30DWC #10: Silver

It was amazing that something so small could seem so heavy.

Nestled in her palm, the dogtags looked innocuous, almost ordinary; but to her, they were so much more, as if she was carrying the weight of her entire world in her hand.

Under the eerie glow of the blackened dome, they shone a dull silver, the tiny, stamped letters only just legible, and she wasn't sure if any object had ever held more meaning to her than these small, battered squares of metal. The tags hadn't just belonged to Barbie— they were a part of him, of his very identity, a physical reminder of who he was and what he had been through, a symbol of his survival against all odds.

The dime-sized, rounded indentation in the metal was proof enough of that; a permanent mark left by a bullet intended for his heart, a tangible measure of just how close he had come to death. For years, he'd lived in near-constant danger, had endured some of the harshest conditions imaginable— and yet he'd survived through it all, finally free to have the chance at a normal, peaceful life.

A chance the dome had taken from him, trapping him in a giant cage among hundreds of frightened, desperate strangers who were all searching for somebody to blame.

But that alone had not been his downfall.

Standing there on the gently-rocking boat with the darkness of the dome surrounding her, Julia had to face the truth; the greatest danger to Barbie's life had not been the dome, or the residents of Chester's Mill, or even Big Jim.

It was her.

Time and time again, he'd protected her, had risked everything to save her life.

And in return, she had cost him his.

Blinking through her tears, she read his name one last time, then closed her fingers tightly around the dogtags, lifting her hand to press them against her chest, directly above her heart.

When she finally let the egg slip from her trembling fingers, it was with a single thought in her mind, a desperate prayer that she could only hope the dome would hear.

Save him.

For several long, agonizing moments, her only answer was silence.

And then— stars.

As they slowly rose toward the dome, blurred pink lines shining in her tear-filled eyes, Julia made a silent promise, not only to herself, but to Barbie.

He had given up his life for her; and now, she would live hers for him.

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