by K. Manna
Oh, Eli, I wish you could see me now. Your stone is still with me and has been through everything that I have been through. I wish you could be here.
WHOOT!
Sir Felix waved his arms from the side of the road.
Gage took an early lead, slightly quicker than Elise and Ricky. His wet, wavy hair flew through the air, but it would be dry very soon at the speed he ran. Those feet of his ate up the ground with remarkable speed, the others only a second behind. Elise’s wet ponytail swung back and forth with the wind.
The camera zoomed in and out, giving different shots of the runners and the racing path. During difficult camera shots where the road began to twist and turn too quickly, the camera would zoom out to a satellite view. Again, their destination was a blinking white light far ahead. The runners were denoted with colored lights. In the upper-right corner of the screen, Gage was the color blue.
Blue is the royal color. Hopefully, that is a sign that he will win. Yes, it will bring good luck.
Elise was the color red, and Ricky’s color was green. Gage’s blue light led the way, with the green light tagging closely behind and the red light almost, but not quite, touching green.
ZOOM.
The camera zoomed back in showing a close-up of the three racing through the woods, jumping over thick branches on the ground, and dodging the maze of trees in their path. Even a cluster of birds in a tree became spooked suddenly by the incoming rush of speed. Ricky zigzagged through the trees, running right beside Gage now. The two ran side by side, sweat flinging from their faces.
Through the woods and out into the open they came; rocky cliffs stood high not far ahead. Gage had regained the lead by only footsteps. Like little monkeys, each of them sprang up onto the rocky wall, speedily placing their fingers and toes into rocky crevices. Up, higher and higher they went. Ricky had mad climbing skills that brought him slightly ahead of Gage. Elise climbed not too far behind until she lost her footing midway up the cliff wall but rapidly started to climb again. Then Ricky reached the very top, scrambling to his feet. Gage just about flew over the edge when Ricky stubbed his foot against a rock causing him to slow, but not for long. On the two of them ran. Running for their lives, their future, their everything. Elise finally pulled herself onto flat land and hurried to catch up.
A large grassy slope curved downward from the rocky land. Ricky and Gage traded leads, again and again. Their fast feet took them down, down, down the hill. At the bottom a steep hill trailed upwards, a bright-blue arrow sign signaled for them to go up it as they charged for the top. Elise sped down the hill as they made their way up.
Poor Elise. She can see the two of them ahead of her battling it out, battling over the one and most important thing to her: winning the Royals Rise.
Elise didn’t give up, though. She kept running. She kept believing in herself.
More green forest lay ahead. Gage and Ricky cruised into the thick mass of trees, jumping, dodging, and winding through the wilderness with all of their speed and all of their might. Trees, trees, and still more trees lined up before them. Startled animals scurried away as they approached. The shadowed forest gleamed with little specks of sunlight that had finally crept through the clouds and beamed through the leaves. An even brighter light lit the edge of the forest.
This is it! Sir Felix said there would be a stream next and then the finish line not too far off.
Gage ran and leapt over a large rock, landing in a splatter of mud that flew in all directions, even onto his face and into his hair. Ricky took a running leap over a massive rock in his way, sliding into the mud and falling backward until his hands gripped chunks of mud. He sprung back onto his feet, but not fast enough because Gage had gained the lead. Not much … but still. Elise followed behind witnessing all the slippage.
Water rushed down the stream in front of them, the ground slanting into muddy, rock-filled waters. Gage suddenly threw himself through the air and over the stream. Ricky obviously had the same idea as he followed close on his tail. As the two of them sailed through the air, I took a look back at Elise who darted through the mud where Ricky had just fallen. Then something unexpected began to happen. Gage touched ground but came up short, missing the muddy edge of land that dipped down into the stream. His arms and legs flailed about as he struggled to regain balance, but he was unable to stop himself on the slippery bank. He fell to the ground, head smashing against the sharp edge of a rock. My heart stopped as I watched. Everything in that very moment stopped. Stillness. Silence. Gage did not move. Nothing happened, not in that moment or even the moments that followed. Ricky was out of sight by then, running for the finish. Then Elise ran to the edge of the stream and her face grew concerned seeing Gage’s body on the ground.
I sprang out of my chair. “Gage! I need to get to him! What if he’s not all right? I need to get to him!” I cried out hysterically.
I couldn’t watch the screen any longer. I had to get to Gage immediately. I had to help him, to heal the gash on his head from that damn rock. I slammed through the balcony doors and ran as fast as I could down all of those winding steps.
Stupid, stupid steps! What has happened? Is Gage going to be okay? I need to get to him right now!
“Please, please be okay, Gage. Please,” I prayed.
My body shook with worry and unease. The taste of blood touched my tongue as I chewed the inside of my lower lip. At the bottom of the staircase, I swung the large double doors open and ran out in search of anyone or anything to get me to Gage.
“Somebody, anybody, please … please help me!” I screamed, looking all around with tearful, darting eyes.
Leenda came running through the doors with keys jingling in her hand. “Margo. Come with me. I will take you to him.”
I wiped the tears falling from my eyes. “Okay. Th-th-thank you, Leenda.”
The two of us rushed toward the fancy black car that sat in front of the palace. Leenda started that sucker up like a crazy woman, slamming on the accelerator. My tear-filled eyes, still blurry as hell, looked out the window. I saw Sasha and Anton standing outside of the open palace doors, concern draining their faces.
Leenda kept her foot firmly on the accelerator. “I know where he is, honey. I have been to that stream many a time.” Leenda snuck a glimpse at me. “I hope this is nothing serious. Sonya is probably already with him and healing his wounds. I know she and Dr. Avery were waiting near the finish line, which isn’t too far from where Gage fell.”
“I’m sure she is with him. Thankfully she was close by. I-I hope he isn’t hurt too badly, but he was just lying there. Normally, he would shake it off and get right back up, but he … he didn’t,” I mumbled, more tears filling my eyes.
Not long after, we reached the road that marked the finish. Ricky stood leaning against a tree all by himself. The car screeched to a stop right in front of him, and I threw the door open and rushed from the car.
“Where is the stream? Show it to me right now?” I demanded.
Ricky could see that my eyes were red and swollen. “Okay, okay, it’s back this way. What’s going on? Dr. Avery and Sonya said they had to check on something and would be right back.”
“Yeah, well, that something is my brother. Didn’t you notice that Gage and Elise never came through the finish? Obviously, something happened, but you’re too damn busy thinking about yourself.” I let out all my emotions. Not only concern and sadness filled me, but annoyance and anger, too.
How can Ricky just stand here like a stupid asshole?
“Uh, I don’t know. I guess I didn’t think about it much. Follow me, the stream is over this way,” Ricky mumbled, starting off into the trees.
Exactly! He didn’t think much about it. He didn’t think at all!
Ricky’s words didn’t surprise me, really. Everyone around here only had one goal, and that was to win. That’s all anyone thought about.
<
br /> Including me. Ugh, can I really blame him?
Now I felt a little bad for guilting him.
Ricky ran too quickly ahead of Leenda and me, but we moved as fast as our legs would take us.
When Ricky became difficult to see in the distance, I yelled, “Hey! Slow down!”
I passed Leenda, panting my way through the forest until I could see the top of people’s heads moving below the edge of the muddy ground. This was where Gage had slipped and where he still lay. Running to the edge of the sloping earth, my eyes only saw one thing …
Gage.
Lying there motionless, still, pale. Then I noticed the hands resting on his head.
Sonya.
I stumbled down the muddy slope and hurried to Gage’s side. “Will he be okay? What should I do? Should I heal him, too?” My anxious voice quivered.
Sonya looked into my eyes, and I saw such sadness it made me catch my breath. “I have tried, Margo. There is nothing more that anyone can do. Gage is no longer with us, honey. I am so sorry.”
I looked at her with disbelief. “No! No! That can’t be. He only slipped. He only fell. He’s knocked out. Watch, watch, he will wake any minute.” I took my fingers and brushed the sweaty curls from his face, whispering in his ear. “Gage? Gage? Can you hear me? Wake up, Gage. It’s time to wake up. Show me that you are okay. Sing to me, Gage. Sing your song for me. Come on, I want to hear it. Please, wake up.”
But he didn’t. I wrapped my hand around his mud-covered hand; a coldness came over me.
“This can’t be. He can’t be, be … d-dead.” I rocked back and forth, fiercely clutching his limp hand.
Dr. Avery put his hand on my shoulder. “Dear Margo, we have done everything possible. Believe me, we have.”
My lips quivered uncontrollably. “I should have been here. If only I would have been here, I could have saved him.” Tears streamed down my face as I bent over Gage’s body, wrapping my arms around him. I held him so tightly. “I should have been here, Gage. I should have. I’m so sorry.”
“Margo, don’t blame yourself, honey. I reached him shortly after his fall, and he was unresponsive,” Sonya explained, resting a warm hand on my back. “We think that he went instantly. Even after we were sure that he passed away, I still tried healing him, just in case. But it was already too late.”
I looked up at everyone standing around, my tears dripping onto Gage beneath me. “Will everyone just go? Please go. I want to be alone with him …” my voice cracked, “for a little bit.”
Everyone nodded, slowly turning to walk away. I rested my head against Gage’s chest. No sound of his heartbeat. No thump beneath my ear. In hopes that maybe, just maybe we had it all wrong, I took my hand and felt all over his chest and tummy for any movement, any heartbeat, anything.
Maybe his heart is on the right side of his chest. I have heard of people being born that way.
But nothing, nothing at all.
I sat up, pulling Gage into my lap. “Why, Gage? Why?” I cried. “I can’t do this without you. You were supposed to be here with me.”
I wiped mud and small rocks from his face. I began humming his Go-Go song.
I will never hear you sing your song to me ever again.
Then I whispered, “Are you in heaven, Gage? Is it beautiful? Does it taste just like sugar-covered lollipops? I hope it does. I know … I know I never told you this before, and I should have. I really should have, b-but I … I love you.”
I wished that I hadn’t waited so long to tell him this. It was too late now, but hopefully my brother still heard my words from some other place, a place where we would eventually meet again.
Some day. Some other time. In another life.
Yuni, my matted unicorn, lay clenched in my arms as I trembled underneath the blankets of my endlessly cold bed. They had taken Gage’s body, preparing to send him back on the boat to my unknowing parents. He would travel with all the unfortunate losers.
Oh, how sick Mom and Dad will be with sadness. I wish I could take the boat back home, too. I want to be with my family and forget this place.
I wanted to forget these dampened dreams that I no longer wanted anymore. My eyes felt so hot and swollen from so much crying, heavy pressure pulsating through them, behind them, and all around them. Every time I closed my eyes I would see visions of Gage looking so happy and alive, and then these images would change to the very last vision I had of him: quiet, still, lifeless. This was when my eyes would shoot back open, trying to avoid all memories of Gage, all the sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and the realization that none of it would ever happen again.
A little tapping sound came from the door.
Ugh, I don’t want to see anyone ever again.
“Go away!” I yelled.
Lottie peeked into the room, slowly creeping to my side. “I don’t mean to bug you, Go-Go. I know you don’t want to see anyone, but I’m leaving now. Everyone is getting on the boat. I wanted to see you one last time. I couldn’t leave without saying good-bye. And I am so sorry for what has happened to Gage. I wish I could take away all of your pain. I … I …” She began to tear up.
I sat up, reaching out to hug Lottie. We hung on to each other, crying and hugging each other so tightly in silence, except for the crying hiccups, sniffling, and the sound of me trying to catch my breath.
Finally, I pulled away. “I will miss you, Lottie. I wish I could go with you, or even better, trade places with you.”
Lottie moved wet strands of hair from my face. “I will miss you, too. I will think of you all of the time. Okay?”
“M-me too.”
“Be strong, Go-Go.” Lottie held my hands. “That is all you can do.”
With one last hug, she was gone … forever, going back home where I wanted so badly to be. Home, in my own bedroom, lying in my own bed next to Juicy Lucy, in my mom’s arms.
Darkness filled the windows as the night grew on. Nobody else came to bother me, thankfully. I knew the winners were celebrating at that very moment, but I didn’t care. My jade stone and Yuni were my only companions. I would not let them go, not for anything, ever. The pillow beneath my head still felt wet as I tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. Sad, dark images continued to flash beneath my closed eyelids.
I just want to fall asleep. I just want to go to my fantasy dreamland and stay there forever. Never wake up.
I felt so drained, but I couldn’t fall asleep. My mind just couldn’t stop replaying that horrible moment, the moment that I realized that my only brother was dead. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, purple and green swirls began to swim over all of the horrible visions of Gage, drowning them out. Fading, fading until they were gone.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
TWISTED TEARS
Mud surrounded me. It looked as if chocolate were oozing out of the ground, spreading over everything in sight. Even the tree branches dripped slimy dark-brown mud as I hurried through this dead forest. Lost and alone, slipping and sliding, I ran through the muck and mud. The thick slime smothered withering trees, the heaviness causing branches to crack and fall to the ground before my eyes. No birds flew through the air. No bugs buzzed in the grass. And no furry mammals scrambled through the leaves. No life lived in this part of the world but my own.
“Whoa! Whoa!” I screamed as my legs slid down a muddy hill.
Instinctively, I reached out for anything to grab hold of and break my fall. The thin branch I grabbed for snapped, and I ended up face down in the mud, anyway. Pulling myself back onto my feet unsteadily, I started to run again. Soon, my chest began to feel heavy. It felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I struggled to breathe.
I can’t stop. No, not now. Keep going, Margo.
The long white dress that I wore clung to my skin and was now speckled with patterns of mud. Mud covered and soaked the hem of my d
ress through and through. Then there, straight ahead, I saw it.
Hope!
A land full of sparkling trees.
This has to be it! My savior. My new home.
Through the matted, muddy grass I ran until reaching the glistening ground that led to this magnificent forest. Flowers in all colors of the rainbow began to burst into full bloom as I walked by wide eyed.
“How beautiful,” I whispered to myself.
Birds sang out high above as insects buzzed happily.
A world with life again. A world full of color.
I looked down and noticed the mud smeared across my skin and dress slowly beginning to fade away, disappearing like it never existed. My whole being turned completely spotless and clean. Then I heard the sound of water. And when I looked ahead, a flowing stream glistened back at me. With my mouth feeling dry and tasteless, I made my way toward it. Dragonflies swirled through the air in every direction, like little harmless tornadoes. I bent down beside the stream and slurped the cold, clear water from my hand.
Mmm …
It wasn’t until that moment that I paid attention to what the water had to show me. Then I remembered … I remembered him. The water didn’t show my own reflection staring back at me. Instead, another face, looking sad and alone, peered back from the water.
“Gage,” I said softly.
Yes, my very own brother. Where is he? Where did he go? What happened to him? Did I leave him behind by accident? Oh my, maybe I did. I will have to go back and search for him.
Both wonder and fear pulled at my thoughts. Then something odd started to happen. The ground began to rumble beneath me, and I could see the image in the water begin to ripple. These sounds and feelings seemed familiar for some reason, like I had witnessed them before. Suddenly the earth began to move, crack, and push open. Chunks of dirt and grass flew everywhere. Large tree trunks began to burst their way through the soil, reaching for the sky as they grew into giant leafy trees.