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The Ones Who Lived

Page 10

by Ashley Nemer


  "You didn't see what?" He asked as he took steps towards her, cutting the distance between them quickly.

  "I didn't, well never mind." She tried to brush it off. "Let's go home."

  "Wait," Sam reached his hand out and grabbed Amelia's before she could turn towards the house. "Let's stay, together tonight."

  "Sam, we stay together every night."

  "Let's stay together out here tonight." He pulled her closer to him, "Alone."

  His voice soft in tone and sultry sounding. She knew he would try to kiss her, before he did she let him take her face in his palms and tilt her head up to meet his. Sam's lips were soft to kiss, she always enjoyed it. After a few stolen moments she broke the embrace and stepped back from him.

  "We can't, my brother is at Sarah's we have to stay with Sunny." She watched the recognition of her words register and she swore she saw sadness creep into his appearance for a quick moment.

  "Another night then." He moved in her direction and still holding hands they returned to their home.

  Sunny watched from her window at her cousin down on the street. She didn't understand what bothered her about the scene, but she knew something was off. There was something about all of it that made her sad and the more she watched her cousin the harder it was to accept. She felt like she was an outsider even though she was family. Amelia was very nice to her and she loved her like a sister, but she was taking Sam away from her.

  They both had told her over and over she would never be alone but Sunny knew one day she would be. The feeling inside her grew sad and dark. She knew jealousy wasn't logical, but she couldn't hold it in. She had to let it out before she exploded, and it was at that moment she heard the thunder. Hopefully Sam and Amelia wouldn't know she caused the sound and come check on her. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to handle seeing them both together tonight.

  She needed to run away. She had to get away. Sunny hadn't asked for any this. She hadn't asked to be a survivor, she wished she was with her parents right now. She missed them and needed to be close to them.

  That was when she had the thought, the thought that would change her forever. She focused her concentration on one image, the image of her mother and father's wedding picture. She remembered when things were simple and good for them. Her mother baking brownies in the oven, her father and her building the treehouse. She needed to be home, where she could relive the memories she had just from a couple years ago.

  Sunny felt the tears starting to trickle down her face, she couldn't hold them back and she could hear the impact it was having on the world around her. The thunder rumbling and the rain pelting against the window. She was tired of hiding away in her room. She closed her eyes and thought back to the memory of her mother and her skin felt the goose bump shivers start to form. It started at the base of her neck and traveled down her spine. Each vertebra they touched chilled and when she opened her eyes she realized she was home.

  Back in her old room, the room her parents made her. She was sitting on her bed and her heart leapt into her throat as she held her breath, could it have all been a dream? Hurrying off of the bed she ran through her room, not even noticing that when she ran past her mirror there was no reflection of her body looking back at her.

  She soared through the upstairs even though there were no lights. She knew the house like the back of her hand. As she turned the corner and ran down the stairs and found herself standing in the middle of her living room. As she looked around the room she noticed that someone had come into her home and taken things. The television was still there but the couches were missing. There was a clock on the wall that was no longer there.

  Sunny had known she was crying but she couldn't feel any tears on her cheek. Her hand came up and her fingers touched her cheek, but she felt nothing. That was when she looked down at her hands and realized, she was translucent. She could see straight through her arms. With a gasp of air and a cry she ran to the bathroom on the first floor. The door was already open, so she walked right into the doorway and looked in the mirror. There was nothing looking back at her.

  She had only heard of something like this in the book, A Christmas Carol with the Ghost of Christmas Past. Sunny started to panic when it all sank in slowly that she had somehow sent her mind or spirit away from her body. She felt herself suddenly being pulled through some sort of plane and she landed back in her room but this time on the floor. She looked around the room she had occupied for the last year, she was back home, her new home, not the old home she craved. Sunny's hands roamed over her body patting it down to make sure it was real. The sadness she felt from the loss of connection from her parents hit her hard, the tears this time she could feel as they ran down her cheeks.

  "Sunny are you okay?" She heard Amelia yelling from down the hall.

  They were coming her way, maybe they had heard her fall or could hear her crying. "Yes," she called out meekly.

  Without notice her door opened with Amelia entering the room first followed closely by Sam. They were instantly by her side kneeling down next to her.

  "Sam, I'm okay really." She protested, as he pulled her up onto the bed.

  "We heard you fall Sunny, you were crying." Sam looked over her head, she assumed he was inspecting for a bump.

  "I just tripped, come on, I'm fine." Sunny was pushing Sam's hands away from her body.

  "Are your sure sweetie?" Amelia was kneeling next to the bed looking up at Sunny.

  "Yes, I'm fine, leave me alone!" Sunny yelled this at Amelia and then she hopped off the bed and ran out of the room.

  She didn't want to see them, she didn't want them to see her like this. Sunny was fully aware that she was over reacting to seeing them kiss and she didn't understand it. She just knew she couldn't see them. She grabbed her bag that she kept at the end of the stairs and ran out of the front door and into the night. She couldn't be home, she had to find freedom.

  Sunny ran as fast as she could to the playground where the children all played. The rain on her back didn't bother her, it cooled her anger. She found the peace in the darkness with the lightning and thunder in the distance. She tried to focus her thoughts on the sound of her heart beating, slowing her tears and anger with each beating drum she heard in her head.

  "Sunny? Sunny!" Sam's voice was coming through, despite the sounds of thunder ringing out.

  "Sunny, where are you?" He kept calling out her name. If she didn't respond she knew the entire neighborhood would be outside looking for her. She tried to find her resolve inside her, but it wasn't there. She felt weak and broken.

  "There you are!" Sam came running down the street towards her and she didn't move. She let him wrap his arms around her in a hug and hold her close.

  "Sam," she started to say, and then stopped when he knelt eye level with her.

  "Sunny, I love you so much. I don't know what has you so upset, but I am sorry if it was something we did."

  She leaned her head into his shirt and cried. She let her grief and anger out; as the rain intensified she cried more. She wasn't sure if the rain was fueling her grief, but she knew the harder she cried the more she felt the pelts of rain against her back.

  "Honey, talk to me sweetie, tell me what's wrong." Sam was trying to coax it out of her. She knew he cared and loved her.

  "I'm mad at you and Amelia." She said in a voice that sounded like she was ashamed of her feelings.

  "Why, what did we do?" Sam looked genuinely confused and Sunny knew she was going to have to be honest with him.

  "I saw you two kissing outside tonight."

  "Okay?" Sam questioned. "And that upset you?"

  She nodded into his shirt and all she felt was his large arms wrapped around her, holding her close.

  "Does it make you mad Amelia and I are together?"

  "Not usually, it did tonight, though."

  She let Sam pick her up and start carrying her back to their home. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Anthony standing on the porch of someone'
s house watching the scene. Great, someone else who would know her shame. She pushed that thought aside as she and her cousin made their way home.

  "I'm sorry." She said into his ear as he placed her on their porch.

  "Sunny, sweetie, you don't have to apologize. We're the adults now, you're the kid. You don't have to apologize for having feelings and emotions. We should make sure to take everything you feel into consideration before we do stuff."

  "You didn't do anything wrong." She was sniffling now, like a real little child, she hated that.

  "Then why did it upset you, you seeing us kiss?"

  "It's stupid I don't want to tell you."

  Sam didn't force her to say anything, he just took her hand and walked into the house with her. "Amelia, I found her!"

  Sunny watched Amelia come out of the kitchen and run up to her, grabbing her into a hug. Sunny's body went stiff but Amelia didn't let go. She just looked down at her and said, "I don't know what I did but I am sorry. In the future, don't run away, pull me aside and talk to me woman to woman, okay?"

  She wiped her eyes and nose off on her arm nodding her head, "Okay Amelia."

  "Good. Now, you both are dripping wet, how about you go change and I make everyone some hot chocolate and we can all play a board game?"

  Sam was the first to speak, "That sounds great Am, but, how about we get the hot chocolate and Sunny and I play a game and you go read in bed?"

  Amelia gave him a questioning look, Sunny knew what that meant but she didn't indicate she was mad. She smiled at them instead, "Alright, whatever you guys want. I have a new book I found in my moms' stuff I wanted to read anyway. Go on now, go dry off."

  Sunny wasn't stupid, she knew that was too easy and tomorrow she would have to talk to Amelia about it. For now, though, she went off to her bathroom to clean off and change. She would figure out what to say to her in the morning. Right now, she had to decide if she was going to tell her cousin about what else happened tonight, not just the rage of jealousy.

  "I just don't know what came over her." Sam said to Amelia as they walked into the kitchen together. "She said she saw us kissing tonight and that upset her."

  "Ahh, I think I know what it is." Amelia said with a smile.

  "Please clue me in."

  "She's jealous."

  "Sunny is my kid cousin, she doesn't want to date me Amelia."

  "Not that kind of jealous you dolt, like Anthony was. She thinks I am taking you from her I bet. She is probably jealous of the extra time we are spending together. She has no one to do that with."

  "Oh, well what can we do about that? I mean technically we're adults now, we have responsibilities in the community now. We need our time together."

  Amelia nodded her head, but she thought about the words she wanted to use to explain this. "Think about it Sam. You have me, you also have Anthony. I have Anthony and you. Who does Sunny have?"

  "She has all of us, we're a family. And if you and I get married like I want us to, she will be your family by rights not just by declaration."

  "It isn't the same for her, she's a decade younger than us. She can't relate to us on the things we are doing. I think maybe we have made a mistake keeping her inside this whole time away from everyone. She has no friends Sam."

  "We don't want people to find out about her powers. We have to keep her inside."

  "Do we really? What if keeping her inside is causing her more harm than our community finding out we will never have to suffer from a drought? Isn't that kinda a big deal? Don't you think if that leaked out, there could be a lot worse revelations out there we don't know about?"

  "I don't know Amelia. I love her and it's about keeping her safe."

  "It's also about letting her grow up. We're growing up as you keep pointing out to me. We have to let her also. She needs to have someone she feels safe with, like you and I have."

  "She isn't dating Amelia!"

  "Did I say date? No! I said she needs a friend. Look talk it over with Anthony if you don't believe me. But look at him now, how happy is he since he found Sarah?"

  "I guess, fine, okay."

  "Good, now, go get changed. She is going to wonder where you are. I'll be fine, we can continue our conversation later. Maybe we can see if some of the new people we now have are her age. Get to know them."

  "I'll leave that to you, you're better at the whole socializing thing."

  "Glad you notice my positive traits. Now go, I'll read a book, I wasn't lying, I did find a book I want to read."

  Sam leaned over and kissed Amelia on the lips lightly, "I do love you, you know."

  She nodded as he kissed her and afterwards she responded, "I know, I love you too. Now shoo."

  Once she got Sam out of the kitchen she let the whole conversation impact her. She felt horrible that she hadn't seen it coming. She knew at some point Anthony would get jealous, but she hadn't thought about Sunny. Maybe because it wasn't a sibling, but she should have seen it that way. They were all the family that each of them had.

  She decided right then, that she would make a point to do more things with Anthony, so Sam and Sunny could have time together. Or she could do things on her own. There was the community Christmas to plan out. The Thanksgiving dinner had gone so well. She would need to plan out the crop rotations too. Without realizing what was happening her mind started to race. She went over to her desk and pulled out her notebook. She made a few columns on a page and began the menu for Christmas.

  Amelia was deep into thought figuring out how much of the crop would need to be stored in order to feed the growing number of mouths at the dinner. She was engrossed in her work and didn't hear the front door open until Anthony had called her name.

  "Hey Amelia. Everything okay?" Anthony was shaking his umbrella out and placing it against the wall.

  "Hey and yeah, Sunny just had a hard night. She was upset over me and Sam."

  "Well that is a feeling I know quite well. Should I talk to her?"

  Amelia shook her head, "Nah, Sam has it. They are upstairs playing a game."

  "Oh, well what are you doing, am I interrupting?"

  Amelia smiled at her brother and tapped the chair next to her. "Come see, I am planning out Christmas dinner."

  "Of course, you are. Let's plan for about thirty people. I think that's a good number."

  "I was thinking forty so there will be left overs for each house."

  Anthony nodded with approval, "That's a good idea too. This is why you do the planning." He picked up the paper she had been writing on and read over the lists. "You forgot one big thing."

  "I did not!" She declared and snatched the paper from him and started reviewing the list. "It's all here, all the main dishes."

  "Presents." He said that one word and it made Amelia smile. "You forgot presents, sister."

  "Well I don't think I should have to plan out what everyone gets you bonehead."

  "Mom used to shop for us, it was so easy." Antony's casual mention of their mom made them feel sad.

  "She loved shopping."

  "Yeah, it was her favorite part of Christmas, making us all happy."

  Amelia let a few minutes of silence pass by while they sat there quietly. She broke the moment by saying, "Well we are just going to have to continue it without her, that will be how we keep her alive."

  "I like that. Amy, I love you, and I'm sorry I don't tell you more."

  She smiled and laughed, "I love you too Bub. Even if you are a bonehead."

  Chapter Ten - Christmas Came Early

  AMELIA LOOKED THROUGH her list of items to do. With five days until Christmas she was getting anxious that there would be another disaster happen. The repairs from the hurricane had been completed. With the addition of Natalie to the community Anthony and John were able to fix everything they needed to in half of the time. Her group also included a wonderful woman named Jody who became the resident doctor. Amelia had taken her out to the library a couple times, so they could gather all the medic
al books possible. There was a smaller house in the middle of the communal that Amelia had used for community storage that was being converted into part of a doctor's office.

  Their community was coming together slowly, it was working. She had her reservations about the eight new members but between Jody and Natalie it seemed like the group was hard working. They also had two children near Sunny's age, that gave Amelia hope that Sunny would come out of the shell she had locked herself into.

  They had known she was still holding back. After the night of the outburst Amelia had tried to talk to Sunny but she was very blunt in saying she wasn't ready to talk. All they could do was hope that she would change her mind soon.

  Amelia had taken John with her to the local Wal-Mart and borrowed all the pre-lighted trees she could find. With the help of the younger children, John and Natalie she was able to deck out the entire street with lighted trees. Natalie had helped her orchestrate electric supply by way of one of her solar powered generators that stored electricity. Tonight would be the unveiling of the magical winter wonderland in Florida she had planned for everyone.

  She had taken it to heart the idea that it was her responsibility to bring joy and happiness to all of the members of the community, so she held nothing back.

  "Babe you ready to go?" Amelia glanced over at Sam and smiled.

  "Sure am! Grabbing my notebook and I'll be right there!"

  They were starting Christmas caroling tonight. She was well onto her way of being crowned the craziest woman left alive at the rate she was going with re-enactment.

  "You know with all the stuff you did this year, next year will have to be even bigger to compare."

  "Nah, think of this as a small town. What would a small town do? They would start a tradition. So, we will just carry this tradition on each year."

  "If you say so! Come on woman you're making us late for your own shin-dig!"

  "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She ran past him to the front door smiling, "Now who is late?"

 

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