#tiny!balthazar

“What’s it this time?” Matt answers, knowing that his irritable teenage friend is always looking for the chance to complain about something or other. Not that his life was too bad, living in the long forgotten and hidden basement of the motel allowed Alfie and his clan of borrowers to live in peace and prosperity. But teenagers are teenagers, so the college student allows his friend to rant about his annoying sisters and the fact that his dad was bugging him to learn a trade, like leatherworks, or food production. A few windows hidden by shrubs gave the basement sunlight enough for them to grow crops.

It was Alfie who Matt had found, seven years ago when the tiny nine year old had snuck out on his own and gotten trapped in eleven year old Matt’s laundry pile. The two were scared of each other at first, but grew to be fast friends. They kept their friendship secret for months from both their families Alfie got caught sneaking out and confessed his friendship.  It was agreed upon  by the village leaders that Matt was allowed to know about the rest of the borrowers in the motel and where they live.

Since then, Matt has kept his friend’s secret, making sure they stay safe. Alfie visits most nights when he’s on the night shift. Matt nodded as his friend rants about his life, fueled on hormones and teenage rage. He was surprised to feel another tug on his pants. Looking down to see blond hair and a scowl Matt grinned.

“Where’s the up button on this elevator” Balthazar yelled up at the human. Matt folded himself over in his seat to offer his hand to one of the village leaders. Balthazar had an old leg injury from when they trekked to the motel all those years ago, but he was also a lazy bastard when it came to anything physical so Matt lent a helping hand whenever he came to visit.

“Long time no see Balth.” The mouthiest third of the counsel looked tired.

“Yes yes, I’ve been up for sixteen hours helping other people with their problems and I need a place to sleep uninterrupted. Goodnight.” He turned on his heel and limped slightly to a pull-out drawer that everyone else at the motel thought was stuck but instead just needed borrower fingers to undo the tiny latches. Inside, was a square of memory foam and a few blankets that Alfie slept in when he got tired during a late night visit.

Balthazar, along with Hanna and Anna were the leaders of the borrower community. Balthazar was good at helping people solve issues. He’s watched far too many hours of judge judy but hannah admits it has helped his decision making process. The three of them make the major decisions, like crop rotation and the job pays. Most borrowers learn a trade, those who don’t go out into the empty rooms for finding whatever they can. Sometimes it’s food, or lost clothing. Once it was a large topaz earring! They decided to deliver it to Matt who contacted the couple who was staying in the room. The two women thanked him profusely for finding it and gave him a monetary reward which Matt gave back to the borrowers. They instead decided to use the money to buy new seeds.

The borrowers grew more food than they needed.(one zucchini was larger than most of their houses) so they traded the excess with Matt for other goods. Matt had searched online and found several old mini-televisions that he tinkered with and hooked up to the motel cable supply.  

Currently, Matt was enrolled in a few classes in the nearby community college, but was planning on going to a four year to learn business management. He was going to inherit the motel one day and wanted to know how to let it prosper and keep it that way. Business had already increased since he fixed up their yelp page and created a nice website with help from a friend working on computer graphics.

Alfie’s rant soon ran dry. He wasn’t really angry, but just wanted someone to listen.

“I’ve been painting more.”  He fished out a small roll of paper out of his backpack and unrolled it for Matt to see. Matt gave him a water painting set for his last birthday, and the kid was taking to it like a fish to water. (watching bob ross on youtube helped) Matt held his breath as he leaned in closer to the smaller boy. Alfie brandished the painting over his head. Matt could make out gradient shades of blue and purple.

“Getting better.”

“Bob Ross says you do the best job when you do something that makes you happy. This makes me happy.”

“Why don’t you look into painting rooms? I’m sure that some people in the village would love painted rooms.”

“You think so?” Matt folds an arm and rests his chin on it.

“I know so. When Balthazar wakes up, Talk to him about using some nearby walls for practice. Aaaaaand-” He pases to pass a slip of paper three inches tall and six inches wide rolled up into a thin tube to his diminutive friend.

“Your first commission! I want a painting, and in return i’ll get you something new to draw with.” He thought of the good crayola crayons he picked up at the 99cent store. Something that could easily be shared with the other kids. Alfie takes the paper with a smile.

“What do you want me to draw?”

“Something that makes you happy.”

“Will do.”

An hour later has Matt sending his smaller friend back home to his bed because Balthazar was taking the spare. Matt works on his homework, does some late night blogging and catches up on a magical boy cartoon. Twenty minutes before he knows Gary, the early morning shift front desk guy will come in, he wakes Balthazar, who requests a ride to the basement. Matt easily agrees and drops off the small blonde man four feet away by the nearest vent, which is about a half an hour walk for the small man to get back to the village.