1 Disclaimer: I don't own the song "One Day I'll Fly Away", performed by
Nicole Kidman in the musical motion picture Moulin Rouge. The people who
wrote and worked on it do.
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4 Chapter 15
"I follow the night,
Can't stand the light.
When will I begin
To live again?
One day I'll fly away,
Leave all this to yesterday…
…Why live life from dream to dream,
And dread the day when dreaming ends?"
—Nicole Kidman, "One Day I'll Fly Away"; Moulin Rouge
"I'm sorry…"
Beka opens her eyes wide from her dream. She could have sworn that was Chris's voice. Shrugging a bit, she rolls back her eyes and turns over on her back. Great, now I'm never going to get back to sleep. And on my weekend off… Beka gripes to herself.
The sun shines through the window in the other room, and a little girl comes running in…
"Mommy!" she yells, and jumps up on top of Beka.
"Oh, honey, mommy was sleeping. Let mommy sleep."
The little girl smiles and returns, "No you weren't. You had another bad dream, I saw you wake up."
Beka breathes in deeply and smiles, "Yeah, you caught me." She opens her eyes more and focuses them on Alexis, noticing that her hair color is purple. "Alexis, what's this?" she asks, taking a portion of Alexis's hair in her fingers.
"Trance said it would look cute," she responds.
"Well, I guess its fine."
The little girl becomes silent.
Beka eyes her, "What is it?"
The little girl hesitates for a moment, then asks, "Can we go see Uncle Harper in the contest?"
"Hmm, I don't know…" Beka teases.
"Please…" she begs.
"Well, since you said 'please', I guess we could go."
Alexis gets excited and hugs Beka, then tells her, "Harper said if I come he'd give me a throne!"
"Why would he do that?" Beka questions.
"Because…oops," she covers her mouth. "I'm not supposed to say anything."
Beka whispers, "Why not?"
"Harper said he would get in trouble because it would be gam-eling," Alexis whispers back.
Beka smiles at the innocence, and says, "Did he happen to mention anything about a dress?"
"Oh yeah! That's right, you're supposed to wear a dress too!"
"Man, he's gonna pay for this…" Beka says under her breath.
"And he said you have to have the same color hair as me!"
"All this for one throne?"
"No, he said he'd give me an extra one if you changed your hair to mine."
"Well," Beka looks at the time, "the show isn't until this afternoon, so, what should we do 'till then?"
Alexis thinks for a minute, then answers, "Go to the beach! We can watch Uncle Harper practice for the contest!"
"Okay, we can go there, but mommy has to get ready first, okay?"
"Okay!" she hops off and runs into the other room to tell Trance.
Beka smiles and gets up to get dressed.
~~~~~~~
The beach waves roar and moan against the sand. The trees give shade all up and down the shoreline. Clouds conceal the bright sun, then the sun comes out, and the clouds cover it, then the sun comes out again as if the two are fighting for the front. Beka walks up the shore, by herself, with bare feet against the warm sand. The waves roll in and touch her toes, as she looks back to see Trance and Alexis playing in the sand. Harper is surfing, showing off by going on the end of his board and flinging his arms up in the air on a fairly small wave, as if dancing. Beka smiles and walks quietly some more.
"You seem happy," a voice from her side interrupts the silence.
Beka responds, "I am."
"That's good. How is Alexis?"
"She's happy. I think she misses her father though…"
Beka looks down, then out to sea, still walking along.
"She misses me?"
"Yes. I miss you too, you know. It's my fault you died…"
"You didn't kill me, it's not your fault. Nothing that happened that day is your fault. You had to leave me, I understand."
Beka shakes her head in agreement, sort-of.
"I know," she says. "I guess it just didn't work out, right?"
"No, I guess it didn't."
"She's learning how to pilot now. I think she's a natural."
Chris smiles, and says, "She gets it from you."
"Gets what from me?"
"Your personality, talent…looks."
"No, she gets that from you. Those eyes of hers…yeah, they're yours. Every time I look into them I see you."
Christopher stops Beka from walking and looks into her eyes.
He says, "Do you really think so?"
Beka smiles.
"You should smile more. You look good when you smile," Chris says.
"Well, then I'll smile more."
Chris looks at her for a moment then says:
"She couldn't have a better mother."
Beka returns the statement, "She couldn't have a better father, either."
"Beka!" a sound from the distance behind her makes her turn. Trance is yelling out to her. Harper begins to yell too, and Alexis joins in. Beka begins to walk towards them, but before she does, she turns to find Christopher. He isn't there. He was never there. Only the sounds of the ocean tides swishing up against the shore. Beka smiles and proceeds on down to her friends to make sense of their outburst.
Beka arrives to greet them:
"Okay, I'm here. What's going on?"
"Harper did his possible-impossible trick!" Trance excitingly says.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Harper chimes in. "And I did it with a huge wave too."
"Wow. So, let's see it then!" Beka says.
Harper jumps up and grabs his board. He swims out onto the blue-green ocean and waits for the right wave. When it finally comes, he gets up and starts surfing. He loves surfing. Any chance he can get he surfs. The warm ocean sprays against his legs and body, then face. This ocean isn't salty, however. It is very fresh and clean. The yellow sun comes out from hiding, winning the fight for a moment, and blends with the blue wave to make a brilliant green shade. The point comes; Harper does his trick. This trick is completely left up to the imagination, since it is one that has never been completed before or seen before to any eye. Harper lands back onto the end of the ocean's wave, and trails off to the side. He gets off with a wide smile on his face, holding his board in one hand, and waving his other hand up into the air.
Trance, Alexis, and Beka all are clapping for his accomplishment. Alexis runs up to Harper, and she being so small, Harper lifts her up with his one arm and carries her back to the site. He sets her down gently and sticks his board into the warm sand.
"Now was that good, or was that good?" Harper boasts.
"That was incredible!" says Beka.
"I am so going to win that competition today! I can just feel it, you know?"
Alexis jumps onto Harper's lap, whom of which is now sitting, and says:
"Uncle Harper, look."
She holds up her hand and it shines with a bright brilliance. When she opens it up, a kind of butterfly comes out of it. Its colors dazzle the mind and glow with might. She hands it over to Harper. He takes it with care and smiles at it and Alexis.
"Give it mommy now," she whispers.
Harper hands it over to Beka, who also takes it with careful hands.
"Let it fly," she whispers to Beka.
"Why?" Beka replies.
"Trust me."
"I trust you."
Beka opens her hand up more and the butterfly begins to flap its wings a little, but it doesn't leave.
"Why won't it leave?" Beka asks.
"Because you don't want it to leave," the little girl answers. "You have to want it to leave. Try it again."
Beka closes her eyes and concentrates. The butterfly slowly starts to flap its wings again, with each intake getting faster and faster until it lifts itself up off of her hand. Beka opens her eyes and smiles slightly. She watches as it seems to float out into the air and off into the sun.
"See, it's free now," the little says after a moment.
"Yeah, free…"
Harper then gets up from the ground and runs off into the water after ousting his board from the sand. Beka watches him surf some more, and looks over to Alexis playing with the sand off to the side, and the sun still rising as the afternoon approaches.
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4 Chapter 15
"I follow the night,
Can't stand the light.
When will I begin
To live again?
One day I'll fly away,
Leave all this to yesterday…
…Why live life from dream to dream,
And dread the day when dreaming ends?"
—Nicole Kidman, "One Day I'll Fly Away"; Moulin Rouge
"I'm sorry…"
Beka opens her eyes wide from her dream. She could have sworn that was Chris's voice. Shrugging a bit, she rolls back her eyes and turns over on her back. Great, now I'm never going to get back to sleep. And on my weekend off… Beka gripes to herself.
The sun shines through the window in the other room, and a little girl comes running in…
"Mommy!" she yells, and jumps up on top of Beka.
"Oh, honey, mommy was sleeping. Let mommy sleep."
The little girl smiles and returns, "No you weren't. You had another bad dream, I saw you wake up."
Beka breathes in deeply and smiles, "Yeah, you caught me." She opens her eyes more and focuses them on Alexis, noticing that her hair color is purple. "Alexis, what's this?" she asks, taking a portion of Alexis's hair in her fingers.
"Trance said it would look cute," she responds.
"Well, I guess its fine."
The little girl becomes silent.
Beka eyes her, "What is it?"
The little girl hesitates for a moment, then asks, "Can we go see Uncle Harper in the contest?"
"Hmm, I don't know…" Beka teases.
"Please…" she begs.
"Well, since you said 'please', I guess we could go."
Alexis gets excited and hugs Beka, then tells her, "Harper said if I come he'd give me a throne!"
"Why would he do that?" Beka questions.
"Because…oops," she covers her mouth. "I'm not supposed to say anything."
Beka whispers, "Why not?"
"Harper said he would get in trouble because it would be gam-eling," Alexis whispers back.
Beka smiles at the innocence, and says, "Did he happen to mention anything about a dress?"
"Oh yeah! That's right, you're supposed to wear a dress too!"
"Man, he's gonna pay for this…" Beka says under her breath.
"And he said you have to have the same color hair as me!"
"All this for one throne?"
"No, he said he'd give me an extra one if you changed your hair to mine."
"Well," Beka looks at the time, "the show isn't until this afternoon, so, what should we do 'till then?"
Alexis thinks for a minute, then answers, "Go to the beach! We can watch Uncle Harper practice for the contest!"
"Okay, we can go there, but mommy has to get ready first, okay?"
"Okay!" she hops off and runs into the other room to tell Trance.
Beka smiles and gets up to get dressed.
~~~~~~~
The beach waves roar and moan against the sand. The trees give shade all up and down the shoreline. Clouds conceal the bright sun, then the sun comes out, and the clouds cover it, then the sun comes out again as if the two are fighting for the front. Beka walks up the shore, by herself, with bare feet against the warm sand. The waves roll in and touch her toes, as she looks back to see Trance and Alexis playing in the sand. Harper is surfing, showing off by going on the end of his board and flinging his arms up in the air on a fairly small wave, as if dancing. Beka smiles and walks quietly some more.
"You seem happy," a voice from her side interrupts the silence.
Beka responds, "I am."
"That's good. How is Alexis?"
"She's happy. I think she misses her father though…"
Beka looks down, then out to sea, still walking along.
"She misses me?"
"Yes. I miss you too, you know. It's my fault you died…"
"You didn't kill me, it's not your fault. Nothing that happened that day is your fault. You had to leave me, I understand."
Beka shakes her head in agreement, sort-of.
"I know," she says. "I guess it just didn't work out, right?"
"No, I guess it didn't."
"She's learning how to pilot now. I think she's a natural."
Chris smiles, and says, "She gets it from you."
"Gets what from me?"
"Your personality, talent…looks."
"No, she gets that from you. Those eyes of hers…yeah, they're yours. Every time I look into them I see you."
Christopher stops Beka from walking and looks into her eyes.
He says, "Do you really think so?"
Beka smiles.
"You should smile more. You look good when you smile," Chris says.
"Well, then I'll smile more."
Chris looks at her for a moment then says:
"She couldn't have a better mother."
Beka returns the statement, "She couldn't have a better father, either."
"Beka!" a sound from the distance behind her makes her turn. Trance is yelling out to her. Harper begins to yell too, and Alexis joins in. Beka begins to walk towards them, but before she does, she turns to find Christopher. He isn't there. He was never there. Only the sounds of the ocean tides swishing up against the shore. Beka smiles and proceeds on down to her friends to make sense of their outburst.
Beka arrives to greet them:
"Okay, I'm here. What's going on?"
"Harper did his possible-impossible trick!" Trance excitingly says.
"Really?"
"Yeah," Harper chimes in. "And I did it with a huge wave too."
"Wow. So, let's see it then!" Beka says.
Harper jumps up and grabs his board. He swims out onto the blue-green ocean and waits for the right wave. When it finally comes, he gets up and starts surfing. He loves surfing. Any chance he can get he surfs. The warm ocean sprays against his legs and body, then face. This ocean isn't salty, however. It is very fresh and clean. The yellow sun comes out from hiding, winning the fight for a moment, and blends with the blue wave to make a brilliant green shade. The point comes; Harper does his trick. This trick is completely left up to the imagination, since it is one that has never been completed before or seen before to any eye. Harper lands back onto the end of the ocean's wave, and trails off to the side. He gets off with a wide smile on his face, holding his board in one hand, and waving his other hand up into the air.
Trance, Alexis, and Beka all are clapping for his accomplishment. Alexis runs up to Harper, and she being so small, Harper lifts her up with his one arm and carries her back to the site. He sets her down gently and sticks his board into the warm sand.
"Now was that good, or was that good?" Harper boasts.
"That was incredible!" says Beka.
"I am so going to win that competition today! I can just feel it, you know?"
Alexis jumps onto Harper's lap, whom of which is now sitting, and says:
"Uncle Harper, look."
She holds up her hand and it shines with a bright brilliance. When she opens it up, a kind of butterfly comes out of it. Its colors dazzle the mind and glow with might. She hands it over to Harper. He takes it with care and smiles at it and Alexis.
"Give it mommy now," she whispers.
Harper hands it over to Beka, who also takes it with careful hands.
"Let it fly," she whispers to Beka.
"Why?" Beka replies.
"Trust me."
"I trust you."
Beka opens her hand up more and the butterfly begins to flap its wings a little, but it doesn't leave.
"Why won't it leave?" Beka asks.
"Because you don't want it to leave," the little girl answers. "You have to want it to leave. Try it again."
Beka closes her eyes and concentrates. The butterfly slowly starts to flap its wings again, with each intake getting faster and faster until it lifts itself up off of her hand. Beka opens her eyes and smiles slightly. She watches as it seems to float out into the air and off into the sun.
"See, it's free now," the little says after a moment.
"Yeah, free…"
Harper then gets up from the ground and runs off into the water after ousting his board from the sand. Beka watches him surf some more, and looks over to Alexis playing with the sand off to the side, and the sun still rising as the afternoon approaches.