Tag: Sara Beth

Posted on

Chapter 8: Old Married Couple

[nnwm15]

 

“I can’t describe it other than to use the word ‘bliss’”, G-ma said, reflecting on the experience.

“I think that’s pretty accurate”, Mrs. Corum added, “It was as if, for a moment, the entire world stopped, and I was basking in a warm glow. I didn’t want it to ever end”

For a few minutes, Sara Beth felt guilty that she had taken such measures to knock her friends out of the light they had been engulfed in. Sensing this after several minutes of talking about the glow and emotional effects of it, G-ma abruptly changed gears.

“But you did the right thing, Sara Beth, don’t get us wrong. We’re waxing poetic about something that wasn’t right. I don’t care where we are or what we think we want, human beings weren’t meant to suffer 100% of the time, or be high 100% of the time. It was as if I was on drugs, not that I’d ever known any of those drugs you hear about on TV. Closest thing I’d ever felt was the pain medication they gave me a few years ago when my back was out – and this was way more intense than that.”

Sara Beth was relieved to hear G-ma defend her actions. Mrs. Corum came around gradually as well, thanking Sara Beth for her quick thinking.

“I wonder what that place was”, Mrs. Corum mused.

“Still is – it’s right over there”, G-ma replied.

They hadn’t moved far away from the valley, it was still within sight just off in the distance. Sara Beth, this time, had a theory.

“It’s that place you go to right before you fall asleep, I think”, she began, “You know how it feels – you’re lying in bed and trying to get yourself ready to drift off. But maybe you’re too amped up, or maybe you’re distracted. So you start trying to relax, and eventually stumble upon on pleasant thought, one that makes you feel happy and content, and you fall asleep. That’s what it felt like to me, like that blissful state of relaxation right before you lose consciousness.”

The other two women thought about it, mulling the idea around for a few minutes.

“I could see something like that”, Mrs. Corum finally replied, “Or it might not be that pre-sleep state, it might just be that happy place we all think about – the enjoyable moments that we bring back up each time we’re sad or lonely, in need of a quick pick-me-up. I suppose that stepping into those moments may cause one to enter a state like we experienced – after all, those moments were designed to be the best our minds could come up with. It wouldn’t surprise me if we wanted to stay there, all the time”

“It was nice,” G-ma began wistfully, “But not for us to stay in. Especially not for the two of us to stay in and leave you here!”. It was clear that the longer she was away from the light, the more guilty G-ma began to feel for succumbing to it’s intoxicating atmosphere.

They decided to put the matter behind them, literally, and walk back up toward more familiar ground. Exploring would be done in future days, but for now, a return to places known was in order. Privately, each women reflected on potential uses for the valley, with G-ma taking the harshest stance. Over the next few hours, she would grow determined never to return to it under any circumstance, fearing that it would take what little humanity she may have left, turning her into a mindless hedonist. Mrs. Corum would think differently, wondering if perhaps, in limited quantities, the valley could be therapeutic. Straying into the light was dangerous, no doubt, but given the emotional tole this place could take out on someone, the prospect of a blissful few minutes seemed like it might have it’s place. In contrast, Sara Beth felt that both the valley and even the light may be useful in small doses (and with friends to back you up), but was not keen to try it herself. She thought, though, that if anyone were to ever go completely mad in this place, the valley might be the only way to help them. Over time the true abilities, nature, and limitations of the valley would be seen, with neither G-ma, Mrs. Corum, or Sara Beth hitting the nail on the head in terms of its best uses.

As they walked farther away from the valley and up toward Mrs. Corum’s old spot, they caught sight of something far off in the distance. It was odd in that it appeared to be moving. Nothing here moved other than the three of them and Sonic, so this was something potentially very interesting. They picked up the pace to try to catch up with the figure off in the future.

As they grew nearer, they were amazed – about 200 feet ahead were what appeared to be two children, walking quickly and talking in a very animated fashion.

“They can’t hear us”, G-ma reminded the group as Sara Beth began to call out, “We’re too far off”.

As they grew nearer, the forms took on more detail. Both children looked to be about the same age as Sara Beth. On the right was a boy, wearing what appeared to be a standard school uniform similar to the one that Sara Beth recalled seeing Julie wear. A red polo shirt and khaki shorts, with white socks and sneakers. Red was the same color Sara Beth wore at school, it was popular in that area of the country. She also surmised that it must have been hot whatever day he was copied into Julie’s mind – the shorts were likely only allowed during that weather. The girl, on the other hand, was not wearing the school uniform, or much of an outfit at all. She appeared to be clothed in an oversized t-shirt, slightly ratty with age, that stretched past her knees. It looked as if it might have been a nightshirt. She was barefoot, and her long hair was unkempt and wild. As she walked, she ran her hands up and through her hair multiple times, likely trying to straighten it.

As they drew closer, but still out of range to call out, Mrs. Corum and G-ma began to hear the conversation between the two children. Unaware of the women approaching them, the two newcomers were deeply engrossed in an argument.

“I don’t care what you think – I like her”, the girl said firmly.

“Her music sucks!”, the boy said in reply, “She’s just popular because people say she’s popular.”

“Is not – she’s really talented”, the girl replied.

“Talent?!? She sounds stupid – her voice sounds like someone ran my neighbor’s cat through the blender!”, the boy said, making simulated cat screeching noises.

“Stop it you idiot”, the girl shrieked. She was not a fan of animal cruelty, real or simulated.

“Make me!”, the boy replied.

“Shut up”, the girl called out.

From off in the distance, Mrs. Corum and G-ma were amazed at what they heard.

“It doesn’t seem like they’re too concerned with being here”, G-ma said.

“Yeah, they don’t seem to even notice it”, Mrs. Corum replied.

“What are they saying”, asked Sara Beth, who hadn’t trained her hearing to be as precise at the others.

“Something about a singer one likes and the other doesn’t, and the boy is talking about screeching cats”, Mrs. Corum said, looking toward Sara Beth. Sara Beth just shot a confused look back, “Yeah, I know”, Mrs. Corum replied, “Seems like they should have other things to think about, seeing that they’re here”.

With their backs to the approaching women, it wouldn’t be for another few minutes that they’d make contact. And with the conversation being so bizarre, the three ladies approaching wondered how to make first contact with their new guests. While they had no concrete evidence they’d been here longer than the boy and girl they approached, it certainly seemed that arguing over such a trivial thing wouldn’t be taking up the time of someone who had been here for awhile. It seemed more at home with the conversation of those who had just arrived.

Mrs. Corum and G-ma continued to listen to the two as they approached, but heard nothing important other than school yard taunting. Both of them began to appreciate the maturity of Sara Beth more and more as they thought of how these two might make life in Julie’s head a bit more untenable. Maybe they’d grow up quickly after realizing the magnitude of the situation.

Up until that very moment, the three ladies hadn’t ever considered that potentially the new arrivals in Julie’s brain would be less than stellar people. It appeared that Julie had selected people in her mind that would bring her comfort and peace, not people who would argue. Sara Beth, G-ma, and Mrs. Corum all felt as if the situation had been balanced before, and they began to wonder if these two might unbalance it. What if they decided not to be quiet during the dim hours? What if they decided not to be quiet at all? What if they didn’t want to join the ladies at all? The three of them had grown a bit dependent on each other, and the thought of finding two people at the same time, and then having both of them not want to join their small group seemed  crazy. But then again, all three of them had found each other alone, with the loneliness potentially drawing them in. These two had each other, although perhaps they didn’t really want each other.

They were approaching the two new children quicker now, within 20 feet. Mrs. Corum decided it was time to make contact.

“Hello” she called out.

Neither child stopped.

“Hello!”, she called out again, this time with G-ma lending support.

The children stopped abruptly. By now the women were just about 10 feet away from the pair.

The children turned, looks of surprise and worry on their faces. It was as if they just now thought perhaps others could be here in this place. The five of them stood staring at each other. Then, slowly, a look of realization came over the faces of Mrs. Corum, the boy, and the girl. Sara Beth and G-ma watched, realizing that all three of them seemed to know each other. The girl began to look relieved, as a small smile came across her face. Tears began to stream from her eyes. The boy had a different reaction – a sullen look washed over his face. He wasn’t afraid, worried, or panicked at all. But he definitely wasn’t happy to see the sight before him.

Mrs. Corum broke the silence.

“Ryan?”, she asked. The boy nodded.

“G-ma!!!”, the girl cried, running toward the older woman who, in surprise, stooped down and opened her arms.

“Where am I”, Ryan asked Mrs. Corum, with a slight twinge of nervousness in his voice. He knew he wasn’t Mrs. Corum’s favorite student, given previous events, and she wasn’t his favorite teacher by a long shot. In asking the question so abruptly, it appeared to the rest of the group that, perhaps, Ryan had just realized that he was in a completely new and different world than he had ever previously known.

“It’s kind of hard to explain”, Mrs. Corum began, “And all that we know are theories that we’ve come up with over our time here. How long have you been here?”

Ryan thought for a few minutes, and realized he had trouble remembering too far into the past. In fact, the only thing he could remember was having the stupid argument about music with the annoying girl he had found only several minutes before. He recognized her as someone from the grade below him in school. Now she lie wrapped in the arms of the old woman. ‘They must know each other’, he thought.

“Just a few minutes”, Ryan said, answering Mrs. Corum’s question.

“Then you’re probably a bit overwhelmed”, came Mrs. Corum’s reply. “For now, just know that we’re in a place unlike any on Earth, and that you’ll be OK here. We’ll talk about it more over the next few hours.”

Turning their attention to the other newcomer, the group watched as G-ma and the girl finished their embrace.

“G-ma, I’m so glad you’re here, I feel better”, the girl said.

The look on G-ma’s face was priceless, a look that the old woman felt would never return to her face as long as she stayed inside this place. But here it was, a miracle come true.

“Everyone, this is my grand daughter, Jamie”, G-ma said, verifying what Mrs. Corum had already suspected. Sara Beth nodded, acknowledging the presence of someone the same age and gender as her, but apparently not someone she already knew. Julie might have been Jamie’s sister, and Sara Beth’s best friend, but it did not appear that the two had ever met before.

“Welcome to our group, Ryan & Jamie. As Ryan knows, I’m Mrs. Corum, and as Jamie knows, this is G-ma, and as neither of you may know, this is”

“Sara Beth”, Sara Beth said, cutting Mrs. Corum off.

The group looked toward each other, each with a different perspective on events. If the children had been older, they probably would have shaken hands, however at this age, the immediate reaction was to stand and not appear too comfortable.

As he stood there, Ryan had a realization wash over him. Jamie’s grandmother was the same person he’d seen pick up Julie on occasion at school. He connected the dots quickly that they were related, and suspected they might be sisters.

“Jamie – are you related to Julie, in my class?”, Ryan asked.

The entire group waited for the answer that all but Ryan knew already.

“Yes, she’s my crazy older sister”, Jamie said, without the slightest hint of sarcasm on the word crazy. This emboldened Ryan.

“She sure is weird”, Ryan began, careful not to say too much more around Mrs. Corum, remembering what happened last time, “Are you a weirdo like her?”.

“No, I’m normal – she’s the crazy one!”, Jamie said.

Abruptly, as if lightning had struck, both Ryan and Jamie clutched at their stomachs.

“What’s wrong? What do you feel?”, Mrs. Corum asked.

“I don’t know”, squeaked Ryan, “It feels like my insides are on fire. It came on so suddenly”.

Jamie nodded in agreement. Neither of them had appreciated the connection that Mrs. Corum, Sara Beth, and G-ma had.

“This is going to sound weird”, Mrs. Corum began, “But I think I know what’s going on here. You two need to apologize to Julie”.

“Why are you making us apologize?”, Ryan asked incredulously, “She isn’t even here”.

“Yeah, she doesn’t know what we said”, Jamie added in.

“That might not be completely true. Just go ahead and apologize”.

“Fine”, Ryan said “I’m Sorry”, delivered in the signature sing-song voice that children used when forced to apologize.

“You have to mean it”, Mrs. Corum instructed.

“Just make it stop”, Ryan replied.

“I’m not controlling it”, Mrs. Corum said, “Julie is”.

Ryan’s face distorted – a rush of questions came over him, however in his state of pain, he felt compelled to listen now and ask questions later.

Both Ryan and Jamie began to make a heartfelt apology, or at least as heartfelt as pre-teens can make when they really don’t want to.

The painful feeling began to lessen inside each of them. Finally after several minutes, it had passed.

“What is this place?!?”, Ryan asked again, this time Mrs. Corum and the others began explaining it to him and Jamie, as they sat in a circle.

Posted on

Chapter 7: Trapped

[nnwm15]

 

The three ladies didn’t say much for a long time after they heard G-ma’s theory. While it wasn’t the only possible explanation for the place they had come to know as a reluctant home, it was one that seemed to make sense.

A number of realizations would wash over each of them over the next few days, with each reacting to it in their own way. The first realization was that they were, and likely would remain, permanently trapped in this space. All hope of going back to their previous lives was lost. After all, it’s not like the mind has a backdoor that allows one to grab onto the spinal cord and ride it like a fireman’s poll, or perhaps a front door that lets one slip out of the mouth. No, they existed as incorporeal beings in the mind of a 12 year old girl. A 12 year old girl that they knew well and felt sympathy and even love toward, but nevertheless, a 12 year old girl keeping them prisoner.

They knew rationally that she hadn’t tried to do it on purpose. They knew that she had simply made a copy of them in her mind in the flash of a moment. Their personality and persona had split off from them at that point, and now a version of each of them lived here, while the other half (or majority, perhaps), was off living their life. Up until this point, none of the three victims would have described their life as 100% fulfilling – each had her own regrets – but they’d always banked on the fact that if there was a life of theirs to live, they’d be living in it. Yes, they might have died, but nothing in their existence ever prepared them to live stuck behind while the rest of them enjoyed the world. This feeling of being ‘robbed’ of a future outside Julie McKay’s mind deeply impacted all of them, with G-ma showing the most visible signs of distress.

G-ma had always been totally enthralled by Mrs. Corum’s stories about Julie, just as any grandmother might be. The love she had for her granddaughter was palpable and real, as was the guilt she felt when she thought she might have abandoned her in this place or back at home. Finding out that all of this time she was likely within Julie’s mind confused her emotions greatly. On one hand, she was able to spend time with someone she could not spend enough time with as a little girl. On the other hand, she had no choice in the matter. It nagged at G-ma that perhaps Julie could tell what she now thought, and while her thoughts in the past focused on how sorry she was to Julie, her thoughts now focused more and more on how angry she was at her situation. Not angry at Julie, per say, but angry at the situation she found herself in. G-ma loved Julie in the real world, but did G-ma love Julie when trapped in her mind?

Mrs. Corum, on the other hand, did not seem to miss her life as much as G-ma or Sara Beth. She was a woman nearly ready to retire, ready to move on to a new part in her life, and frankly, scared at what might come in the future. Here she lived a life without pain, without need, and without want (for the most part). She had friends in G-ma and Sara Beth, and while she supposed she might have wanted to travel during her senior years, this was a place like no other that any of her friends had seen. Aside from the periodic rainstorm, it was a pretty vacation spot.

Sara Beth felt robbed for sure, but had no idea what she necessarily was being robbed of, and G-ma and Mrs. Corum did their best not to dwell on it in front of the girl. At age 12, your reality is school and free time. You don’t yet find a huge interest in sex, or career plans, or family plans. You simply go to school and then you do whatever you find fun. For Sara Beth, she didn’t have to worry about school any longer (a good thing for a 12 year old), and she had all the time she could want to have fun (also a good thing). She had friends (G-ma, Mrs. Corum, and Sonic), and a pretty good imagination, to occupy herself. The only thing she ever knew she missed were her parents and family. And she wished for new friends close to her age. However she figured that over time they might arrive – after all, her host, Julie, was also 12, and likely would meet more friends over the next few years. Perhaps over time this place would get filled up with dozens of people Sara Beth could meet. And she didn’t have to worry about her pet dying, ever, which was pretty cool.

One day, shortly after G-ma’s theory, Sara Beth remembered something that might be important. They figured that they were near the beginning of June, if the dimming roughly corresponded to when Julie went to sleep. Naps could be explained by shorter than usual dims. Mrs. Corum had mentioned that her birthday was June 1, and she used the opportunity in her class to have a communal birthday party for all of her students, rather than have small celebrations all year. Julie had mentioned to Sara Beth that she was looking forward to this party way back in April. Mrs. Corum apparently threw a bit of a blowout that students would hear about all year. Slyly sneaking in educational experiences, Mrs. Corum could justify an entire day of fun, in which kids would learn math through buying and selling candy, learn reading through classroom-wide book scavenger hunts, learn social studies by electing a Birthday Manager, and learn science by dissecting birthday cake. The students didn’t even care that they were tricked into learning on this day, it was just fun to spend a whole day at a massive birthday party.

The three women realized that Julie would likely feel really happy that day, and that perhaps it would match up with the types of events going on in Julie’s mind. One morning, shortly after dim, G-ma felt a sudden onset of warmth. Realizing that this might be important, since Julie often called G-ma before special days as part of a ritual she’d done since childhood, all three began watching for signs of happiness, whatever that may be.

A few hours later, Mrs. Corum began to feel the warmth that G-ma had described. Perhaps this meant that Julie was in class and happy about something her teacher had done. Further evidence came when the sky turned a slight hue of blue, instead of it’s usual ashy gray appearance. It wasn’t the same copperish tone they’d seen before the earthquakes, and in deed, no earthquake came.

Toward the end of the day, the warm feeling left Mrs. Corum and came to Sara Beth, and oddly, little Sonic too – he spread out on his back and looked up toward the sky, with what you would swear was an expression of bliss.

After that day, it seemed to make sense that what they felt internally had something to do with what Julie felt. They wondered if the connection might go the other way, but didn’t dare try it. They didn’t want to accidentally hurt Julie, and bring about another earthquake, rain, or even a flood. And they began to fear what might happen if their counterparts in the real world hurt Julie – would it be taken out on them like some mystical voodoo doll of the mind. What if G-ma didn’t come through with the handmade gift she said she would on Julie’s next birthday? What if Mrs. Corum assigned a lower than expected mark? What if Sara Beth got angry again. What if Sonic pricked her? In an ironic twist, in a state that should ease the mind, given the fact that no pain was present in it, the threat of pain became a principal worry.

In addition to the worry the three women had of how Julie would treat them, came the realization that, if this situation wasn’t unique to Julie, they may have treated others in the same ways in the past.

G-ma began to wonder if that moment she so tenderly burned into her mind, of Edgar waiting for her at the end of the church aisle, might have captured a 20 year old Edgar forever in her mind. Certainly she could picture him clearly when she was on Earth, perhaps because she had him locked away in the vault of memories. And while she didn’t talk about it to the others, she suspected they realized that they might also have housed copies of their friends and family in their consciousness. Maybe this is why memories became so hard to recall when in this place. All of the years she had known Edgar, she’d had him mentally walking around her brain. A brain that presumably still belonged to the other G-ma in the real world. The copy G-ma, while able to think about things, didn’t have the advantage of copy Edgar, thus it took her longer to remember his existence than it otherwise would have. She felt a bit of relief after 2 years of guilt – after all, one doesn’t take it lightly that one forgot about their spouse for 6 years.

Small talk dominated those first few days, while the ladies sat, walked, or paced with nothing of importance to say. Too much to come to grip with. Too much to think about in such a short span of time for some of them. Mrs. Corum and Sara Beth had been there less than a month still, G-ma’s extra time, though, did not seem to help her come to grips with it all any easier than the rest.

“What do we do now”, Sara Beth asked.

The ladies were out for a walk. Growing tired of exploring, they were going to go back to G-ma’s original spot so G-ma could show Sara Beth her air knitting, describing the pieces that she’d done over her years of captivity.

“We keep walking until we get there, dear”, G-ma said with a smile.

But the time for small talk was over for Sara Beth, and she asked the question again.

“No, I know what we’re doing right now… what do we do now that we know where we are”.

“I don’t think we can do much”, Mrs. Corum said.

“And the things we could do, we don’t know what the effect of them would be”, G-ma added.

“Am I going to grow older?”, Sara Beth asked.

It was a good question, one that neither Mrs. Corum or G-ma gave much thought to. The only one who had been here long enough to notice any signs of aging was G-ma, and she looked as befuddled as the rest.

“Dear, when you get to be my age, you kind of stop updating your mental picture”, she began, “Right now, you can probably close your eyes and imagine what you look like. Go ahead, give it a try”.

They women stopped, and Sara Beth gave it a go.

“Describe yourself”, G-ma said.

Sara Beth proceeded to describe herself, with good detail and accuracy – the other two women congratulated her on doing something she felt was not necessarily a big deal. Then G-ma completed her point.

“Dear, when I do that same thing… when I close my eyes”, G-ma paused and closed her eyes, “I see a beautiful young woman in her mid-20s, bouncing all around the house getting things ready for her husband to come home. I see myself wearing my favorite house dress, the one that caused Edgar to be unable to keep his hands off of me when he came home” Spying the look of confusion or perhaps something else in Sara Beth’s eyes, G-ma quickly clarified “He’d hug me every day when he got home, and we’d eat dinner and talk about our plans. I see that woman when I close my eyes. Then I open them and look down at my hands, and realize that I’m not that woman anymore, no matter how hard I try to be. So you see, Dear, I don’t know if I’ve aged. I may have, but if I have, I’ve tried to block it out as best as I could”.

The three women smiled and chuckled at the last comment.

“And even if you had noticed changes in appearance, the biggest way we know our age is really the minor aches and pains!”, Mrs. Corum added, “And we have none of those anymore. So not only do I see myself as a young person in their mid 20’s, I feel like it too!”.

“Subtle benefits of this place!”, G-ma said with a laugh.

“Well that’s great for the two of you, but I’d like to see my mid 20’s. I’m still as short as I was in third grade. I want to grow taller, I want to be mature… I want to have children… and a family… and more than this”. Sara Beth collapsed into a heap, with Sonic and his ball at her side. G-ma and Mrs. Corum sat next to her. They’d been wondering when she’d have her first breakdown over being in this place. Up until then, she would get sad and worried, but they could tell that this time she could actually appreciate the situation that she was in. This time she was realizing just what would happen to her, or in reality, what wouldn’t happen.

“There there”, G-ma said as she wrapped her arms around Sara Beth.

“Dear, you may not have grown taller, but you’ve definitely matured since you got here.”

The day after Sara Beth’s breakdown, the group decided to explore a new direction they hadn’t been to before. The older women felt it might be good for Sara Beth, and perhaps them as well. After all, this place held secrets that it seemed could be revealed at any time. Prior to Mrs. Corum’s arrival, it had never rained. Prior to Sara Beth’s arrival, the sky had never been anything other than gray, let alone blueish as it was on the day of the birthday party. Perhaps they’d meet a new friend, or discover a new land.

What they found, however, was a new phenomenon, one that would prove to be very beneficial while also very dangerous at the same time.

The trio (plus Sonic in his ball) wandered toward the unchartered lands. While they knew something was off in the distance in one direction, they decided time would be available to look into it later. Instead they went in the opposite direction, perpendicular to Mrs. Corum’s & G-ma’s spots. The horizon appeared utterly usual in its appearance, making it all the more attractive. Perhaps it held something that could not be seen from a distance.

As they got around 8 hours from where they started, they happened along an unusual formation of ground. Whereas ground in Julie’s mind tended to be lumpy, but seldom had hills or valleys, this almost looked like a steep drop. It lasted but a few feet, with a small hill on either side. Sara Beth decided that she and Sonic would roll down to the bottom, while G-ma and Mrs. Corum walked about 20 feet away, along the side of the ridge where it wasn’t as steep. When the three of them met up at the bottom of the hill, they realized something was different.

“I feel warm”, G-ma said.

“Me too”, Mrs. Corum replied.

“Yeah, me too”, chimed in Sara Beth. Perhaps Sonic was too, but he wasn’t talking.

“It’s different than on the day of the birthday – it’s not as pointed toward me”, G-ma said.

“Do you think Julie is thinking good thoughts about all of us at the same time?”, Sara Beth asked.

“I doubt it”, replied Mrs. Corum, “It wasn’t often she’d see all 3 of us together at the same time in her daily life. But now that you mention it, today might have been important to her. It’s around 5 days after my birthday party – that should put it around the last day of school. Perhaps Julie is just generally happy.”

“No, this is more intense than her usual happiness”, G-ma said. “Previous years I’d felt warmth at different times, times I now think were probably major milestones in my Julie’s life – perhaps her first day of school, her birthday, and others. But this is so much more widespread and intense.”

As the three stood and marveled, they had another realization.

“I don’t want to leave”, Mrs. Corum said.

“Neither do I”, Sara Beth replied.

G-ma stood there with her mouth slightly agape, as if she was experiencing something akin to joy for the first time in many months. The others looked at her as they realized a ray of light had enveloped her. They looked up at the sky and saw the most amazing sight – something that looked like the sun was peaking through grey walls. It had caught G-ma.

“Do you think we should do something about this?”, Sara Beth asked.

Mrs. Corum wasn’t sure. As she started to speak, the ray shifted, and now enveloped both her and G-ma.

“Hey… you two… HEY….”, Sara Beth called. With every ounce of her being, she withdrew from the little valley. The feeling as she stepped back out of it was cold, almost as though she’d just taken a freezing shower. Within a few minutes, the feeling passed, however she had to fight the urge to step back inside the warm space of the valley. She watched as her two friends stay there, transfixed at the sun.

“I’ll just wait until it dims”, She told Sonic. “Once it dims, they’ll break free and come out with me”.

But Sara Beth knew this was a long shot. Somehow she knew that the longer one stayed inside the valley, the harder it was to leave. Within a few minutes, she realized she needed to come up with a plan.

“I’ve got it”, she proclaimed to Sonic, as she put his tether down. She walked about 50 feet away from the sharp gradient and began to run. As she got to the top of the grade, she took a leap, propelling her out away from the hillside and down into the valley. She landed squarely on G-ma and Mrs. Corum, before all three of them were pushed out of the light and back to the outskirts of the valley.

Immediately both Mrs. Corum and G-ma got up and began walking back toward the sun. Sara Beth needed to act fast. She quickly ran out of the valley to grab Sonic’s tether, which she then took and tied to the legs of her friends. Thankfully they did not move too quickly! Again moving a few feet away, she began to run toward the end of the tether, snatching it as she passed and toppling G-ma and Mrs. Corum as she dragged them from the valley. The three sit outside the valley, as the world dimmed. But to Sara Beth’s amazement, the sun beams never went away. They stayed there, bright and beaming.

Posted on

Chapter 5: The Meeting

[nnwm15]

 

“No, I can’t say that it ever got that bad”, G-ma said. The look on Mrs. Corum’s face was a bit crestfallen, obviously she had hoped that G-ma might empathize a bit more. G-ma noticed. They had been talking about their former lives outside of this place, specifically the low points.
“I’m not saying I don’t see how it could be that way for you, dear, I’m just saying I don’t think I ever got to that point”.
“It was years ago”, Mrs. Corum said softly, “Right after I found out that I wouldn’t be able to have children. I guess it took a huge toll on me. At that time, it didn’t seem like a man would want to date you if he couldn’t see a future with you… and they didn’t seem to see a future with me. I thought the world was ending – that no one would ever be interested, and that I’d be a spinster for the rest of my life”
G-ma didn’t quite know what to say. Mrs. Corum had been a lot more talkative over the last few days, ever since the rain storm and earthquake. It almost appeared that she had something she needed to talk out, but for the life of her, G-ma had no idea what that was or how to help. G-ma wasn’t used to serious conversations on mental health – her life had been mostly one of mundane happiness. It appeared that Mrs. Corum had been through some rough times that G-ma and her family only approached on rare occasion, and even then, were blessed to have pass quickly.
“I can’t imagine”, G-ma said. The words rang truer than most people would admit – in this case, she truly couldn’t.
Mrs. Corum and G-ma were lazily making their way back to Mrs. Corum’s original spot, planning to explore a new direction relative to it. They hadn’t seen any new or unusual weather events in at least 3 days, although they often looked up and squinted at the sky, wondering if they were missing some subtle shift of color. It was possible that they had become so attenuated to the world they lived in that that their sense had been dulled to it’s shifting nature. Or perhaps they hadn’t, but the ladies were simply all out of energy in a mental way, their bodies still fully powered as the moment they had awoken in this place.
They were both quiet for a few minutes, until Mrs. Corum began to speak.
“It just feels like I can think for the first time in years”, she began, “Throughout my entire working life I was consumed with the day-to-day world. Papers needed to be marked, students needed to be taught, bills needed to be paid, and I suppose that even leisure activities needed to be done. The TV wasn’t going to watch itself at the end of the day. Then I came here. Here I have no papers, no students, no TV. All I have is my time talking with you, and my own thoughts. You ever see that old Twilight Zone where the man is thrilled to have all the time in the world to read?”
“Yes, that’s the one where his glasses break right before he can start his first book”, G-ma replied.
“Yes. But in this case, my glasses haven’t broken. If anything, they’ve gotten sharper as I’ve got so much time now to think about things. I wonder how this place will change me, as I think about all that stuff I’ve ignored for so many years.”
G-ma hoped that the next question wasn’t going to be what she feared, but inevitably, it was.
“Have you changed since you got here?”, Mrs. Corum asked.
G-ma took a long moment that, to Mrs. Corum, would appear that she was gathering her thoughts. In reality, she was hoping something strange would happen again so that she could avoid answering the question.
No earthquake, sky color change, or warm fuzzy feeling came.
“I was afraid you would ask that”, G-ma began, “Yes, I have changed quite a bit”.
Mrs. Corum was somewhat taken aback by the abrupt reply and failure to elaborate. She weighed her options: Ask about how she’s changed, or simply let it hang there. In the end, she didn’t have to worry, G-ma had decided to open up.
“I used to be more extreme”, G-ma said as she sat down on the ground, indicating to Mrs. Corum that she planned on speaking for awhile. “I had wild mood swings day to day during my regular life. Before I came here, there were days I was no picnic to be around. I suppose now that I’m still no picnic to others, but at least I’m less annoying to myself. Maybe what you said about having time now to think is what it is. I can engage in the soul searching that I put off before”
For next few hours, G-ma let out all of the thoughts that, previously, had just been worked out in her mind. No one had heard the life stories, the philosophical rants, and the humorous musings that the older woman had pondered and pieced together over the past 8 years. It grew dim and then light again before they had finished.
After that conversation, Mrs. Corum changed her evaluation of G-ma. The woman had always seemed a bit too direct. A bit too sure of herself. It became clear, though, that this was simply because she’d had a lot of time to decide on what she believed to be true in this world and in her life outside of it. Mrs. Corum decided that speaking to G-ma was different only in that it wasn’t what she would say or do in the given situation. G-ma had a distinct viewpoint. Mrs. Corum wondered if she might, one day, have the same viewpoint, if she lasted long enough here.

“Here it was”, Mrs. Corum said of the spot of ground in front of them.

They had gotten back to her original starting point in the abyss, and had decided to explore a new direction.

“I was over there”, G-ma pointed, “but I always sort of wondered what was that way”, as she pointed sharply in the opposite direction. Previously they had walked perpendicular to the two spots they knew well, today the would start walking parallel, off into the distance neither had ventured. They could make out something far off in the horizon that looked different than the rest of the sky. It would be a journey of several days, but perhaps would be worth it.

They began walking. Today the conversation had been rather light. Some shared stories from their childhoods, and discussion of politics and religious beliefs (They figured that there was no way they were going to scare each other off, so they might as well approach these ‘friendship forbidden’ topics). As they walked, slowly the conversation turned back to the world they found themselves in.

“What do you think you’ll do the next time we find someone here?”, Mrs. Corum asked.

“You think we’re going to find others?”, G-ma replied.

“Well, we found each other”, Mrs. Corum said with a slight bit of cheer in her voice.

“Yes, after I’d given up on ever having that happen. I guess my perspective is different than yours – I think a new person arrives here every 8 years or so, to you, they arrive every few weeks”, G-ma pointed out.

“I suppose you’re right, but I keep getting the sense that we’re going to find others, and not just one, perhaps a dozen. We might even get to start our own community here. You could be mayor”, Mrs. Corum said with a grin.

“I never had the mind for politics!”, G-ma said with a laugh.

“Seriously, though, what are we going to do when we meet them”, Mrs. Corum said, directing the conversation back to her original question.

“I suppose spend the first day just explaining everything – we don’t know much about this place, but we may know more than they do, assuming they haven’t been here longer than we have. Maybe they’ll know more. Maybe your community of friends has been here longer than I have”, G-ma said, as the thoughts came pouring out. Evidently this was one topic she hadn’t fully discussed in her mind during the previous years of living in isolation.

“I wonder if they’ll all be from the same place we grew up?”, Mrs. Corum pondered.

“Aside from you and I both knowing Julie”, G-ma replied, “We don’t seem to have any other link than geography. It would be interesting to meet someone who came here from a more exotic locale than the boring places we frequented on Earth.”

“Do you think we’re still on Earth?”, Mrs. Corum said, half jokingly.

“Aliens again?”, G-ma said with a smile.

“No, but perhaps we’re on a different plane of existence. Maybe we’ve evolved!”, Mrs. Corum optimistically replied.

“No hope of that for me, dear, I’m devolving if anything!”

“Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know… just seemed like something to say”, G-ma said with a smile.

As they walked further away from Mrs. Corum’s spot, a thought struck G-ma that hadn’t before. In retrospect, even if she had thought of it, she would have had no way to test it.

“Can you hear me?”, G-ma asked Mrs. Corum.

“Yes, why?”

“Just let me try something – stand here”

G-ma walked about 10 feet away from Mrs. Corum.

“Can you hear me?”, G-ma asked. Mrs. Corum nodded in agreement.

G-mailed about another 10 feet away from Mrs. Corum.

“Can you hear me?”, G-ma asked. Mrs. Corum started to nod, but then paused. A perplexed look came over her face.

G-ma walked back toward her.

“I saw you perfectly, you weren’t but 15 feet away, and I could see your lips open, and knew you were asking if I could hear you. But I couldn’t.”, Mrs. Corum stammered.

“That explains a lot”, G-ma said, and began walking, motioning Mrs. Corum to join her.

“I realized that whenever someone shows up in this place, one thing is generally on their to-do list as soon as they realize that they’re not in metaphorical Kansas anymore”, G-ma began, “They cry out. They scream. They yell. They curse. They make noise. Did you do that?”

Mrs. Corum blushed slightly. She hadn’t told G-ma that this was, indeed, something she did a few times during that first day. She called out, hoping others might hear her. In fact, a few times, she let out a yell so loud it surprised her.

“Yes, I did”

“But no one here heard you. Think about it – this land has some subtle rises and dips, but is fundamentally flat. We can see for perhaps a mile in any given direction. Sound should travel here just fine, but the distance it travels is tiny compared to the distance we can see.

Mrs. Corum was starting to put the pieces together as G-ma continued.

“So if there are others here, they might spend hours, or days, or weeks calling out, staying put where someone can find them, not realizing that even though they yell as loudly as possible, this place seems to dampen sound.”

“I wonder if there is anyway for us to train our ears to hear better”, Mrs. Corum replied.

“What do you mean?”, G-ma asked.

“I’ve taught my students in science about how the sense can become more highly trained. How they can adjust if need be. I wonder if we were to spend time practicing if we could train our ears to be more sensitive”.

“How long would that take?”, G-ma said.

“Got somewhere you need to be?”, Mrs. Corum smartly replied with a wink.

For the rest of the day, and the next few, G-ma and Mrs. Corum strained to pick up the smallest sound, often whispering to each other. To their amazement, it actually started to work. They could increase the distance between each other to 25 or 30 feet and be heard perfectly. They didn’t need to speak as loudly as they had before either. A light whisper was enough. It was almost as if super hearing was something this world found metaphysically cool, as a teenager might put it, and helped their minds grasp it quickly and easily.

Therefore it was not a huge surprise when they found themselves walking one day and having the following conversation.

“I just don’t know about…. Did you hear that?”

“Yes…”. The two women turned and pointed in the same direction.

They walked over a small hill, and found her sitting there, softly crying, a plastic ball with a missing piece lying to her side.

Mrs. Corum and G-ma turned to each other and shot a quick glance that communicated everything they both had rush through their minds. Who was this girl? Why was she crying? Had she been here long? What’s with the plastic ball? Where had she come from?

Despite all of these questions, the humanity in both women rapidly took over.

“It’s OK honey”, G-ma called out while they were still a few feet away. She didn’t want to startle the child and only make things worse.

“We’re here to help”, Mrs. Corum added.

Sara Beth looked up at them through tear filled eyes.

“Sonic got loose”, she sobbed.

“Who is Sonic?”, Mrs. Corum asked, showing a confused look to G-ma. G-ma, perhaps more skilled at pets than Mrs. Corum, picked up the plastic ball.

“Oh dear, the top came loose, didn’t it honey”, she said.

“Yeah…we were talking and I looked away for just a moment. He’s so small, and so gray, and so… easy to lose in this stupid place”, Sara Beth proclaimed.

“Who are you?”, Mrs. Corum asked.

“We’ll sort all of that out later – right now we have to find Sonic!”, G-ma said, taking charge of the situation. Mrs. Corum stood there, admonished for her curiosity, but felt perhaps G-ma should take the lead here.

“Is Sonic a hedgehog, dear?”, G-ma asked.

“Yes”.

“You heard her – let’s fan out and look. We know he didn’t come by us in the direction we came – I’m sure we would have seen the little guy. I’ll head this way, my friend will head that way, and, this is really important dear, you need to calm down and start looking that way. There are 3 of us, we’ll find Sonic in no time.”

The search party split into three directions and looked, careful to walk over and prod anything on the splotchy gray ground that could have been a tiny hedgehog. Sara Beth was worried, but happy to have the help of the others. She had barely even started looking when she heard a voice call out “I found him”.

Mrs. Corum had walked back over to Sara Beth and led her over to where Sonic lie, seemingly content. “I… uh… don’t know how to pick him up”, she said. Sara Beth adroitly picked up her friend and placed him in the pink ball, making sure the top was tightly in place. They then walked toward the direction G-ma had headed, and found her lightly tapping a gray bump in the ground with her foot.

“I’m glad to see the crisis has been averted”, G-ma said, as she saw the two approach.

“What did she say”, Sara Beth asked Mrs. Corum.

“She said that she was glad our crisis was over”, Mrs. Corum replied, aware that G-ma was still too far away for Sara Beth to hear her.

As the three women and one escapee hedgehog came together, G-ma reached out and put her hand on Sara Beth’s shoulder.

“I’m glad that we’re all safe.”

Sara Beth smiled, perhaps the first true smile that she had produced since coming to this place. She looked up at G-ma and asked “Who are you?”

“My grandkids call me G-ma”, G-ma said, “And as I told my friend here when I met her, no one has called me anything else in quite awhile. Guess I like the sound of G-ma now”.

“I’m happy to meet you G-ma, thanks for helping me find Sonic”, Sara Beth said in gratitude.

“What’s your name, dear”, G-ma asked.

“Sara Beth”

Both women paused for a moment, mentally scanning their pre-abyss memories for a Sara Beth. They were both keenly aware that despite their hard work to fill in the gaps, this place was still somewhat messing with their mind. Sara Beth would be the one to break the moment of silence.

“Who are you?”, she asked Mrs. Corum.

“I’m just a misplaced 6th grade teacher”, Mrs. Corum said with a smile, “My name is Mrs. Corum”.

“I was in 6th grade, well, before I ended up here”.

“Were you?”, Mrs. Corum asked rhetorically. In her mind she further scanned her memory. Sadly she knew very few of the other 6th graders at her school that were not in her class. That amounted to around 30-40 more students. And even then, they had no assurance that Sara Beth had come from the same general area they had.

“We were just going for a walk, would you like to join us”, G-ma asked.

“I can’t”, Sara Beth replied.

This took the two older women by surprise.

“Why not?”, Mrs. Corum asked bluntly.

“Because I need to stay in this spot so they can find me”, Sara Beth said indignantly.

“Honey, I don’t think that’s how it works here”, G-ma gently said.

“How do you know?”, Sara Beth asked.

“Because I sat in the same spot for almost 8 years”, G-ma replied softly. “No one came for me until Mrs. Corum happened to find me a few weeks ago”.

“Well you see – you see – someone found you by staying in the same spot”.

The girl had her there. G-ma had to think quickly.

“Then I’ll tell you what – we can come wait at your spot today, and then tomorrow go on our walk again, and if you choose to come with us, we can come back to your spot every so often and see if anyone is waiting for you”. Sara Beth pondered the idea, and shook her head in agreement.

The three of them sat down, just as it began to dim for the night.

Proudly powered by WordPress