2. Pictures of you, pictures of me

The nurse cupped her hand under her patient's neck, easing the girl's head down onto the pillow.

"How are we feeling today, Ana?" she asked in that kind voice.

Ana said nothing. She gazed up at the spotless ceiling, her mouth open as though she wanted to speak but couldn't find the words. The nurse's smile faltered a bit, but her mouth didn't straighten as she tucked the sheets around the girl.

"The procedure went well," she continued, looking away from the girl's face, "I'm sure you'll be feeling better soon."

There was a light knock on the open door. The nurse turned and saw a young boy standing there, his eyes grazing over the nurse until they settled on the girl.

"Are you visiting?" The nurse asked.

She found the boy to be almost as quiet as the girl. She nodded once and slipped out of the room, gently shutting the door behind her. 

The boy waited until the knob turned before making his way to the girl. He set himself in the chair beside the bed and watched as she looked at the ceiling.

"Ana," he said quietly, "it's me. It's Harper."

Ana blinked slowly, her eyes shutting for a moment before opening again. She turned her head, looking at him for a moment. She mouthed, "Harper."

Harper couldn't contain the smile from spreading across his face. "That's right."

For a moment, he expected Ana to smile as well. Then the girl turned her eyes from him to the object on the bedside table. Harper reached over and took the stack of photos into his hands. He drew the first away from the stack and looked at it for a moment before turning it to face Ana.

"See this?" He said, pointing to the fountain set behind the small group of children. "This is that fountain at the park. We'd eat lunch there after school, remember? That," he points to the boy on the end of the line of kids, "that's me, that's Jay, that's Roza, and that's you."

Ana blinked at the photo, then at Harper. The boy sighed at her confusion and returned the photo to its stack. "You don't remember, do you?"

The girl turned her eyes away and looked back up at the ceiling. He shoved the pile of photos back onto the table and pushed his chair back, standing. He walked towards the door, his hand turning the knob when he heard a small voice.

"Can we do it again?"

Harper turned to look at Ana, who's eyes stayed on the ceiling. She spoke softly, her words almost inaudible.

"Can we eat lunch there again."

Harper smiled even though he knew she couldn't see him. "Of course. Just focus on getting better, okay?"

The boy smiled as Ana nodded once.

1. Unfeeling

I feel nothing, and at a time like this, I wish I did. I don't realize the exhaustion taking over my body until I collapse on my side in the tall snow, the skin on my legs frosted with a thin layer of ice. Snow stick to my eyelashes, clinging tightly to the long hairs as I try to blink the flakes away. I move my arm closer to my body and hug it against my chest, noticing my fingers are a pale blue color. I wonder why. Pondering this, I try to get up again, only able to lift my head up out of the snow for a moment before it falls back under. I lie there, apathetic thoughts flitting through my mind. I use up the rest of my energy and roll onto my back, resting a hand on my stomach. I stare up at the sky, the bland grey clouds shifting across a pale blue background. Small flakes continue to fall, and I can tell they shower my body. I pay them no mind.
Hours pass. Then days. I feel no hunger, no thirst. The only things that bother me are the coughs that rack my body. For some reason I can't sing anymore. My throat won't allow it. No matter. Someone will come for me, I'm sure.
Another day ends, leaving me in the pleasant darkness of night. The moon tosses me a smile when the clouds decide to let it shine. I open my mouth to call out to it, but another cough makes my back arch. I roll onto my side, seeing red spot the snow there. My throat constricts and makes it hard to breathe. I blink against the snow that fights to get past my eyelashes. Maybe if I felt something, I wouldn't have come outside. I wouldn't have wandered into the woods. I would've worn a coat and shoes instead of just my nightgown. I would've felt father's love for me even when he yells. I would've felt the cold closing in on me, entering and consuming my body.
Oh well, I think, darkness penetrating my soft thoughts, I guess it's too late now.

Summertime Sadness

Summer was ending, and, like every year, we were depressed. Even though we had days left, we made the most of every minute. Since birth, the group of us were inseparable, and the perfect team. We spent our days outside, running and playing sports and boating and fishing, never taking a second to get a breath in. Our nights were filled with capture the flag and hide-and-seek and most anything else we could play in the dark. Every second was filled with something fun. It wasn't until one of our last days when we actually stopped to take a breath. The six of us lay in the scratchy grass, our clothes and skin dirty as ever. A muddy soccer ball sat near my bruised bare feet. We gazed up at the slowly passing clouds above and smiled as lightning bugs began to rise into the air. Finally, one of us stated, "we only have three days left".
Man, did that kill the mood. I heard the boy grunt as his brother elbowed him in the ribs. "Gee, thanks for the reminder."
"Sorry."
We sat in silence again, depressed. Then I jumped up and said, "As soon as it's dark out, we're playing ultimate capture the flag. The whole cul-de-sac is free for hiding."
Someone sat up and said, "That's impossible. How will we find the other teams flag?"
"That's why it's called 'Ultimate', dummy," one of the girls said.
"Okay," I said, and planned out the teams, which the same boy as before claimed to be 'impossible'.
Then I smiled at the team. My team. That has a nice ring to it.

Just a step

I'm so close. So very close to freedom. It's literally a step away. Just one. Little. Step.
Someone grabs the hem of my shirt and pulls me back. I spin and raise my fists for a fight, then lower them when I meet eyes with a short girl with cropped blonde hair and anger shining in pale green iris'.
"Bridie?" I stutter.
She gives me a hard smack across my cheek, making my head snap back. I turn back to her with surprise and slight anger, but she talks before I can.
"What's wrong with you?! Were you really about to do that?"
I purse my lips and reply with, "if this is the only way, then it's the way I'm going. Stay and rot here, if you want, but I'm getting out."
"By jumping?"
I look down at where I stand, inches away from the edge of the tower we're in. Thick clouds flow around us in the dark night sky, obscuring anything below their fluffy opaque bodies.
Bridie speaks again. "Please don't, Dannie. You know that this isn't the only answer. Just-", she takes my hand and squeezes it,"-come back."
I think about everything that's happened to me in this place, and I'm tired of it all. I'm sick of the testing and the probing and the injections. I'm done with it all. I've heard stories about this tower, about the other kids who've jumped. I'll be added to those stories, and maybe I'll be able to tell them myself. I look back at Bridie, who's crying softly, and say, "I'm not gonna be like everyone else. I'm gonna get out, and I'm gonna survive. I swear to God, I won't die here."
Bridie looks past me at the hovering clouds. "You really think you can make it there? The stories the kids tell...about the passage to the other land..."
"It's there," I say, "and I can make it."
She swallows hard and nods, stepping up beside me. "Then I'm coming too."
I smile and nod, squeezing her hand reassuringly. And together we step into the sky.

Coming Home

I glance at the face of my wristwatch, then back at the white wall. I shut my eyes and think hard of the place I want most to be. I open my eyes to a grassy backyard at mid-day. I turn in circles, taking everything in. Hundreds of flowers grow in blues and pinks and yellows and violets. The aroma is almost too sweet, but soothing. I steady myself as pebbles shift under my feet. Birds sing softly in the trees. The sun isn't too bright, but seems to leave a glow around everything it touches. It reflects in the small pond in the corner of the yard and bounces off the shingles of the little yellow shed. I start walking down the pebble path, breathing in deep, remembering everything. I hear a soft crunch of leaves and turn to see a sleek white and orange tabby cat peering at me from behind an abandoned wheelbarrow. I smile and bend down, hand outstretched.
"Hey, Chester. Miss me?"
The cat hisses and retreats into the growing shadows.
I hear a small laugh behind me. "Please tell me you didn't come all this way to say goodbye to that stubborn old cat."
I spin around and come face to face with a girl. Her curly brunette hair bounces as she laughs again, her chocolate brown eyes sad. She wears a thin pale-blue dress that hangs to her ankles, and she's barefoot, yet seems unaffected by the hard stones under our feet. As I reach out to touch her, she nods and says, "Yes, I'm real, Cole." She takes my hand and guides it to her cheek, then turns to examine the garden. "This is really where you wanted to see me?"
I smile. "It's the only thing I could think of."
She laughs gently. "Lots of memories in this place."
I pull her into a hug, desperate for her warmth. She nestles her face into my neck and asks, "How long?"
I swallow hard and glance at my watch. "Two minutes."
She nods against me and holds me tighter. I feel hot tears on my skin.
I move one hand to her neck and I hold her closer. "But it's okay."
I take a deep breath and we stand there for a good while. Then I say,"It's okay. I'm coming home to you."

Before Alys- 1

Many things have happened to me in the past few years. If you've read or heard about my other adventures, you probably know me as Alys. However, I didn't choose to be Alys. I had nothing to do with that route which I was forced to take. I want to tell you about what happened before Alys and that stupid wonderland. Before I became Alys. And before I became Alys, I was Carsy, or, more formerly, Carson Nancy Foster.
And this is how my story began.
When I was six years old, my mom died from cancer. Was I sad? Yeah, but I forced myself to deal with it. My dad was a whole different story. I love him. Really, I do. But he was absolutely no help at all. When I turned eight, he started drinking. It was pretty bad. The worst part is, we lived in a totally different house. Dad was only working part-time, so we didn't have a lot of money. I walked to school by myself, which is scary in a dangerous city. My school was terrible, full of delinquents and troublemakers. I didn't have any friends at all. Things went on like this until I turned eleven. I was walking to school through a alley which served as my secret shortcut when something hard and fast hit me in the side of the head. I fell back against the brick wall and couldn't see. I could only hear voices, two teenage boys, it sounded like. They sounded angry, not at me, at each other. Then I heard them leaving when,"
"Hey, what're you doing here? This is- holy crap, what the heck happened?"
The two boys from before ran off with a couple more on their tail. A voice said, "Tilly, check on her, would you?"
Someone took my shoulders and gently lifted me up off the ground. I looked into soft brown eyes who looked at me with something I'd never seen before: Worry.
"She's okay, Riley,  just a little banged up," A girl said, now relieved.
The other voice called back, a boy's voice. "Still, those guys were hanging on our turf. Miles, Turk, go on after them.
"Sure, boss."
"We'll take her with us, Tilly," the "boss" said, "Here, I'll carry her."
Then he picked me up gently and started walking.
And that's where my new life began.

Blue Eyes- Finale

"Blue eyes just smile to the world, full of dreams and with fascination."



I'm dreaming again. I realize this a little late, but it's the same dream as before. I'm flying once again, the same wind screaming in my ears and rushing around me. I wait. Wait for my body to hit the ground and to wake up again on that cold floor without Avi there to comfort me. I breathe in. Breathe out. I let my arms leave my sides and spread them wide, welcoming death. I shut my eyes and just wait.
"Sam!"
This time I know the voice. Someone grasps my hand tight and pulls me up. I open my eyes and see Avi there. She grins at me and takes my other hand.
The wind around the two of us slows and thickens to Avi's will. The air rushing around me now sways gently, tussling my hair.
"So, this is your power?" I laugh. Avi doesn't answer, really, just leans back into the wind, letting it swirl around her. She giggles.
Then she looks at me, mildly serious. "Promise me something."
I hesitate, then nod. "Anything."
"Promise you'll stay with me. Forever. Promise that you'll never leave me."
I nod again, smiling. "I promise."
She smiles at me, and I notice for the first time that her eyes aren't grey. They're blue. A bright, shiny blue. She pulls me into a tight hug, which I return gratefully, and together we slowly descend into our new lives.