DIMENSION: JULIE MARS DIMENSION
"Do you have your books?" My Aunt Merissa asked, checking the weight of my bag.
"Fine. It's all great." I pushed my bag up on my back. "Thanks for all the help, but I promise, I'll be okay." I looked at the dorm ahead. It was strange, but I had a strong change of heart. It was like a light had gone off in my head. It was tough, but with a little help from my uncle (not to mention late enrollment), I felt like I was getting back on track. My Aunt Merissa still touched my hair, making sure it was styled nicely.
I still remember when I didn't care to put a comb through it. "Okay, it's fine." My hair was probably more bothered by her than it was before. Still, I didn't care. My Aunt Merissa and Uncle Charles had really been proud of me. It felt like life was beginning again.
Except, that something was missing. I didn't know what, but. . .I thought maybe college would make me feel better. Looking at my dorm though, my future? I just, I still couldn't feel it. I just. . .
I wasn't happy. My Uncle Charles was helping me, I was going to make new friends, and I was creating a brighter future. But, inside, I still had this feeling that I couldn't be happy. My life was a puzzle. I had dealt with what happened to my family, but there was another piece.
Then, I saw him. His hand was leaning against his umbrella. He was watching me, smiling, but something was missing in his smile too. Then, he met my eyes, realizing I could see him.
Memories poured back into me. Meeting Mister Umbrella, the rain in my room, dragged to hell. . .I forgot it all. I even forgot him!
I ran toward him, but he didn't move. "Mister Umbrella in the Sky!"
"Jewelsy." He loosened his tie before tipping his hat. "You see me?"
"Of course, how could I not?" I felt it. This was it. This was the piece I had been missing. I didn't need college, friends, beauty, or a job. I didn't need pride from my Aunt Merissa and Uncle Charles. I just needed him.
"Jewelsy," he said in a warning. "I am invisible to others. People will stare at you if you talk to me in public like this."
"Let them." I didn't care. I missed him so much. "How did I get back? How did I get my life back?"
"How do you even see me? You weren't supposed to." He pulled his tie uncomfortably. "The Superiors I suppose. I just thought I'd keep an eye on you on the first day. It may be tough."
"The only thing that was tough was not seeing you," I answered grabbing onto him. "You didn't even say goodbye. Again."
"I have a tendency to do that with you," he admitted. "I did help you find your happiness though. A new life, and a new chance. No longer a waste of space." He touched the top of my hair. "Your appearance has improved. Everything seems adequate, except something is still missing."
"Yeah, I'm not happy." No, nuh uh. I knew Mister Umbrella could disappear at any moment. "Not without you."
Mister Umbrella stumbled against his umbrella again. He adjusted his tie. Again. "You are human. A second chance at your life. You have time to make a life of happiness. I came here to help you find your happiness."
"And you did." No, no, he better not disappear. I knew that look. "I don't know how you got out of there, or how I woke up completely with no recollection of you, but I don't care. All I know is. . .I want you to stay."
"I. . .oh." Mister Umbrella looked around. I'm sure many people were looking at me, but I didn't care. Seriously. I could not risk him leaving me again. He was like a leaf on a wind, he could blow away from me any second.
I kissed him. I didn't care if he was considered human or not. I would wrap my mind around that later, all that mattered was the here and now. I felt a tear fall down my cheek as our kiss drew to an end but he kissed it away.
"Am I really what makes you happy?" He asked me. "I have nothing to offer you. Here, you will have college, friends, and family. I can't . . .I can't give you the material goods of Earth on a whim. I can't let you have Earth friends, and I can't let you go to college. You can't even float." He held me even tighter.
"It's yours and I am yours," I said to him. "I am not a genie, you can't control me. I want to be with you."
"You are willing to be in the clouds with me, as a human?"
"I want to be in the clouds with you. Nowhere else." I gave him another kiss, and then I felt myself lifting into the sky. Everyone around me who must have been gawking had now been gasping. People were yelling about how that weird psycho girl had just disappeared. Even my Aunt Merissa, who hadn't left yet, was shouting hysterically.
No one could tell her I was a missing person. I had been right there and gone. Several people had seen it. Yet, I doubt Mister Umbrella in the Sky cared.
And neither did I.
***
As we hung in the air several thousand feet off the ground in the clouds, I realized I was safe in his arms.
But only in his arms. "Mister Umbrella?"
"Yes, dear?"
"I can't float on clouds, right?"
"Correct, Jewelsy, not anymore." He held out his hand. "I can control lumber until you are freed. You will have to stay near me in the clouds though for that kind of magic to continue."
I would do it. I would sit on lumber for as long as it took, but what if they didn't reverse the decision? "Are you sure they will do it?"
"Absolutely, but only after nine months or so obviously." He just winked.
This. This is something I thought I would never have. Beside me is my Mrs. Umbrella in the Sky. We watch the clouds while sharing a cup of hot cocoa on the lumber I borrowed from below. It's colder up in the clouds than she is used to, but she stays bundled in a coat I gave to her. She cannot walk on clouds since she is human, but I created a porch on my favorite cloud for her. Why she would choose this instead of a life of adventure was beyond me. I suppose it was the same reason I fought The Boogeyman to free her. "Not too fast, Jewelsy. You don't want to choke."
I will guide and stay with her, as long as we exist. One day, the appeal to make her a selective seer would be passed again, and then we would live until the end. I have a deep seeded feeling we will last even longer. We will be here until the stars fade out. We will be here until the sun fades away. We will be here longer than the creatures of the night.
We may even be here longer. The power shared through this pairing with her is more powerful than anything I felt in hell. This was true power. The power of love.
Although, Jewelsy still had a tendency to be. . .well, Jewelsy.
"If you don't stop tipping your hat at every bird that flies by, I am going to knock it off your head."
"It's only the polite thing to do for neighbors, dear."
"They aren't neighbors. They're birds."
"Bird neighbors. Still, terrible to be rude." What we would do about our future child would be a question for another day. Human or selective seer? I nod again to another neighbor.
"Mister Umbrella in the Sky? Do I need to knock your hat off?"
Ooh. Well, that depended on what happened afterwards. I simply tipped my hat towards one more bird. She knocked it off and well. . .you can use your imagination.
After all, we all have some imagination inside of us, don't we?