by Lee Beard
"The black one and orange one are Bagheera and Shere Khan," Jim crossed the kitchen as he spoke, "Appropriate since they're always scuffling. That's Duchess," he pointed at the mostly white cat with gray tabby patches, "The solid gray is Dinah, and the mama cat is Nala."
"Mama cat?" Ella asked excitedly.
"Yes ma'am," Jim opened a bottom cabinet slightly and slid the bowl in. "She's under here."
"Baby kittens?" Joey asked, his voice barely over a whisper.
Jim nodded and opened the cabinet slightly, waving them over. Joey and Ella crept up to the cabinet slowly, peeking in to see a gray tabby nursing five small wriggly lumps of different colors.
"Can I pet them?" Ella asked.
"Not right now," Jim replied, shutting the door and standing back up. "They're eating too, but maybe in a little while they'll be done and I can pull one out for a minute."
Joey stood off to the side, trying to pet three cats as they circled and rubbed his legs.
"Where you folks headed?" Jim asked.
"We're meeting up with a friend," Zach replied, trying to be vague.
"His name is Ira and he lives in the radio!" Ella piped up before anyone could shush her.
"Ira from Nowhere?” Jim smiled. “I've got five first-aid kits thanks to him.” He gestured to his stockroom.
"Are you and the kitties coming to Ira's house, too?" Ella asked, reaching down to pet the cats still circling Joey.
Jim shook his head. "No reason to. I'm content here in my cabin with my animals; I stocked up on food and’ve been chopping wood for the upcoming winter. I don't really need anything else."
"Do you ever get scared at nighttime?" Ella asked.
"No. I know I'm well protected."
"Don't you get bored?" Ella continued her battery of questions.
"Ella, that's not nice," Millie spoke up.
Jim smiled. "I think I'm going to take up woodworking and gardening, but for now I mostly chop wood and hike and watch movies."
"Movies?" Ella's eyes grew wide. "How many movies do you have?"
Jim opened up a closet near the front door, displaying a shelving unit of easily over two hundred movies. "I collect 'em as I come across 'em. I've got everything from cartoons to foreign language films."
"Cartoons!" Ella squealed, clapping her hands.
"I can put a movie on while I work on lunch for us," Jim said, "You and Joey just need to pick one out." Ella squealed again, and she and Joey dove into the collection of movies.
"How can we help?" Zach asked.
Jim pulled a big black pot out from a cupboard. "If you could fill this with water, I'd appreciate it!"
Zach obliged, and Millie stepped forward. "Is there anything you need food-wise?"
"I was planning on tuna helper for today, so if y'all got anything that would complement it, feel free to pitch it in."
Millie ducked outside to grab a couple of cans of peas, and a tin of tuna. Ella handed Jim 'The Jungle Book' cartoon, and he popped it into the small battery-powered DVD player. A sudden wave of nostalgia swept over Zach as he heard the opening music, reminiscing for a moment.
Millie re-entered the room as Jim showed Zach where to put the pot - on a rack over the fireplace flame - and helped him get it into place.
“Thank you for sharing your food with us,” Millie said, setting the peas down on the wooden countertop.
“You're supposed to help those who need help,” Jim said simply, “Keeping y’all dry and feeding you is the least I could do.”
Zach glanced at the twins who sat enraptured on the floor in front of the DVD player’s screen. “We’ve got to get us one of those.”
The water began to boil, and Jim poured the noodles into the pot, adding a touch of salt.
“Salt keeps the noodles from sticking,” he mentioned. Jim set his egg timer and sat back to wait.
By the time they ate and cleaned up, the rain had slowed to almost nothing. Zach loaded their things back into his trike basket as Ella and Joey said goodbye to all of Jim's cats.
"Lunch was wonderful, thank you again for letting us stay for as long as we have." Millie said to Jim.
"No problem. Y'all will be okay out there on the road? You know there’s plenty of open cabins around if you need somewhere to rest for the night, just look for one with no cars in the driveway. I'd let you stay here, but my house frankly isn't big enough."
"Oh it's fine!" Millie assured. "We've got to be on our way anyhow."
"Millie, you ready?" Zach called.
"Coming!" Millie replied. "Well, is that everything?"
"Yes ma'am! It's been nice getting to know you folks. If y'all are ever back this way, feel free to stop by."
"Thank you, Jim." Millie smiled.
"Goodbye Miss Millie. Zach." Jim extended his hand to Zach.
"Bye, Jim," Zach replied, shaking his hand. "Thanks.”
Zach and Millie loaded up the twins, climbed onto their trikes, and rode off down the road.
Down the road lay another cabin, a two-story home made of redwood.
“Let’s go there!” Ella cried upon seeing it, “Stairs!”
Once Zach broke in and made sure nobody was currently occupying the cabin, the twins were allowed to run up the indoor stairs and bump down them on their bottoms until they tired themselves out.
“I’m not sleepy,” Ella yawned as Millie carried her up to the bedroom that had two twin beds. Joey followed closely behind, thumb firmly planted in his mouth.
“I think you are, Love,” Millie replied, pulling back the checkered quilt and crisp sheets.
“Bedtime story?” Joey asked as he climbed up into the second bed.
Millie thought for a moment. “Okay, but only one.” She pulled a teal wooden chair out from the corner and sat down in it.
“Once upon a time,” she began, conjuring the story as she spoke, “There lived…” she paused.
“A princess bear!” Ella chirped.
“A princess bear,” Millie continued, “And a?” She looked at Joey. The boy’s thumb was firmly planted in his mouth, and he smiled around it.
“A knight bear, of course! The princess bear was named Ella, and the knight bear was named Joey.”
“Like us!” Ella blinked slowly.
“That’s right. And one day, the two little bears were outside playing when they met two other, bigger bears. The two bigger bears asked the little bears if they wanted to go on an adventure to a far-away castle, and the two little bears said ‘yes.’ So, the four bears all set out on an adventure across the world, heading straight for the magical castle. They had little adventures and expeditions along the way-”
“And a monster,” whispered Joey. He yawned.
“Yes…and there was a monster, too.” Millie reached out to stroke the boy’s hair. “But the big bears told the little bears that the big bears would protect them forever, and that no monsters would ever hurt the little bears, even if the monsters ever popped up and were scary.”
“Did the bears get to the castle?” Ella asked, her eyelids drooping.
“They did,” a voice said from behind Millie. Millie glanced back at Zach, who’d appeared in the doorway at some point when she was telling the story. “They got to the castle and they lived happily ever after.”
“Good.” Ella said softly, eyes closing. “I like…happy endings.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Ira leaned away from the microphone off for a moment, settling his notebook in front of him. He took a swig of his water canteen, and leaned forward in his seat. "Friends, I know that things are difficult at present. We’ve all felt the loss, the profound loss of everyone we loved and the world that we knew, and sometimes it can be tempting to lie down and never get up again. It may feel as though the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now, but know that you are not alone. You are never alone..."
Gina pushed as Louis tried to lift the dolly out of the pothole in the middle of the road it'd sunk into. Eric wince
d, biting his lip to try and stay quiet. The dolly suddenly popped loose and Eric cried out loudly as his foot smacked against the metal, his scream echoing down the road.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Louis said, grimacing. Eric fell back against the dolly, eyes closed tightly in pain. Suddenly, Hank let out a low growl, staring unblinkingly down the road. The trio stopped and followed his gaze. There, in the exact middle of the road, stood a palomino pony with a long white mane. Astride the pony sat an older woman with long, jet black hair braided over her shoulder. They froze as she nudged the pony forward wordlessly, stopping about twenty feet away.
"What are you young'uns doing out here all by yourselves?"
Louis and Gina exchanged a look, and Louis spoke up. "Uh...he broke his leg and we're going to fix it."
The woman raised an eyebrow. "Not like that you're not." She turned her pony slightly, aiming him toward the road she'd just come down. "Come on, we haven't got all day." The pony slowly plodded forward. leaving the trio dumbfounded. The woman stopped and glanced over her shoulder at Eric. "You want your leg fixed or not? Let's go!"
Gina glanced at Eric and began to follow, letting Louis push the dolly slowly up the road after the woman.
"...this is an entirely new world compared to what we once knew. In any time of upset and uncertainty, there will be those who will try to take advantage of the good-hearted. You must be vigilant. Look out for the snake in the grass; he’ll bite your heel and slither off before you even realize he’s there. Stay alert, and always watchful..."
Drake shook the can to mix the remaining paint. He planted a hand on the billboard's white surface, slowly and carefully finishing the "N"'s final line.
"Looks great, Drake!" He heard Xavier call from far below, his voice barely reaching. "They'll be able to see it from miles around!"
Drake smiled placidly to himself and stepped back, dropping the can off the side of the walkway. He admired his work, the six-foot-tall blue letters standing out like beacons against the white background. Community, HOPE. Fly, TN. He turned around and looked down the highway where Cleo was putting the finishing arrow on her sign: Come to Fly, We Offer Refuge. She would be rewarded well for the readability of her writing. Drake hummed to himself as he swung his leg over the edge and began to descend the ladder. Everything was going perfectly according to plan.
"...you mustn’t give up; you have to keep going. There is always a reason to continue on, even if it’s not obvious to you at this moment. Find something to do, somewhere to go, someone to be with; loneliness is the new murderer in the night, and you cannot let it take you down. You must keep moving, keeping striving for a reason to carry on. Because trust me, it is out there...Stay safe, stay vigilant, and I will talk to you again the same time tomorrow. As always, this is Ira at Radio Nowhere, signing off until we meet again."
The End
Epilogue
"Hello?"
Ira whipped his head toward the open door and fell silent. Could…it be?
"Is there anyone in here?"
The old man switched off the microphone and grabbed his cane, struggling to his feet. He limped out the door and made his way to the edge of the stairway. There, at the bottom of the stairs in the lobby, stood a teenaged boy. His clothes were dirty, and his hair shaggy. The boy suddenly looked up at Ira and straightened.
"Are you Ira?"
"I am." Ira's voice betrayed his relief.
The boy’s shoulders relaxed and he looked behind him. A girl about his age stepped into the dim light, holding a small sleeping boy in her arms. A young girl held onto her shirttail, a thumb firmly planted in her mouth.
"My name is Zach Carter," the boy began, stepping to the edge of the stairs.
"Zach," Ira mused, trying to contain his joy. "Yes, welcome."
"We’re so glad to meet you," the older girl said, shifting the small boy she held.
"And I'm very glad to meet you all as well. Come," Ira said, gesturing up the stairs, "Let me show you around. We have much to talk about."
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Epilogue