Sophe and Clude got up, dusting themselves, they were full of smoky black rays from the explosion.
"I can't believe you brought Eugene's hand up", sophe told Clude, "I didn't know you were a creep"
"I'm not a creep!", Clude said, in defence.
"You said who says that a lot?", sophe teased, "creeps!"
"Well, what else are you keeping from me, sophe?"
"Nothing. I told you everything "
"Except not everything. Do you go around hiding weapons in you?"
"Only when necessary. I didn't trust Eugene when he invited us for lunch at the diner, so I took a bomb and knife with me, and I fixed it counting when Eugene pointed the pistol at you "
Clude was amazed. "You're something, you know that ", he said.
Sophe smiled. "And the plan worked better than I imagined "
"Oh really? Did you imagined I'd make it out of here alive "
"Oh, come on, Don't be like that"
"No, sophe, I thought we'd be friends, instead we're just fighting. I really thought you'd be happy with me"
"Yeah. I thought I did too"
"But you could be happy again "
Sophe snorted. "No, my time for joy is lost. Everything I could have been has been reduced to this. Gipt tries to molest me at the club and I smatched his head with a bottle and now I killed again with a bomb, is it what love looks like?"
"No, this is what it takes when you love wrong"
Suddenly sophe felt weak, Clude saw blood dripping down from inside her shirt.
"Oh, let me see", he said. Sophe fell down, breathing heavily.
"He shot you", Clude realised. "we have to help each other ", he said.
"No", sophe said, "just go"
"What about you?"
"I can handle myself"
"No, I have to stop the bleeding first, you're losing blood by the minute", he insisted.
Sophe held his hand, weakly.
"Go, Clude ", she said, "I'm telling you, get out of here!"
Clude jerked her up and stripped her to his back.
"What're you doing ", she asked him.
"Have no idea "
"C...", she was saying something when she felt dizzy and passed out.
Sophe opened her eyes, Clude was sitting beside her in the grass,they were still in the bush.
"I told you to go", she told him.
"I did", he said, "I just took you with me"
"How long was I out?"
"A while "
She tried to sit up, he helped her sit up.
"Take it easy", he said, "you lost a lot of blood, it was really gross"
Sophe looked down on her body.
"What? You took off my clothes?"
"I treated you", he replied, shamelessly.
"Why did you save my life?"
"You saved me from Eugene ", he said, "you're betrayed and broken, and you like to help people, that's someone worth saving "
She smiled. "I don't know what to say,Clude, thank you "
"You're welcome. Your mom must be so proud, sophe"
"I like to think she is", sophe's eyes caught sight of a half dranked bottle standing on the grass, "why is there a bottle here?"
"Oh, that's a bottle of beer", he said, "I used the alcohol and some leaves to stop the bleeding and fight the infection"
"How'd you know how to do that?"
"I read about it. Every culture has their own knowledge of crops, we're deep in the forest now because I had to work further to search for herbs for your treatment so depending on your strength I was thinking we can hike out of here before dark"
"Depending on your strength, I'm thirsty now"
She grabbed the bottle and started drinking, and in a few seconds the bottle was empty.
"Sophe, that isn't water ", he said.
"But it wasghe closest liquid I could find", she said, "no one has to know this happened, Clude"
"So Eugene talked about helda. She's valuable to you, right?"
"This point in my life it's better to be alone ", she said.
"Is it? For what it's worth I think that any parents would be proud of you -"
Suddenly they heard footsteps, sophe grabbed her blood stained clothes and put them on, the sheriff, dugg, and Chloe's dad, nergus, the owner of the diner, ran towards them. Clude and sophe got up, sophe shoved the bottle aside.
"I saw an explosion from the diner and it came from here", Chloe's dad, nergus said.
Dugg turned to sophe. "I don't want my son to be involved with a dirty girl like you, sophe
So tell me,why did you drag my son into this?"
"I know it was a mistake coming here and -", sophe tried to say, Clude cut her.
"Sophe, helping someone is not a mistake, maybe one day you'll care about someone just enough to understand this "
"Sophe, you again?", the sheriff said.
"Sheriff, you have to let me run his", sophe said, "I may know this stone thing more than anyone"
"How much life are you going to risk?", the sheriff asked her.
"Sheriff -"
"Go home, sophe", he said, "and remain there"
Sophe looked from the sheriff, to dugg, to Clude, to Chloe's dad and back to the sheriff. She nodded.
"We'll all kill ourselves or kill this thing", she said, "either way what choice do we have?"
She turned to go.
"Sophe, wait-", Clude said.
Sophe looked at him. "I'm glad you survived, Clude", she said and walked away.
At bedtime, piper sat with sophe in her bedroom.
"If a lady is lucky enough", piper said, "at a certain age she goes off to high school to get ready for the life ahead of her"
"What if she doesn't want that life?", sophe asked her.
"It's what I did when I was your age"
"What if I don't want your life?"
Piper inhaled deeply.
"What is it that you're afraid of, love?", she asked her.
"I just don't want things to go too much ", sophe said.
"You're growing up, that's why "
"Maybe I don't want to grow up "
"You can't stop time, honey", piper told her, "it'll go on whether you like it or not, just imagine the things you'll miss out on if it didn't took you,and all the things the world would miss if you weren't there to do them"
Piper started humming a song.
"πI have a wing, you have a wing
All good children have wings
I know you'll grow with them overnight
Fly off the skies and roam the clouds
I'll miss you dearly my brave Little ones when you grow upπ"
"This was the song of a happy bird who was so happy that her once little birdies who gave birth to were growing up and learning to fly, one day they learnt to fly perfectly and they flew away, the happy bird, mother bird, was feeling lonely without her once little birdies, she had forgotten to fly because she was getting old and her wings were getting worn out, she always kept herself encouraged by singing and waiting for her kids to come back one day to bring her food like how she always did to them when they were babies and could not fly, but that day never seemed to come. Soon soaked in depression and weariness, she forgot how to sing and so she died"
Piper gave her a kiss on her forehead and mouthed, "goodnight ". And she was gone.
Sophe slept off, thinking of the story about the sad bird, the sad bird could be her who was waiting for love and forgot how to love,and then died of a broken heart and sadness.
At school the next day,sophe sympathize with Jay about his loss.
"I already know about my half family and I'm glad Eugene is gone. I'm okay without my family", he said. He opened his can of drink, sophe gasped.
"Alcohol in school?"
"Sneaked it in my backpack", he said, "cheers?"
"I don't want a drink", she said.
Jay snickered. "What? You found God or something?"
"God found me", sophe muttered.
"Listen ", Jay said, "we're all lost when we get out, I tried to quit too but I failed. I know I shouldn't have put up with the habit in the first place, but sophe, after today, if anyone asked, you don't know Eugene or anything about my family!"
Sophe looked at him. "Is it that bad?"
"I'm going to show you something after school ", he said
"What is that?"
"Playground for kids, orphans I mean. I go there sometimes and I get them candies, I assure them that all hope isn't lost for us, I song to them too and they seem to like music, and seeing your performance with Clude back on stage earlier, I think you might help me out today "
"Me? Fun? You got the wrong person, Jay"
"Neveret your past define your future, sophe, cause pain will only leave once I had finished with you"
"I have people who was sent by the devil to oppress me, Jay, you shouldn't be one of them", she said,and turned to go.
"When everything feels like too much and I wanted to end my life", Jay said,sophe stopped, "I pictured you with your smile, that smile that hits my heart just right and I wanted nothing more than to live"
"I don't smile anymore ", sophe waid, without turning to him.
"But the little you do grabs my heart", he said.
Sophe sat in the field in the playground, with all the orphan kids sitting around her, Jay stood in the distance with the attendants, watching them.
"She's really good with the kids. She's gonna help us out them to sleep", one of the attendants whispered to Jay.
Sophe distributes candies to each kid.
"There's more candies so you don't need to miss out on anything", she told them.
"Sophe", one of the kids, Lissa, called, "you could be our mother, tell us a story"
"No,bad idea", sophe said, " I don't know if I want to be a mother, but I still have one and you too"
"Us?", they chorused.
"Yes", she said, "there's one up there in the heavens forever. Somewhere up there and he misses you and he loves you very much"
"I want to meet him", another kid called Kenny said,he started crying, sophe took him in her arms.
"I'm sorry I asked for a story", Lissa said.
"No, it's not your fault", sophe said, "how about I sin you a lullaby instead?"
"What's a lullaby?", they asked.
"It's a song my mom sings me and my siblings", sophe said.
"Jay sings us songs", Lissa said.
Sophe turned to her. "You seems to be the smart one, I should put you as their leader, gow old are you?"
"Eleven", Lissa said.
Sophe nodded, she turned to them. "Everyone, always listen to what Lissa tells you, okay?"
"Yes, sophe", they said.
"Okay, let's be quiet and listen to sophe's song, okay?", Lissa said to them.
"Yeah,we loves song", the kids said.
"Okay, no rushing", sophe said, "everyone will get a chance to hear it. It goes like this...
πall good children have wings
I know you'll grow up with them overnight
Fly off the skies and roam the clouds
I'll miss you dearly my brave Little ones when you grow up
You are my angels, come from way above to bring me love
But you will go someday and I might be sad
But remember that I love you, love you, love you
12345 we'll fly away with our wingsπ"
Jenny yawns, the other kids had fallen asleep by now, the attendants came to take them in.
"Good job, sophe", they said to her, "we've spent a hour trying to make them fall asleep, they'll really miss you when they wake up, you should visit more often to spend more time with them"
Jay looked at her. "Are you crying?"
Sophe sniffled. "No!"
Sophe got up. "Do you ever miss your family?like your dad?", she asked him.
"I do", Jay said.
"Did you love him then?"
"Maybe ", Jay said, "but they're long gone now, so they're just a story now. Come on, it's late now."