by Rue Volley
She straightened up and held her book close to her chest. I sat down and she climbed onto my lap. She refused my help, I would have been the same way. She settled down and opened the book up, so we could both see it. She pointed at the first line. I smiled down at her, as she leaned against me.
“Let’s see,” I said out loud. I started to read to her. “Katsushika Hokusai is undoubtedly one of Japan's best known artists, both in Japan and in the western world.” I stopped and looked at Grace.
“She is reading about one of the most famous Japanese artists of all time, here.”
Grace grinned, as she cut up lettuce for the salad.
“Yes… as I told you, Rue likes to read, about everything.”
“She's like five years old,” I said, not trying to be rude.
Grace stopped chopping and looked at me. “Well, time is an illusion Chel... You would be surprised how many books she has read.”
I looked down at Rue and she smiled, my smile, right back at me. I shrugged my shoulders and kept reading to her. We came to his first painting in the book, it was The actors. Rue giggled and traced her little fingers over their faces, their mouths were drawn down.
I smiled. “I know… funny looking aren't they?” She looked up at me and grinned. We flipped through the pages, scene after scene of real life and then she held her hand out stopping it on “Mount Fuji with cherry trees in bloom.” “Tree,” she said. I looked at her. “Yes, it's a tree, not like the one here though,” I said. We kept going a few pages and she whispered, “Elin.” I looked down at her and to the open page. “No, honey… this is’ “Okiku’. She's a ghost. You've met Elin?” I asked her. She nodded and started to turn the pages again.
We made it to the end, without her naming anyone else in the book. I closed it and she turned sideways and pulled her legs up. I looked down and she had closed her eyes.
“I think she's taking a nap Grace.”
“Ahh, she gets so tired, she sleeps at the oddest times, not good at night though.”
I looked down at her and pushed her hair behind her ear, she didn't even move. Grace walked over and picked her up, she walked to another door and took her inside, returning without her.
“She will sleep for a while now.”
I stood up just as the front door opened and William walked in. He had a basket full of fruit and vegetables in it. My stomach growled, I didn't realize how hungry I was, until just that moment.
“Oh, William…! Give those to me,” Grace said to him.
He handed them over and she walked to the stone counter, reaching into the basket and pulling each piece out of it like it was gold. He walked up behind her and put his arms around her. He whispered something in her ear and she laughed at him. He smiled and turned to me.
“So... Chel, we should attend to your friend, huh?”
I sat up and grinned. “Johnathan? Yes, oh yes… as soon as possible, William.”
He reached into the basket and pulled out an apple, deep red and fist size.
“Well, this should do. He's slept long enough.” He flipped the apple into the air and it came back down in his hand. “I'll get him up and moving for you.”
He started for the bedroom door and I stood up to walk with him.
He turned to me. “No, Chel… you can stay with Grace, let me do this alone.”
I looked at him and raised my eyebrows. “Why?” I asked.
He grinned. “Let’s just say… it can get messy, pulling someone out their sleep here. Could be, but then it could be nothing but don't you worry, he will be just fine.”
I looked at Grace and she smiled. I read her face and I decided to sit down and trust his judgment.
I leaned back in the big comfortable chair and looked around the room. I felt so at peace there, my eyes fell onto Grace, who was so content to be in the kitchen preparing a dinner for us. The smell of her cooking started to float through the house and I closed my eyes. My stomach growled and my heart felt warm with a glow of happiness. I could have easily lived there forever, I could.
I must have nodded off for one of those catnaps that make you feel all confused when you wake up. I felt a little hand on my face and I blinked. I was laying in a big feather bed, way too big for me. I focused and Rue's face came into view. She was lying, facing me with her head on my pillow. She was tracing my eyes and lips with her fingers, like she was working in a coloring book. I grinned at her and she grinned back at me. She kept tracing my lips.
“Flower,” she said.
I was busy looking at her porcelain face. “No…’lips’ Rue, these are my lips.”
“Tulip,” she said.
I smiled. “Oh, you mean my lips look like a, tulip, to you?”
She nodded.
“Well, thank you… tulips are better than one.” I grinned as I said it, not sure if she would get my corny joke. She giggled and put her face in the pillow.
“You thought that was funny, huh?” I asked, as I tickled her. She fidgeted under my fingers as I grabbed her sides. She stopped moving and rolled to a stop, staring me in the face. “I like you,” she said.
I pushed her hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. She sat up and put her hand in mine. I sat up and stepped out into the living area of the house. No one was in the house. I looked down at her.
“Where's your mommy Rue?”
She kept a hold of my hand and pulled me toward the front door. I opened it and looked out. The grass was so green in the field, stretching out in front of the house. I closed my eyes and smelled it, always smelled like freshly cut grass, my favorite. I looked down at Rue and she was doing the same thing. She opened her eyes and looked at me smiling, showing her tiny teeth.
“Smells good, doesn't it?” I asked her.
She pulled me along with her, across the field and I spotted Grace and William sitting on a blanket, with food spread out on it. Grace spotted us and waved. I waved back. Rue let go of my hand and went running to them. She jumped on William and he hugged her giving her multiple kisses on the cheek and neck. She giggled and he sat her down on his lap, while he popped a grape into his mouth. I stopped and looked down at the all the food they had laid out in front of them.
Grace reached her hand up to me and smiled. “Sit down Chel... eat.”
I took her hand and sat, grabbing a peach that almost glowed in the sun. I took a bite and “mmm'd” out loud. “Oh my god, it's sooo good,” I said.
William laughed. “Of course it is! Did you sleep well?” He asked me.
“Yeah… I slept great… I woke up to Rue touching my face, she is so cute,” I said.
Grace smiled and leaned over to her, touching her face.
“She likes you very much Chel, I can tell.” Grace said, as she examined Rue's face with love.
I looked at Rue and she smiled and scrunched up her shoulders, laughing. William leaned down in front of her. “Is that true little one? Have you made a friend?” Rue nodded and put a grape into her mouth.
I sat there eating fruit and braking off pieces of homemade bread, with the most delicious honey butter spread on it. I popped pieces into my mouth while I stared up, at the blue sky. I lay back and started to watch the clouds over head. Rue lay down next to me, then Grace and William followed. We all lay there, pointing out shapes in the sky, belly laughing at some of the stuff we came up with. I thought I saw a rabbit form and I sat up. William pushed up on his elbows. “What is it Chel?” he asked.
“I… I don't know. I felt like there was something I wanted to ask you, but I can't remember,” I said.
Rue wrapped her little arms around my neck from behind and laughed out the word “Tulip.” I turned to her and smiled, she giggled and I had to laugh harder, because she just looked so cute in her white dress, blue flowers in her hair.
We stayed out for hours, walking through the fields, picking flowers and collecting fruit from the enormous tree. We headed back to the house and I settled down in the large chair by the fireplace and Rue c
rawled into my lap with a book. I opened it up and started to read it to her. I don't remember ever feeling this relaxed, like I belonged there. We spent the rest of the evening talking about Grace's uncanny ability to cook anything and Rue stuck by my side. When she started to nod off, I picked her up and headed towards my room. Grace and William sat in front of the fireplace, holding each other. They looked so happy sitting there together. I looked at Rue, curled up in my arms and went to bed. I drifted off, with a grin on my face.
***
Every day seemed more comfortable than the last. We all seemed to settle into a pattern, William gathered, Grace cooked, Rue stuck with me, and I just relaxed. I can't tell you how many days went by before we opened the door one day, and the grass had started to change color. I looked out and yellow had started to mix with the green. I looked to Grace. She smiled. “Looks like the season is changing,” she said to me.
“Fall?” I asked. Grace grinned and looked down at Rue, who was holding my hand as usual.
“Yes… it's Rue's favorite time. She loves all the color.”
“I do too.” I squeezed Rue's hand and she started forward, dragging me with her.
Grace stood in the doorway and called out to us, “She will take you to see why she loves it so much!” Rue pulled me forward by the hand and I looked back with a grin. “I guess we'll be back!” I responded.
We walked through the grass, until we came to the huge tree that we picked fruit from every day. I looked up and saw that all the leaves had changed. Every one of them was a mixture of yellow, green, red. The leaves looked beautiful against the white bark. Rue smiled at me and pulled me toward the base of the tree with her. I looked up and saw that steps had formed, spiraling around the tree. I grinned at Rue.
“We can climb it?” I asked her.
She nodded and giggled. She took the first step and I followed her. The bottom of the tree had no railing, but as we climbed a railing formed. We made it half way up and I looked down. I almost got dizzy.
“I don't know if we should be up this high, Rue,” I said to her.
She gripped my hand and kept walking the stairs. I didn't hesitate to follow, because I could not let her go alone. I let my fear go and trusted in her. We reached the top and both stood there staring at a door. It was just big enough for both of us to get through. Rue walked to it and turned the doorknob. I didn't know what to expect, but I still trusted that she knew what she was doing.
I stepped over the threshold and the door closed behind us. I looked around the room. It was beautiful, the furniture was simple, but adorned with silver etchings. I walked up to the table and ran my hand across its smooth surface. I thought I heard a humming, almost like a song in the distance.
Rue had let go of my hand and was standing in the middle of the room looking up. I walked to her and looked up too. The light was coming through the roof. The ceiling was a beautiful stain glass scene. I had to shade my eyes to try to make out the shapes. It looked like a boy, dressed in white, holding his hand out to a girl in a white dress, blue flowers in her hair. I tried to focus on the boy. His face was so pretty... I almost felt like I had seen him before. We both looked as we heard a voice.
“Beautiful, is it not?”
Rue ran to a woman sitting in a beautiful chair, the color of blue, etched with silver metal. The arms were large and the back of the chair was about three feet above her head. She had dark hair, loosely braided over her shoulder and she wore a white dress, flowing around her feet. I saw that she had no shoes on, but her ankles were adorned with silver chains, delicate and shimmering from the sunlight creeping into the room. Rue held her hands out to her and the woman reached out grinning, pulling her onto her lap. Rue leaned against her.
“I'm sorry, but who are you?” I asked.
“I have many names…but ‘Elin’ is by far my favorite,” she replied.
“Elin?” I asked. I felt a vibration in my hands and looked around the room.
Elin brushed Rue's hair behind her ear.
“You live here then?” I asked.
She laughed… “We all do, little one,” she replied.
I felt another vibration and I looked towards the ceiling. The sun had started to fade and I stared at the two figures etched into the stain glass.
“Who are they?” I asked her.
“Oh...” she said.
I looked back to her and Rue was gone from her lap. I scanned the room trying to see, but the light was still fading.
“I think we should go now, where is Rue?” I asked.
Elin stood up and stared at me.
“Well, she is right before me,” she said with a grin.
“I… I'm sorry, I don't see her Elin.”
She walked toward me, pulling a blade out of her sleeve. I backed away from her immediately.
“What is going on…? Where is Rue?” I stammered.
She stopped and tilted her head.
“Why are you afraid, little one?” she asked me.
“Listen... Grace and William are expecting us back by now, I don't want them to worry… so please, just tell me where she is and we will leave.”
She waved her hand and the wall to the right of us became translucent, I stared and saw bodies lying on white slabs, fire rings around them. I walked towards the wall and placed my hand on it. My hand started to pass through, so I stepped forward and felt myself enter the large white stoned room. I saw Grace lying still on a white slab and ran towards her. I leaned over her and her whole body looked like it shimmered. I looked back at Elin, who had entered the room behind me.
“I... I don't understand,” I said to her, in a panic.
I looked to see that William and the boy in the stain glass, were also lying on white slabs, close to Grace.
“What… what are they doing here? I just left them at the house! Where is Rue?!” My voice echoed out forever in this room.
I moved around to the other side of Grace and looked at Elin, who had a calm look on her face.
“Now… now, there is no need to get upset. I assure you that they are happy, at peace. Isn't that what you needed Rue?”
I staggered, my head started to get lighter.
“What did you call me?” I asked in a whisper.
Rue stepped out from behind her and Elin looked down at her and smiled.
“Oh my god! Rue!” I called out to her.
She looked at me and smiled. I started to step around the slab that Grace was lying on and reached out a hand to her. She took Elin's hand and I stopped.
I reached my arms out to her. “Rue, come here,” I whispered. My voice almost sounded distorted in my ears.
Elin pushed her out one step towards me and she tried to drag her feet. I stared at Rue and she had a look on her face like she didn't want to go.
“Rue?” I asked.
I looked back to Elin.
“Seems she doesn't want to be with you, she prefers to stay right where she is,” Elin said with a laugh.
My heartbeat quickened. I started to feel a vibration in my hands, growing stronger with each breath I took. I started to see flashes of white light in my head and I reached up to rub my eyes.
“Listen... you need to tell me what is going on here!” I yelled at her.
Elin leaned down to Rue and she started to walk to me. I felt her pull on my clothes and I looked down. She grinned at me and I knelt down to look into her face. She placed her little hands on my face and I cried out. Flashes of memory started to flood my mind. I fell backwards away from her with my eyes closed. My head had sharp pains flowing through it. I opened my eyes and Elin stood before me, no sign of Rue.
I pushed myself up and ran to where the boy laid still on the white slab. I leaned over him, with tears welling up in my eyes. “Johnathan,” I whispered. I touched his face, it felt so cold under my fingers.
“Where the hell are we?” I said, as I shot a look at Elin.
She held her hands out. “This, a storage for memories Rue. Your par
ents sent your earliest ones here long ago and now they store their own.”
“So where is my body?” I asked.
Elin smiled and I felt the floor start to vibrate under my feet. I turned to see a white slab rising from the middle with a girl’s body lying on it, dressed in a black and white striped dress. I stood there feeling like I was disconnected, as I realized it was me. Only I was a child… little Rue.
“Oh my god,” I whispered.
I turned back to Elin, with anger in my eyes.
“I want you to release us all Elin!”
She walked towards my body, I stood still, not knowing what to expect. She pulled her blade across my body’s small palm and I saw the blood trail into grooves that were etched around it, the blood trickled until it reached the side and traveled down into the floor. It pulled against normal gravity, as it pulled across the floor in more grooves dug into the white stone. The blood climbed up the sides of William, Grace, and Johnathan's slabs. They shimmered brighter as it made contact with them.
My eyes were wide. “You just cut me?” I said to her, talking about myself in third person was so weird.
She grinned at me as she turned with the blade in her hand. I could see blood on it. “Why yes, little one… you are the life they are living now.”
“Release us now,” I said, in the sternest tone that I could muster up.
“I'm afraid that is quite impossible Rue. Without you they will not exist.”
“What?” I said.
“These lives they are living are generated by you.”
“I don't understand. What have you done?” I asked her.
“Without your blood they will simply fade,” she replied.
“Listen to me. We are all leaving here together, with or without your help, I swear.”
Light started to glow in my palms and I pushed light at her. It went straight through her body without any affect. I stood there staring at my hands and back up to her.
“You have no power in the state you are in, Rue.”
