Cody's Wish

Alternate Ending

"Here We Go Again"


Time after time
I've been through this
You show me what it means to live
You give me hope when I was hopeless

"18 Days" by Saving Abel

The cool kiss of wind blowing in from the open window brought me out of a dreamless sleep. I was so warm, curled up in a ball under my sheets that I didn't want to get up and close the window. Wait a minute, I hadn't left the window open last night had I? I couldn't remember. That seemed to happen a lot since my brother died, I had a hard time remembering things.

Without warning I suddenly had the feeling that I was not alone in the room. Turning my head towards my bedroom door thinking that it was my mother checking in on me, I saw that there was no one there. She'd taken to looking in on me at night when I was asleep, or at least when she thought that I was asleep, and she'd stand there in the doorway crying silently. It really hurt me when she did that. Every time she looked at me she saw a living reminder of the son she had lost, not the son that she still had.

My bed sagged lightly on the side by the window. Fear flooded through my body, a cold chill sweeping down from my head to my toes, paralyzing me. I was so afraid, there was someone in my room with me and they were so close to me. What did they want with me? I cringed when a hand gently rested itself on my shoulder and curled into a tighter ball under the covers.

"Cody," whispered the voice of the last person I expected to be there in my room with me, "Wake up man…" It couldn't be…my ears were playing tricks on me or better yet I was dreaming. Yes, that was it, I was just dreaming. Almost every night I dreamed of him and every time I woke up I felt the pain of his loss fresh in my heart. As if reading my mind, I felt a sharp pain on my cheek as he pinched me and said to me, "This is not one of your dreams."

I shifted my position, rolling over on the same spot and sitting up to face the person on the edge of my bed. In the dim moonlight streaming in through my window I saw a warm smile touch his lips when my eyes laid their gaze upon his face. My heart ached to see him, just as he had looked on they day that he was taken away from me and my family.

"Zack?" It hurt to say his name aloud, it was something I had managed to avoid at all costs. It was like saying it only made his death more real to me.

"Hey Codester, it's good to see you bro!" Zack replied, his voice sounded so real and pure. I'd almost forgotten what he sounded like…That was terrible of me. Not even in my dreams did he sound like this.

"How?" I stammered, trying to force down the emotions welling up inside of me. I didn't want to get worked up again over something that wasn't real.

"You wished for me Cody, and so I came!" He said this as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Like wishing for dead people to come back to life and having it happen was commonplace. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around me in a loving embrace that I eagerly returned. Zack felt so warm and solid, this couldn't possibly be anything but the real thing. I rested my head against his shoulder, tears of happiness flowing from my eyes. I had my brother back!

"Oh god Zack…I've missed you so much," I sobbed into his shoulder, feeling his fingers gently stroking my hair.

"I know Codester, I know. Everything is gonna be ok though," His voice soothed me, calmed me down enough that I could release him and sit more comfortably on my bed. He looked at me, his eyes seeming to look at me from head to toe. Zack looked exactly as he had the last time that I saw him, still dressed in his loose fitting orange shirt which was on top of a long sleeved black shirt with flames running down the arms and baggy khaki pants along with his new pair of shoes to complete the image.

"I'm so glad that you're back Zack. Mom will be so happy to see you, her heart is broken." I told him, my spirits raising and for a moment I envisioned us as a family again, complete, whole and unscathed. Then I saw Zack shaking his head, and my happiness seemed to get sucked out of me then and there.

"What do you know about wishes Cody?" He asked, his tone sounding like he was unsure about something.

"Umm? Be careful what you wish for because you might not always get what you want? I dunno Zack…" That was all I had. I couldn't think about anything else other than the fact the brother I had thought lost six months ago had come back to me.

"Wishes do not automatically give you what you desire, merely they give you the opportunity to get it," Zack said mystically, moving to sit cross legged facing me, and then continued, "You're a good person Cody, a pure soul, and so you've earned some credit with the big guy"

"Big guy?" I asked, not understanding. Zack jerked his head toward the window and then stared out at the clear night sky. He didn't mean…Was is possible that he meant God himself? Well Zack was dead after all and if it existed, I'd like to think he'd been in heaven all this time.

"He's giving you a chance Cody, but you must first promise something," If Zack was saying what I think he was saying, I would promise him anything. I would trade my life for Zack if need be! That is how far I would go for him.

"What do I have to do?" I asked tentatively, afraid of what he might ask of me even with my determination to do whatever it took to get him back.

"Never change Cody. Be good and kind as you always have been. Inspire others to do good deeds by your own actions and give hope to those who have none. Promise me Cody,"

"Of course brother! I promise you…" Zack gently grabbed my shoulders and then leaned forward. I felt his warm breath as he whispered in my ear…

"Save me…"

You know what a static shock feels like right? Do you also know what it feels like when your leg falls asleep and you try walking with them, how agonizing it feels for awhile? If you do, imagine feeling those two things all over your entire body for a brief instant in time. The pain didn't last long, though it wasn't pleasant by any means, and when it faded my jaw dropped open as my senses started working again.

The first thing that I noticed was that I was outside. It looked to be mid-afternoon judging by the brilliant sunshine glaring down upon me. It was really warm out, for Boston anyway, it felt like it did in the summer time. But shouldn't it still be nighttime? And it was the middle of December, how was it this hot outside anyway? Unless this was another dream…

I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was at Buckner Middle School, where I was enrolled, and it seemed like the day had just ended. There were throngs of people moving around me I suddenly realized. Had they always been there? I hadn't noticed them until now. Weird! In front of me were several big ugly yellow school busses and students were getting on them quickly, the first couple were already pulling out having loaded up all of their passengers.

Wait a minute…This couldn't be what I thought it was…No, it wasn't possible, it didn't make sense. I looked over towards the sidewalk by the school's main gate where the busses were leaving, along with several students walking or bike riding home. I quickly found what I was looking for…

My heart skipped a beat and I felt a cold chill pass down my spine. My vision seemed to tunnel so that I only saw him, all of my senses and thought processes seemed to slow to a crawl as they dedicated themselves to the boy I was looking at.

Zack was riding his skateboard along the sidewalk right out the gate just as he had done six months ago. Somehow I had traveled back in time... His life would slip away as he bled to death in just a couple hours from now…Today was the day I would become an only child…Today was the day Zack would die…NOOO!!!

I started pushing my way through the crowd as my heart started to hammer in my chest. I couldn't lose sight of him, I had no idea where exactly he was going or how he was getting there. Plus he could travel a little faster than I could on his skateboard. As I pushed through towards the end of the buses, it felt as though more and more people were getting in my way as if trying to keep me from reaching my brother.

Clearing the last of the students in my way I picked up a quick run, cursing myself for just scraping by in gym class rather than getting in shape running more often or trying harder when we did sports like Soccer, Basketball or Football that required a lot of running. I had just made it out of the gate and already my legs were getting tired and my chest started hurting from breathing rapidly. I couldn't stop though since I was just barely gaining on him at this pace.

A city Metro buss flew past me on the road and sped off into the distance. Then I realized that it was stopping just ahead of where Zack was. That's how he was getting downtown, he was taking the bus. Oh man…I might not be able to get up there before it leaves. I could only pray that it took him a good deal of time to fish out a bus fare from his wallet.

"ZACK!!!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, but he didn't hear me. I was almost a block away, and I was exhausted. I'd never make it. Throwing off my backpack to lose some weight, I closed my eyes and pushed myself harder and faster than I ever thought possible.

Opening my eyes seconds later I saw the brake lights come on as the bus driver prepared to shift back into drive. Man, I was almost there!!! I was running by the middle of the bus when it started rolling forward slowly. NO!!! I pounded my fist alongside the Metro bus, it was slowly pulling away from me now and I had no hope of getting to the door. Please stop!!!

It almost seemed like it was going to pull away from me when the bus suddenly came to a halt and I managed to get to the doors. The slightly overweight driver swung the doors open for me and I jumped up onto the steps.

"Are you crazy kid?" He asked me in a typical New York accent, "Whatever just pay the fare and we'll be on our way." I glanced down at the coin machine next to him dumbly. It wanted seventy five cents in quarters. I only had a ten and a five dollar bill in my wallet…

"Look I don't have the change…" I started, but the driver started shoo'ing me off the bus with his hand.

"Then you don't have a ride, sorry guy," Anger washed over me, this man wasn't going to stand between me and saving my brother.

"ZACK! Help me out!" I cried desperately towards where he was sitting in the back. I saw his head lift up and eyes focus on me. He jumped up out of his seat and made his way to the front, giving me an angry look. What was he mad at me for?

"Whoa!" the driver said looking at Zack and then back to me. Identical twins just had that cool effect. My brother fished some quarters out of his pocket and pushed them into the coin machine, ignoring me.

"There, he's good now," Zack told the driver and made his way back to his seat, grabbing my sleeve and pushing me in front of him.

"Zack listen, we have to get off the bus…" I started to explain, but he cut me off.

"Shut up Codes. What the hell are you doing here?" His tone seemed so venomous, what the hell was wrong with him? We sat down at the back of the bus where we were alone together, everyone else onboard was sitting further up.

"I'm saving your life you idiot!" I told him, feeling my own anger rise up inside of me driven by the anger that he was showing me.

"What…?" Zack seemed genuinely surprised. My anger washed away when I saw the puzzled look on his face, he was trying so hard to understand what I was talking about. I couldn't help myself, knowing that here I was changing his destiny so that he would continue to grow up with me rather than depart this world. I gave Zack the best hug I could give him, hard to do on a moving bus but I managed, and he accepted it momentarily. I could feel the awkwardness in him at my sudden display of affection.

"Ok bro, get off me you're all sweaty dude," Zack said, pushing me away from him at last. "Again I ask, what the hell are you doing here? And what's with the mushy stuff eh?"

"Look Zack…you probably won't believe me, but I'm from six months into the future. I made a wish on Christmas Eve, I wanted to have you back, and it came true so here I am,"

"Wait…What? Have me back?"

"Zack…you will die in about two hours if we don't get off this bus right now and go home,"

"Dude, you're freaking me out. I think you've had a little too much school today and your brain juice is fried,"

"Shut up I'm not crazy! The police found your body downtown, apparently you'd been robbed and tried to fight back. You were dead by the time they found you, bled out from multiple stab wounds…"

"Cody…"

"Here! Look at what I've done to myself dammit! Living without you hasn't exactly been easy for me, so I needed an escape from the grief and maybe I even wanted an escape from this world…"

"Oh my god! You've been cutting yourself, are you fucking stupid?"

"You're the one whose fucking stupid if you don't get off this bus. Right here. Right now."

"I'm not going anywhere you loon,"

"You're going to make me cry at your funeral again? You're going to destroy Mom and Dad again? You want to make me an only child again? Take away one of Mom and Dad's precious sons? Fine you selfish bastard, go ahead and throw away your life…"

"Cody…"

"I'm through with you. I don't need you!" I screamed at him, jumping out of our seat just as the bus stopped at its next stop and making my way off the bus. Somewhere in the back of my mind I just knew that it was partly my fault, I'd come out of nowhere telling him things that would probably sound ludicrous to any sane person… Then again, when have I ever given Zack a reason to distrust me? When have I ever lied about something as serious as this to him?

I stumbled around on the sidewalk in my delirious state, my mind wrapped around the unending flood of emotions hitting me from all sides and the impossibility of everything. There was no way I was in the past. This was just some stupid childish dream of mine. A fantasy that would never come true.

There was a light post just ahead of me and I staggered into it, resting my forehead against its warm metal surface, my hands holding onto it to keep my balance. I was crying again. Why do I always do this? I'm angry dammit!

A hand touched my shoulder, as if to offer comfort. I shrugged it off, not wanting anyone's pity or concern. I could take care of myself. Hell I'd been doing it for six months, what was another day to me now? I felt the person walk around me to stand on the other side of the pole, trying to look me in the eye.

"CODY!" Zack called my name loudly, making my body jerk in surprise. I stopped crying, my eyes opened wider and I tilted my head up to look at him in the face. It truly was him, so real, so alive. I didn't want this to be another dream. I wanted this to be real.

"Why did you come back for me?" I asked him in a miserable tone. I wanted to know, just to hear this dream's answer. Zack was supposed to stay on the bus going downtown getting himself killed again. He wasn't supposed to be here with me in relative safety.

"I'm here because you told me to get off the bus right here, right now," He came to stand next to me and put my arm around his shoulders, helping me stand up straight and bearing some of my weight for me, "Come on now, let's go home and we'll talk about all this."

As the minutes, hours and then days dragged on I came to realize that this all wasn't a dream. My life was back to how I had wanted it for the last six months. It was completely real. Even the scars on my arms had gone. The memories of the whole six months living without my brother seemed to slowly fade away from my thoughts until I wasn't even sure if it had all really happened or not.

There were two things though that I was sure of…

I'd made a promise to be the best kind of person that I knew how to be and…

Wishes can come true after all…

A/N: Better late than never. Not sure why I never finished the happy alternate ending sooner, but I just had the bug to do it today, so here it is.

Enjoy!