An Eternity of Eclipse by Con Template Page B

darkness of the overcast sky. He truly resembled nothing short of a little ball of sunshine.
    “Hi Sony!” I greeted back, unable to resist his contagious excitement.
    “Grace, what are you holding?” he inquired once he reached me. His voice was infused with eagerness. His big, curious brown eyes peered up at me and the bags in my possession.
    I smiled and tilted my head at him coyly. Even though I was excited to tell him because I knew he was going to adore my answer, I did my best to keep my voice aloof. It was more fun to keep him in anticipation.
    “Oh, you know . . . stuff.”
    “Stuff?”
    “You know,” I trailed again, my smile growing wider, “Halloween decorations. Halloween snacks. And new movies.”
    His eyes lit up like a soccer stadium. “Really?”
    I nodded, inclining my head at the shelter. I began to make my way towards the estate. “Yeah, I just stopped by to drop these off—”
    “Here! Let me help!” Sony interjected, relieving two bags from each of my hands.
    I made sure he was holding the lightest bags before I went on. “And I’m going to head to the store to buy some pumpkins for everyone to carve. Do you want to come and help me pick out the good ones?”
    If it was even possible, Sony’s eyes lit up even more with excitement.
    “Yeah!” he confirmed as we bounced up the steps and headed into the shelter. In one of the recreational rooms, I could see some volunteers administering mock interviews with some of the mothers, some tutoring the teenagers, and several other volunteers prepping for a seminar that was about to take place. “Yeah, I wanna come!”
    I smiled approvingly. I truly enjoyed Sony’s company and I looked forward to having him accompany me to do some pumpkin shopping. I figured if there were anyone who would enjoy picking out pumpkins, it would be Sony. 
    Before I got ahead of myself, I made sure to confirm that he was settled with any other commitments he might have had for the day.
    “Have you finished all your chores and everything else?”
    His head bounced up and down like a bobbing figurine. His small and eager footsteps matched mine. “I finished everything this morning, just in case you had to do shopping!”
    I laughed, ruffling his hair. On the way upstairs, we waved at a couple of volunteers and climbed up to the second level where I usually watched the kids.
    “Great!” I said after we stepped into the living room and deposited our bags onto a glass coffee table. “Now go grab a warm jacket. The weather’s crazy nowadays. It was sunny earlier, but I have a feeling that it might rain later.”
    Sony gave a fervent nod of agreement and ran back to his room. As soon as he disappeared into the hall, five cute little rugrats came running into the room to take his place. They must have heard my voice across the hall.
    “Grace!” the little voices screamed out in unison. “Hi Grace!”
    Standing before me, eyes wide with innocence, were the five other kids I’ve come to adore: Kimmi, Lulu, Anni, Woo, and Timmi. All ranged from the ages of six to nine—Lulu and Anni being six and twins, Kimmi being seven, and Woo and Timmi being eight and nine respectively. It always amazed me to see how bubbly and happy these children were. Considering the circumstances of how they came here, it was an incredible thing.
    They all had fathers who abused their mothers and all had mothers who had no choice but to pack up everything, take their kids, and escape to an unfamiliar place to seek shelter. I felt so terrible for them and was only too eager to be around them. The least I could do was offer them a bit of fun on Sundays to help ease their minds away from the reality of their lives—if only for a brief moment.
    “Hey guys,” I greeted with a big smile, crouching down on the floor. They surrounded me like bees to honey when I was eye-level with them. “What’s up?”
    “Grace!” Timmi prompted. His eyes were already darting to the bags behind me.