Shay looked at him, then the book. She breathed in slowly, perhaps a bit shakily. Was she nervous? Her face portrayed no emotion. She flipped slowly through the book, tilting it upward so he couldn't see it.
"She sees them. Creatures so tall and imposing they suck up the limited light in the room. They are faceless, with eyes that burn like fire and teeth so black and so large they talk up half these creatures' faces. She should be afraid, but she's not. She's angry." Shay paused, pursing her lips. "They do not laugh as she expects them to, do not taunt her or cackle. But they crowd her. They stare into her soul and try to pull her fear to the forefront. She knows she can't let them, but there is the smell of blood thick in the air, and the copper taste lingers on her tongue."
He listened to all the words they spoke as carefully as he could, he wanted to get the most out of this and leave the best impression but most of the words he didn't understand, he'd never admit to it however.
Shay didn't know how to take his silence, so she continued reading. "They close in, but at the last second burst into nothing but shadow, leaving her to wonder if they were ever there to begin with. She's alone, and it's dark outside. Lost in the woods, she wanders, stumbles, really. She called out in a meek voice, but no one answers. It feels like hours, or days, she can't tell, that she walks. Her body hurts, and her stomach pleads for sustenance, but she had nothing to offer it. Nothing to sate the ever-growing panic in her breast."
Shay is quiet; then she shuts the book and her dark eyes land on Tia. For a long second, all she does is stare, somewhere far away in her head. When she clears her throat, her voice cracks some.
Seeing the book close Tia clapped his hands together , then realized he was in a library so he put them away quickly. "Sorry miss shay." He whispered to them hoping that he wasn't too loud. "You're a very nice reader."
"Erm, yeah," her cheeks brighten for a moment. She hadn't been reading, she'd been making the story up, which was why she had blushed, but he didn't need to know that. "Why don't you find something you want to read and I can help you read it?"
"Okee dokee!" He walked off in search for a nice story, he didn't read much so it's not as if he knew what any of the books were about so luckily he could judge by the cover. He grabbed what he thought was a pretty looking cover from the kids section then returned, he handed the book over and said "Here you go!"
Shay looked at the book. "Little Red Riding Hood?" She held it back out to him, tentatively scooting her chair, so she was beside him. "Okay, well, start reading it then." She opened the book to the first page. It was done in pretty watercolors that seemed to blur together but still managed to paint a vibrant picture.
"Read? Oh yeah of course," he opened the book and looked at the words his faced showed difficulty "w-w-one dah little red rideang wait no riding! Hud no you said it's pronounced hood right?" He looked back up to them blushing in embarrassment.
Sha's face was set in a deep scowl as she watched him. "You...don't know how to read at all, do you?" She pointed to the words he was showing difficulty with. "Sound it out. D-A-Y. Day, not dah. Y and a make a pronounced ahh sound. H-o-o-d, two o's makes an oo sound, hood."
Shay was calm as she explained things. She didn't mind ignorance. It wasn't his fault, she didn't know the circumstances of his life, so she continued doing this for words he was struggling with. The only way for him to get better was by reading.
After a long time of learning how to say, read words, and learning what said words meant they finished the short book "Wowsers.. there a lot of rules in reading miss Shay." He placed his head on the table in defeat. "I'll never learn them all."