I’m starting to learn
that reality is a fickle thing. The truth can be distorted, stretched into new
dimensions and not many can see it for what it is.
At
school they call me Grey Cloud. I guess because my hair is grey. My name’s
really Ellie. According to Mom, I’m a DreamWalker. She says I was chosen by the
gods to walk between worlds when I dream. The truth is I don’t really believe
her. She has an overactive imagination. She says I must believe.
“Hold
my hand,” I say to Sarah. She grabs my pinkie finger which is frozen. “We’ve
only got two more blocks.”
“Sissy,
I’m tired.”
It’s
hard to see. The heavy wind pushes us back as we try to gain momentum. Storms.
I’m so done with the storms. Our weather is so unpredictable. One day it’s hot
with thick unbreathable air and the next day we have snow. “I know you’re
tired. I’m tired too. None of us have slept in days.” I bend over and wrap Sarah’s
scarf a little tighter around the lower half of her face. “Look, Mom needs us
to get a few things from the store. Tomorrow’s Christmas.”
She
nods.
I
grab Sarah’s arm. “Stop!”
A
hologram appears in front of us on the sidewalk. An image of the world spins
and slowly darkens. “WARNING. Earth is no longer inhabitable. President Genesis
has made it mandatory that anyone under twenty-one years old must leave to live
on Mars. We have been told that a new habitat has been created there
underground.”
“Sissy,
look. Lights.”
I
hold my forefinger to my lips. “Shush. Stop annoying me.”
“This
is the beginning of the end. The world will no longer exist in eight days.
There won’t be a year 3000. Global warming. Our ancestors knew plastics were
bad for the environment. They knew that they were non-biodegradable. Even though our ancestors knew the consequences of
plastic, they continued to make it. Plastic tables, chairs, toys, toothbrushes,
glasses, plates, floors, car parts, even houses. The list goes on and on. It
was as if they wanted to destroy the planet on purpose.”
Sarah
tugs on my shirt. “Sissy, sissy…Look.”
“Will
you stop?”
She
jumps up and down. “Pretty lights!”
“I
don’t care about the stupid lights!” I snatch her hand. “Now, come on.”
There
are crowds of people at the store. Most of them children. They’re the only
healthy ones. After three hours of waiting in line, we make our way into the
store. “We should’ve come earlier like Mom asked us to. There’s nothing here.”
I grab Sarah’s hand and pull her around the store. “No water, bread, non-dairy milk…What
are we going to do?”
Sarah
shrugs her shoulders.
“Oh
good,” I say. “Meatless turkey. Sarah, put it in the front of the cart. I don’t
want it to get smashed.”
Sarah
wraps her small hands around the cold meatless turkey and drops it into the
front. “Sissy?”
“Yes.”
“Why
do you hate Christmas so much?”
I
start to chew on my lips. “No more questions. We need to get this stuff home so
Mom can start cooking.”
We
enter the house bubble and lock the chamber door behind us. Slowly, we take our
oxygen masks, thermal coats, and gloves off, releasing the pressure. Then we
make our way into the living room. The walls are decorated with a paper Christmas
tree, some paper lights, and paper stockings. But it doesn’t feel like
Christmas. Not anymore. But that’s fine with me. Every year it comes too early.
Mom and Dad get stressed out, fight. Everything I liked about Christmas is
gone. And now…How can I leave my family? How? What will happen to my parents?
Christmas
morning, Sarah sits by the tree opening her gift. “Mommy,” Sarah says loudly.
“Someone’s knocking on the door.”
Mother
and Father turn toward each other.
“Ellie,
take your sister upstairs,” Mother says.
We
sit at the top of the stairs and hide behind the wall. I motion for Sarah to
scoot next to me. With care, I peek around the corner.
Father
moves in beside Mother, placing a hand at the small of her back, urging her to
move forward. She opens the door. Two men are standing there, both wearing white
robes with a bluish silver belt.
“We’ve
come for Ellie and Sarah,” says the older of the two men. His hair is white,
and his skin is pale with eyes veiled by a net of wrinkles.
“No,
you can’t,” Mother says.
“It’s
orders,” he says.
“We’re
their family now.”
“But
they’re not your daughters.” His voice low but his words are like a crack of a
whip.
“We
love them and have raised them as our own. We kept them safe as we were asked. They
won’t understand.”
“Perhaps
not,” he says. “They need to be with their kind. We cannot leave them here to
die.”
Mother
leans over with her hands on her knees, gasping for air, unclean air.
“G-girls,
come down,” Father yells with his voice breaking and his chin trembling.
We
slowly come downstairs, taking one step at a time.
Mother
and Father rush to our sides and bend down together to hug us. “We will always
love you,” Mother says. “Remember that.”
We
stare at our parents with tears and confusion.
“Mommy?
Daddy?” Sarah says.
“Ellie,”
Mother whispers. “Take this.” She hands me a small gift. I tuck it into one of
my socks. When the gift touches my skin, there’s a faint glow.
The
two men grab our arms and rush us into their silver bullet spaceship. Sarah
launches herself at the window, pressing her palms up against the glass. “Mommy!
Daddy!” Just like lightning—we’re gone.
We
travel through dark vastness that’s scattered with light. It’s like an
unbounded continuum of music notes that dance and feed off the rhythm of
celestial bodies. All working together as one.
“Where
are we?” I ask. “This doesn’t look right. Mars is supposed to be red not white.”
“We
have taken you to the beginning of time,” he says. “Everything you know to be
true, isn’t. Humans were created here on planet Zera. Our kind have used other
planets as experiments. Earth being one of them. We wanted to see how long it
would take humankind to self-destruct. It’s human nature. It lives in our subconscious.
We innately know what is right and what is wrong but time and time again we
choose to be selfish and greedy. All planets have failed.”
“This
can’t be true,” I say.
The
man points to a woman with long white hair. She wears a sheer white dress that
brushes the sand beneath her. The sky is iridescent, and the air is breathable.
There is no hazy fog like home. Shimmering lights hang from the trees and
lanterns line the pathways.
“My
name is Aster.” She pauses. “You’ve come a long way.”
“Why?”
I ask and then look down at my sister who hasn’t stopped crying.
“Christmas
day. This day to most was a symbol of what humanity should be but isn’t. It was
pure. Earth’s atmosphere used to shine on this day, like a star. We could see
it from here. But now, oxygen levels have plummeted. Threat is imminent. And no
one can stop it.”
“We
can change,” I plead. “I know it. Send us back and I’ll persuade them all to
change.”
“My
child, it’s not that simple,” she says. “We planted seeds, sent storms of
warning, transmitted messages through dreams. None of it was enough to stop the
destruction. Mankind leads with filthy hands. They purposely hurt each other
with words. Hatred spreads like wildfires. Oceans of bloodshed. And for what?
Nothing. No one gains anything from it. Their hearts have darkened. Their minds
have become riddled with jealousy, ungratefulness.”
I
narrow my eyes toward her. “So, you punish them with death?”
“No.
They punish themselves. Every injurious behavior leaves them emptier inside.
They do it.”
“What
about my parents? They’re good people. You know that. Why must they die?”
“Life
is unfair. Our decisions are based on what the majority does. We cannot single
out all the good ones. It would take too long.”
“But
doesn’t that make you as bad as they are?”
“Ellie,
you do not know what you speak. Your heart has darkened like theirs.” She
points into the air. “Men, send these two away.”
One
of the men yanks me nearly off my feet and drags me away. The other man marches
forward and grabs Sarah by her arm.
Sarah
stumbles to the ground. “No!”
I
break free from the man’s grip and reach for Sarah, guarding her from the evil men.
“Stay away from my sister!” I say, gritting my teeth.
Aster
raises her arm and a ray of light pulses from her hand. It separates us.
“Girls, please…We don’t want to harm you.”
“Then
let us go,” I say.
“Once
we erase your memories, then we’ll set you free.”
“But
I—”
“No
more pain, Ellie. You will live in peace. Isn’t that what you want?”
“What
about my sister, and my family…”
Aster
shakes her head. “They’ll no longer be your family.”
I
blink back tears as Sarah looks up at me with red puffy eyes. She reaches her
hand out for mine. Our fingers touch.
“Take
them away,” Aster says. “Do not let them sleep. Now go.”
We
are put into a white room that has loud piano music blaring into our ears. Sarah
cuddles up beside me, holding my hand. Believe…believe…I hear my
mother’s soft voice. I take the gift out of my sock and open it. It is a small
star with no color. Almost looks as though it’s dead.
“Lights,
sissy.”
“Not
now, Sarah.”
Sarah
stands up and points to the star in my hand. It’s dark.
I
throw the star across the room. “Don’t you get it. We’re never going to see Mom
and Dad again. Who cares about some ridiculous lights!”
Sarah
walks over and picks the star up in her hand and hands it back to me.
I
close my eyes, then open them again. The star begins to flicker. But when Sarah
removes her hand from mine it turns dark again. I grab her hand and place it
back onto the star. It shines but stops. Sleep. Why would they not want
us to sleep? “Sarah, close your eyes.”
Sarah
closes her eyes and I close mine. The room starts to shake, keeping us from
sleeping.
“We’re
going to play a game, okay? Let’s pretend were popcorn. Can you do that?”
Sarah
nods with a smile.
“Now
close your eyes and think about Mom and Dad.”
She
closes her eyes as we are thrown around the room.
“Mom,
I need you,” I say. “Can you hear me.”
“Believe,
Ellie. It’s within you. Your name means Shining Light.”
I
open my eyes. “Sarah, am I the light?”
She
nods her head up and down really fast, smiling from ear to ear.
“I
believe.” Something inside of me grows. I grab Sarah’s hand and hold it tight
and lift the star in my other hand. A ray of light springs from our bodies,
sending a colorful radiance through the galaxy.
Earth
shines again and so do I.
“Wakeup,
sissy.”
I
rub my eyes. “Home?”
She
drags me downstairs. I smell gingerbread and feel the warmth of the fire.
“What’s this? A real tree, stockings, gifts. It can’t be. I must’ve been
dreaming.”
Mother
kisses me on my cheek.
Father
pats my head. “Your hair? It’s white.”
“But
how?” I ask.
Mother
smiles and gives me a wink.
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