Sapphire Stones

Letting go

"Venus?" I hear someone say. I can feel myself being shaken awake, but I'm not ready to wake up yet. I want to fall back into the world of dreams, where reality isn't present. Where I can be free, even if it's only for a few minutes. 

I groan and smack the person's hand away from my arm, but that doesn't stop them. Again, I hear them say my name, louder this time. They're shaking my arm harder this time.

"Go away." I mutter. "Leave me the fuck alone."

"Wake up, Venus. You have to wake up." The person says. I recognize their voice. I've heard it a million times. 

I look up at him, as if he forced me to open my eyes and come back to reality. He's crouched beside my head, his lips set in a thin line.

Slowly, I sit up, resting my arms on the railing of the platform again. I rub the sleep from my eyes, running my hand through my hair. 

I look around and see that the fires have mostly died out, only a few small flames still visible. I was right, though. None of them touched me or my tree.

"Well?" I ask, not looking at the boy behind me. "What was so important that you had to wake me up?"

Gally sighs, but doesn't make any effort to sit beside me. I look over my shoulder and see him, his arms resting on his kneecaps, head in his hands.

"You lost control again, didn't you?" I ask in the silence, still studying him. He doesn't say anything, but he looks up at me. Gally's eyes are watery, but no tears are falling. He won't let them.

More silence washes over us. I notice as we stare at each other that something is different in his eyes. Something's changed.

"Will you go?" He asks into the silence, still maintaining eye contact. "If he remembers the way. Will you go?"

I nod, tears pooling in my eyes. 

"I want to be free, Gally."

"You think you'll be free out there?" He asks, standing up. I follow, taking a few steps forward so that we're only a foot or two apart. "You really think there's anything left for us out there?!"

"News flash, Gally, but the Glade isn't our home! We were never supposed to live here forever! Look around you!" My voice is raised, frustration coursing through my body. "The Box isn't going down! There are no more supplies! There's no more food! Everything's been destroyed! You're telling me you wanna stay?!"

"We can re-build, Venus! I can draw blueprints! I'm a good Builder! I can do it! I can make us a life here! We can-"

"We can't Gally! We can't! I say, running my hands through my hair and shaking my head over and over again. "We'd be dead within days!"

"You'll be dead within minutes if you go out there!"

"Well at least I'll have died trying to escape rather than just sitting around waiting for it to happen!" Gally's silent. I'm silent. His hands run through his hair, brushing the stray hairs away from his forehead. "I have to leave, Gally. You know that. You've known that."

He nods, looking away from me. I can tell he feels hurt and betrayed, and he has every right to be. But he's known for years that, if we ever found a way out, I was gonna go. He's just never had to face the reality of it.

"You can come with us, Gally. With me. We can be free. We can have a life."

"There's no life for us out there."

"Then we'll make one for ourselves. I'm sure we can-"

"No." He states firmly, looking up at me with cold eyes. "I'm staying here."