A little imagination(critics welcome)

     Every time I looked at his face, every time our eyes met, I was immediately wrapped into the fictional paradise clouding my thought. Why I had fallen so hard for him, I didn't know, nor did I really care. He infected my every thought, sight, words, everything I thought was solely mine. <br>     I had never seen him before I moved to Kenya, but I knew him. I had talked with him over the phone. Our fathers were best friends, they did everything together. The days our fathers would be ongoing on the phone, we would talk on chat, email, anything to compare our fathers and try to crack the code of how they were so tightly bonded. Each try ending in a failed attempt.<br>     I shivered despite the intense heat as his hand rested ever so lightly on my left shoulder, spinning me slowly around to face him. "Davien could use a few extra hands at the well. I may have offered us up to the job." He said, his innocent sounding voice running through my ears like silk.<br>     Great. More work. Not that I wasn't for the whole 'Mission' thing, I just wasn't for the whole 'him' thing. Being this close for this long to him made me queasy for some reason I couldn't quite pin point. Instinctively I grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. "Uh, Kaleb. Tell Davien I will be there soon. My, uh....... my father needs an extra hand real fast."<br>     Worst. Lie. Ever. I had always been a horrible lier and actor, but I only seemed to slip up the worst around Kaleb. Everything seemed tied to Kaleb, and I hated it. Sure, he was cute, sweet, kind, but there was something about him that I could never get over. Something....... odd. <br>     Turning on my heels, I half skipped half jogged to my small temporary tent house just around the river bend from the work site. Inside the tent, it was dim and I could barely make out the frail, elegant figure of my mother who sat by a large tub of soapy water, washing clothing. At her feet, Justin, my eighteen month old brother sat, fiddling with a homemade doll one of the natives had presented him.<br>     My mother looked up from her work as I trod by and collapsed onto my hammock bed, staring blankly at the tent roof. "Shouldn't you be out working, dear?" She questioned, keeping her hands moving with work as she focused her eyes on me.<br>     "Just wanted a break, mom. It is hot outside, after all." I began, pausing to pick up a giggling Justin and continued after I set him on my lap. "Davien asked Kaleb and me to help him with something at the well and I told Kaleb I would meet him at the well in a few minutes."<br>     Mother paused from her work and brought me a cup of water, which I happily sipped. "I see. Just make your rest quick. Davien needs no trouble. Poor man has taken on so much, he is stressed. You should offer to help out with his daughter. She apparently could use some help with her studies and seems to get lonely while Davien is away, which is quite often. You know, darling, he may pay you well if you offer up your services."<br>     I rolled my eyes instinctively. Of course she would say that, it was just like her. She was always searching for jobs. She was consumed by jobs, yet she couldn't seem to find one. They were all for me or for my father. Anyone but her. "Okay mom, soundss great, I will check on that." I offered my lie as I set the half full cup of water on the table in front of her and ducked out of the tent, taking my time to walk to Davien's work site(which, sadly, was only a two minute we away).<br>     Kaleb seemed to appear behind me out of thin air as I reached the work site. One moment he was nowhere to be found, the next his hand was resting on my shoulder in greeting. "Did you finish helping your father?"<br>     I nodded my head and pulled out of reach of his hand, ducking inside of the tent where Davien sat, whipping his forehead with a dirt covered rag, smearing brown streaks over his face. "Hello,  Jordan, Kaleb, glad you could come help. I could use a few extra hands competing the well. We just have to set the last few pieces of piping up then open the main valve to let the water flow. Up for it?" <br>     Kaleb spoke for us both as I fixed my eyes on a tiny sleeping figure in a bed behind Davien. The small child looked around four years old and was laying with her back to us, unmoving. "Davien, who is that?" I asked, my curiosity speaking before my mind could stop it.<br>     Davien cocked his head to follow my gaze and turned back to my, his brow raised in his usual 'sad and tired' look. "That is Tigist. Poor girl is sick with with the HIV virus. Horrible disease to live with. Her mother died a few days ago from the virus. She had no one left and I couldn't leave her on the streets. Anyways, let's get started." He finished, standing and pushing us out of the tent, the whole time my eyes locked on the girl. Something about her moved me inside. I wanted, no I needed, to meet her personally.<br>     Outside, I was useless to Kaleb and Davien. I had no idea how to fix a well, let alone use the tools required to do so. Instead, Davien had me clean off the piping before it was used. The pips had become muddy due to the storm a few nights ago and needed a proper washing before they could carry drinking water.<br>    Plunging the first pipe into the bucket of water Davien provided me. I used my fingers to rub the mud off or the piping. My thoughts were trained on Tigist as I worked consistently, finishing one pipe, setting it on the plastic tarp to my left, and retrieving another dirty one and repeating the prowess over and over.<br>     When I finally finished cleaning, I carried the piping and plastic tarp to Kaleb and Darien's side, laying it out neatly and kneeling beside them. "Um, Mr. Krip, may I go, uh, see, uh, Tigist?" <br>     Davien turned to look at me, his eyes running over my figure in question. "Intrested in her story?" He asked, obviously confused by my question in point.<br>     "Sort of." Half of the truth, at least it wasn't a total lie.<br>     "Go ahead, you are done for know."<br>     A smile lit my face and a nodded my thank you before standing and slipping into the tent and sitting in the chair Davien was in when Kaleb and I arrived. Tigist, who must have been lying awake, turned to face me as I sat down. Her eyes were full of sorrow and her face was tired and full of defeat. "Who are you?" She asked in her croaky, dry voice.<br>     "I-I-I'm Jordan." I stammered awkwardly, locking my eyes with hers. "Do you mind if I sit here? Maybe talk with you?"<br>     "I guess." She answered, turning over fully to face me. "Your one of the Americans, aren't you?"<br>     I nodded and raised my eyebrow. "How do you know English?"<br>     "Mr. Krip taught me since I could speak. He is a nice man, very special."<br><br><br><br><span style="font-weight:bold">So, this is just a little story I have been working on the last couple of minutes because I was bored. Any and all feedback is welcome!</span>