Stopping Destiny
Epilogue
Adventures Old and New
"You know, I was once almost kicked out of a hotel for sleeping in someone else's bed. Of course I used my masterful control over the English language to make said culprit, 're-assess their value structure'." Leslie wagged a finger at Jess playfully, as you would expect of a lifelong friend.
Except Jess had been asleep for hours, and Leslie wasn't supposed to get out of bed for dinner any more, never mind teasing her friend as the clock passed ten.
"Now hush a moment and listen, this is important." She sat herself down at the edge of the bed, bones creaking a little. She tucked him in.
"Quiet." The word rolled around in her mouth as if reluctant to... She started biting her cheek again, a new habit, giving her face a hollow skeletal feel. Even Leslie Burke could be a coward.
"I know this last while has been hard... and yes, I'm aware about how everyone says and writes about how horrible the world is, the degeneration of morals, the next great big disaster waiting on the horizon, so many problems and so much pain, blah, blah, blah." Leslie gulped, finding something hard to swallow. "So why then... why do I still want to stay?"
Her face bristled with repressed emotion, bottom lip trembling. A cold chill overtook the air, fear and frustration in every sinew as she tried to rouse herself against the oncoming storm. A blizzard wind opposing her, slowing her, even while she leaned forward, arms shielding the harsh onslaught; hair and brow frosting over. She would surely never make it.
"I don't have much time left," she said, although rather than weaken, the confession seemed to embolden her.
"I've had a surprisingly eventful life, to tell you the truth – how old am I again? Eh, fourteen I think, yeah, good number fourteen, I can now legally work in most U.S states. Yikes, guess I got out just in time." She laughed then, biting down so hard her cheek must surely be bleeding.
The room was slowly being draped in a blanket of darkness, shadows and eyes stretching to breaking point as the Sun receded. Leslie allowed herself to nestle in it, to hide and reveal the grimace of pain she'd been holding in all day. A self-effacing 'tsk, tsk' escaped her mouth as she flexed her arm gingerly in a circle, feeling like it had been crafted out of damp wood.
"You know," she said, forcing that grimace into a grin. "Throughout all that life... all that adventure, I've seen, met, experienced... so many... people."
The bluest blue illuminated in the growing darkness. "And yeah, yeah, I know they're male, female, old, young, rich, poor, black, white, yellow whatever – that's situational, but you see, people, they're so similar it's crazy. They have the capacity for good and bad, for unimaginable discovery, for selfish and selfless acts all wrapped into one chaotic, brilliant... m-mess! All you need is an opportunity, someone to help. I believe that, I have to believe it."
She paused, grip on the bed coverings tightening. "For some it never comes, for some it's taken away and others... it ends prematurely."
"But then there's a few people." Her voice deepened, arms shaking. "Just a few, special people that rise above. No matter what, they make a stand, they say what's right when no one else well. Those brilliant, loyal, humble talented people that can overthrow tyrants, push boundaries and even make their own destiny. Crossing all those oceans, mountains... all those people, I'd never met one, not in the flesh, 'till you."
She wanted to continue but she couldn't. In the end, she was drowning. Except there was nothing to swim towards, no chain to break or fleeting hope to cling to.
"Sorry..."
No, she wasn't drowning at all. She was just trying to get air, constantly, but her lungs didn't work right. Her chest felt like fire. Each breath a horrible effort to draw in a little less air than what she needed. Just a little, again and again.
But that pain, it wasn't what was killing her at that very moment. Leslie exhaled loudly, clutching her chest, cursing it under her breath. How... boring.
"I thought... I guess... hoped that, talking to you... I dunno, I could hang on someone." Leslie lowered her head, huffing. "Silly old Leslie Burke, eh? The girl who actually believed in the books she read, believed that fun and adventure would will out. Ha, the girl with no T.V – and no, that is not a euphemism, or at least not a very good one."
An irrepressible laughter overtook her, causing her head to rattle like a rusted cage. Leslie leaned further forward, practically on top of him, pushing an unruly hair out of his eyes after a moments hesitation.
"Just think," she started, a proud smile on her face. "Tomorrow you'll walk up with a happy, boisterous family; you'll get out a pen before long and start drawing away, as you do, the sunshine beaming down, your mind completely and utterly focussed on weaving another miracle. You won't need a silly old pretend queen and her dead dog any more. Nah, you'll be moving on in your life, going to college, getting married..."
She stared intently at his peaceful, sleeping form; her mouth opening and then closing ruefully, some unsaid revelation on her lips. Her shoulders sagged momentarily, she was tiring. She'd been told to conserve her energy by everyone walking on two legs, some on four. Leslie wholeheartedly agreed. She had been conserving her energy. For this moment.
"Bah," Leslie leaned back, shaking her head. "I suppose you're gonna remember me a little. Probably an anecdote to bring up every once and a while. Not bad. I guess that's what everyone becomes eventually, a funny story – some even get made into toys, now that's cool."
Her grin turned contemplative, body sinking. "But I suppose... there is Terabithia."
"Yes." She nodded to herself, something forming in her mind. "When you tell the story of Terabithia. When you immortalise that in paint – make it the best, because it was, you know. Oh, the times we had."
Leslie puffed her chest out, a swagger about her as she spoke, hands illustrating every step fluently one final time. "Ancient and forever; yet still so alive, brimming, practically oozing life, diverse and ambitious. Always running, always fighting against the dying of the light with grace and dignity, meeting the passage of time, even the turn of the universe. Capture it in the moment when you lift that brush, take a moment and then breath it in. A vibrant nexus of the greenest green, the reddest red and the... most... bluest blue... ever, period. With the castle front and centre, grandest of all..."
She sighed wistfully, the pain in her body reminding her that Terabithia was now nothing more than an unattainable dream... for her. Leslie grinned spitefully at the thought.
"Oh, and a word of warning, I kind of... em, borrowed the name Terabithia from the great and grand Mr C.S Lewis, not deliberately I might add. It sort of, well, it was a spur of the moment thing – and he probably nicked it from the Bible, so I'm merely following the well versed tradition. Ha!"
She leaned down to kiss him then, but he moaned something in his sleep and her brief flirt of courage was beaten away, vigour and majesty now resigned to memory... and dreams.
She smiled one final time, although it barely reached her lips. "Bye, bye, Jess."
And then there was darkness.
"Er, I'm not very good at this," Jess admitted, unsure how he was supposed to actually start this sort of thing. Lord, was he terrible.
He stared at the biggest tree pine tree he could find in Terabithia, it's branches unmoved by the wind. Not that it had really been such an arduous task to spot, the darn thing was literally reaching the stars, shamefully dwarfing everything else in its vicinity with a head spinning mix of arrogance and magnetism.
Jess shivered a little as old golden needles brushed against his leg. The pine forest. So dark it felt like being buried under water. Lord, this place was still able to give him the creeps, even after all these years.
Yet he knew that if Leslie were to pick a place, it would be this one. She'd said it was haunted by Terabithian spirits. A sacred place where such otherworldly things could rest, becoming one with the stillness.
And if there was a tree Leslie would pick... it was that one. He strained his neck a little to scout the trees journeys to the heavens. It was so thick and powerful that instead of sky, there was only a shroud of darkness, promising great wonders to any weary traveler who dared try their luck.
He remembered vividly how she'd immediately fixed her scrutinising gaze on this tree when they'd entered the grove of the pines for the first time. Her stare never wavering for a second, alternatives ruled out instantly. He remembered how she'd climbed it on a whim that day, fearlessly reaching higher and higher even as she'd grappled with delighted giggles. When she'd reached halfway and he could no longer make her out he'd called out to her, the worry in his voice enough to coax her down. Thinking of it now, Jess felt a little ashamed for spoiling it for her.
He took a deep breath. "So, Leslie, I finally figured out what to do about those dogs. Old Barker was pleased, and no surprise May and Joyce get on with them like a house on fire. Although... my parents..."
Jess squirmed a little, his appetite for dinner plummeting. The wind howled, causing him to jump. "Yeah, well, I guess I haven't told them yet." Lord, how on Earth was he supposed to? He had reached the point of scraping around his old piggybank for cash to buy 101 Dalmations to get some pointers on the 'approach'.
After a few awkward minutes spent rambling about menial bits and bobs such as his making apple-pie for the first time yesterday, Jess turned to leave. He felt a little better for spilling his worries out on something that wouldn't make fun of him.
"Oh, right, I almost forgot, I've started a new..." he searched for the right word, "project."
He wasn't sure why the thought had suddenly come to him. It was only a rough sketch after all, nothing more than a starting point in a long journey. He shrugged, it might be the sort of thing Leslie was interested in, couldn't hurt to try. Jess was sure he remembered Leslie talking about such a thing, although it could've been a dream.
He'd been having a lot of them lately, dreams of her travelling the world. It wasn't something he would dare share with anyone else, not even May Belle. Everyone in Lark Creek, whether Jess knew them well or not, had started acting funny whenever Leslie was mentioned, like she'd now become an itch that they had to leave alone and let heal.
He groped around in his holey pockets, finding and presenting a ruffled piece of paper to the large tree, the wind now blowing so furiously he had to grip the paper tightly with both hands to stop it flying off. "Well, I thought it'd be... nice... to draw Terabithia. I'm still not sure what angle it should be from. I think one of the castle would look good, I could put you in as well if you'd like."
'You gotta move on', the voice of some idiot echoed in his mind, fading away too slowly for his liking. He frowned, chest tightening; face now hot and sticky. He smacked his thighs, grabbing onto the tree, boldly pulling his body up without looking for proper footing as he grappled with the branches. A frenzied determination in his gaze as he kept plugging away, grunting with excursion as his palms grated against the bark.
"You're right, Leslie." He stood at the very top, the width and breadth of Lark Creek stretched out beneath him, wind slapping his back as he caught his breath, a wave of contentment shielding him from the cold. "You can fly from here."
He loosened his grip on the top branch, allowing his arms the freedom of swaying to the wind's call. He felt like he could fly right there, even higher than the birds, if he wanted to. The sky was as blue and as loud as he'd ever seen it. Like in that immediate moment after someone turns a light on in the dark, and your sight is so sharp and clear it almost hurts. His nostrils flared, thundering air lifting him like helium.
"What a sight," he said to himself and any of the birds or spirits who cared to listen. He had to draw this. Now.
"Jessie Oliver Aarons, w-what, what is this! Why, why is – dogs. Dozens!" The perfectly synchronised shrieks of his mother and father formed the most diabolical duo he'd yet encountered, sound ringing in his ears as if they were already inches away from smacking him. Jess turned pale as he reluctantly made his way down. The journey much colder and longer now that he was staring at the unforgiving ground only one small slip away.
Jess gulped when his feet touched the ground, blinking surreptitiously to see if his life would really flash before his eyes. "Well... see ya, Leslie. I'll come back same time next week... if I survive. "
He wasn't sure if he was supposed to touch the tree or not, so settled for a meek, half-bow. All the while quaking in his boots at what was awaiting him in the madhouse.
Lord, at least the wind had lightened up a bit.
Secretary for the women's 'Get Fit' clinic.
Okay, Sarah admitted it. She'd made a mistake. She should've worked harder at school. She should've seen right through Timmy Falton the moment he reared his ugly head. Yeah, that was all well and true. Now could someone please rewind the clock and let her be a 'daft kid' again with everything ahead.
She felt like an ore unsuspectingly stolen by a demonic blacksmith, ground and battered into something she never wanted to be. Ugh, even that didn't cover it, at least they got put to some use.
Everyday was a horrible, soul destroying repeat, like that movie Groundhog Day except she was trapped, literally trapped at this desk in a room that wasn't even lit properly. Her nostrils tightened at the stale aroma emitting from the far corner of the room. The corner that no one else glanced twice at, never mind smelt. The corner that the artificial light would not reach, despite the room being smaller than her bathroom.
She buried her head in the mountain of subscription forms piled on the desk in an attempt to fling it out of her mind. It was January and they were busy again, with an endless line of idiots ready for their yearly 'attempt'. Nothing ever changed.
'What can I do for you,' she'd say tonelessly to the faceless adult footsteps that passed her desk. Wearing the same black and white shorts and t-shirt. Folded socks and smelly shoes thrust upon her at closing time. Degree of pudgy fat clinging to their sides, and the amount of banal false promises secreting from their mouths the only distinguishable features in the dire pool of monotonous humanity.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Sarah didn't even bother lifting her head, plastering on a pristine smile as she said effortlessly, "What can I do for you?"
"Oh, straight down to business, ha, I like you. "
Startled, Sarah looked away from the dark corner she'd been glaring a hole through unconsciously. She'd surely misheard the client, repeat and smile politely, that was the way. "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"
Sarah's eyes met the cause of the disruption. She wasn't wearing the uniform and she certainly wasn't faceless.
"Would you like to have fun?" The body the voice belonged to was young and slender, a teenager Sarah guessed. She had a pleasant but normal set of blond hair and blue eyes. It was the way she grinned while resting an elbow on the desk that really had Sarah on edge.
She frowned. One of those idiots. Her hand reached for the phone.
"You could do that," the girl said, still grinning. "But then you'll never find out what's in the corner."
Her hand froze on the phone, back stiffening. What was this idio-
"Something only you can see." The intruder lifted her eyebrows knowingly. "Always in the corner of your eye. Oh, never enough to be certain, no, but more than enough to be absolutely terrified."
"Just get out!" Sarah said, noting that she'd dropped the phone and that her eyes were trapped on the corner once again.
"Come on Sarah, haven't you always wondered; every second of every minute of every day? Haven't you always wished for something more? That little voice in your head saying 'go on', 'get out there', ' live for the moment'."
The intruder seemed to run out of gas, coming to an abrupt end and dramatically turning toward the door. "Or you could, you know, continue living like this. Day after day. Alone."
"Wait.. I'll..." Sarah stopped in mid-sentence, shocked that her mouth was open and that she was tugging on this girl's top, body practically clambering over the desk.
"You're trouble," Susie declared impassively as the intruder beamed, feeling like she'd been played well and truly by an expert.
"Pah, step out the front door in the morning and you're already in trouble, just matters if you're on top of it or not." The girl's face lit up like fireworks, hands placed brazenly on her hips. "And a word of advice, I'm on top of the world – always."
Sarah sighed, suddenly feeling self-conscious. "... The... corner?"
The intruder nodded. "Wise decision, now let's see what we can't do about it. Richard, Alexis – show time!"
A guy with eerie, clouded eyes and a petite girl looking like she was made of glass seemed to appear out of nowhere. Sarah's mouth gradually dropped lower and lower as they worked seamlessly like a well oiled machine. The new pair setting up a pedestal with a large, wooden bowl nestled on top. They threw in, unperturbed, an assortment of goods that included, to Sarah's incredulity: toothpicks, tic tacs, a piece of string, gum, sawdust, a football, credit cards, ties, shirts, a maths textbook –
"Er, excuse me," Sarah started, feeling dizzy. "What is this for exactly?"
"Sssh, it's started," the mercurial teenage girl said, looking immensely pleased when the pair she appeared to be directing took a step back, the bowl beginning to radiate yellow. The blond haired girl stuck a hand in the glowing bowl, licking her lips like she was taking a lucky dip.
Sarah was decidedly unimpressed with the girl's prize. "You made... an apple, out of – that?"
"Want a taste?" the girl asked slyly, outstretching her hand.
Sarah shrugged, her fingers closing around the firm smooth skin as she lifted it to her lips. It made a large crunching sound after a chomp, the assaulting taste instantaneous. She choked. Mouth filled with a bitter, sour flavour that burned the roof of her mouth. This was no apple!
"Ah, sorry," the girl said, taking the 'apple' away and patting Sarah on the back gently. "Not an apple person, I see."
Sarah immediately motioned to strike the girl, but the sheer size of the grin on her face – big enough to force her eyes closed – melted Sarah's anger lamely.
She huffed, arms crossed. The girl seemed satisfied with this, beginning to juggle the apple around as she closed in on the corner.
"You can come out now." The blond haired girl even started knocking politely on the wall, calling to some invisible force that Sarah could not see.
Sarah laughed at the absurdity of the situation, but it was mutilated without warning into a scream; her body recoiling on pure instinct at what she saw. The barely lit corner that she'd stared at for years... it began to move.
The darkness seems to swirl around, cloaking what she had once thought a dull room into a thick, black fog through which no light could penetrate. Her skin crawled as the familiar feeling of fascination whenever she stared at the corner returned with a vengeance.
It was there again, this time accompanied by a vile, scratching sound. Louder and then louder still. She held her breath, subconsciously refusing to have that reviled thing invade her. The darkness did not lift. It sunk like water onto the ground, a dark liquid shaking and thrashing within. She momentarily lost her sight, like a veil had been forced on her.
"Not your best look," Sarah heard the girl quip dryly.
The veil was lifted, but the abomination was not. Goosebumps multiplied. Sarah rubbed them, feeling dirty just being in the vicinity of the thing as the last vestiges of slimy liquid slopped off the shapeless shape.
It was impossible to describe because there wasn't anything there. Yes, Sarah thought, it was a black hole. A black hole that felt, actually felt wrong and alien and sick all in one terrifying moment.
"Ah, the once great Dark Master, capable of striking fear in rock hard stone, reduced to hiding away in a forgotten corner, feeding off unsuspecting young girls. How on Earth was I ever afraid of you?"
"No, I'm not finished. I need more time to regenerate." Sarah felt bile rise in her throat, the voice was flat but the stench it emitted was of rotting flesh and acrid burning. "How did you survive? You're dead, I saw it!"
"Yeah, tell me about it," the girl said, shrugging as she turned her head to wink at Sarah reassuringly. "I was promised cake."
"No," the voice wailed and whined, now tasting of oozing red pus. "Killing you, don't you understand? It was-"
"Well, to be fair," the girl interrupted, wagging a finger, "I seem to remember you 'dying' as well."
"You fool, I cannot die." The darkness widened, a cold draft enticing matter inwards. "But you, your destiny – to separate the two of you, it was supposed to end you."
"It seems he had one last lesson to teach me." The girl's face softened, her juggling of the apple terminated. "Friendship... lovely thing that. Most of the time it's just a quick, convenient partnership that fades away naturally. But on occasion, in that one in a million combination of luck and circumstance, friendship... the bond between two random, silly unspectacular people. It can create something... something that never dies."
The girl leaned forward, voice turning to a whisper. "The one thing you can't kill. That's our destiny."
"No, I will not accept this foolishness. What remains is I am immortal and you are tiny, weak. You will wither and die all in a mere fragment of my time line! " Sarah was sure the darkness sneered at her then, if it were possible. "Ah, and the other dead girl, the one who just sat there, allowing her life to be taken from her, what an unsatisfying meal that was."
Sarah froze, feeling like someone had smacked her in the back of the head with a baseball bat. The blond haired girl was oblivious to Sarah's stricken disposition, eyes fixed on the darkness.
"In completely unrelated matters, would you like an apple?" The girl waved the bitten apple in front of the darkness theatrically, tone high-pitched.
The teenage girl snickered as the black hole cursed her a thousand times over, eyes narrowing into slits as she said, "Guess who's not too fond of potassium."
"Eh, Leslie." The frail girl that had been sitting cautiously on the sidelines raised her hand, shifting her feet shyly as she added, "That's a banana you're thinking of."
The girl blushed, dropping the apple to scratch her head. "Oh, right, I haven't quite thought this through, have I?"
The boy with the peculiar eyes shook his head, tossing said ingredient into the pool of darkness with just a dash of irritation.
Woof! The darkness didn't so much fade as vanish completely like a hasty puff of smoke, leaving the young girl and Sarah blinking in surprise.
The girl's blond hair spun towards the perpetrator, blue eyes glaring. "No, I was supposed to do it! Honestly, what sort of assistant does that? You don't see Watson cutting out Sherlock's tongue and taking the glory for himself, betrayer. How anticlimactic was that – read The Hero's Journey and take some notes on bloody narrative construction. Fool!"
The boy snorted, suggesting to the offended girl that if she were even half-decent she wouldn't need assistants in the first place. The light hearted bickering between them continued for a while yet, the girl wielding a fierce finger that did its best to poke a hole through the bigger boy's chest.
Sarah's eyes refused to leave the corner, head still reeling. "Why did it say that, that horrible thing?"
The bickering pair turned to her with confusion. Sarah rubbed the back of her neck, trying to keep her voice as casual as possible. "W-why did it say I was dead?"
She laughed at the absurdity of such a thing. She wasn't dead, look at her – she scanned her body, flexing her muscles – she was fit and healthy. Perfect, even.
Her eyes meet those of the strange girl who had only moments ago stormed into her life, rocking everything she'd ever known out of sync with reckless abandon. Sarah expect mirth or a lowbrow joke, not that, not that.
The teenage girl's face hardened as if she were putting on a full suit of armour. Two blue, sombre orbs meet Sarah reluctantly. The real battle was about to begin.
Sarah felt the room shudder underneath her. She stumbled before a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her. She looked up into the face of the boy with the eerie eyes for confirmation. That crazy girl was only joking, this was her idea of a sick joke, it had to be!
He stared back grimly.
"No." She didn't know what to do, limbs moving of their own accord as her body trembled. No, she dismissed it angrily, teeth grating together. She was alive, of course she was. This was her work, she was Sarah Bell. She wasn't dead – how preposterous.
Sarah laughed at it, at the three of them standing there, pretending to be sad. What a joke, she could see right through them. She laughed again right in their faces, a horrible, screeching sound like nails being extracted from wood. She grabbed her throat, demanding that it behave. She was alive. She was fine.
"Sarah, I'm sorry. You weren't meant to find out like this." It was that girl, that stupid girl.
"Shut up!" Sarah demanded, the outburst of anger weakening her, allowing her body to fall to its knees, guttural sobs forcing there way out. No, this wasn't happening to her, they had gotten her confused with someone else. How could someone not know they were dead? It wasn't possible. It just wasn't!
The girl had the audacity to try and speak again, Sarah screamed, drowning out the idiot. She slammed her fists into the floor to stop them shaking, something savage overcoming her when she saw her own blood trickling down her knuckles. That darkness wasn't real. None of this was real. She was Sarah Bell. She was alive. She had a job. She had a future.
Sarah realised the girl was holding her now. She realised that she herself was actually clinging to the younger girl desperately, tears leaking down her face, overcoming the blood.
"How long did I sit there?" Sarah stared at her moist hands, voice uneven. "Wasting my life away. I wasted it. I didn't listen to mum or Mr Davidson. I just sat there and did nothing for all those years, wondering what I'd do one day." She choked on her words; a hot, hard bitterness overtaking her, her body so tense it would surely snap.
"You can't live in the past, Sarah," the girl's insolent little voice said. "There's no future in it."
"Don't just say that!" She pushed the girl away, arms uncoiled and thrashing at air. "It was my life, mine. It was mine."
"Yes, you are absolutely right. It is your life. Yours to use and give away as you please. That's why you can't just give up now. You can't give in. Have the courage to live your life."
"Huh?" The turmoil of emotions had softened her to the point where she was stranded, alone and in the dark, staring at the lifeless horizon and hoping... hoping. She lifted her head from the ground, body stilling as she allowed the girl to continue.
"You spent your whole life regretting everything you ever did, wishing for a chance, wishing you were someone else. Never knowing that what was required was for you to stand up. Stand up."
Sarah's feet moved before she'd even consciously registered the request. The girl's voice, it was... odd. The girl didn't shout, not once, not like the teachers at her school when they wanted something. She wasn't patronising or aggressive or manipulative - just calm. The teenage girl nodded at the multitude of emotions playing on Sarah's face, her own expressionless, knowing that it was Sarah who was important here, she was merely a guide.
"As long as you keep wanting, keep fighting, then you're not dead. As long as you exist, you cannot possible die. Sarah, this is important. I want you to close your eyes, and keep your mind wide open."
Sarah closed her eyes uncertainly, about to ask exactly how one 'widened their mind' when the coaxing voice of the girl silenced her. "I could be your friend, if you want, but there's one question you have to ask yourself first: are you dead?"
She frowned. All her life she'd bemoaned the fact that no one ever listened, that they didn't 'get' her. And now here was someone extending their hand, after all that time, all that loneliness. How could she ever refuse?
Sarah opened her eyes without instruction, knowing that what she would see from now on would not be bereft of hardships. She might not be as smart as her boss Claire Daniels, or as strong as Ricky from school – but that didn't mean she would be thrown on the scrap heap and forgotten any longer
She was Sarah Bell. And, and she was important too. "What's your name?" she asked to the girl as they shook hands.
She was still a little pale and shaken, but there was something about this bizarre girl who seemed completely adept at turning worlds upside down that was infectious. The teenager with enticing blue eyes clicked her fingers as if satisfied; her arms then waving mysteriously while she tiptoed around. "Ah, a mystery indeed, for I have no name."
The frail girl lifted her hand again, causing a vein on the enigmatic one's forehead to throb. "Eh, Leslie, we already well, we already said your name, sorry."
Leslie sighed, a long, drawn out one filled with pain and exasperation as she squeezed Sarah's arm conspiratorially. "I need new assistants."
All was promised to be revealed to Sarah in due course, the wonders of the universe and her heart's desire now there for her to reach towards. It was not something that could be given or explained. All one needed to know was that it was there. An opportunity. All she could do was step out that miserable door and be the best she could be.
"You are coming?" Leslie added as an afterthought, already excitably ushering the dismantling of the pedestal.
Sarah took one look at her old life. The desk, the plantpot, the door, the idiots – she nodded vigorously, feeling suddenly like her 'life' was heading in one direction: upwards and onwards. She declared Leslie completely and utterly brilliant – and mental, of course – without any hope of ever returning to a normal life either.
"Nah, we both are," Leslie said, a beguiling but distant look in her eye. Sarah cocked her head, unsure who the girl was really referring to.
Leslie ignored this, taking it upon herself to give Sarah a brief run through of Terabithia. Informing her of it's storied history and advising her to always carry a cookie, because you never knew if there was a hungry troll around the corner.
One particular nugget of info woefully skimmed over left Sarah even more astounded. "You have a talking dog!"
"The 'talking dog' has a name, if you would care to use it." A feisty little dog appeared at Sarah's feet, nuzzling away at them irritable with big dark brown eyes that held a dignified, rigid countenance more attune with a batty butler.
"Anyway." Leslie clapped her hands together, ticking things off in her mind as she deliberately stepped over P.T. "Please follow Alexis around for now, she's wanted a new friend to share the kingdom with. Word of warning, she likes her trivia. Just last night she was yapping away about space. Do you know that when we look at the most distant galaxy ever observed, we're looking at an image over ten billion years old?"
Leslie was suddenly intoxicated by the notion as her nostrils flared, releasing a long, shuddering breath while looking towards the ceiling."Just think, when you look at the stars at night, you're witnessing history alive and in motion. Now pause and reverse, what do the stars make of Earth? The dinosaurs roaming about happily, or even its very formation out of stardust? Every atom on Earth was created in the explosion of one ancient dying star, you know. We're made of stardust that learned how to live. Death and life just one big never ending web. Ha, how's that for eco-friendly!"
Leslie wiggled her eyebrows, the tips of her lips titling upwards. "You won't need to stare at corners longingly any longer, I promise. Ha! Oh, and don't worry about the 'other one', Richard. He's a bit odd, but he does cook a mean Crème brûlée – I know, its definitely gone to his head. "
Alexis and Richard both bowed toward Sarah warmly on cue, an act that left Sarah thoroughly embarrassed, nodding to them with a rapidly reddening face. It appeared they'd all forgotten about the noble stead P.T, who muttered in discontentment at the state of affairs, threatening to urinate on their 'leaders' shoes the minute she needed further reminding.
Sarah giggled a little before hesitating. "What about you... Leslie?"
"Me? Nah, I gotta go and keep a few other people's minds wide open. Expand the kingdom. But first things first." She started sprinting on the spot as if standing still would cause her skin to burst into a rash. "Jess said he'd show me the drawing today. Gosh, I can't believe it's almost done. I have to see it!"
Leslie was gone before any of them could even turn their heads, never mind say farewell for now. Nothing, it seemed, drove one faster than the anticipation of the journey home.
And as the years go by,
Our friendship will never die
You're gonna see it's our destiny
You've got a friend in me
You've got a friend in me
Yea You've got a friend in me.
You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman
Author's Confessions: Ah, finally its done. I was gonna edit it a little bit more, but now my eyes are genuinely stinging from glaring at the monitor for so long. I've left it up to you in regards to the last section. Wishful thinking, Jess' dream or something more?
I was never going to have a dark, depressing sob fest anyway, because that wouldn't be in line with the source material which illustrates the power of friendship in overcoming hardships. I hope I did some modicum of justice to Leslie's farewell speech at least. It goes without saying that it's a hard type of thing to write, advising someone to 'write what they know' doesn't quite cut it there. Oh, and I can't leave without recommending Toy Story 3, a franchise that bucks the trend and keeps getting better.
Now on to Head in the Clouds!
Thanks for reading
Shamo9