No profit was or will be made of this…
I would also like to apologize for any other Author whom I may have unintentionally stolen something off of. As for the title, I do not believe that it was copied off of any one or any where because I had came up with it as I was writing as a good thing to say to other people. How ever, there is a possibility that I got the inspiration of the Title from a certain British television show whose name I honestly do no remember.
Enjoy!
Have a Good Life
Or
(Do it for me)
Leslie, Where are you?
I need you.
I want to go back; I want to go back to when I had you.
It is all my fault isn't it?
Why wasn't I there for you? I should have been there with you; I should have died with you.
Please just talk to me Leslie.
Leslie, I never had the chance to tell you this but… I love you.
He woke up twisting and turning in his bed sheets and realized that it was all a bad dream.
The ceiling was the same old ceiling, white washed and covered with his sketches of a little girl with a beautiful smile. The curtain was the same old curtain, dusty and brown but warm never the less. This was the same house as he has lived in as a boy; this was the same room that he has slept in as a boy. But it is not the same boy that is sleeping on this bed now as the boy who slept there thirteen years ago.
He climbed out of bed and walked to the window, shivering in the cold air as he put on his slippers. Pasting his face upon the cold glass almost as if he hoped it would cool his fevered mind as well.
It was raining outside. It was not rare for it to rain in Virginia but it still brings back all those painful memories. Memories of his childhood, back when he had someone who cared for him as much as he cared for her. She had walked in one morning on the first day of fifth grade and despite everyone's jeers at her high top shoes and weird clothes. She had smiled at all of her class mates; she had smiled at him.
He remembered how he hated her for beating him in the race and he remembered how he would later on come to love that smooth run of hers. The run that neither rain nor mud could tarnish. That run of hers, on the last time they would meet each other. She had merely glided away and his heart nearly stopped when she turned around to wave at him, PT's tongue was hanging out and it almost seemed as if he were saying bye too, and then she was gone, he would never see her again.
Leslie… run… rope… creek…dead…dead…gone… … she's gone.
He could imagine how it must have been. She jumped onto the mossy log and grasped the rope tightly with PT in her coat. With a smile on her face she jumped and leaned back on it.
Then it snapped. That rope that they had trusted so many times, the rope that had carried then to their hiding place away from all those prying eyes. It snapped. She was falling into the murky waters below and she opened her mouth to scream but her scream was drowned out by the sound of the river.
Something had hit her head and she felt a piercing pain going through the back of her head. She could not breathe, she could not think, she could not move. The water was closing in on her head, pushing and tumbling, dragging her across the branches and stones that covered the bottom of the river.
She was bellow the shimmering surface and bubbles were flowing out of her mouth. But she was not scuba diving any more, there were no beautiful fishes swimming around her, there was no warmth. She was drowning. She did not have any air with her to breathe, she couldn't find the strength to get back up.
She opened her mouth desperately to find some air, but there was none, only water rushed into her mouth, water that choked her, flowed into her nostrils and burned inside her. Her lungs were on fire, her mind was on fire. She couldn't think she could only struggle but no one was coming and she could not get up.
No one was coming to rescue her. Struggling desperately her body thrashed about but even that began to stop. She could no longer feel anything anymore, the cold was leaving, the burning was leaving but the world was also leaving. Darkness was closing in on her. The surface of the water seems to be going further and further away and she knew.
She was dead.
Why weren't you there for me Jess? Where were you? Her voice said to him in a hurt and accusing tone, it's entirely your fault Jess. You weren't there to save me. You weren't there for me.
Jess shook his head to get rid of that voice, it was all just in my imagination. She's gone now, that was all just in my imagination. And silently, he cursed his imagination that was both a gift and a curse. It allowed him to see the world as a much more beautiful place than it actually is, but yet it tormented him for every day in the past thirteen years about Leslie's death.
Was it really my fault? Is she right? Should I have been there for her? He thought to himself. He had thought that thirteen years would be enough for him to move on and forget.
He never could forget, something would always bring her back. A head in a crowd, a girl's laugh, a perhaps the way someone was running, and sometimes it was just two little kids playing with each other. All of these things would bring his memory of her back and his heart would ache as it did so many long years ago. He hated every single time it happened, he hated to tear apart the wound that took so long to heal. Yet every single time it happened, he was also happy, he was glad to be able to experience all of those things all over again.
Even though it would hurt him more and more each time after it happens. All of the pain, all of the suffering, none of it matters if he could just see her for one more minute, if he could just hear her for one more minute, if he could just be with her for one more minute. For that one fleeting moment in his memory, she was alive, Leslie was still alive, and he was happy.
Would I have been happy with her?
It has been thirteen years since that day Leslie died, by now, Jesse Aarons was twenty five.
He walked over to the leather sofa and the glass coffee table, a new addition to his room now that May Belle has moved out and found her own place. He knew that had enough money by now from his company to buy several new islands but he still stayed in the same house as his parents.
He knew that it would cost almost nothing to him for him to renovate his room but he just couldn't do it. The coffee table, the Sofa, and the flat screen TV was the most he was willing to add to his room but that was only to fill in the emptiness left by his sister's departure.
May Belle, she was his favorite sister and his only friend after Leslie left. She would remind him so much of Leslie every time they went to Terabithia. But she wasn't the same, she did not laugh the same she did not run the same, and she definitely did not imagine it the same way. She was a princess but she was no queen; she was not Leslie but she was the next best thing. When she was old enough to realize the depth of her brother's pain she tried to get him to move on.
May Belle helped him get through college, she helped him start his company, and she helped him get rich. But she just simply could not get Jess to be happy. He just simply could not move on, even though it happened so long ago.
Jesse sat down on the sofa and picked up one of the magazines his only friend had dropped off the last time he came to visit. he read the cover with a snort, it said "Jesse Aarons, richest and youngest billionaire bachelor" he threw the magazine into the trash bin without even taking a look on the inside. But then, seeming as if he thought better of it, he walked over to pick it up again.
"Page 24
…The youngest billionaire in human history, owner of the Humanus Link Corporation, is also one of the few people in this world who really does not have that many friends. Even those who are privileged enough to call Jesse Aarons a friend say that they have barely scratched the surface. His best friend and coworker Christopher Heinrich, a hacker who turned entrepreneur says in a recent interview that when he first met Aarons on the first day of High school, 'That kid was ready to kill himself' and that throughout Aarons' entire freshman year he had seemed to be 'on the wrong page as everyone else, always sketching and writing never talking to anyone else. He would realize that break was over three days after it was over. He turned down all of the girls that asked him to dances. He didn't participate in anything.'
Jess Aarons was so utterly eccentric that he was ignored by almost all other students. It wasn't until sophomore year that he made friends with Heinrich and that was because Heinrich brought him a beer one day after school. Starting with that cup of beer, they soon grew to be friends but the most Heinrich was able to figure out about his personal life was that he was, 'Utterly mad, insanely brilliant, a hell of a wasted artist completely heartbroken' As it turns out, the reason why he was so heartbroken was because of an twelve year old girl that he knew in fifth grade who drowned in a tragic accident…"
How the hell did they find out about that? Chris would have never told them. That much I know for sure. Jesse thought to himself, frustrated by the fact that his most precious secret was now public. Finding that he was unable to read that section any further, he scanned the rest of the article for anything else derogatory and no surprise he was able to find one pretty quickly.
"…Rumors are that despite his brilliance he is really mentally ill and it does seem quite probable after his recent actions in funding the preservation of a particular acre of forest in the middle of nowhere…"
They don't know about Terabithia…They don't understand… Leslie would, she helped me create it…Leslie…
Jesse winced as the effect of saying her name sank in. Each time it was as if his heart was being torn out and ripped to shreds all over again. He felt the coldness sink through his body and consume him but he did not even struggle against it.
Through his eyes the world was a living hell, all those people rushing past him living their pointless lives. No one truly loved any more, relationships were superficial, family members become mere acquaintances and friend have become tools for personal gain. Everything good in people's lives were being squashed out. People no longer have any imagination, everyone conformed to the myriads of rules set by society and childhood has been shortened if not completely removed from the newer generations. Grades, Drugs, Sex and Alcohol, that is all that matters to any one now days.
Why do I even bother to put up with this hell anyway? If I died, it would all be over, I could be with Leslie again. Realizing where his thoughts were taking him, he quickly tried to snap out of it and remind himself why he had not ended his life earlier. I must live, I have to bring her back, that is my only reason for bearing with all of this and without it everything I have done would have no meaning. Leslie can't die, she just can't. She is the last hope for all of us, she is hope, she is everything in this world that is pure and beautiful, I must bring her back. But how? There is no way of doing it. Traveling back in time is impossible, creating a program with her exact likeness is completely pointless since it would never be exactly like Leslie, cloning her consciousness isn't possible either since she is dead… HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THIS! If there really is a god and if you really are out there then HELP ME!
In despair, Jesse jumped up and put on his coat. The rain had long stopped so he quietly walked out of the house and ran along the familiar path to that place he cherished.
Terabithia
Jesse stopped at the wooden bridge he built after Leslie's death and he automatically walked over to the spot where the rope swing used to be.
Leslie… I don't know if you can hear me but I want to try this any way… I love you so much, I didn't even know that I loved till you were gone. I can't believe I wasted all that time with you, I never ever even thought of telling you it to you. I just don't know what to do, I know that you would have wanted me to move on but I just simply don't want to do it. You are far too precious to be gone and I am willing to die for you, if it means that you could come back. I would do anything to have you back.
What would you say to me right now? Probably tell me to keep my mind wide open right? Jesse thought to himself and grinned. Wouldn't hurt to try would it?
Jesse closed his eyes and laid back, letting his mind wander and escape from his body.
He imagined night sky clearer and more beautiful than it actually is and filled it with swirling lights; he imagined the wind, visible in his mind, blowing through the treetops and waking up the sleeping birds; he imagined Terabithia, bathed in moonlight and the sound of laughter in the distance, the outline of the castle was barely visible yet it was so sharp against surrounding darkness. But it really wasn't dark, there were so many colors just simply swirling about and the silent night no longer seemed so lonely. In the distance he heard the familiar jingle from a wind chime and he knew that anything could happen now.
The night was now filled with magic and nothing could restrain his imagination. He was walking across the surface of the stream, sending ripples across the surface but not disturbing anything. On the other shore he could see the trees creaking and moving welcoming their king back to Terabithia, he could hear the whispers in the bushes talking about him but whenever he went to look he could never find the owner of the voice.
Soon he passed the rusted old pickup truck and he reached his castle. It was almost the exact same as he had left it, most of the walls have managed to stay on and the roof was covered with holes of various sizes, everything that he and Leslie had placed in there were still there. The bottles of water, crackers, paints, tools, even his map of Terabithia.
But Leslie isn't here…
Jesse felt himself floating up to the tree house and he ignored the part of his mind screaming at him that this can't be happening. He could see shadows running about the tree house and occasionally he would hear a disembodied laugh. Neither of the two shadows scared him, it seemed as if he knew them a long time ago, and that laugh, that beautiful melodious laugh. He can recognize that laugh anywhere, how could he not, after all it was her laugh. It was Leslie's laugh.
It can't be… Leslie?... Is that you?
The two shadows chased after each other and he could see that they were leaving him, they were going somewhere. He could not just watch them go so he followed them as they climbed down the rope ladder.
Where are they going?
They were running through the woods, they were having a race to somewhere and suddenly, they were gone.
Jesse walked around the place where they disappeared and he suddenly realized where he was, this was Leslie's secret hiding place, this is where she would keep all of her diaries and books and her treasures. He walked over to a clump of bushes knowing that he would find the entrance to her grove there.
He put his hand out to pull aside the leaves but a part of him couldn't help but feel guilty about it. He was violating Leslie's privacy; this is where she kept all of her secrets. Yet the other part of him urged him on, he had to feel her presence, he had to see her, even if it were for just one more time. As he finally parted the leaves he climbed into the dry little hollow.
…Jess… it was a whisper, a ghost of a whisper passing by his ear, and all around him he could feel her presence, he could feel Leslie's presence. Jesse picked up one of the books on a makeshift shelf and he quickly flipped through the pages, it was almost as if she were in the book, it was almost as if her presence was stored in the book, it was stored all around him, it was all stored in that hollow. It was Leslie that was stored in that hollow.
He knew that he was onto something but he couldn't quite grasp it. Then he felt the spark in his mind. He felt the spark burst into a flame and it had lighted the string quickly, burning it up and consuming it. He could feel the tension building. He just needed to go that one bit further to find it.
Then the idea hit him like a freight train…
Jess's eyes snapped open and he smiled into the night sky. Even without his imagination it seemed so much more beautiful than it had been before. He could feel the renewed energy that coursed through his veins and once more, there was hope in his world.
Leslie, I am coming for you…
Thank you all so much for taking the trouble of reading the first chapter of this story. Hope you have all enjoyed it and please, press that review button down bellow and get a chance to win ten bucks, Nah, I was just kidding about that part but go do it any way.
The next chapter will have a bit of sci fi in there but that is only to make Leslie's comeback seem more original and plausible.
Unfortunately, with track and field, school, SAT classes, Honors classes, AP classes, violin classes, tennis competitions, art contests and other social things in my life, it is going to take me a looongggg while to post the next chapter. Any way, in the mean time, have a good life eh? Do it for me.
Sincerely Anomaly,
01-09-2011