"It's time."
Gold looked at her quizzically.
"I have to tell someone," she said. "Soon."
Chapter Eleven
Amanda and Gold stretched out on the backyard deck. The moon was full and bright as it sailed casually through black clouds. Several stars were scattered across the sky.
"Look over there." Gold pointed at a shooting star as it soared across the black night.
"Oh, I love this! Where do you think they go?"
"To rest on earth."
"Yeah, like a bed."
"Do you know what that's called?"
"Where?"
He nodded to a high point in the sky. A big star, brighter than all the rest, produced a pulsing white light, outdoing all the others.
"What is it?" Amanda felt as if she were in an enchanted land.
"I call it the baby star. Jesus's star. The light the magi saw when they were guided to his manger."
Amanda remembered hearing about the story a long time ago from her mother. On Christmas she would sit her and Jane down before the fireplace and read it to them from the Bible. Then they would open presents, but their mother always made sure they understood they were celebrating Jesus's birth and that the exchange of presents was a reminder of the giving nature of Jesus.
Amanda stared at Gold in wonder. How did he know? Who taught him? "Where did you learn these things?"
His answer was simple. "I've always known." Yet it wasn't simple because what he said was a mystery to her. When she looked at the sky, she beheld a multitude of stars—another mystery.
When Amanda got home from school the next afternoon, she discovered a note Daddy had left underneath her door. He and Jane had gone shopping and would be back at 10:00. More than an hour away.
"Let's go outside," Gold said. Amanda was quick to agree. He guided her as they ambled along Acacia Avenue. "Keep going straight." They walked over small piles of rocks and branches. But then he made a U-turn and they started heading back to her neighborhood. To her house.
"Why are we going into my back yard?" Gold said nothing. Moments later they came to a clearing. A creek sparkled at their feet. "What is this doing here? We don't have a creek in our back yard."
"Let's sit down."
Amanda sat next to the edge of the water as Gold perched next to her. He was staring out at the water as if waiting for something.
"Watch." He pointed to the edge of the grass. The still, crystal clear surface began to sway. Small funnels of water spun into the air, rising like silhouettes of fairies, the kind she'd only read about, from the top of the creek. Bright hues of yellow, red, purple, green, and blue started pulsing from within the funnels like twinkling Christmas lights. Like God's rainbow. How could this be?
A small two-edged fin splashed through the water and then disappeared. The spray from the creek tickled Amanda's face. "Did you see that?" she gasped. An emerald-colored body surfaced and swiftly dove back into the water. Giggling, like the sound of harps, erupted from the water. It was all so spectacular! Amanda's mouth opened wide as she took in the incredible sights and sounds.
Then, with a grave seriousness, Gold said to Amanda, "I love you."
Mr. Ammons was sitting patiently behind his desk as the students scrambled to their seats. A knocking on the door settled everyone down. Principal Williamson appeared. He was an average-sized man in his forties with a friendly face. It wasn't usually a good sign to get a visit from the principal. All the students had their attention on him.
Thunder rumbled just outside the classroom. Amanda glanced out the window to see rain slashing across the glass like the claws of a bear seeking a fight. Amanda shivered and wondered if Gold could possibly be right about the bear she had seen in the forest not hurting her. All the bears she had ever learned about tended to be threatening when people got too close.
"Students, Principal Williamson has an important announcement to make."
"Good morning and welcome back. I hope everyone enjoyed their summer. We have a special event coming up for Central High School—Homecoming."
"What does that have to do with us?" Gina asked.
"Their principal has requested your help in organizing the event."
"Like decorating? Choosing the DJ? Selling tickets?"
"Gina, let him explain." Mr. Ammons winked.
Mr. Williamson was animated as he moved around the classroom, walking up and down the rows, waving his hands about him. "Essentially, yes. In fact, they are asking for you all to come up with a theme."
The sound of happiness, if it could be defined, filled the room. Everyone but Amanda was chattering excitedly as Mr. Ammons and Mr. Williamson conferred with each other.
"Aren't you excited?" Connie ran over to Amanda.
"I guess so." She tried to smile, but she couldn't. Why was Connie talking to her?
"You draw, don't you? You could help decorate."
"How did you know?"
Connie nodded toward Amanda's desk, at a folder inked up in scribbled artwork. "What do you want for a theme? I was thinking Cyndi Lauper's " ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’.”
"No, the boys won't like that," Gina said as she joined them.
"Hey, doesn't your sister go to Central?" Connie's eyes lit up.
"Yeah," Amanda replied softly, wondering why that mattered and how everybody knew Jane.
"I bet she could give you some advice."
"Yeah. I could ask her."
By the time lunch rolled around, Amanda was starved. Her stomach was bubbling like it was about to erupt. As usual, the cafeteria was packed with shouting kids and flying objects, mostly paper airplanes or straw wrappers. The room was almost equally divided with males clumped on one side and females on the other. Amanda found a seat at the end of a bench, alone, and opened her brown lunch bag. She set her red backpack on the seat to her right. All of a sudden, Connie plopped down to her left. "What did you bring today?"
"Peanut butter and jelly."
She sensed Darla to her right. Darla, with the mean green eyes. "Yum! Hey, sorry about the other day, with your backpack. I guess it's none of my business."
Amanda literally felt the breath catch at the back of her throat. She had no words, so she stuffed the sandwich in her mouth. Then something upsetting happened. A sudden laugh erupted right behind her and Amanda was pushed into the edge of the table.
Darla whirled to face Shane, who had grabbed Amanda's backpack. "Give it back, Shane."
He scrunched up his nose at Amanda. "What's so important about this backpack, anyway? It's not just any backpack, is it, Amanda?"
"Shane, please, stop it." Connie was on her feet too. Shane just smirked as he reached for the zipper. "It's time we take a look." He started to slowly unzip the backpack when, out of the blue, Gina bumped into him, jerking the backpack out of his hands. "Hey!" His eyes grew wide, but he was already backing away from her.
Gina handed it back to Amanda, turning back around to face Shane. "This is your first and final warning." In one swift performance, the students broke out into laughter. Many of them were shaking their heads and pointing at Shane. He stood there looking all around him. Realizing he had lost, he ran outside.
Chapter Twelve
Lightning flashed in the sky. The rain was coming down quickly, and hard. Amanda and Gina were standing in front of the school. A bunch of their classmates rushed past them. She was glad she remembered to bring an umbrella. Daddy had just bought her a new one. It was red like her backpack. Unfolding it, she covered Gina and herself.
"I can't believe you did that." Amanda was the first to speak.
"Did what?"
"Stood up to Shane."
"He's such a bully. He finally got what he deserved."
"I wish I could be that brave."
A horn honked. "Oh, that's my mom. I'll see you tomorrow!" Gina said.
Amanda watched Gina get into the car, and her desire to be courageous quickly turned into a desire to see her mom again.
/> The folds of the umbrella were soaked and she observed the wet drops as they pelted the nylon. They tapped the material like tiny feet trampling on the canopy, a marching band of deer, perhaps, or possibly a family of squirrels.
She smiled and started on her way home. Just as she was passing the forest—WHAM! She was spun around and found herself staring wordlessly into Shane's menacing face.
"Hey, isn't this your home? Why aren't you stopping? Why aren't you going in? Are you scaaarred?"
Amanda tried to summon the bravery she saw Gina possess earlier. "Leave me alone."
"It speaks!"
Amanda turned around and headed toward her house.
"Hey! Wait a minute. You never pass the forest. What's going on? You should never keep secrets, you know." He was taunting her, like he always did, but he was also poking at something she couldn't tell him about. She stopped.
Shane said, "That's it. You have a secret. I knew it!" She felt movement behind her, then his mouth was at her ear. "Secrets are deadly," he hissed.
The wind became a force then. It pounded its invisible body against them and whistled with sorrow like the sound of someone mourning inside a tunnel. A burst of the blustery weather whipped Amanda's umbrella into the street. The bright red object bumped, jumped, and twirled like a ballerina across the road until the wind yanked it away out of sight.
Shane took off in the other direction. Amanda looked back to watch him go. She didn't turn around until he was gone; then she ran the rest of the way home.
When she stepped into the living room, she looked at her backpack and realized Gold could no longer fit inside. Something else would have to do. But what? Then she thought of something. Jane and Daddy wouldn't be home for a little while longer, so Amanda hurried to the hall closet, pulled out a large rolling suitcase Daddy used on his business trips, ran to her room, grabbed Gold, and asked him to get inside.
"Where are we going?" he asked. She didn't answer him.
Soon they came to the forest where she unzipped the suitcase. Gold stepped out.
"I want to go with you," she said.
"What do you mean?"
"I don't want to stay in this world. People are mean. At least in the forest I know I'll have friends, you and the animals."
"But you can't, Amanda."
"No one will notice I'm gone. Please." A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm sorry, but you can't. You will be missed. And you will miss your friends, your dad." She knew he was right. And now she was trembling because suddenly she knew what she must do.
"Maybe it's time to put you back in the forest. Everyone there knows you, so you will be safe. I won't have to hide you anymore."
"But, Amanda, you don't have to hide me." Suddenly, the rain stopped. The sun rapidly came into view, pushing itself through thick clouds, shining so brightly it produced a harsh white glare. Gold squinted his tiny eyes. Amanda cupped her hand over her face, then peered down at Gold. In his eyes she spotted a sadness she had never seen before.
Amanda looked at the forest and hesitantly moved toward it. The sun was slicing through the leaves so the trees appeared to be set afire. She led him to the entrance. He reached out his miniature hands to her. A single tear glided down his cheek, a golden fractured teardrop. But she had to be brave. Like Gina.
"I will come see you again." It was a promise. She grabbed ahold of the suitcase, hurrying away before she could cry.
Back in her bedroom, Amanda stared at the picture of her mom, then at her story about Gold. She threw herself down on the bed and cried in silence for a while. She must have fallen asleep because the sounds of her dad, sister, and Simone talking woke her. She got up and went to her typewriter. Her fingers punched the keys hard. “And just like that, he was gone. He was no more. He vanished into the forest and set it on fire. Then everything disappeared. Forever.”
A final teardrop slipped past her mouth and plopped onto the floor. She missed him as much as she had missed her mom all this time. She wanted to be close to him. But how? The clock on the wall read 5:00 p.m. Dinner would be ready soon. She had something to do first.
Amanda ventured into the back yard toward the creek. She passed the leaves and the branches that were scattered across the land until she came into the clearing. But where was the creek? Kneeling down to the old spot where Gold had taken her, she reached for the ground where the water had been, but the ground proved dry beneath her fingertips. When she pulled her hands away, she noticed her fingers were caked with mud.
Back inside, Jane and Simone were playing a board game. Pop music spilled from the TV. Amanda quietly entered the room and sat on the couch. A wood-burning stove sent shadows across the room.
"I love MTV! They have the raddest videos," Simone was saying.
"I just hope Homecoming doesn't suck." Jane rolled the dice.
"What do you mean?"
"Didn't you hear? The principal has elected my sister's school to decide on our theme."
"What?"
"Yeah. They are going to help decorate and pick out the music." Jane glared pointedly at Amanda. "What do you want?"
"I know you were looking for a theme for the dance."
"Oh, that's so sweet—" Simone started to say. But Jane was annoyed.
"No. There's no way I'm letting you have a say in this."
"Oh, come on, maybe she's got some good ideas." The phone rang. Amanda was thankful for the interruption.
Jane rushed to the kitchen. "Oh, hi, West. Yea, come on over." She reentered the room, a big smirk on her face. She acted less hostile toward Amanda now as she said, "OK, let's hear it. What lame ideas do you have?"
"‘The Power of Love’.”
“Wow, that's actually a good idea. Everyone likes Back to the Future. What do you say, Jane?"
Amanda could tell Jane was trying hard not to show her approval. "Whatever."
Daddy came into the room, brushing his hands together. "I say that's a great idea!" He winked at Amanda. "Dinner's almost ready." Then someone knocked on the door.
Jane jumped up to get it. "Hi, babe."
"Hey. So, what do we got going on?" Westen kissed her as he walked in.
"Oh, just talking over Homecoming. Amanda came up with a theme. Now they just have to find a way to put it all together."
"Sounds awesome." Amanda headed down the hallway, but not before seeing Jane and Westen embrace.
The next day, Amanda felt drawn to the forest. When she got there, the sun was pouring into it, creating cracks in the leaves. She had to squint because the light was so blinding. Why did the sun only seem this bright in the forest?
The wind picked up, a soft howling that blew her hair all over her face. Yet, the trees remained still.
Curious, Amanda moved to the edge of the forest where there was no sound of the wind. The two parallel trees stood ever faithful as a doorway. She felt so small then and could almost imagine what Gold must feel like in this world. She stepped forward.
"Gold? Gold, where are you?" she called out. A weak voice replied.
"Over here."
"Where? I don't see you."
“Look down.” Gold was hiding behind a boulder. His blue eyes were so shrouded in darkness they appeared almost black. "I'm right here."
"Why are you hiding? I can hardly see you."
Gold slipped out from behind the boulder. He had changed back into the tiny rock she had first met. Oh, no! "What happened?" she whispered.
"I don't know." His voice was choking with many emotions—confusion, uncertainty, pain, fear, and most of all, loneliness.
"What's happened to you?" A single wet drop fell between them, but it didn't come from either of them. From above, somewhere inside the trees, another wet drop splashed to the earth, and she saw another forming as it began sliding from the crumpled-up leaves that were falling between them and sinking into soggy puddles on the ground.
Gold lowered his head and shut his eyes. Amanda stretched out her hand to the g
round and caught a tear in her palm. The warmth of it tickled her with a slight zapping sensation, a mini electrical bolt. She jerked her hand back in awe. Gold hadn't noticed. His eyes remained closed.
"How is school?"
"The creek disappeared. What happened to it, Gold?"
He opened his eyes and looked at her with concern. "I don't know."
"Please, tell me what's going on!" A dark shadow unexpectedly dropped like a curtain between them so Gold was barely visible. She was reminded of the moment when she first realized he was a talking pebble and she had screamed and took off. Terrified, she ran away from the forest once more, as far away as she could get.
Chapter Thirteen
In the grocery store, a small crowd of people pushed shopping carts. Rock music spilled through the speakers. Amanda passed by a short aisle and grabbed a chocolate candy bar.
At the register, she pulled out a dollar bill from her pants pocket and handed it to the clerk. He gave her change back and told her to have a nice day. But how could she?
On the bench outside, she sat contemplating. The sun had followed her here. It beaded the tops of her hands with a thick film of sweat and it bore into the top of her head as if trying to read her thoughts. She was frightened. She didn't know what to do. The black curtain had given the impression of announcing the end to everything, maybe even death for Gold.
It was hard to concentrate at school the next day. Connie and Gina were talking about the dance, but Amanda heard nothing as she stared at her lunch. Her backpack sat beside her, a reminder of what used to be, when Gold had been so tiny she had been able to hide him inside of it. Gina patted her back. "I have to go to the bathroom."
Connie started a conversation with a girl to her left. All seemed normal until Shane tiptoed to Amanda's right and swiped the backpack. He unzipped it, lightning quick, turning it upside down and shaking it hard.
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