Chapter 2:
Wirt sat on the river bank, tossing crumpled poems into the tranquil stream. He often found himself sitting there, without remembering the amount of time it took him to walk across town, sneak through the gate in the graveyard, hop over the garden wall and sit himself down. Either way, it was Wirt's safe haven. A place where he could think without being disturbed by his grieving mother and step-father.
He layed back on the soft grass and thought about the previous day. It had been Greg's funeral, and in Wirt's mind, everything went wrong. Everything.
It was the warmest, brightest day of the season. The autumn leaves were the brightest orange, yellow and red they had been all year. The family said it was a sign from Greg, but Wirt was disgusted by this thought. Disgusted by how little the family knew about Greg. The rain had been his favorite, and though Greg appreciated a sunny day, he would always prefer splashing in the mud. As Wirt walked to the church that morning, he wanted nothing more than to jump in a puddle with his brother.
The service was held in a church on the west side of town. It was nothing special. The walls were painted a simple beige, the pews were made of dark wood. Same old, same old. Wirt hated everything about it.
Death had been a common subject of Greg's, during his final months. Greg knew what was coming. He knew, and he wasn't afraid to talk about it. When he and Wirt would talk seriously about what would happen to Greg, he had always requested the same thing for his funeral. Wirt could hear it so clearly in his head:
"Oh, oh, and for my funeral, I want there to be a gazillion balloons! In every color, ever! Ooh, and then, I want there to be streamers! And cakes! And ice cream! And sprinkles! Wirt, I'm telling you, my funeral would be the best one ever!"
As for the service, there were no balloons. There were no streamers. There were no cakes, ice cream or sprinkles. It was filled with sad relatives in dark clothing dabbing tissues to their faces.
All of this overwhelmed Wirt. He didn't last ten minutes in the building, and ran out before the priest even said a word. At the time, Wirt didn't even know where his legs would take him. He just ran.
Eventually, he ended up in the same place he always did: the river bank. He would sit there for, actually, Wirt didn't know how long he would be there. He had been at the stream since he left the service, but he knew his parents wouldn't worry. Their focus would be on Greg. It always had been.
Wirt sat up, and started to speak out another poem. That was his technique. He would say the poem that popped into his head out loud. If he liked it, he would write it down in his journal, but he always ended up ripping them out and throwing them into the stream. The first time he had done that, it had been out of frustration. But lately, he had only been throwing in his best poems. He had a small sliver of hope that Greg was going to read them, with him being in the unknown and all.
That was the other thing. Wirt knew that Greg was in the unknown. He knew that in the choice between heaven and the unknown, Greg chose the second option. Afterall, he and Wirt had already been down there, so it wasn't much of an unknown world to them.
The thing that frightened Wirt, however, was the sheer thought of what was to become of his brother while he was in the land of scary, wild creatures. It was difficult enough to go down there together, but little Greg, all by himself, it was just… horrifying.
Wirt hoped that Greg found Beatrice somehow. He knew the chance were slim, with the unknown being such a vast place, but maybe he had somehow just-
Wirt found himself sobbing. His body shaked so much that he thought he would throw up. He curled his body into a ball, and with his head resting on his knees, Wirt let millions of tears roll down his face. He shivered. His stomach growled. Everything felt so painful, but Wirt didn't do anything, until he heard a voice.
"Ah, oh jeez, ooh okay, ouch. Alright, okay, oh, got it." Sara said as she climbed over the wall. As she dusted off her knees, she saw Wirt. "Ah, I knew you'd be here."
Wirt, quickly realizing that had been crying, rubbed his eyes and tried to play it cool.
"Oh, uh, hey Sara!"
She didn't fall for any of it. She took his hand, and while looking straight at him, she gave Wirt a small smile. Sara was the kind of person that could say things with her eyes. To Wirt, the look in her eyes told him that everything was going to be ok. And while he couldn't muster a smile, she knew he truly appreciated it.
"Hey g-g-guys, a l-l-little h-help," Jason said as he sat atop the wall.
"Oh please, you really need our help to get you off that wall? You're fifteen!" Said Sara, shaking her head.
Wirt chuckled as he said, "It's like, five feet off the ground."
"Well s-s-sorry I interrupted your l-l-little l-love fest."
"Such a baby," Sara muttered as she cupped her hands so Jason had a foothold.
Once he was down, he and Sara sat down next to Wirt. Sara sat still, and like Wirt, looked around to appreciate the beautiful setting.
The river bank sloped down to the stream. The grass was overgrown, but it was as soft as a pillow. The trees on the other side formed a sort of canopy over the stream, providing coverage for wildlife that roamed around. The trio loved it for this, but they also enjoyed its secrecy. It was like their own world.
After a few moments of silence, Jason pointed to the soggy paper floating in the stream.
"W-wirt, did y-y-you throw a-away your p-p-papers? T-that's t-t-terrible for the w-wildlife, you k-k-know."
"Oh, that's right! I read a column in the newspaper about a woman who dumped a bunch of her trash in a pond, and something extremely dangerous must have been in there, because it completely destroyed the ecosystem!" She started fiddling with the inside of her backpack, trying to see if she had thrown the old paper in there. She tended to be a bit of a know-it-all.
"But anyways," she continued," I don't think that paper would be terrible for the environment at all. If it was plastic, that would be a different story." She then turned to Wirt, with a confused expression on her face. "Why did you throw your poems in there?"
Wirt turned red in the face. "I, oh, I, um-"
"Oh, you were just frustrated," Sara interrupted.
"Oh, I-I get it," Jason replied.
Sara turned to Wirt and gave him a wink. She knew they were for Greg. Wirt smiled.
Jason stood up and dusted off his pants from the damp grass. "I-I-I need to g-get going, it's g-g-getting awfully l-late," he said as he checked his watch. "M-m-my parents n-need me h-h-home."
"Bye, Jason," Sara and Wirt said simultaneously. They laughed.
"U-um, S-S-Sara?" Jason said, looking towards the wall.
"Ugh, on it," she said as walked over to help him up and over.
After Jason was settled and on his way, Sara sat back down next to Wirt. His stomach growled.
"Jeez, Wirt, you must be starving! You were out here all night! Gosh, weren't you freezing?" She said, putting her hand on his forehead to check if he was sick.
"I mean, probably, but I didn't really feel it."
"Your parents had also asked where you were, and I told them that you came over to my place. Wirt, what if you weren't here, and I couldn't find you? Your parents would have blamed me for losing you!" She shook her head, but then looked up at Wirt. "Hey, that gives me and idea, you should come over!"
"Oh, um, I… I don't know, Sara," he said, blushing.
"I mean, hear me out. You probably don't want to go home to your parents right you. I know I don't really know what you're going through, but I can take a pretty good guess that home is not the place to be after all of this." She was right. Everything in Wirt's house made him think of Greg. "Plus," she continued, "my dad just bought some popcorn, and I have The Maze Runner on DVD."
Wirt looked up, thinking, and then shook his head yes. It was a pretty convincing argument.
"That sounds great, Sara."
"Good, then let's get going!" She said as she stood up. She held out a hand for Wirt, and after he grabbed his poetry journal, they were on their way.
They hopped over the wall with ease (unlike someone they knew) and walked through town to Sara's house, deep in conversation.
They ate popcorn and laughed all night. Sara had grabbed a blanket for them, with it being so chilly that night. They both soon realized that full stomachs and a cozy setting was the perfect equation for drowsiness.
Wirt had almost forgotten about his longing for Greg. All he could think about was Sara. He reached for her hand. She grabbed it back. They fell asleep with their heads on each other's shoulders.
Deep in the depths of the unknown, while every other critter, bug, monster and human slept, little Greg laid awake. He clutched the once crumpled papers to his chest, and looked into the stream. He knew what he had to do.
Authors Note:
Hello guys! I hope you're enjoying this story. I would like to apologize for the second chapter confusion, as this is my first fanfiction and I didn't know how to properly add a chapter. Thank you for your patience. Chapter 3 is on the way!