A huge yawn escapes from my mouth as I cross over a street sidewalk on the other side of town. The lights of town are slowly starting to go out as the town begins to wake up. My heart is still beating from last night as I quietly slip past the buildings into an alleyway. I duck past a window as the light inside flicks on. A child's laugh is heard ever and a mother's sing-songy voice is heard shortly after. I pause for a second to hear the gentle voice, and my heart begins to have a heavy feeling inside of it. A craving for that voice to be directed towards me. I quickly shake that feeling away and continue on my little journey.
At the end of the alleyway, a chain link fence stetches between the walls of buildings. On the bottom left corner, some of the fence is pulled back from years of people sneaking past to get to the outskirts of the town. I squat down, folding the fence back and stepping through. Once through, I let go and it snaps back into place with a slight rattle on the bounce. I stand back up, fixing the strap of me back before continuing on my journey. Right outside of the fence, a steep hill greets me. It is similar to the one back home, but higher, much higher. With a sigh, I begin the climb.
I take careful steps on the way up, but even with much care, lack of soles for my shoes causes me to slip every one an awhile. Although this section has been worn down for the many of times people sneak out of the town, it is still very labor intensive. Soon after my start, I feel tired. Breaths come fill my lungs in a hurry, causing me to cough or wheeze. The rising sun has since broken over the edge of the cliff like hill, making my body heat up. Taking a short stop for a breath, I close my eyes trying to take slow breaths, and once more I begin to climb. Only minutes after the sun has began to light my path, I feel sweat on my brows. My back begins to feel coooler as well. My legs begin to ache, so as a distraction, I stare at the ground. With each upward movement, the grass grows less green. In town, it was still slightly brown and dead from the winter season, but even that appears green to me compared to this grass. Soon, the grass begins to become more sparce, until eventually, it is not there at all. Glancing up, I see only a short little ways ahead is the top of the hill. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I push harder until I find myself standing right on the edge, looking out over the remnants of a lost world.
It is flat. Flat and brownish red, like the color of cinnamon. Up here, the everything feels windier, and more dry. Everytime I come, I find myself looking over the land and imagining what it used to look like. I turn to look over my shoulder. The town, the place I call home, is simply a giant hole in the ground, surrounded by this flat, cinnamon land. A hole created by something during the war. Rumors say it was a nuclear warhead, but I do not think we could survive in such a place. I squint as I scan across the hole, then I see it, my little house sticking up above the town. It looks like a speck, like if I rubbed my eyes it would be gone. After taking one last look, I turn away and begin walking into the bland land, clutching the strap of my bag as I go.
I stand in front of a small metal rod sticking out of the ground. Finally, I made it. Kneeling down, I knock onto the ground and a hollow, metal clanking echos back at me. After 30 seconds or so, the metal rod twists and a popping sound follows, indicating the door is now open. I grab the bar and yank it open with a bone chilling creak due to rust. It settles on the ground with a thud and I begin climbing into the hole. Once a little ways in, I grab the door and lock it back, before continuing the descent down. At the bottom of the long staircase, a single light sways slightly, flickering every now and again when the metal ceiling creaks. Once at the bottom, I come to the second door. I grab the handle and open it to a room filled with bright colors and lights.
Stepping in, I feel a wave of relief pass wash over me and I glance up at beautiful twinkling lights hanging above the entryway of the door. Those are new. A loud crash from from the back left of the place and I cannot help but smile as I walk towards it. I walk my way through twists and turns if shelves filled with random items from the old world. Things that the government has tried to get rid of when the war first ended. Most of the things were already destoryed due to the war, but they came in and tried to do a final sweep to get rid of all relics of old. Even then, some things survived, and there were many people who tried to find them and hide them away. This place was one of the hideaways. Once at the back, I peer over the counter to see someone bundled and wrapped in something unknown. I surpress a laugh as I ring an old bell.
"Welcome to Old World Relics." The bundle of wires spoke in hurried voice, frustration clear as day in their intonation.
"Good morning Joe." I laugh and I see a flurry of movement, I now know his hands, move about, pulling the wires away where I can see his kind blue eyes. "Would you like some help?"
"Juny!" He says, his eyes sparkle with a smile I cannot see through all the junk covering his face. "Yes please!" Nodding, I begin helping him unravel himself from the strange mass of wires, which I soon realize is more lights.
"What happened this time Joe?" I ask as I pull on a wire, which causes a loud yelp from Joe. "Sorry!"
"Well, I was just trying to untangle it, then I got myself in the tangle!" He says as I wrap my arms around his torso, unwrapping him from his wirey hug of death. Soon, he is free and I can finally see the kind smile and wrinkles I have known for forever. "Thank you so much Juny!"
"Of course." I begin rolling up the lights and look at him as he grabs an end and walks behind a corner. Soon, noises of him digging once again fill the room. "Joe, don't you have enough lights?" I call and he comes around clutching the end of the chord.
"These are different!"
"You say that everytime."
"No they really are!" He proclaims as he walks to a different corner and begins rummaging around. "These ones have color lights Juny."
"Color lights?" I mutter, stopping mid windup to look at him. "Like the ones in that book? The book about Christmas?"
"Yes! Precisely!" I glance at the bulbs, and they were not clear like all the other lights he has. They were dark. I hold them up to a light, and shining through, I see shades of red, green, and blue. My heart leaps with joy into my throat as I begin wrapping again.
"So did you find-"
"No." I look at him. His brows were furrowed and low over his eyes, showing how upset he is. "I'm sorry kiddo." My fluttering heart falters as I let out a sad sign. "Hey! I found you something else though!" He drops the sting of lights, his slouching back dipping down further as he tries to hurry. Where he went, I hear a barrage of noise before he comes back out holding a contraption with a metal mixer and a metal spinning handle. "Here it is! A handheld mixer!"
"No way!" I call as I gentle take it into my hands. I slowly turn the handle, and sure enough the metal thingy spins in response. "This is amazing Joe! What do I owe you?"
"Nothing at all!" I go to protest and he grabs the bundle of lights showing it to me. "Consider it a 'thank you' for getting me out of that mess!" He exclaims and I shake my head as I look at the machine. I gentle trace the grain in the wood as I smile. "I'm really sorry I still haven't found it yet Juny."
"It's okay Joe." Smiling, I set the machine aside and continue to wind up the lights once again. "I actually came to talk about something else."
"Oh really?" He calls, once again digging in some random corner of the bunker. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Well." I gentle place the wounded up lights beside me and claps my hands in front of me. "The commitee over The Marriage Process came last night." I state as the noise in the corner freezes. Joe stays silent, so I continue, staring at my feet. "I have to participate." I look up at the corner, but I don't see him. He is silent, and most often, silence makes me anxious, but strangely, not with Joe. I know right now, he is thinking, I am not sure what he is thinking of, but he will speak when he wishes.
"I know you don't want to do it." He exclaims from the corner. Slowly, he walks out, rolling up the wire as he comes towards me. "You would always tell me, 'I'm happy I won't have to do it', and though I often think it is stupid..." his gaze settles on me. "I'm happy you are included in this."
"What?" My mouth falls open, thoughts and emotions run through my head at a rapid speed. Why would he say that? We both hate the government, so why would he agree to this? "I think I misheard you."
"You did not."
"What?! Why?!" I shout and he furrows his brow like he always does when I get upset. "How many conversations have we had about how much we hate them?!"
"Jun-"
"Every. Single. Time."
"Ju-"
"Every time I come her, we sit and talk for hours about how life was before the war! Wondering if the government was a terrible then as it is now! We talk about how they treat us like rats in a cage!"
"Juni-"
"Now, you're telling me you want me to participate in a government sceme?!"
"Now Jun-"
"How could you?! H-h-how could you side w-with them?!" I scream as I feel my chest heave frantically with each breath.
"Juny, you need to brea-"
"I am breathing!!!" I shout as I glare at the floor. "How could you turn your back on me like this?!"
"I am not-"
"Yes you are! Why would you do this to me? You are supposed to be cheering me up! Telling me it's going to be okay!"
"It will be o-"
"No it won't! You lied to me! You've been lying this whole time!"
"I have no-"
"Then why would you do this to-"
"Because Juniper I cannot bear to see you alone!" Silence. Silence fills the space between us shortly after he shouts. It is soon disrupted by bursts of coughing as he tries his best to catch his breath. As I watch him, I feel the tension in my body subside as I quickly go and grab him a glass of water. I hand it to him, and he gives me a small smile before taking a drink. I sit beside him, watching the lump in his throat bob with each gulp. "Thank you." He sighs after taking the last swig of water. He sets it down and stares at his feet before speaking. "Juniper. I've been alone for most of my life. I was an outcast in the town, just like you. When I first met you, I thought 'We won't be alone anymore, because we have each other,'." He turns and gives me a smile before continuing. "But as years went by, I realized there was a difference between us. You've been alone since I first met you and you were..." The loose skin at his chin wobbles slightly as he takes a shaky breath. "You were just a child." His voice cracks and I feel my heart drop. "When I became alone, I was much older, but you... you didn't know about the world let alone how to fend for yourself against the people in the town." He lets out a quick sigh, slightly regaining his composure before standing up, and taking the lights. He walks to a corner, one that I can still see and hear him easily. "Thanks to you, I was not lonely and I know I helped to." He pauses and smiles at me. "But I'm pretty old now kiddo, I hurt most days, and I know there will be no pain when I leave here." He stands up and walks over to me, resting his hand on a switch by my head. "But I can't leave knowing you will be alone again." I look into his eyes, every ounce is filled with sincerity. "I know you've only heard the negatives about you, but what they say is not true. You're beautiful Juny, and I know that someone will see that, but you have to open yourself up for the opportunity."
Out of all the years spent with him, there was only one thing I hated about him. How I felt when he was right. Once I had found him, I felt like I didn't need anyone else for the rest of my life, but the thing I didn't think of, or rather, let myself think about, was that Joe was not immortal. That no matter how hard I wished or prayed for it, he would never live forever.
"Joe." I say, my voice betraying me, cracking from the flood of emotions stirring in my heart.
"If I do this, I will be sent away to the capital until someone wins." He nods and I feel my lip quiver. "That could take months..." My voice breaks again but this time he gentle takes my hand.
"I know kiddo." He says and his free hand flips the switch. "And I'll be watching you the entire time." There was only buzzing first, but then the bundle of lights beside me began to glow. The sight simultaneously brought a smile to my lips and tears to my eyes. I look up at Joe, his eyes show age and wisdom, but also childlike wonder as he gazes at the assortment of colors. "Now, let's find the perfect place to hang these up."
***
Thank you guys so much for reading! I am so thankful for the amount of reads and powerstones I have gotten so far! I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter and I hope you are enjoying the story so far! The chapters are getting longer and will continue to do so as the story progresses.
Thank you once again for tuning in and I hope to see you next time!
Sincerely,
P&P