Chapter 2. Flynn's Secret
There was something about Paradise that affected your mind. Being there made you forget things. First you would start to forget little things such as your favourite colour, and then you would forget bigger things, like your parents. It pained Mia to know that she would never see her parents again and she would never remember what they looked like. About a month ago she had tried to see her parents through a Looking Glass – a pool which allowed them to see into the real word – but she only saw smudged shapes and blurs, like someone trying to see underwater. She couldn't hear what they were saying either; their voices were muffled to her. She would have cried, but she forgot how to.
Elle had a theory that their memory loss had something to do with their soul not being inside of them anymore. She thought that sooner or later – most possibly towards their "end" – they would forget everything about themselves, including their names and where they really were. Her theory seemed possible, as the people who had been in Paradise the longest always seemed so lost and forgetful.
But despite their memory loss, Flynn still managed to remember which day of the year it was without the help of a calender and always remembered Mia's birthday. In the morning, he showed her the tiny scar on his forearm again and smiled proudly. He wouldn't tell her how he engraved it on his arm, but Mia had a suspicion it had something to do with a sharp stick.
"Happy birthday." said Flynn when morning came.
Elle turned around sharply. "Who's birthday is it?"
Mia smiled. "Mine. Or at least Flynn says it is."
Elle pulled her eyebrows together. "How d'you remember her birthday without forgetting it. Flynn?"
"I have a way." he said casually. He wouldn't tell Elle that he had Mia's birthday on his arm in case she tormented him about it.
"Uh-huh." said Elle. She turned her attention to Mia and smiled. "Happy birthday! Well, if it actually is your birthday." She wrapped her arms around Mia and hugged her tightly. "I haven't gotten you a present, because I didn't know it was your birthday."
"It's fine." laughed Mia. "I don't want anything, anyway."
"I've got a present," said Flynn. "but it can wait until later."
"Why can't I have it now?"
"Because I said so."
Mia pulled a face and ran her fingers through her hair, her way of brushing it. Over the past two years her hair had grown halfway down her back, but it didn't compare to Elle's hair which was now at the small of her back. "So, what's on the agenda today?"
"Probably go swimming." said Elle. "Sound good?"
Mia nodded. "Sure. Haven't been swimming in weeks."
"That's because last time the current nearly took us away." muttered Flynn.
"Took us where? It's not like we can go anywhere in this Godforsaken place." said Elle. She stared at Flynn, waiting for his answer. But he looked at her and turned away, leaving the hut.
"Leave him alone, Elle." said Mia.
Elle scoffed. "You're only sticking up for him because you like him."
"No I don't."
"Yes you do. Don't deny it." She stuck her tongue out at Mia and left her alone in the hut.
Mia stared at the stop where Elle had been standing for quite some time, thinking up comebacks she could have said to Elle instead of keeping silent.
Paradise's was abnormally warm. Swimming in the the water was like swimming in a large bathtub of warm water. Despite the inviting warm water, Mia didn't like getting in the water anymore than Flynn or Elle did. They didn't know how deep the water was or if anything dangerous lived there, but Flynn always reminded them that in Paradise ignorance was bliss.
The three of them kept their pyjamas on as they swam, and the weight of their wet clothes pulled them down slightly.
"What is the actual point in this?" asked Flynn. They had already swam a good way away from Paradise. They very few villagers there who were walking along the beach looked like ants.
"Nothing better to do, is there? If you don't like it then swim back, Flynn." said Elle. To Mia, Elle sounded a lot like someone she knew back home, if only she could remember her name. Sammy? Lucy?
"No, I'm good." sighed Flynn. His wet brown hair hung in front of his face and almost covered his eyes. "Why are we out here, anyways?"
Elle raised her eyebrow. "Remember what we tried to do last time we swam out here?"
Flynn groaned. "Oh, not again, Elle! It didn't work last time and it won't work this time!"
"It might do." said Elle. She turned away from Flynn and Mia and began swimming.
Last time they all swam out this far, Elle had tried to swim further. She swam towards the artificial Sun and left Paradise behind her. Mia and Flynn followed and after their muscles screamed in pain, they noticed that they could no longer see Paradise and was surrounded by ended blue water. The three of them were overjoyed and continued to swim onwards, but their hearts sank when they found themselves back at Paradise. "We must have swam around the whole of Paradise." Flynn had said. "How else would we have came back to it?" But still, Elle was determined to swim away from Paradise. She refused to believe it was impossible.
"Elle!" Mia called out. "I don't want to spend my birthday swimming!"
Elle said something but didn't raise her voice, making it was hard to hear her.
"What did she say?" Mia asked Flynn, who was next to her.
"She said 'turn back, then'. Should we go back?"
Mia nodded. "Yeah, I can't stay out here all day. It is my birthday, after all."
Flynn smiled. They swam away from Elle and towards Paradise. The journey back was shorter than the journey out to sea. When they both made it back to Paradise their clothes were soaked and weighted them down. Flynn slumped against the sand, the tiny grains sticking to his face and body. "That's killed me." he panted.
"Same here." Mia took deep breaths as she sat down next to Flynn. The sand stuck to her legs and cotton shorts. "Flynn . . . When do . . . I get . . . my birthday present?" she panted.
"Huh? Oh yeah. Later on tonight . . . I promise."
"Can't I just have a clue?"
"No. It's a surprise."
"I bet you've gotten me another bracelet again." she teased. She held out her left wrist and shook it at him. Tied tightly around her wrist was a piece of string, and attached to it was four small shells. "I mean I like it, but I can't show it off here."
"D'you know how long it took me to make that?" he said, lifted his face from the sand.
Mia laughed and wiped away the large amount of sand on his cheek. "I do appreciate it, Flynn."
"Good, or no birthday present for you today."
Mia laughed again and stared out to the Sun, ignoring the pain in her eyes as she stared.
Elle came back around night-time, looking angry at herself. "You okay, Elle?" asked Flynn as he saw her coming out of the water. He and Mia were still sat on the beach, now fully dry.
Elle ignored him and Mia, and stormed past them, muttering unimportant words under her breath about herself.
Flynn shrugged and turned to Mia. "I think she's a bit upset that she didn't find a way out of here."
"Possibly. But then again, everyone knows you can't leave this place."
Flynn nodded and scratched his head. "I think it's almost midnight. Fancy your present before it's no longer your birthday?" he smiled.
"Finally." said Mia sarcastically. "Yes, I'd love to have my present."
Flynn left the beach and ran towards the village, leaving Mia alone. She hummed to herself and twitched her toes in sand. Her stomach flipped over and over inside of her. Flynn had made her wait all day for her present, so it had to be good, hadn't it? She imagined him bringing her an improved Looking Glass, one that didn't make you feel depressed.
She heard the sand crunching behind her and she turned to see Flynn with his hands behind his back. He sat down in front of her, his back to the sea. "You ready for this?" he asked.
Mia smiled and nodded. She pulled her legs up to her face and rested her chin on her knees.
Flynn slowly pulled his hands out from behind his back and brought Mia's present into view. He held it in his hands and stared into her eyes, his face solemn.
"What is it?" Mia raised her head from her knees. In Flynn's hand was a glass jar – the same size of a jam jar. Inside the jar was a white glowing orb.
"It's a soul. Or at least, I hope it is."
"A soul? Flynn, how did you get hold of a soul?"
"I stole it."
"From?"
"The volcano." He pointed at the volcano where the Pendaloon was rumoured to live. "Took months of planning to find a safe way in and a safe way out. Why do you think I've been sleeping so much lately? I needed the energy."
"When did you get this?"
"A few days ago. It was tricky business. The Pendaloon was there, but he was sleeping. I never saw what he looked like because I tried not to go near him." He put the jar down on the sand. "The volcano was so hot, and there was rows of shelves filled with jars. Most of them were empty, but a few had souls in them. I take it the soul I took was from that boy who arrived here a month back."
"Flynn." Mia took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "You do realise that you could have been killed, don't you?"
"I know, I know."
"And for what? What am I suppose to do with a soul, Flynn? Put it on a shelf and say to people 'yeah, this is a soul Flynn stole from the Pendaloon for my birthday. It's no use, but it still looks pretty!', is that what I'm going to do with it?"
"No, Mia, just listen to me."
Mia took a deep breath and calmed herself.
"I have this . . . theory, that the only reason we can't leave Paradise is because we don't have a soul. But what if we did have a soul? I think we could escape this place, and all we need is a soul." Flynn patted the jar. "And we have one."
"But what do we do with it?"
"I think if we eat it, it will become a part of us again." He lifted the jar and unscrewed the lid. The orb made a dreamy ooh hoo ooh hoo noise has Flynn lifted it out of the jar. He held the orb in his hand and used his other hand to split the soul in two. He extended both his hands – each holding half of a glowing soul – towards Mia. "Which one would you like?"
"Are you sure we can escape with just half a soul."
"Sure. You can leave with even a tiny bit of a soul, but we'll take half."
"What about Elle?"
"Elle has been here for sixty-odd years, Mia. I thought about bringing her with us, but what if she ages as soon as we get back to Earth? And the world will be very strange to her, don't you think?"
"So, maybe she is safer here?"
"I think she will be. Now, which half of the soul would you like?"
Mia took the half of the soul which was in Flynn's left hand. Holding the soul in her own hand made her fingers tingle. "Do I eat it?"
"It's worth a try. On three, okay? One. Two. Three." They were in sync in their movements. Together they pushed the wispy soul into their mouths and swallowed. It was like swallowing a mouthful of air. Mia wondered if she actually put the soul into her mouth, but then she felt a surprisingly cold substance sliding down her throat. She placed her hands on her stomach, like a pregnant woman holding her baby bump. "I can't feel in anymore."
"Me either. It must be inside of us."
"Err, what happens now?"
Flynn looked up in surprise. "I'm not sure."
"You have no idea what we're suppose to do now?"
"No, I don't know what we're suppose to do. I've never done this before, Mia. I don't know everything about it."
"I guess, sorry."
"It's fine. Maybe if we just–" Flynn suddenly slumped over and onto the sand.
"Flynn?" Mia bent down and studied him. He appeared to be sleeping. "Flynn!" She shook his limp body and rolled him over onto his band. "Wake up! Wake up, this is no time to be sleeping!" In an act of confusion, she slammed her fist down on his chest. His body jolted forward but he didn't wake. Then Mia began to shake his shoulders and as she did so, Flynn's toes began to vanish. It wasn't until the whole of Flynn's lower body had vanished that Mia realised what was happening. His body disappeared in waves of tiny specks, like Flynn was made of sand and someone was hoovering him up. When only Flynn's head and shoulders remained, Mia's vision suddenly darkened and she fell to the sand.
