by Gaby Triana
I see them walking down the beach, their backs turned. Two of them are headed toward the Walrus, and three of them, in the direction of Haley Falls. I can just barely see the top of the lookout’s head, the one standing next to the shed. He’s turned and watching the shoreline instead of checking out the inside of the shed. Luck has thrown me a bone.
I pad off in the sand. Where to go, I have no idea. I walk in the direction of the island’s general public exit. Lampposts are turning on. The sky is purple to the north and dark blue to the east. Only a ribbon of orange remains in the west. Fantasy in the Sky is going to start soon, but Jason has not returned.
Why isn’t he here yet? That couldn’t have been the last time I saw him. I never even got to take a picture with him! This isn’t fair! Pictures . . . I left my phone in the shed! Damn it, I can’t go back for it.
There’s a rope bridge to my left. I head toward it since it’s hidden between two walls of trees. But it’s not long before I see someone—a lady up ahead wearing a safari hat and looking cast-memberish. When she turns to gaze at me curiously, I see her oval name tag with the Mickey head resembling a globe with grid line. Yup. Park employee.
“Miss? Can I help you?” she asks, smiling politely but clearly puzzled as to why I’m still here when all the guests have left.
“Where do I get the boat off the island? Sorry, I lost my folks and got totally disoriented.” I smile sheepishly, proud of my use of the word folks.
She thinks about this for a minute, and it seems like she’s about to point me in the direction of the pier, when she cocks her head. Naturally, her eyes fall on my frayed Daisy Dukes. “Are you the one they’re looking for?”
“What? No, of course not,” I lie. “Never mind, I remember where the pier is now. I just hope my family isn’t too worried about me.” I wave and shuffle past her, but this is a performance that can go only so far. In a few moments she’s telling someone else about me as I’m running down the path, and when I look back, there’re three of them, and one of them—an older man—is holding a walkie-talkie to his mouth.
“Damn it,” I mutter, running past a wading pool with flamingos, a tree with lots of screeching birds, and a few cages with I don’t know what else, because I’m moving too fast to care.
“Hold it right there,” a blond man says to my left, startling me. But I pick up speed and jump off the path, into trees, through knee-deep canals, past crates painted to look old. He’s behind me. I can hear him telling the others to catch up with us in the direction I’m headed.
Thanks for the tip, buddy.
So I break right to avoid them and sprint through the trees like there’re two outs in the tenth inning and my run will win the game. I burst out the opposite end of this clump of trees. I don’t know where I’m headed. Just trying to lose them. My only hope is to find Haley Falls and hide there until they leave. But I don’t know where that is anymore, and it’s hard to pass up the empty light blue, red, and yellow speedboats banked on the beach.
I make a break for them, sloshing into the water and pulling the blue one back with me. Is there a key? I need a key. . . . Yes, it’s in the ignition in the off position. I turn it on, hearing the boat groan to life. But then the men emerge on the beach running my way. This won’t work if they jump into the other two boats. Quickly, I hop out again and, using all the strength I have left in my legs, push the other boats into the water with my foot. Once they’re afloat, I give them another push until they drift out in the bay. Anyone can still climb into them, but now they’ll have to wade out into the water first.
“Miss, Walt Disney World authorities. Stop where you are!” they call out to me.
“Yeah, I know, I know,” I mutter, sitting at the wheel and pushing the throttle forward. The back end of the boat sinks slightly into the water as it picks up speed, and I must say, I am quite impressed with my 007 getaway and my total runaway attitude!
“Miss, I said stop where you are!”
This is awful. I’m running from the law. My dad would be so ashamed; my mother, so proud. Here I go. . . . I turn and speed straight for the marina, until I notice that the employee there has been informed of my whereabouts from the way he’s waving his arms for me to stop. So I turn the speedboat right onto the sandy beach across from Pioneer Hall instead. There’re a million people here sitting on the sand, in beach chairs, lying in hammocks, all waiting for the Fourth of July fireworks to begin. The perfect place to blend in.
Some people scatter, and I get a few odd looks, but I step out and run through the sand, weaving between the groups of people. For a moment I stop behind a big cypress tree to catch my breath. The aura is fighting its way to my vision again. I wish I had my meds. No, do not give in to it, Haley. Not now. Not before you see Jason one more time.
When I peek around the tree, the officials from Discovery Island are already docking and jumping off, looking for me. A few people point in my direction, and the men set out after me. Crap, crap! That’s it. It’s time to run full throttle. I book it.
All the way past the Settlement Trading Post, taking the shortcut to Jason’s trailer I remember from yesterday morning. Seems so long ago. They’re behind me. I can hear their frantic voices on their walkie-talkies. Why am I running, anyway? My breath is loud in my ears. The orange glow ebbs and flows in my peripheral vision.
I feel like I’ve done this before. Like I’ve been chased before. I hear people talking who are not there, concerned voices in my ear from somewhere beyond. Haley? Haley, can you hear me? “No,” I mumble. “No, no, no.”
So tired. I just want to sit down and rest. But I can’t. I can’t. Have to keep moving. Through a loop where the smells of BBQ hit me like a pile of bricks. I run past rows and rows of beige trailers. I think it was this way, but I don’t know where I am anymore. All I want to do is lie down. So exhausted. So overwhelmed.
I stop for one second, just one second . . . hands on my knees, breathing deep . . . in and out . . . in and out . . . in through the nose, out through the mouth. Gotta keep moving. I stand back up and turn around and smack into someone. I scream out loud and struggle, wrestling my arms out of their hold.
“So sorry. Are you okay?” That voice. Love that voice. He lets go of my arms. “Haley?”
I look up and see that face. That beautiful, surfer boy voice. “Jason?” I throw my arms around him. “They’re chasing me. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t.” This is too much. I’ve never been under so much pressure in my life. This is worse than the FCAT, yet this hasn’t made me seize in three days. Talk about resistance building.
“Haley, baby . . .”
“Take me with you, Jason,” I beg, biting my lip to keep from losing it. “I’ll go with you wherever you go. I can’t be here anymore. Please, just let me come with you.”
“You can’t come with me, Haley. Where would you go?”
“The army, wherever. I don’t care.”
He smiles sadly at the ridiculousness of what I’m saying. “Just face them, Haley. What’s the worst that could happen? They take you down to the station, they try to find your parents . . . eventually services will come get you, but it’s better than running from them.”
“No!” I cry. “I can’t. I can’t live this way. If I can’t be with you, then I have to find a way back home. This place isn’t for me. I’ve only stuck it out as long as I have because of you.”
The group of men break through the trees right as the first firework booms into the sky behind them. From far away I hear cheers from the beach crowd. The men slow down once they see they’ve found me, and I’m not running anymore. “Okay, that’s enough, miss. Come with us. We’re not here to hurt you.”
“She just needs a minute,” Jason says to them, holding his hand up.
“No!” I say again, tears welling up in my eyes. I fling them away. “I’m going with you,” I demand.
The blo
nd man comes up to me, and from behind me, I hear, “Thank you, Taylor. We’ll take it from here.” It’s In-Charge from the Mickey Police. He’s strolling up to me, smile on his face. “And you,” he says, pointing at Jason, “I believe you’re supposed to have vacated by now.”
“I was just leaving, sir. It’s okay to say good-bye, isn’t it?” Jason’s so polite and snarky at the same time. I love him for it. He turns to me and holds my hands. “Haley . . .” I swear, I’m going to faint. This doesn’t feel real anymore. It’s a dream. It has to be. A dream I’ve had before.
More fireworks boom into the sky. More cheers erupt. On the loop road, guests are running for the paths, hurrying to see the show that’s already started. Smells of roasted corn, hot dogs, charred burgers . . .
“Haley, go with them. It’ll be okay, I promise. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“How can you let me go?” I ask. I can’t help but feel like he’s abandoning me. But he’s right. Of course he is. I know it. I’ve hit a brick wall, a dead end; there’s no way out of this. His face, his gorgeous face, swerves in front of me. One second it’s here, and the next it’s two inches to the right.
If I can’t be with you, I don’t want to be here. I want to go home.
And because I need more stress, a police car pulls into the street and turns on its red and blue lights. No siren. Wouldn’t want to alarm the guests. Only the lights are left on—flashing—red and blue, red and blue, red and blue. . . .
Flashing in my face. My eyes.
Red and blue.
How can you let me go? my voice echoes. No control . . . let go. . . .
Jason’s voice from somewhere far away. “Because I love you, Haley.”
Fireworks boom, sparkles of light, fizzling, dissipating. Cheers.
Jason’s arms around me. I love you.
I fall.
Haley . . .
His hand cradling my head.
Bright white. Flickers of light.
Silence.
twenty-two
She’s moving.”
Who is?
“Haley.” Someone I know. Someone familiar to me is talking about me. “Haley?”
My tongue hurts. My head does too.
What’s going on? I ask, but no one answers me.
“She’s trying to speak.”
I see. I need to move my lips for them to hear me. “What happened?” I force the sound out of my mouth, but it comes out slurred. Open my eyes. There’s a bright lamp smack behind someone’s head, someone looking down at me. I have no idea who this is. He’s a big dark shape with a halo around his head.
“You had another seizure, honey.” A new voice is deep and rich, a voice that makes my heart soar, makes me feel five years old. Am I five years old? He moves into my line of vision next to the other hulking shape.
“Dad?”
He smiles—“Hi, honey”—and runs his fingers through my hair with one hand, the other holding his phone to his ear. “She’s awake. It’s okay, Jen. I’ll call you when we leave. Yeah, I’m going to give it to her right now.”
Wait, he’s talking to Mom. But he spoke so casually to her. On the phone. Usually they have text wars, furious fingers flying. Why so nice? I try to sit up.
“Whoa, take it easy there,” he says, holding my arm steady. He hands me a pill with a glass of water. “Here. Take your Tegretol.”
I take it and drink from the glass. I end up drinking the entire glass of water. Holy crap, thirsty. “Are you and Mom . . .” Together? I want to ask. But they’re divorced, aren’t they? Oh man, I’m so confused. Suddenly snippets of memories flash through my mind, fragments flying around and piecing themselves together. I sit up straight and stare at my dad in horror.
Fort Wilderness. Nineteen eighty-two.
I was there. He was there. A boy named Jason. Did I succeed in keeping my parents together?
Except that means . . . What about Alice and Willy? Without my future stepmom, do they even exist? Did I just succeed in making sure they’re never born? My head drops into my hands. “Oh, God, what have I done?”
“It’s okay, baby.” My dad holds both my arms and peers into my face. “You haven’t done anything. Your mom and I are fine.”
I look up, eyebrows twisting on my forehead. “So you guys are still married?” Now I won’t have my little brother and sister. Oh my God, what was I thinking? I look around. A few faces stare back at me. One of them is familiar, but I can’t tell who it is. The other . . . is Erica.
Erica? What’s she doing here if my parents are together? She smiles at me and wiggles her fingers. “Hey, you.”
My dad glances at Erica, then at me again. I’m confused, and they’re trying to help me. “No, honey. Your mom is in Jupiter. We’re not married anymore.” He and Erica chuckle. “I was just letting her know you’re okay. She was worried about you.”
Oh.
So they’re still divorced? I didn’t make them stay together forever? So it was fate? There was nothing I could do to change the outcome. But they were so friendly on the phone to each other just now, something I’ve never seen before. Did I do that? With my love-at-first-sight experiment? Did I ensure that even after splitting, they would always have a fondness for each other?
Well, that’s definitely an improvement. I’ll take it. “It was all a dream?”
Dad’s eyebrows twist in confusion. He and Erica exchange lots of silent glances. “Haley, what are you talking about?”
“My little brother and sister?” I ask, looking around. “Where are they?”
“They’re outside. On the rocking chairs.”
“Rocking chairs,” I reply. Why can’t I put it all together? So frustrating!
“Yes, at Pioneer Hall. We’re in Fort Wilderness. We came on vacation, remember? But you apparently went trespassing last night, like the mother’s child that you are, and lost consciousness back there in River Country. It’s the next day. About dinnertime.”
I look at Erica. “I made you miss the Magic Kingdom,” I mumble.
“It’s okay, Haley. We’re just glad you’re okay,” Erica says.
So it was a dream. Everything had happened in my mind. I just fell and dreamed it all. I’d be lying if I didn’t say how excruciatingly disappointed that makes me.
“This man right here found you.” Dad points to the other guy blocking the light.
He steps out of the glare and smiles at me. I half recognize him. His brown eyes are dark, eyebrows heavy. There’s gray around his temples, and I cannot, for the life of me, say where I’ve seen him before.
“Thanks again, old buddy.” My dad claps him on the shoulder. They know each other. Yes, I’ve seen him before. He’s rescued me before.
“Not a problem, Oscar.”
Wait. He’s rescued me before?!
“Do I need to sign any release forms, Jake? I’ll take her straight to the Orange County Hospital from here.”
“Jake?” I stare at him.
No way! He doesn’t have a mustache, and he’s not wearing shorts that are too small for him, but he’s old, like my dad, and he’s giving me a very, very cautious look, like I shouldn’t call him Jake or let on that I know him. But ohmigosh, it’s Jake! It wasn’t a dream! It was real!
A flood of dream memories charges into my mind, like when he was looking down at me as I lay on the beach in River Country, making sure I was okay. The moment I met his brother, Jason, the glowing blond hairs on his arm, the fireworks, the Marshmallow Marsh . . .
Jake laughs nervously, looking up at my dad. “Can I speak to your daughter alone? I need to go over some safety rules that we expect from our guests here at Fort Wilderness. It’s just a formality, buddy. I’ll let her go in a minute.”
Wary looks from my dad, but he signals for Erica to come outside with him. “Yeah, sure. We�
�ll be right outside.” For a moment, I hear Willy and Alice crying, “Daddy!” Then he closes the door behind him, and it’s only me and Jake.
A slow smile spreads on his face. “Hello, Haley.”
“Jake! Where’s your brother? Is he here? Oh my God, he’s here? How old is he? Oh my God, this is freaking me out.” I want to see him. I want to see him, until I realize he wouldn’t be the same exact person anymore. Sort of, but different. And way older.
“Relax, Haley. He’s not here.”
“Oh.”
What does that mean? Is he dead? He died in the army, didn’t he? I cover my face with my hands and take a deep breath in.
“He’s in Glendale. California. At WDI.”
Glendale, California.
I uncover my face. “What’s WDI?” I ask, my voice unsteady.
“Imagineering. He’s an engineer for Disney.” He must see the look of utter shock, confusion, relief, and holy-crap happiness on my face, because he clarifies as much as he can, for the utterly stupid person I am right now. “He works for Disney, hon, just like I do. Except I’m here, and he’s there. We got through some hard times because of this place. We owe them.”
I haven’t cried in years. Then I cried when I left Jason. And now I’m crying again. “He’s an engineer for Disney. . . .” My voice trails off, and my hands cover my face again. “That is so nice to hear, Jake. Oh my God. So nice to hear.” My eyes leak, wetting my hands and cheeks. I wipe the tears away.
His hand closes over my shoulder, and I don’t know why, but this makes me sob harder. I look up at him, and he smiles sadly. Now I see it. The twenty-year-old Jake there, right in his cheeks. “Yeah. I was worried about him too.”
“What does he do for them? Engineer what?”
“Ride designs. Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster, for one.” He tilts his head and waits for me to think about that.
And . . . I think I’m going to pass out again. There’s too many emotions going on, and I don’t feel well. So, the love of my life, who is now too old for me, who lived on without me, made it through his hard times without me, created my favorite ride of all the rides at Disney World? I . . . I can’t think of anything more sad but awesome right now.