「ABSENCE」 TMNT 2012

11; Live and Love

April stood from the couch after hanging up with Donatello. "Would you like to stay for lunch?"

Elly shook her head. "As much as I want to, my parents are expecting me home soon. But thank you."

"No problem. Maybe we can find another time." She set her phone on the mantle across the room.

Elly bit down on her bottom lip. She didn't want to annoy April, but she was about to burst with suppressed curiosity. "Um . . . could I . . . could I meet them sometime?" She asked hopefully.

The redhead kept her back turned as her shoulders stiffened, praying this conversation wouldn't go far. "Meet who?" She feigned innocence to stall.

"The turtles. I've always wanted to meet them."

Suddenly April choked and began to cough. She bent over and hacked until her throat was cleared.

"Are you okay?" Concerned, Elly jumped up.

"Yeah. Fine." One last cough and she took a deep breath. "You know they're turtles?"

"Yeah."

"B-But . . . how? How do you know that? Who told you?"

"Other captives who were in the prison with me," she replied. "Then, a few days after I got there, I saw them run through."

April's eyebrows furrowed. "What other captives?"

"Some mutants and a couple humans. They never stayed long, though," she added as a side note, voice dropping sadly. "Eventually they all just . . . I don't know. They would leave with those Kraang bots and never come back. Out of all of us, I'm the only one who made it to see the light of day again."

"I'm sorry," April offered quietly. She wasn't naturally good with people, so she hadn't the slightest idea what else to say. Her thinking was undeniably black and white.

"I don't want to intrude. I just want to thank you all together, in person."

April nodded and ran a hand over the top of her head. The little hairs that didn't reach far enough to fit into her hair band immediately sprouted back up, her attempt to flatten them failing. "I'll talk to them about it and get back to you."

"Thank you so much," Elly gushed, tugging at the hem of her shirt. "What you've done really means a lot to me."

Shaking her head, April escorted her guest to the door. "No, thank you. You've given me new hope. Maybe we can get together sometime and talk more."

"That sounds great. See you later!" With that and a goodbye from April, Elly descended the stairs, avoiding the elevator because she needed the exercise, and stepped out into the noon sunshine.

It was spring now, and the city was warming up after the long winter months filled with snow and freezing temperatures. Elly thought back to past winters, then past springs, summers, and autumns. They were all a happy blur in her mind, and she smiled as she skipped along through Central Park. She'd never felt better. Never before had she been so alive. Everything was beautiful in her eyes. Now that she had tasted both captivity and freedom, she wanted to savor every moment of the latter.

One would think she'd be afraid after all that had happened. That she would be constantly worried about another kidnapping. But as much as she was fearful, she was also determined. It was her own fault she'd been taken the last time, and now that she had a second chance, she vowed to make it count.

All her life she had been alone. No one except her parents was ever there for her. But that wasn't anyone's fault but her own. She'd made studying her top priority. Nothing else mattered to her. Family, fun, friends, were all drowned in her desperate attempts to be accepted into one of the best law schools in New York, Cardozo Law School, where she would study to become a lawyer. It was her lifelong dream to follow in her parents' footsteps, as both of them were involved in law.