He Ain't Heavy, Part One by patricia51

(After a catastrophic event Alex Russo finds herself in a world bereft of magic, friends and family. She's alone to struggle each day to make ends meet and to care for her crippled brother Justin. Not a Jalex romance. Song written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell and first recorded in 1969 by the Hollies. The appearance of other characters and events will contradict the timeline of the series.)

(Prologue)

"The road is long,
With many a winding turn.
That leads us to who knows where,
Who knows when."

"But I'm strong;
Strong enough to carry him.
He ain't heavy, he's my brother."

A sharp gasp of pain filled air.

"Take two more Justin."

"I can't. It hurts too much."

"Two more! Come on Justin. You have to build up the strength in your legs. You're never going to get well if you don't push yourself."

"I'm never going to get well! I'm just a useless cripple and that's all I'm ever going to be."

Alex Russo fought back the tears. "Don't you say that! I won't allow it. Now damn it, two more!"

Justin Russo struggled to take a step, clutching the home made railings they had constructed along the hallway of their tiny apartment. He managed one, dragging his near useless legs along. Somehow he managed to plant his right foot enough to push off again. Then, his teeth set in determination; he ignored the pain shooting through his body and took yet a third step.

"There."

The triumph was short lived as he fell against the wall and started to slide down. Alex scrambled to catch him. Wrapping her arms around him she guided him to the rickety fifth-hand wheelchair that was all they could afford.

"Does it hurt much?"

"Naw," Justin replied. Alex could tell he was lying through his teeth. But aspirin was all they had and it wouldn't do much. "I'll be okay. And you," he glanced at the clock on the wall, "Need to get ready for work."

Alex suppressed a sigh. "Yes I do." She darted into the single bedroom and changed into her uniform. She picked up her purse and checked to make sure her keys were there.

"I may run late. Mr. Kensey told me if business stayed this steady he could use me all the way until closing time."

"Well," Justin attempted to make a joke, "I'll be right here."

"I'll try to bring some extra food home. There are always leftovers and Mr. Kinsey says there's no point in throwing it out."

"Okay Alex." Justin was silent for a moment. "I wish you didn't have to go. I wish you didn't have to work as a waitress for low money and measly tips. I wish..."

Alex laid her finger across her brother's mouth. "I wish all those things too Justin. And more. But wishing doesn't help. Here is where we are and we'll just have to make the best of it."

"You're right. And Alex? I'm sorry I yelled at you. I just get so frustrated."

"I know you do." She brightened her tone. "Hey, I should be off tomorrow. Let's plan a trip to the Library and maybe the Museum too."

"That would be great. Okay, scoot little sister. Have a good night. Be careful!"

Alex closed the door behind her. The locks rattled as Justin turned them. You couldn't be too careful in this neighborhood. She started down the stairs after checking to make sure no one was lurking there. Once she reached the ground floor she darted across the street and walked towards the diner, ignoring the cat calls from a group of teenaged boys hanging around under a busted street light.

She reached work with a few minutes to spare. She put on her apron, tucked her purse into her locker and checked to make sure she had her order pad and a pen. She checked the clock and sat down on the hard wooden bench. Her mind wandered back to Justin's wishes.

Nothing new there. Nothing that she didn't think of twenty times a day. Once she had been a carefree teenager, her biggest worries being how to get out of chores and scraping by at school without having to waste time studying, except for the course in her Art major. College had consisted mostly of parties and boys. She had lived in a warm nice home. She had once had loving parents, friends, a big brother to tease and torment and a little brother to blame things on. And when all else failed there had always been the magic.

Now it was all gone. All except Justin and he couldn't walk. And wishing couldn't solve this. Not even the Stone of Dreams could help. That was assuming it even existed any more. It probably had gone the way of all the rest of magic. Disappeared as though it had never existed along with all the rest of their former happy, comfortable world.

She had never really taken the magic seriously. Not like Justin. To her magic was something to be used casually, on the spur of the moment to lighten her life or get her out of trouble. Trouble that usually was of her own making she admitted to herself. She hadn't worried about the competition. On one hand it really didn't seem that important to her and on the other she always figured she would come up with something at the last minute. She always did. Now she would give anything to have the magic back for just five minutes.

It was funny she thought as she stood up and adjusted her clothes. Once, out of sheer boredom, she had asked Justin about one of the stupid role-playing games he participated in. She hadn't really been that interested and had finally covered her ears as Justin had babbled on about it. But she remembered the basic premise. In the year 2012 magic had returned to the world.

Well the game had been wrong. In 2012 magic had LEFT the world. Before then magic had been a part of the world. Certainly of her world. And to contradict someone or other she remembered vaguely from an English Literature class that world had not ended in a whimper. It had ended in a huge bang.

And she would never forget that day when it ended.

(To Be Continued)

(By the way, the role-playing game mentioned is called "Shadowrun". No I've never played it but I've read a novel or two based on it. With the movies coming out like "2012" this all seemed to fit together and gave me the idea for this story. I don't even know how it is going to end yet.)