For Melissa (Happy late birthday my friend!):
Empty…
The dirt and dust hadn't yet had time to settle from her hasty escape. Driven by self doubt she had abandoned her makeshift family. She abandoned the ones that she loved with nothing more than a note. Paper and indentations left from a pen seemed like an unfair trade-off for the one they loved.
Unsettled…
The ground was torn, orange-brown dust particles hovering above the fresh tread marks. More dirt mingled with the old as he ran, as he tried to make his best attempt at stopping her. It was clear that he had just missed her; he had almost been able to stop her from committing what he could only rationalize as an act of insanity. He could not understand why she would leave them. Despite himself he felt the now familiar bitter taste of betrayal. She could have talked to them. If only she had talked to them.
If only…
As he stood there in the silence, his mind was filled with too many "if only" thoughts. If only he had been there a moment faster. If only they had not been fooled by H.G. Wells. If only he could talk to her, explain to her, beg her to stay, anything. This was wrong. This was not what was supposed to happen.
Simplicity…
She was gone. That was it. It was unchangeable now. Sure, he could call her on her cell phone. Hell, he had just tried. Several times. Every time it went straight to voicemail. Nothing was ever that simple, nothing was ever solved with the push of a button, or a few. Anyone that disagreed to that was lying to themselves. There was no simplicity here; everything was twisted, connected, intertwined. There were too many reasons for her to stay. There were too many reasons for her to go.
Finality…
It hung in the air, clinging to every inhabitant of this bit of earth. Gone. She was gone. That idea made itself known redundantly. Now, it began the slow transition from idea to fact.
Or maybe not…
He felt something, something deep in the recesses of his heart. This was not her. She would not just give up like this. Quitting was not her style. No, the more he thought of it, the more he became certain. She will come back. She had too. She was his family now, not in blood, but in a way that held much more significance. There was no way of life for him now without her. It must be the same for her too.
Pete felt very certain they would see Myka again.
Soon.