Chapter 4

I stood there in a whirlwind of confusion for what seemed like hours, trying to process everything. Kapo was breathing heavily, trying to hold back tears, I could tell. I tried to form words in my mouth, but couldn't find any. I was at a total loss for words, and I couldn't feel any emotion.

Kapo looked up at me, fear in his eyes, "Mrs. Liana is gone too." he said, but it wasn't a question. I nodded yes. "They're gone!" He bursted out.

I flinched sympathetically. "Kapo, surely their must be some explanation for all of this-" I said, finally finding my voice.

"No, Shyla, listen to me - their clothes, their belongings...everything is gone. They left for a reason, but why...why without..." Kapo said dropping off, his voice straining terribly.

"It's going to be alright, Kapo." I said somewhat reassuringly, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"Shyla... I wish I could feel that way, but I know, in the pit of my heart, it's not alright. Something has happened, or...or something is going to happen, I know it, I know it!" He said, running his fingers through his hair in agitation. For some reason, I still could not feel any emotion. I was too shocked to cry, I felt strangely calm. But the more I thought about how perfectly calm I was, the less calm I began to feel. I looked around the room, and the bare emptiness began to dawn on me. I couldn't think of an explanation as to what would cause an entire village to get up and leave without any apparent reason. I tried to think of something, some sort of reasonable explanation to comfort Kapo. I looked around the room absent-minded, trying to think of something. Perhaps Kapo's parents hadn't taken everything, maybe Kapo was wrong, maybe they would be coming back soon. Maybe there was some sort of gathering or celebration at a neighbor's house that we had forgotten about. Perhaps we would both be laughing about this later. I scanned the room, looking to see if any furniture or other belongings were missing. I noticed the clock was still left in place on the mantel. It was ticking, and the ticks began to get louder with each tick, taunting me. Suddenly, I realized the shutters were banging against the windows, and must have been for awhile, as the wind picked up outside. Rain was coming down in sheets, I could see the countryside of World's End swaying violently in the wind.

"Kapo...?" I said.

"What...?" Kapo asked, rubbing the side of his face with one hand in a forlorn manner. He looked absolutely miserable, and I couldn't stand that.

"Kapo, it's starting to storm really badly, look." I managed to blurt out. Kapo turned his head sharply to the window. Debris and other recognizable objects were swirling around through the air, and the wind was getting a little louder. I saw as well as heard the big water pail for the well-water, and chairs from the front porch, cartwheeling across the ground and then hit the side of the house.

"Well, I'll be-" He then turned his face to me. "Shyla, this is bad." He got to his feet.

"Not so very bad." I said, trying to stay optimistic.

"Well, it will be in a little bit. We're going to need to take cover, whatever sort of a storm this is, looks bad enough to tear a house down." He grabbed my hand.

I wriggled free. "I'll be right back!"

"Shyla!" He looked at me as I ran to the door. "Shyla, what in the world are you doing!" He shouted, running in front of the door to stop me.

"Hang on, I'll be right back, I have to get something, the book! My mother's book! I promise I'll be right back!" I said, pushing Kapo aside frantically, and darting out the door before he could say anything else. As soon as I got out the door, I thought I was going to blow away.

Thankfully the book was resting soundly on the table where I had left it when I was running around looking for Liana. I grabbed it and ran back to Kapo just as the storm hit. I was soaked, but I had no time to get a towel. Kapo grabbed my hand and we ran underneath a table. I was shaking terribly, I wasn't sure if it was because I was cold, or scared. Suddenly warmth surrounded me. Kapo had put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. Although he avoided my face, I could tell this was his way of trying to keep me safe and warm. And with in all this chaos and destruction his hug made me smile.

The storm blew and beat loudly on the windows, hail fell for what felt like hours. I was beginning to wonder if the storm would ever stop.

I held mother book close to me and thought, 'would it ever be safe to come out again?'

It took about two hours for the storm to stop. It was only a peaceful drizzle now. Kapo and I came out from the shelter of under the table and we both slowly made our way outside to the muddy, wet ground. I stepped in a puddle and moaned. I scraped my foot on the ground, attempting to wipe off the mud, but I only made it worse. "Great! Just great." I said to myself.

"Shyla…" Kapo's voice shook as he spoke my name. I wonder what made him so scared, but when I looked up, I didn't need to ask. The rest of the houses had been destroyed. They were all chopped into bits and scattered around. They were no longer houses, just rubble. It was like they were put into a blender, eaten and then spat back out. I found it amazing how the only house that wasn't destroyed was the one Kapo and I were in. It stood untouched. It only had dents from the objects that hit the brick walls and some of the hay was missing from the roof, but besides that it was still standing.

"The storms are never this bad…" Kapo said.

Suddenly and idea came to me! "Kapo! Maybe that's it! The storm was REALLY bad, and everyone just recently found it out and they couldn't come and get us because they were running for safety!"

Kapo's eyes held hope for a moment, but it died. "Shyla…I don't think that's it…I think they've abandoned us…"

I shook my head. "No! They would never!"

But Kapo didn't agree, "Shyla, face it, they sent us away on purpose. They wanted us to come back, to be trapped in the storm…"

"This is crazy!" I yelled. "Your parents wouldn't do that! Liana wouldn't…" I stopped talking when I saw the seriousness of Kapo's face. He was utterly crushed on the inside; I could see it through his eyes. He was sinking down into a dark hole, crumbling into nothing. He was losing hope and what's worse is that he was denying that was any to begin with.

"Kapo…let's go to Kasa!" I blurted. He raised an eyebrow at me, "What?" "Let's go to Kasa!" I said again, pointing and the huge umbrella tower.

"No, Shyla. It doesn't exist." Kapo couldn't look me in the eyes.

"…What?" I said, feeling my heart ache.

"It doesn't exist Shyla! Your stupid mother was wrong! There is no paradise, no colors; she just made it all up! Such a place could never be real! I'm sick and tired of pretending there's hope!" Kapo took the picture book from me and throw it far away, where it landed in a puddle.

"NO!" I screamed, tears where coming down my face.

"There is no dream world Shyla. The only thing here is this nightmare." Kapo then turned his back to me and walked away.

I wanted to stop him. I wanted to find out what was causing him so much pain, that he had to lash out at me, but I was frozen. I was devastated. Did Kapo really not believe? Had he been pretending all this time? Did he just leave? Am I alone now…?

I wiped my tears away, but they kept coming. I stood and walked over to mothers book, picked it up and shook the water from off of it. I used my shirt as a towel to dry it off. The pages where wet and could rip easily.

I looked around for Kapo, but he was gone. So I grabbed an umbrella, a black one that had been blown around in the storm and left on the ground.

I picked it up and walked over to a stump and I sat there, waiting for Kapo to come back.

Because he was going to come back.

He always comes back.

And he did come back. It had been hours later, I was busy humming to myself, when his presence came near. When I looked up to him, he shyly looked the other way.

"I'm sorry…" He started off with an apology, "I'm…a coward Shyla…I'm scared…I didn't mean any of that stuff I said to you." He put his hand on my cheek. "And I'm terribly sorry that I made you cry." He gently drew his hand back. "Sorry, about the book too…is it okay?"

I nodded.

"…Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm okay. I forgive you, you where just afraid. I'm afraid too though, okay? So let's not suffer alone, but rather, together." I said, finding enough within me to smile.

He returned the look. "Yes. That sounds a lot better."

There was a brief pause. Kapo reached his hand out to me, "So, Shyla, will you run away with me?" He added a wink.

I giggled. That's just the way I always wanted him to ask, I knew deep down inside Kapo was only doing this for my sake. He'd never do something so cheesy, but the fact that he cared enough about me to put up with me made me happy.

I took his hand, and held onto mother's book.

And to Kasa…

We ran.