When Simon found Marceline so long ago in that cave, she looked near to death. She was curled up in a ball, with tattered clothes, shaking.
A war shattered the town around her and nothing could be more terrorfying for a little girl. Simon knew it was coming; the war, but could do nothing about it. He was grateful he found Marceline when he did, because she really was his only family left, or rather, I should say, the only human left.
Marceline had scars on her face and dark circles under her eyes. At first, Simon thought she was some sort of creature that got a hold of clothes. Then he realized. And wrapped his coat around her.
She looked up at Simon with those dark eyes and they hugged. Simon lifted Marceline and put her on his shoulders. They walked back to the town, to a rat-infested apartment building that was somewhat still standing. It was where Simon lived and it was slowly becoming the most complete building of all the town. Even the Museum of Natural History crumbled, only twenty days after the first bomb went off. And that was supposed to be the most stable building!
He rented out the room during his college years, and it definately had it's parties throughout the years. A crack rolled down one of the cream walls and a brown spot(probably alcohol) stained a corner of the room. A bucket collected drops of rain under a hole in the ceiling. Simon had found a matteress and a few blankets and brought them in. He also packed some firewood in his backpack, but it was still too damp for a fire.
Night was coming quick. Or at least Simon thought it was night. It was always dark and cloudy. They shared a cut up apple and Simon tucked Marceline in.
Even though they never met each other, it was like they knew each other. I know, it's a hard feeling to explain, but it was what Simon was feeling, and he wished he and Marceline could stay together...
Poor Simon. What a life he was living! Never in a million years would he had thought,"Tomorrow, the world will end and I will still be alive." Still, here he was, alive, after everyone was dead. Wait, scratch that- after almost everyone was dead.
The lights flickered on and off above Simon's head. He moaned. Not the power again! He put on his jacket and grabbed a flashlight. Marceline was shaking so he put another blanket over her and patted her head. Simon felt sad for Marceline, she was only wearing tattered rags. Maybe he'll find a cute little dress for her tomorrow. He ran down the steps to the back to the apartment building and wrenched the fuse-box open. Sparks flew and Simon stepped back.
"Stupid engineering!" Simon cursed under his breath. One drop of water and it goes crazy. He flipped the door inside the fuse-box, and that was where the problem was. The idiots that had put it together had connected the wire to apartment A1 to apartment B3! Simon turned the electricity off and disconnected the two wires, and connected apartment A1 back to the main power. He turned the electricity back on and they were in business.
"Mister Simon!" Marceline screamed with fright. Simon ran back inside. Marceline was wide awake, the lights barely on.
"Yes?" Simon sat down next to Marceline on the bed. Now that Simon could see her clearly, he noticed she was dirty, and her left cheek was bruised.
"You left! Don't do that again! You...you scared me half to death!" Marceline yelled at Simon and a tear rolled down her cheek.
Marceline hugged Simon, her arms barely reaching his back. "It's okay. I was just outside getting the power to work. I came back." Simon hugged Marceline back.
"But...you left me..." Marceline uttered in between tears. Simon looked down, his arms around Marceline. He looked at his clawed hands, and decided what to do.
"If you, I mean- I will never leave your sight again. How's that? "Simon smiled to Marceline with pointy teeth. She wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded. "As long as you never run away?" Simon quickly added. Marceline quickly answered "Of course!"
"Good. Let's go to bed then. I'm sure it will be morning soon and we need our rest." Simon tucked in Marceline for a second time and kissed her on the forehead.
He was just about to turn off the lights when Marceline yawned,"Mister Simon?"
"Yes?" Simon answered.
"Your beard is itchy."Marceline confessed. Simon silently laughed to himself, turned the lights off and lay in bed with Marceline.
The Next Day:
"Mister Simon! Wake up!" Marceline tugged his arms. Simon moaned and pulled the blanket back on his shoulder. "You overslept! The sun's mid-sky!"
"What? Oh Marceline. " Simon yawned and put his blue glasses back on. "Wait did you say? Something about the sun?"
Marceline nodded. "My dad taught me that if you watch for where the sun is, that's what time it is. I...I think." Marceline looked the other way at the window, which overlooked the outskirts of town. "And it's mid-sky!"
"Mid-sky? I really did sleep in!" Simon grabbed his clothes and changed in the bathroom (which smelled like mold and the toilet smelled worse.) He returned to Marceline, his PJ's in a pile in the bathroom. He looked out the window, expecting to find a clear sky.
"Wait. Marceline, how could you see the sun? There's thick clouds shadowing the sky." Simon looked down at Marceline who was looking out the window, by his side.
"Can't you see it? Look!" Marceline pointed to a cloud. It seemed to be a shade lighter than the other ones, but was still as thick. "Marcy, I don't know what you're talking about." Simon went down to his knees and looked Marceline in the eyes.
"Just look!" Marceline pointed to that cloud again. Simon put his arms at his sides. "Don't lie to me."
"I'm not!" Marceline pulled Simon's hand out and tightly held it. "See?"
Simon looked back out the window again, but this time all the clouds were gone. And there was the sun, mid-sky. There were also these creatures on the ground, like human skeletons but re-animated, just raking leaves and planting undead flowers, as if they were as alive as you or I.
"What was that?!" Simon threw Marceline's hand out of his and looked back out the window. There were thick clouds. No skeletons.
A tear rolled down Marceline's cheek. "Oh. Sorry, I…Marcy I didn't know." Simon held his hands in front of his face. "You're different and I've never seen anyone do that before. But in a good way. It will be our little secret."
Marceline looked up at Simon and he stood back up. He ran to his backpack and grabbed something out of it. "Now, I can tell you my secret." Simon showed Marceline a scrapbook full of pictures.
"Cool!" Marceline smiled and Simon sat down next to her. "These are my memories, pictures that I took long ago. You can have it now. I have all my memories in my brain anyways, so I don't think I'll need the pictures."
Simon gave Marceline his scrapbook and she opened to the first page. A picture of Simon in a newspaper clipping was taped and the words "This Scrapbook Belongs To: Simon Petrikov." (Simon had wrote his name in sloppy cursive.)
Marceline looked at this page for at least five minutes. She looked confused and Simon felt sad for Marceline. She didn't know how to read. Simon promised himself he would do all he could do to help Marcy, even teaching her how to read and write.
Simons' stomach growled. "You must be starving! Come on, let's get some food." Marcy left the scrapbook on the ground and Simon picked it and put it in his backpack. He grabbed the crown, tried it on one of his belt buckles, and it hung heavily by his side. Simon turned the lights off, and he and Marcy closed the door.
"What's for lunch?" Marceline hungrily asked. The more Simon looked at her, the more he could've sworn he knew her before.
"Umm, let's see. How about rabbit? Or maybe squirrel?" Simon looked ahead, his hand in Marcy's.
"Okay…wait, did you just say rabbit?!" Marcy almost screamed. Simon looked down at her and he smiled.
"Well, what do you think would be a good lunch?" Simon and Marcy walked around what used to be the Downtown.
Marceline thought about this for a while and finally, after ten minutes of walking, told Simon her answer.
"My...my dad used to get me fries. It was the only thing we could really afford for a while. And my mom would give me her box." Marcy looked down at the ground and kicked a pebble five feet.
"I'm sure your parents are okay, Marcy." Simon sighed loudly. He quickly changed the subject, knowing how tense that subject could be. "Hey, how about a grilled cheese?"
"Yum!" Marcy exclaimed. After Simon found a clean spot to cook, they grilled a couple sandwiches over a fire, and enjoyed. Later, they checked a department store for food, supplies, and clothes for Marcy.
They were in the department store for about one or two hours, and Simon was looking at the girl's dresses. "How about this?" Simon showed Marcy a nice pink dress.
Marceline stuck out her tongue. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She looked at the ragged dress that her dad gave her.
"Well, we don't want you to freeze." Simon smiled at her. He put the pink dress back on one of the racks and grabbed another one.
Marceline tugged on Simons' pant leg and he looked down at her. "That one!" She excitedly pointed to a red and blue dress.
Simon dropped the dress he had in his hand and looked at Marceline's idea. "Marceline, that's beautiful! And it looks like it will fit you for a long time," Simon grabbed the dress and ripped the tags off. He told Marcy to reach her arms up and he put the dress on her.
Simon leaned down to Marceline and pushed her shiny black hair behind her ears. He got some anti-bacterial wipes out of a bag in the cart and wiped some of the dirt off of her face.
"That's a pretty little girl." Simon kneeled down and ruffled Marceline's hair. He stuffed all the food and supplies into his backpack.
Suddenly, a sharp beeping noise echoed through the store. "Come on, Marcy." Simon said as calmly as he could, and she followed him out of the store. Right when they got out, an area of the ceiling caved in and blocked the doorway.
"Oh glob," Simon swore under his breath. One more minute, and they would have never gotten out!
The sun was going down and the polluted sky turned into a darker shade of gray. They raced back to the apartment, and Simon lit some fire wood under the hole in the ceiling. He pulled out some hot dogs and stuck a couple on two thin sticks.
"What are those?" Marceline asked, her mouth watering from the smell.
The hot dogs were slowly roasting, and were probably the last hot dogs they would ever have the chance to eat.
"Well,… just trust me, Marcy. They're good." Simon looked at her and smiled. One of the sticks in Simon's hand was getting warm.
"Fire!" Marcy screamed. One of the hot dogs was on fire on the stick and Simon blew in out.
"Here. You can have the un-burnt one." Simon gave Marcy the stick with the hot dog that wasn't coal black. He pulled the burnt part off of his hot dog, and bit into it. Marcy copied Simon and chowed into it. She even chewed part of the stick off (by accident of course.)
"You really liked that, huh?" Simon asked Marceline after she had finished her dog. She nodded her head and thanked Simon so many times.
"It's okay. Bedtime now, so put on these pajamas I got you." Simon reached into his backpack and grabbed a T-shirt that was big enough to be a night gown for Marcy. "Go into the bathroom and change out of your dress and put this on." Simon gave Marceline the T-shirt. She took the 'pj's' and ran into the bathroom.
Simon put out the fire and made the bed.
He tucked Marceline in once she came back, and all Simon could think of was; "She looks like Abadeers' daughter."
Little did he know, she was.