The Writer’s Quill Story Submissions: Part II

Here are a couple more stories that weren’t chosen as winners, but were close! I hope you enjoy!

Prompt: Christmas writing competition

“Dear Christmas Future” By Lindsay Newman, 11th Grade

For the Romantic that inspired me, Bella Boyden. Merry Christmas!

Wet. Cold. Shivering. Alone. That’s where I, Penny Blake, sit right now, five days before Christmas. Not exactly the holiday cheer you would expect, right? (If you do expect this during the holiday season, I am sincerely sorry.)

I shuffle dismally through the soft rain that had so conveniently begun to fall the moment I left the office. Of course, I woke up to a crisp and clear, blue, California sky, so naturally I wasn’t going to take a heavy-duty coat to work. Never again will I ever doubt the miracles of nature.

My usually flouncy black waves hang, dampened (like my spirits), around my pale face. My normally bright and cheerful grin has withered into a seemingly permanent frown. What had begun as vibrant blue eyes were now dim and unwelcoming to anyone that happened to catch my gaze. Today had not met my expectations at all.

As I continue towards my apartment building, still waiting a good seven blocks away, I run the events of the day through my head over and over. And over. And over. And over.

My roommate, Joy Smiley, was in her usual Christmas mood (cheery at the crack of dawn), and she woke me an hour and a half early, so we could share a cup of cocoa with peppermint sticks before I had to disappear into the office for the day. I wasn’t too sleepy, nor was I bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I was in the perfect mood to sit on the balcony and watch the sun rise over Fresno, California. And every minute of lost sleep was worth the sight.

Not long after, Leo, my wonderful boyfriend, called me up. He asked me to meet him for lunch this afternoon, and, as always, I was more than happy to do so. It gave me something to look forward to. My day couldn’t have started out better. This put me in one of the best moods I have been in all year. When lunchtime came around, I was practically floating down to my usual meeting place with Leo at the park. Little did I know that the boyfriend of my dreams was about to become the ex-boyfriend of my dreams. With no more than five sentences, Leonardo Trenton had squashed my hopes for a merry Christmas.

Heart-broken, I crawled back to the office and bawled my eyes out in the girl’s restroom. It took several minutes to attempt hiding the tear stains with make-up. Once back at my desk, I tried everything to distract myself, but at that moment, my mother called from Montana to tell me they had gotten snowed in, and that the blizzard raging through the “Big Sky Country” would not allow her, Dad, and my brother John to fly down to spend Christmas with me.

My plans were unraveling by the second!

The day droned by in a turtle-like doldrum after that. I buried myself in work and avoided any contact with any living being that crossed my path. I even ignored my best friend, Gabriel, when he stopped by. Before he could explain the reason for his visit to my desk from all the way across the office, I had said, “Not now, Gabe,” and he was gone. I felt so incredibly terrible for dismissing him like that, and I tried several times to work up the courage to call and apologize, but I always chickened out.

On a scale from one to ten, my day was a negative twelve.

After entering the apartment building, ascending the seven flights of stairs to our floor, and walking into mine and Joy’s apartment, I flop beside Joy on the couch, soaking wet, and cry my heart out.

****

Gabriel Keller stared at his to-go box of orange chicken, his fork sticking out of a piece near the top. Something was bothering him, but he couldn’t figure out what. He ran a hand through his blonde mop of hair, then slumped back in his seat. His stormy, confused grey eyes flicked from his uneaten food to the gift, wrapped in red paper and a gold ribbon, at the other end of the table. At that moment, he knew what was bothering him.

Penny had been a mess today. He could tell something was wrong the minute he walked by her desk. The piles of folders and documents cluttering her space told him that she was working hard to take her mind off something. How she had told him to go away without even looking at him had hurt. It had hurt a lot more than he should have let it. But what could he do? When it came to Penny, everything affected him in more ways than he could count.

But there was always something holding him back. Why didn’t he ever just express his feelings? Every time their eyes met, his heart leaped. When she smiled, it seemed as though she was the sun, sustaining all life on Earth. And when it came to how he felt about her, it was like a drunken moose, trying to explain to a tree how it grows, while it gargled water. It just never could come out in the way he meant for it to.

Not to mention Leonardo has been in the picture for the past two years. Penny didn’t see it, but Gabriel knew he wasn’t a good fit for her. There was just something about the guy that was….off. Maybe his brain. Sometimes Gabriel wondered how the guy even graduated high school.

Without realizing he was doing it, Gabriel pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he found Penny. With one tap, her contact photo popped onto the screen, snatching Gabriel’s attention immediately. His thumb hovered over the “call” button, and he wondered whether he should give her a call or not. He weighed his options, and finally he came to a decision; he called Penny.

****

I stare blankly at the notepad Joy had tossed in front of me. “Write to Christmas future, Penny. He has all the answers you need,” she had said. I gaze at the words “Dear Christmas Future” on the page and raise an eyebrow at them. What am I supposed to do now? I wonder, holding my blue ballpoint pen in my mouth.

My phone buzzes frantically in my pocket, so I pull it out. Gabriel’s contact photo smiles back at me from the screen and I groan. This is it, I think as I press “answer”, I am going to lose my best friend today, too.

“Hey,” I say, instantly beating myself up for sounding like I have a cold. Joy only recently got me calmed down after my sob attack.

“Hey,” Gabriel’s voice says. “What was up today? You were so…not…you…” He sounds worried, not angry. I sigh in relief.

“Uh, yeah, I’m really sorry about that…like, really sorry. I have kinda been having the worst day in the history of worst days,” I tell him, ready to pour my heart out yet again.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah…no…I’m not fine, Gabe, I feel like…you know that depressing show about the mom and her daughter?” I say.

“Uh-huh,” he replies. I can practically hear the smile in his voice.

“I feel like the emotions in that series have all been crammed into one day and shipped to me.”

“Well what happened?”

“Leo broke up with me,” I say after a short pause. To my surprise, Gabe doesn’t say anything for what feels like an eternity.

“I’m sorry, Pen,” he finally says.

“Thanks…don’t feel obligated to beat him up. Joy says she has that covered.”

He laughs. “Well now you can escape the grasp of those boring luncheons he was always dragging you off to.”

“But I liked talking to Barbara,” I whine, thinking about the nice receptionist at Leo’s office. Well, it’s his father’s office…he owns the company, but Leo was learning to take over. Was he getting too stressed to worry about a relationship? Was I not worth it anymore?

“You want to hang out sometime this week? Maybe get your mind off things?” Gabe asks.

“My break starts tomorrow, how bout you?” I say.

“I’m free all day, every day until New Year’s.”

“I need a Christmas tree, blended mocha, four classic Christmas movies, and a date to Joy’s caroling party. You down?”

“Who doesn’t love sap, coffee, two boxes of tissues, and pitchy carolers?”

I laugh. “Good points.”

“I’ll pick you up tomorrow around 2 for Christmas tree hunting, cool?” Gabe asks.

“I will be counting down the minutes,” I reply.

“That makes two of us. See you then,” he says happily.

“See you. Bye,” I say, pressing the “end call” button a few moments later. Laughter reaches my ears and I turn to the small kitchen where Joy sits on the counter. “What’s so funny?” I ask her, folding my arms as I walk over to her.

She tosses her brown hair into a sloppy ponytail and grins, her brown eyes glinting warmly. “Nothing. Just you and your knight in shining armor,” she mused, giving me a noticeable wink.

I shake my head and give her a little push. “Stop it, he’s not my ‘knight’,” I say mockingly with finger quotations. But no matter how hard I try to tell myself the same thing, I always end up with this doubt…and a tingly feeling in my stomach.

“Well, you sure are a damsel in distress, honey. ‘I need a Christmas tree, blended mocha, four classic Christmas movies, and a date to Joy’s caroling party,’” she says in her best impression of me.

With an eye roll, I turn away from her and head back to the notepad awaiting my pen in the living room. I lean down, quickly scrawl a sentence out beneath the words already written, and take the note back to the kitchen. I smile as I pin the short letter to the fridge with a magnet. I read the words one last time, then head to bed:

“Dear Christmas Future,

Please bring me a Merry Christmas.

With Love,

Penny B.”

****

Gabriel almost felt bad for dancing when Penny had said Leonardo broke up with her. He almost felt bad for taking advantage of her pain when she needed a shoulder to cry on. And he almost felt bad that he was going to attempt to sweep her off her feet by Christmas day. Almost.

The next morning, he was more than excited. He was ecstatic. Somehow, he felt that ecstatic wasn’t quite the word, not quite excited enough, but he didn’t know of another word to top it, so ecstatic it was. After his phone call with Penny, he hadn’t been able to catch a wink of sleep. He could feel his eyes drooping with deprivation of rest, but he had needed the extra time to decide what he would wear that day. Casual? Fancy? Half casual, half fancy? Should he wear this jacket or that one? Is there a possibility he will have to lend her a coat? Should he wear two sweaters? Button down shirt or tee?

By the end of the night, he had decided he disliked clothes with a burning passion, and wished he could just pick something instead of worrying how it would affect Penny. She wouldn’t care…would she? They were only going to pick out a Christmas tree. Not to mention this was California weather he was dressing for. He went with his gut instinct, reluctantly, and finally chose a pair of jeans with a red t-shirt that had green lettering saying, “I’m On Santa’s Nice Naughty List”.

After an eternity passed, Gabriel was outside Penny’s apartment, waiting on the front steps in 70-degree weather. Before Penny emerged, he silently praised himself for making the right choice in clothing…only to find that Penny looked too good to be going anywhere with a guy in a t-shirt and jeans.

****

I immediately felt over-dressed for the occasion.

I begin to beat myself up inside. Who wears a green tunic and leggings with a designer, brown, infinity scarf to go find a Christmas tree? It’s a plant! With sap! And leaves! And…planty stuff! Plus, she was only going with Gabe…why had she fussed over her outfit, then?

“Don’t you look nice,” Gabe says with a dorky smile. “Got a hot date?”

I blush. “I can change really quickly, I’d hate to get this dirty anywa—”

“No, don’t worry about it. This is why you have me! I will get dirty. All you must do is find a tree you like, point to it, and tell me where to put it,” he says. Opening the passenger side door, he adds, “Shall we?”

I struggle between going back in to change, or just going. Slightly flustered, I roll my eyes and slide into the car.

As we’re driving, Gabe asks, “When is your family coming? I would have thought they’d be in by now.”

I sigh. “They’re not coming this year. Too much snow,” I say dismally.

“You know, you’re always welcome at my parents’ house. They love it when you come by,” he answers as we pull into the Christmas tree lot.

“I’ll think about it. I don’t know if Joy is planning anything yet. You know, besides the caroling party,” I say, feeling the vibrations of the car fade away as he turns it off.

“Joy is always planning something,” Gabe laughs.

I smile. “Too true. She dragged me to a rap concert last weekend,” I tell him, remembering how Joy had tossed me my coat, pushed me into her car, then driven me off to who knows where.

“That must have been awful,” he replies.

“You have no idea! I can tolerate it in the apartment, but in a big room, blaring into my head, pounding out every sensible thought I’ve ever had? Nope. Can’t do it. To make a long story short, we left four seconds into the concert,” I say.

“That seems a bit unlikely,” Gabe teases.

“Okay, maybe it was the first…seven seconds.”

“Alright, that’s better,” he laughs, climbing out of the driver’s seat. I follow suit, standing up in the clean, fresh air. Gabe joins me on my side of the car, and I have to tilt my head back to see his face. Unlike Leo, Gabe is a whopping six feet and three inches tall. He is nearly a foot taller than me, since I stand at five feet and five inches. I barely reach his shoulder!

“Ready to lift a tree?” I ask him, glancing around at the trees that litter the area around us.

“Ready when you are,” he answers with a smile.

For some reason…I blush. Why am I blushing? Suddenly my skin begins to feel tingly, and I can sense the goosebumps forming along my arms. What is wrong with me?

I clear my throat and turn to face the trees. “Onward!” I cry, running off into the thick mass of greenery.

****

The entire time they had been shopping for trees, Gabe couldn’t help but notice how…awkward Penny seemed to be acting. Sure, she was usually a pretty spunky, odd person, but never so much that she got tongue-tied four times in two hours. He could have sworn she kept glancing at him when she examined each tree. She seemed so nervous after they got out of the car…had he said something wrong?

He watched as she looked at the fiftieth tree they had come upon. She was absolutely adorable. Her nose wrinkled with each smile, and her eyes glinted with excitement as she studied the possible buy. At one point she even hugged the tree, saying she had to get a good feel for it. That was when he made the mistake of coming behind her to point out a space where a branch was missing.

He reached out, his arm brushing over her shoulder, and she whirled around in surprise, jumping back into the tree. Gabriel caught her before she could fall back, but the tree was not so lucky. Nor were the six other trees that toppled like dominoes after the first one. Penny yelped, covering her mouth as she stared at what had happened, and that’s when the men who ran the tree lot started towards them, shouting angrily.

Penny grabbed Gabriel’s hand, and they were on the other side of the tree lot in mere seconds. She shoved Gabriel back into a thick group of trees, and there they hid, crouching together while they waited for the storm to pass.

“Well that could have gone better,” Gabe said into Penny’s ear at a low whisper.

Penny gave him a scolding, but it soon melted into a smile. “You surprised me,” she whispered back. For a moment, they held each other’s gazes. Gabriel’s stomach was fluttering so much he could have had a live bird within him, desperately trying to escape. He wanted to lean forward, close the gap, but he stopped himself. It was too soon. If not for him, then for Penny.

****

I stare into Gabe’s eyes, silence enveloping us. For a moment, everything seems to fade away but those eyes. I feel a flutter in my stomach. A flutter. Why am I getting butterflies now?

Clearing my throat, I stand, and pull Gabe to his feet as well. We’re standing very close right now. Too close. “I think…it’s safe to go find a tree now,” I say, trying to avoid his eyes. “There was one I saw when we were running…it’ll be a perfect fit for the apartment.” I exit our hiding place and dash off, leading Gabe to the tree.

We stand in line to purchase the tree, silent and awkward. I run a billion different conversation starters through my mind, but none fit the situation. I feel as though I am about to burst when the man behind a desk calls us over to a cash register.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” the man, probably in his late forties, says, examining our pick.

“Yes, thanks,” I say. “Quite the commotion out there earlier, huh?”

“Some kids probably looking for trouble. I can’t stand it when parents don’t watch their children,” he replies, ringing us up on the register. Gabe and I share a glance and both of us have to suppress our laughter. “Well, anyways, your total is $70.04.”

I pull out my credit card and hand it to him, but suddenly Gabe grabs the card away from the man. I turn to him, wide-eyed, and say, “Gabe, what are you doing?”

“I’ll pay for it,” he says, holding the Christmas tree upright with one hand and retrieving his wallet with the other. He hands the man his own card, then gives mine back to me. I watch him skeptically for a moment, then smile.

“Thank you,” I tell him.

“My pleasure,” he replies. And there they were again.

Those darn butterflies.

****

Gabriel helped Penny take her tree up to the apartment, and thankfully the elevator was functioning, so they didn’t have to take the stairs. He said many prayers of thanks as they sat in the silence of the elevator, panting from the effort it had taken just to get the tree this far. He wanted very badly to peek around the tree that blocked his view of Penny, but thought against it, not wanting to make things even more weird between them. The elevator car stopped with a jolt that was hard enough to knock Penny off balance. She dove into the branches of the evergreen that Gabriel held firmly.

He couldn’t help it; he burst into laughter, listening as she spat and floundered frantically, pushing herself out of the tree. “Are you okay?” he chuckled, reaching around to help her to her feet. The doors of the elevator slid open, and she scrambled out onto the carpeted floor. She climbed to her feet, straightening her top and pushing her scarf out of her face.

“I’m…fine,” she said stiffly, folding her arms. “Come on, we’re just down the hall, here.” She started walking off to the left, so Gabriel heaved the tree out the elevator door, trying to catch up with Penny.

She stood by a door, holding it open as he approached with the tree. He watched in confusion as Penny started shushing Joy, and Gabriel could hear Joy shouting something in the background. All he heard of her outburst was, “Pigs fly”, “Just wait and see”, and “waiting underneath the mistletoe, and if you don’t go, I will!” Was Joy on a new addiction to pigs? Her love interests never would make much sense to Gabe.

Gabriel inched his way through the door, attempting to avoid knocking the hanging light fixture above him. “You can bring the tree…here,” Penny said, pointing to a spot near a dining table. There was a stand for the tree sitting there, and all it was missing was the tree he now held. Then he had to ask himself, why, at that moment, he let his grip loosen, because the tree crashed to the floor, knocking over a couple of chairs with it. He tried to hide the embarrassment on his face when Joy began to cackle from the kitchen, sitting on her usual counter top seat in the kitchen, watching from across the bar in front of her.

****

I stare at the tree in the dining area, hoping that maybe somewhere in that leafiness I can find the answers as to why I feel the way I’ve been feeling ever since Gabriel and I arrived at the tree lot. “Girl, if you think the tree is going to talk to you, you’re wasting your time,” Joy says, startling me from my trance.

I throw my hands in the air, spin around, and faceplant into the couch. “It doesn’t make any sense!” I moan into the cushions. Unfortunately, Joy doesn’t understand the muffled sound that comes from the couch.

“Penny, you’re adorable. But I have no idea what you just said,” Joy replies, walking over to join me. She plops down by my head and begins to stroke my hair. “Hey, you used the fancy shampoo that you would wear for—”

“Don’t speak his name!” I cry out, thrusting myself to my hands and knees. On all fours, I glare into Joy’s eyes darkly. “We shall never, ever, ever, ever speak his name again. Have I made that clear?”

Joy nods slowly, looking rather dazed as she seems to register the words I have just spoken. “So…we never say ‘Leonardo’ again?” she asks.

I groan and let myself fall back into the couch. But I don’t cry. Why am I not crying? The thought of Leo should be throwing me into a desperately hopeless state where I imagine that nothing in the world will ever be right again. Why don’t I feel like

that? “This is exactly what I meant!” I say into the couch, forgetting that Joy can’t understand a word that has escaped from my lips.

“Penny, sit up like a dignified young woman!” Joy says, giving my head a light smack.

I turn my face to the side. “When your heart is broken, you don’t feel like a dignified young woman,” I pout.

“But you aren’t heart-broken, are you?” she presses. Through the strands of hair that cover my vision, I can see her watching me knowingly. I roll off of the couch and onto my hands and knees, this time on the floor. I push myself to my feet and set my hands on my hips.

“That’s just it! It’s almost like Leo never meant anything to me! We were together for two years, Joy. Two years! Shouldn’t that make me sad for more than a few hours?” I say, not completely directing the question to Joy. I am asking the entire room. All of the things around me. Why don’t I feel anything?

“Christmas miracle?” Joy prompts, folding her legs beneath her. She is dressed in a baggy pair of sweats and a tank top, and I suddenly have the desire to dress just as she is dressed.

“Hold that thought,” I say. I disappear into my bedroom, then reappear in an outfit that somewhat resembles Joy’s. Now I am in proper attire to continue my venting. “It must be a Christmas miracle, because somehow, I’m not having any break-up blues. Only flittery, fluttery butterflies!”

“Rewind…butterflies? Explain!” she demands.

“At the Christmas tree lot! I was getting that feeling you get when you see that special someone. I had butterflies! I had butterflies…for Gabe!” I say exasperatedly.

Joy does a little dance in her spot on the couch. “I told you! Knight in shining armor, right there! It’s a gift from Christmas future, Penny! He’s telling you what’s been there the whole time! I told you that writing that letter was a good idea. You’re getting your merry Christmas!” she exclaims excitedly.

“From Gabe?!?”

Joy rolls her eyes. “Deny it all you want, girl, but this is obviously it. You two lovebirds are meant to be. Just as I predicted the day you met!”

I fold my arms and begin to pace. I try to argue against her point, but the words are incapable of forming coherently in my brain. Am I falling for Gabriel?

Even thinking about him sparks a new bout of fluttering in my gut.

Gabe’s mind had been buzzing all day. He had sent Penny a “good morning” text, and she had answered briefly, but other than that, they hadn’t contacted each other all day. He was beginning to wonder if he should call her. After all, she had wanted to have him over for a night of tree decorating and Christmas movies tonight. All he needed was to know whether she still wanted to do it. And it was driving him crazy.

Causing him to jump, the phone buzzed in Gabriel’s pocket. The moment he saw Penny’s contact photo, his finger was on the green “answer” button. “Hey! How do you like the tree?” he asked, giving her a subtle push towards that subject.

“Hey, it’s great!” Penny chirped back. “That was…actually the reason I am calling.”

“Oh?” he asked, trying to hide the excitement in his voice. He could almost already hear the words being spoken, could hear her asking him to come over, but she also sounded uncertain. Was she cancelling?

“Yeah…I still need someone to help me decorate it. Joy is…going out tonight, and it’d be pretty lonely in here without someone to sing off-key with me while we hang ornaments. Are you still free tonight? Or has some cute girl already claimed your time?” she asked.

Gabriel jumped up and spun, feeling like gravity couldn’t hold him down. His heart was leaping in excitement, and his stomach was full of butterflies yet again. “I’ll have to check my schedule, but I think I can fit you in somewhere,” he said as casually as possible.

Penny laughed (music to his ears). “Oh really? You’re that busy, hm?”

“Busy man, busy day,” he said, smiling ear to ear.

“Well then I don’t expect you to bother with coming all the way over to my place for decorating a Christmas tree. Seems quite small for such an important man to deal with,” she teased.

“Oh no, I can make it. We busy men have to keep a reputation with charity and what not, too, you know.”

“Oh, so now I’m a charity case?” she asked.

Gabriel’s eyes widened. “Uh, no! Of course not! I would never…you’re not. I’m free tonight, okay?” he said, trying to secure these plans with her.

Penny began to giggle. “Alright, see you later then.”

“See ya!” Gabriel was disappointed when she hung up a few moments later. Then he remembered he was going to see Penny. His plans were working out perfectly. If only he could read Penny’s mind a figure out if it was working on her.

THE END

****

Prompt: Don’t look back, don’t look back…he gritted his teeth, steeled himself against his will. Took a step. Then another.

And then he whirled around, going against everything – taking one last look.

That was his biggest mistake.

Hard Choices By Reagan Sullivan, 10th Grade

“Where am I?”

The voice sounded lonely and empty in the darkness. The girl from whence it came was lying on her back near the stream. The sound of the water was soothing to her ears and the cool breezes played with her loose curls. Slowly, she sat up, rubbing her head. Then, the memories came flooding back to her. How she’d ended up on the bank of a mountain stream. Why her head was bleeding. How to solve a quadratic equation.

Suddenly, her eyes opened and all the sensations vanished. It had all been a dream.

The girl’s name was Faye Avery.

Profession: trained assassin for the government. Status: AWOL. Age: 16.

Over the course of six months, the teenage girl had been taken away from her family, sent to a training camp where she learned how to fight. She befriended several of the other people sent there during that period of time. With their help, she managed to break free along with them. One of these was her childhood best friend, Corin Wright. The teenagers were again captured by members of the government and put in in a hypocrygenic freeze.

Faye could recall when she’d first been awakened. For nearly a month, she lived in a nightmare world, created by her dreams. Suddenly, it stopped, replaced by a humming sound. She sat up, opened the door of her coffin-like compartment and walked out, stretching her arms. The others had already awakened, including Corin. He was speaking to a stranger, his dark head away from her. Suddenly, he turned his head and saw her standing there confusedly. And he smiled.

“Well, look who finally woke up,” he said playfully. “Hello.”

She blinked and shook her hair back from her face. “Who woke us up?” She asked cautiously.

Corin gestured to the stranger. He was about 5’7 in height, perhaps a little taller. His hair was light brown with just a touch of gold and he appeared to be around eighteen years old.

“Faye, this is Francis.”

Francis smiled a little and extended his hand to her. The girl noticed the brilliant blue with small specks of gray in his intelligent eyes. Prolonging his gaze, he watched her silently for a moment, before finally saying, “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Do you know a way out of here?” Faye asked him, allowing herself to smile at him.

“Indeed. That is why I’m here.”

For several minutes, he outlined a plan to her and Corin, along with the other two teenagers in the room. When he finished speaking, he opened the window in the small room, leaping onto the sill like an agile cat.

“About a mile outside the city limits, there is a forest. We can seek safety there. I disabled all alarms, so until we get out of these confines, the government will have no knowledge of your escape.”

“Wait,” Faye said confused, “Why are you here? What’s in this for you?”

He stopped a moment, then smiled at her.

“Nothing. I don’t want anything for me. I just want justice and freedom for everyone under God’s skies. That’s all.”

Saluting Faye, he jumped out of the window, landing lightly on his feet on the ground below. The others quickly followed him. Once all were safely on the ground, Francis gestured towards the west.

“Follow me,” he said briefly, before breaking into a run. Faye quickly followed, Corin not too far behind. Their footsteps echoed on the pavement, bouncing off the brick walls of the alley. Glancing at the dark sky, Faye watched the planes flying through the city sky.

Suddenly one of those planes turned a bright light onto the four. Stunned for a moment, she stared up at them, slowing her pace and finally stopping. In the distance, she heard her name being shouted. Vaguely, she wondered what Corin wanted as she gazed up at that light. Something jerked her arm, pulling her back into reality. Francis stood there, gripping her wrist tightly.

“Run.”

Just at that moment, the plane opened fire. The girl let Francis guide her through the streets as she stumbled, attempting to keep up with his quick pace. When they finally reached the shelter of the forest and left the city behind them, she nearly collapsed, gasping for air. Francis knelt at her side, his bright blue eyes watching her anxiously.

“Are you alright?” He asked scanning her quickly for any gunshot wounds.

“Yes,” she said, almost laughing, “Just haven’t run in a bit.”

Corin stood in the shelter of the trees. He approached the two and sat near Faye, chiding her for stopping and looking at the planes. She assured him that she was fine, then smiled at him. He smoothed her hair with his hand.

“You look a sight,” he laughed, then helped her up. “We need to keep moving.”

Faye looked behind her, only to realize Francis had left the two alone. Sighing, she gazed deeply into Corin’s brown eyes. He seemed to be in no hurry to leave either. His face grew sentimental and soft as he looked at her.

“It seems so long,” he whispered, “since we were together, alone like this.”

Smiling sweetly, the girl answered in affirmation. Corin’s face grew solemn.

“I promise you, Faye,” he said in a low tone, “I’m never going to leave you. No matter what happens.”

“Corin, that’s promising a lot,” she murmured, “Everyone must part sometime. When you die, you’ll have to leave me.”

“Maybe we’ll die on the same day then,” he smiled sadly. “I hope so. Wait no, I don’t. I’d just feel so lost without you. But, as long as you get a happy ending, I’m satisfied.”

At that moment, Faye noticed a slight trembling in the earth below her feet. Steadying herself, she looked past Corin and out upon the city.

“Fire,” she breathed heavily. Corin whirled around.

“Oh my,” he said, narrowing his eyes. The giant, towering skyscrapers had all simultaneously burst into flames. The sound was deafening. Deep rumbles issued from the bowels of the earth.

“Is this the end of the world?” Faye screamed over the sounds, clinging tightly onto the trunk of an oak tree to keep from falling.

Corin didn’t answer. At that moment, Francis, suddenly very close to them again, shouted over the noise.

“I was afraid this would happen. The people there have seen too much. The government is covering its tracks. We have to keep moving!”

Nodding weakly, Faye shakily walked to his side. A new sound added itself to the pandemonium. The sound of a thousand footsteps, breaking a path to the woods. Faye saw the dark figures in the distance and they caused her heart to flutter in terror.

“Please,” she begged Francis, “Let’s go now.”

He complied, turning and gesturing the two others to follow him deeper into the woods. The girl ran to keep up with his quick pace.

“Corin hurry!” She called after her several times. As he was not at her side within a moment, she turned and looked back over her shoulder. The figures were much closer. Why wasn’t Corin hurrying? He was going to get himself killed. He was barely running, and in plain view of the incoming soldiers.

Several shots rang out. Faye stifled a scream and pressed her back against the trees. Francis was very near her, his body shielding her from the guns. Corin did not hide. Faye wanted to shout at him to stop being an idiot and get out of the way.

“What is he doing?” Francis muttered in her ear.

With a start, Faye realized what Corin was doing. By now, he had stopped walking and turned, facing the gunmen with a smile. Without realizing it, she squeezed Francis’s hand with a steel-like grip.

“No, no,” she breathed, tears welling up in her eyes, “Please don’t do it.”

Corin reached into his pocket and drew a gun from it. Firing several times in rapid succession, he turned briefly and smiled at her. She read his lips.

“Run away.”

Francis knew what he was doing too. Taking Faye’s hand he suddenly made a dash for the cover of the mountain rocks. Corin found himself alone with the diversion he’d created. He’d given Faye a way to get out alive. Wincing with pain, he realized he had been shot. His shoulder leaked red on his clothing. Holding his pistol at ready, he advanced, firing at every step. Yet, he wanted to turn around and say goodbye and tell Faye he loved her and that was why.

Don’t look back, don’t look back…he gritted his teeth, steeled himself against his will. Took a step. Then another. And then he whirled around, going against everything – taking one last look. That was his biggest mistake.

Faye caught a glimpse of his boyish face, turned white from fear, just as a volley of shots rang out. She nearly screamed, but Francis had his hand securely pressed against

her mouth, to the point of cutting off her oxygen. Tears ran down her face and her entire body trembled. She felt Francis speaking in her ear, but his voice sounded far off and distant.

“It was his choice, Faye.”

Shaking, she brushed his hand away from her mouth and silently sobbed. Francis let her be for a moment before lifting her gently to her feet.

“He died for you,” he said in between her sobs, “He wanted you to live. Now, come on.”

And with that, the two of them vanished together in the forest.

At last, when they emerged, both were streaked with dirt. Faye’s hand had been wounded while climbing over a rock and Francis had scraped half his body when he tripped and fell several feet. Standing on the edge of the cliff, they were silent.

Looking down at the scenery below, Francis sighed. The girl at his side breathed deeply, letting the wind blow her hair away from her face. It was early morning and the sunlight played with her golden hair.

“Well,” Francis said at last, “We’re out of that.”

“What now?” Faye asked, turning to look at him.

“You’re free to do as you choose. I’m going to try and make my way to Santa Fe. It’s peaceful there.” Pausing for a moment, he avoided her gaze. “Faye,” he said at last, “would you come with me?”

Looking down at her feet, it was now her turn to avoid looking directly at him. He tilted her chin up towards him and looked into her face inquiringly.

“Yes,” she murmured softly, her cheeks slightly pink, “I will.”

The government’s soldiers never found any of the escaped teenagers.

Flashing forward three and a half years, and one would see Faye Avery sitting on the back porch of a little cabin in the mountains. Swinging her legs back and forth, her hand is held by Francis. Both of their left hands now have a ring placed on them, and it catches the sunlight, sparkling and shining. Cool breezes blow their hair about their faces as they laugh and talk together while the sun sets.

Is this the happy ending she and Corin would have wanted? No. But it still ends happily. Corin got his wish, even though he died. Faye did indeed live happily ever

afterwards. She and Francis always felt indebted to their fallen comrade who’d given everything for them.

“Greater love has no man than this than he who would lay down his life for his friends.”

THE END

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