~It always seemed so strange how a lush, green landscape could transform into a grayish, cement jungle in the blink of an eye. The trees grew into far more geometric wooden poles with wire strung along the tops. The expanses of flourishing grass faded into cracked expanses of sidewalk and street. The open woods and bodies of water closed off into lonely and foreboding office buildings.
Garry always despised the manmade world and all of its folly. He resented the billboards that sang out to him like sirens- trying to call him to his demise. He hated the smell of regret and human brokenness that wafted from the putrid manholes and gutters. He considered himself an utter misanthrope, but he was not completely discontent with such a harsh term.
He glanced through his window at the passing Hell, forming an involuntary movement of his mouth to the side which caused a hallowed space below his cheekbone. He simply turned up the volume of his radio and continued on through a yellow traffic light.
He felt the presence of the small red rose he had purchased in the passenger seat next to him. He couldn't help but smile when he thought of the young lady who would soon replace it.
It had been 7 years since the wild incident at the Guertena exhibit. Ever since then, Garry and she were inseparable. He recalled their very first meeting at the French bakery the weekend after their mishap.
He shouldn't call it a 'mishap', he thought. After all, I know her now because of that.
He shook with laughter as he flipped through his memories with her. Her crimson eyes that shone like rubies when she smiled, her lovely laugh that formed a melodious harmony with his own, her constant curiosity and fascination with all there was, her… well, everything.
He only recently admitted his profound love for her a few months ago (to himself, of course). He noticed her in a new light, rather than as his younger companion who he cared for in a different way.
He let a melancholy sigh escape as he noted, I know she doesn't feel the same way.
She was always the same with him- now and 7 years ago. There was no implication that she allowed an awkwardness derive from her romantic feelings for him as he sometimes did. She would still kiss his cheek in a casual way that would send his heart soaring, but she never noticed.
But that's okay, he assured himself. She's happy.
~ It was Friday, her favorite day of the week. Garry would soon be here and they would both have the rest of the day to themselves. It became a tradition of theirs a year after they were warped into the different dimension together. It took a while for her parents to get used to Garry and the idea of her spending time with him alone. But after they divorced when she was 13, it didn't matter as much whether or not she saw Garry without supervision. She put her chin on her hands and thought about the whole thing. Garry would never hurt her; in fact, he would do the complete opposite. He wouldn't let anything hurt her.
Today had been pretty uneventful; excluding the art show she presented her work in the last half of the school day. She received many compliments on her paintings of creatures everyone else thought to be fictional. None of their words meant anything to her. They did not know that such things could be real. Many tried to be scrupulous in their examinations of her work and find deeper meanings as to what they may present. An artist from the local modern art museum asked if the pale, detached mannequin head represented a manic state. She only replied with a resigned "no". Only Garry understood. Being an art teacher himself, Garry had far more meaningful feedback and thoughts on her work.
Garry… the one she'd been feeling a bit confused about. She found herself drawing sketches of the familiar man or a blue rose on her notebooks. He also occupied most of her thoughts throughout the school days… No. She respected and loved him as a friend; A friend who had a very special bond with her.
She sat patiently on the bench in front of her school while girls and boys were still fluttering around like butterflies in their brightly colored clothing. Today was the first day of spring break and it was the warmest weather they'd had since the official first day of spring. The sun melted the months of incessant cold from the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. Even then, she still found it hard to appreciate such a day in the midst of the grey, ugly constructed area. That was something she and Garry had in common; they both hated the densely populated parts of Fairfield.
The usual group of girls began swarming at an all too familiar distance from her. She rolled her eyes at their blatant and immature motives. They all prepped their hair and giggled as they awaited him. The black Volkswagen pulled up along the curb. She saw them all wait on their tippy toes. Their excitement sickened her. The familiar violet hair rose from the driver's side of the car and soon enough, there stood Garry on the passenger's side, waiting for her.
A wide grin manifested on her face as she went to greet him, she could feel their eyes stab like daggers at her back in jealousy.
"Ib!" he opened his arms.
They embraced. She took in a breath of his unique scent and felt a heat rise in her face. She pulled away and tried breathing slowly to return her cheeks to their natural paleness.
He looked down at her with an inquiring eye, "I didn't know you had to dress up for your show. You look lovely!" he added with a sarcastic grin? She couldn't tell.
"Yeah, I think I look like a doily, but I like it" she remarked looking down at the white lace dress. She looked him over; a rich cobalt button down with black trousers. Garry was fond of darker colors even in the warmer months.
Garry scratched the back of his neck, "nah, it suits you." A smile danced on his lips. "How did it go, though?"
"Eh, fine." She turned away from his gentle stare, afraid she may openly admit she heard nothing but crap from everyone today.
"You can tell me later", he leaned down and whispered in her ear. The 1 foot gap in height was far easier for intimate talking compared to the 3 foot gap 7 years ago.
"Ready to go?" he nodded towards the car.
"Yes" her red eyes widened with delight.
she slid into the passengers seat, "What's this?" Ib inquired as she held the red rose to her nose.
"That's for you, congrats on the show." He grinned, pleased.
"That's so sweet! Thanks, Garry." She leaned over and pecked his cheek.
A bit disoriented from the sudden warmth rising in his pit, Garry reversed with a jolt, nearly hitting the Toyota in back of him. He felt himself turning a scarlet from embarrassment.
"Sorry, Ib!" You're not hurt, are you?!" he put his hand on her shoulder.
A laughing Ib wiped at her disgruntled hair as she exclaimed, "That was rad, man!"
Garry laughed with relief.
They drove on while blasting 80's tunes. The grey bloomed into green and the world outside their windows became beautiful once again.
"How were your classes?" Ib yelled above the music.
"Well, half of them asked me to prom." Garry attempted to pose a distraught face, but remembering the almost comic amount of proposals he received that day, he could not.
Ib laughed wildly at this. "That's the burden of being hot, Gar!"
They pulled up to the front window of the corner bakery. It always looked better inside, but even so, the cracking bricks brought a feeling of comfort and happiness.
~The usual pair appeared from the Volkswagen outside the café. Paul checked his watch, 3:00 sharp. He could always rely on Ib and Garry to arrive at the same time every Friday.
"Lilah! Can you get Ib and Garry's usual?" Paul called to the back kitchen.
He looked down at the sleeping retriever behind the counter.
"Hey Darcy, Ib's here." he sang to the dog. Its ears perked up and its tail began to thud on the hardwood floor.
At the sound of the front bell, Darcy bolted to the door.
Ib crouched down and gathered her hands with the retriever's face, exclaiming, "Darcy! Hello, good girl!"
Garry knelt down as well and got his share of Darcy's sloppy kisses.
"Hey Paul!" they both called as they approached the counter, Darcy in tow.
"How's everything with you guys?" he grabbed two sheets of parchment paper.
Garry was about to answer when Paul interjected, "man, Garry, you look like Hell. Did you run a marathon or something?" a joking grin spread across his face.
"No, just a REALLY tough day at work today."
"Tell Paul about your students!" Ib shouted from an invisible view. Paul stretched over the counter and saw Ib rubbing Darcy's stomach. Paul glanced at his marriage ring. He and his wife recently had a little girl. Paul hoped that their little Gracie would be a lot like Ib when she grew to be 16.
Garry leaned against a column beside the pastry display case. "All of my female, including some male students, asked me to prom." He let out a small chuckle.
Paul found this quite amusing and let out a low, billowy snort. "I can see how that can be exhausting. Did you say yes to any of them?" he shot a sardonically quizzical look at Garry.
"If by 'yes' you mean an impartial nod of the head, then yes." Garry shrugged.
Paul grabbed the typical pink and purple macaroons and set them aside on a tray. Ib hopped up from the ground and rested her elbows beside the cash register.
"You look nice, miss Ib. It's different from the standard uniform. What's the occasion?" Paul inquired.
"Art show."
"How'd that go?"
A look of contemplation twisted her face, "you, know. It wasn't too special or anything."
Paul could tell something disappointed little Ib, but he wasn't inclined to upset her any further.
At this point Lilah came out with a mug of earl grey and a mug of dark espresso. Paul set the drinks on the tray as Ib pulled a ten dollar bill out of her shoe.
"It's my turn this week" Garry smiled playfully at Ib.
"No, you paid last week!" her brow furrowed as she giggled.
Paul took the bill and added, "Thanks, Ib, for your… shoe money."
Ib and Garry enjoyed their macaroons on the patio out back with Darcy beneath the table, chewing a bone Ib had given her.
"So, are you ready to talk about today?" Garry's inciting eyes peered up from his espresso.
She started reluctantly, "Everyone was just telling me nonsense about how my art was so deep and meaningful. I guess with my other series that would be appropriate to say, but my recent paintings were mostly formal and made of memories. Sometimes I wish I could just tell people all about our experience without sounding insane." Ib's voice quivered.
" I understand. Listen: when you can get your paintings back, I'd be more than happy to talk completely about form with you." He gave a reassuring smirk.
"Yeah, it's pretty lucky you're an art teacher. Thanks." Ib took a sip of her tea.
They headed out of the café with enthusiastic farewells to Paul and Darcy.
"So, what do you want to do today?" Garry was barely audible above the music and the open windows.
"Let's go see that garden exhibit at the Rodin." Ib shouted back.
~The day had peaked and the garden was immersed in a golden glow. In the labyrinth of green and newly planted flowers, colorfully abstract paintings occupied every corner. Garry could see the inner 9 year old Ib come out for the day. She pranced ahead bending down to observe every lilac, daisy, lily, and poppy in sight. Garry watched the childish Ib with delight. He was worried that the Guertena Gallery had ruined her prime years. Now seeing Ib float every which way in random patterns made his fear reconciled.
Lost in his thoughts, he found himself standing alone in a high walled section of the maze. The shrubbery was completely opaque that even the sunlight seemed dulled in the small space. He continued on through the shrouded passages, every turn grew darker. He carried on this way for 3 more turns when he noticed a very small splotch of color on the ground. He looked closer… a red rose petal?
He followed the trail of petals that continued on farther into the maze. The longer the trail lead, the faster Garry sprinted in desperation to find the source.
With a bone-chilling dread, Garry rounded what he knew to be the last and final turn.
There on the ground lay Ib.
A stark rose stem was distanced 3 inches from the cold, white, and lifeless fingers.
Garry collapsed and dragged himself to little, crumpled Ib.
Tears and a silent panic threatened to rip his body to pieces. He slowly reached his trembling hand toward her limp and lifeless one. As he neared her chalky fingers, the horrific corpse vanished into the darkness.
Garry looked around wild-eyed as a stinging and blurry film enveloped his eyes.
"Ib!" he cried out, frantically jumping to his feet.
"Garry?!" A distant alarmed yell sounded not far off.
His mind was playing tricks; that was Ib's voice. He just saw her- dead. Not knowing how to react to this sudden chaotic din, He dropped to his knees and gripped his forehead with both his hands.
He could see a blurry white entity dash toward him. It sounded like her, calling his name, "Garry! Garry!" It taunted him. Ib was gone. This bane of mockery only existed to jeer at him. Now frantic, the creature began to claw at his hands trying to disarm his protection. He was determined to remain mainstay.
~WHAT WAS GOING ON?! Ib hysterically called Garry's name, but it seemed something else occupied his body. He was an entirely different character. He crouched there, motionless and unrelenting to Ib's attempts to free his face from his hands. She remembered the trance Garry was in when she found him in a room with the rabbit statues. However, this was different. He wasn't talking to an invisible companion. He was locked away somewhere else, by himself.
Ib could taste the salty tears running down to her mouth as she kept screaming his name. She yelled desperately for help, but no one could hear her in the dense labyrinth.
After many attempts to pry Garry's clutching fingers away, including a few slaps to his armored face, Ib fell back in defeat.
She sat, scrambled, beside the statue of Garry and sobbed with bitter agony, "Garry! Where are you?! What do I need to do to get you back?!"
~Why was this demon still here? Although it tore Garry apart to hear its synthetic use of Ib's voice to call out to him, he would not give in. It kept going on and on with nothing but his name and empty coaxes. There was a small hiatus of silence when the thing just sat there and repeatedly sniffled.
It started, "Garry, do you remember when I was younger and I would visit you whenever I had nightmares about the museum? And you eventually got a box of lemon candies for me and you called it "Ib's box"? The voice faltered a bit. "And… and every time I came to you, we would sit on your couch and watch a film and eat those candies together?" "Well, even though I don't run to you anymore after a nightmare, I still have them… and I don't think I could manage without you there to understand." The voice broke into sobs.
Nice try… wait, how would it know about that? It couldn't possibly… The tips of his fingers began to thaw. Maybe, this was Ib and the corpse he saw was the fake. Slowly, he released his grip and examined the face through his fingers. Her eyes were swollen with tears. She quickly rubbed at her burning cheeks and let out an exasperated, "GARRY!"
She threw herself around Garry, sending him to the ground. He held her tightly, still dubious of her actuality.
They stumbled back through the labyrinth, each layer of darkness peeling away as they went. Garry was still dazed as Ib led him toward the light. She clasped his waist trying to support his unstable gait.
Not a word was spoken between them. Both were content with silence.
They made it out into the parking lot beside the black car when Garry finally stood on his own. He bent down and placed his hands on his knees. Ib stood patiently beside him, softly rubbing his back.
"Ib? I'm sorry I scared you. I'm alright now" his pale face faked a reassuring smile.
"It's fine. I'm just glad you're back, but… what happened?" she hesitated.
He brought his height down to hers. He hated standing above her anytime they talked. They were both equals and he never wished to make Ib feel incompetent even if that meant bending his knees at an awkward angle.
"I had a horrific vision." He did not want to tell the rest.
"Did I die, Garry?" Ib's inciting crimson eyes beckoned for the truth.
With a very reluctant inhale, Garry grumbled a "yes."
~She was no fool. Sometimes she wished Garry would stop trying to protect her from his fears about her dying. It wouldn't actually hurt her to hear it. She had dreams all the time of her or Garry meeting either's demise, it wasn't anything new to her.
"You can tell me this, you know. It's not like I'm going to die for real if you tell me." Her brow furrowed as she told Garry truthfully.
"You're right. No more secrets." His sapphire eyes shone with brilliance.