain. "Oriel! try to understand."

The nurse who chaperoned the kids in the morgue was constantly telling them to leave, but Oriel had her tiny fingers interlocked with her father's. "Dad! come with me," she cried.

The nurse forcefully brought the kids outside, near the desk and yelled at Oriel, who kept trying to sneak inside. "Hey! you... behave." Her hand was firmly clutching her arm, and Oriel groaned from the pain of a strong grip.

Collin came forward and released her hand from the nurse's. "I will keep an eye on her, she will behave."

"Oh god! What crappy day?" spoke the agitated nurse. "Now, you little demons better tell me the number of some adult in your family."

The nurse had the receiver in her hand and a finger was ready to dial the number on the dial pad. "Say it fast, it's almost the end of my shift."

Collin was perplexed. On one hand, there was Oriel who was uncontrollable in that situation, and on the other he had to look for his father.

He faintly remembered his mother's conatct number and passed it to the nurse when she scowled at him. It was 2:30 in the morning, and he was looking at the nurse's face when the phone was not getting answered from the other side. "What an unlucky day!"

She unwrapped a chewing gum and put it in her mouth while reluctantly holding on to the receiver. "Come on folks! Get up and take your troublemaker children out of here."

Finally, on the third try, Collin's mother answered the call causing the nurse to choke on her chewing gum, as she was just swearing in her breath again. "He... Hello! This is Elisa from Highland Hospital... Am I speaking to the mother of Collin Hastings?" her tone changed drastically.

Collin was trying to appease Oriel's despair as his mother was on her way to the hospital. He stroked her back as she sobbed.

"Why is my dad not waking up?" she snorted while asking.

Collins was not able to answer her question and responded vaguely, "I don't know. Why don't you just cry?... Just don't ask me anything."

He was comforting her with his gestures but refused to answer any questions. The restless nurse was constantly checking the time, waiting for her shift to end, while keeping her intimidating glare at them.

The quiet lobby of the countryside hospital had a new entry in the face of Collin's mother, "Collin!" She called as she elegantly came walking through the corridor.

The lady was of refined taste in dressing. Her hair was short in length but velvety from the roots. She was wearing a mud-color dress along with high boots, resembling an elite society woman. "Collin, how are you here alone?"

She loved and cared for her precious child but Collin had grown out of fondness for her, "Mom! do you know where Dad is?"

"No sweetie, how would I know where that man is?" she spoke, reaching to hold his face in her hands. "I was waiting for you at your new home."

Collin removed her hands off his face in displease. "I won't come with you," he refused strongly.

The man his mother had a remarriage with, was the most affluent in the town. After remarrying such a person, Collin was the only one she needed to make her life perfect, and she was intending to provide the best lifestyle possible to her only son.

"But dear, your father can never take care of you." She tried to convince him persistently.

Meanwhile, Oriel found the nurse dozing off on her desk and Collin was having an argument with his mom, "Sweetie, your father can never raise you to become a fine adult... come with me."

Oriel thought of sneaking inside the morgue again and walked on her toes heading toward it. She was meticulous taking every step carefully to not wake her up.

Then suddenly, "Oh! mouse!" the nurse suddenly woke up at sensing a mouse on her feet. Oriel was startled and caught by the slanted eyes of the nurse. "So, there's another sneaky mouse here," she yelled. Oriel, at the speed of lightning, sat back on the bench she was told to.

"Enough now, mam please tell us your relationship with the late Bob Hastings and help in the further procedure." The nurse had devil horns appeared on her head and she was fed up with the kids giving her a hard time.

"Bob is dead?" His mom couldn't believe her ears, "Collin, what's going on?'

Collin saw his mom staggered by the news and gestured her to calm down, while gently shaking his head in denial. "There's a misunderstanding, Mom," he said in a low voice.

The hospital had mistook George's body for Bob's, due to the I.D card found inside the wallet, with the portrait of the owners scrapped of the paper's surface.

Oriel, once again saw the adults busy in an exchange of words and rose to her feet, heading in the direction of morgue again. But this time, the nurse was not fooled and she caught her with her voice again, "Hey! you, I am watching you."

Collin's mom, for the first time, saw Oriel's face and wondered who she was, "Is it someone you know?" she demanded.

Oriel was a child with a relatively slower growth rate. Although nine years old, she was oblivious of various concepts that other children of her age were well aware of. Death, Crimes, or anything that was undesirable in her rainbow world was yet to be absorbed by her, which she was getting rained on that day. "Please call my dad!... I remember his number, it's 200383... and, and I don't remember after that."

Collin left his mother's side to head closer to Oriel, "You should cry." He was repeatedly telling her to cry when she didn't even know the need for it.

"Why do you keep saying that?" she retorted.

"Listen to me and cry, how you would feel if your dad never came back?"

Oriel's lower lip began to wobble and her cherry-round chin wrinkled up when as a response to his words. Her eyes welled up and drained the life out of her. "No... it can't be!" she screamed.

Collin gently caressed her back without wiping her tears for her. He wanted her to cry and to figure it out on her own without having to defining the meaning of death.

The nurse was is in hurry to end her shift and couldn't stand still for a second, "Hey! you... don't you have any relative or friend who can take you?"

After getting attacked by the mystery killer, George and Bob were found lying in the smashed car. They were immediately taken to the hospital and it was found that George had passed away, and Bob just had a few minor injuries. But in the process, Bob had deliberately swapped his identity with George, in order to be registered dead, so he could start a new life. George's car was seized by the police and an investigation was in process, but no authority had anything planned for Oriel.

She was lonely and clueless, but now that Collin was feeling himself responsible for her, he wasn't going to let her get treated like an orphan by the nurse.

"Mom! I will not go anywhere leaving Oriel alone," He stood firm in front of his mother, "If you want me to follow you, then she will come with me."

His mother was stunned at the mature and solemn tone of her son. She wasn't left with a choice by his tenacious eyes.

"Alright! she can come with us."