Human Spines

Going on a Walk-III

Dumaine

        I am not going to deal with this right now. I am just going to lie on the ground and stare at whatever the heck is in the sky. I don't even care. I don't even care, I don't even care, I don't even care. I care so much.

        And I'm not going to question how I can see the Translucent flying around the sky. Or the fact that they all look like women about to attend church. I'd rather look at them then remember I forgot to remember something. They all kind of remind me of Dad when he gets too excited, jumping up and clicking his heels together. I miss his music. I miss him. But I don't regret following Emmeline.

        I'm glad I saw that missing flyer of her. If I hadn't, I don't think I would have been able to stop myself from chasing that bus. I'd rather give her a life than hopelessly chase the only thing I own and don't know how to function without an instrument. I want to be able to relieve her parents by helping Emmeline see them again, fully as herself. I want to help Emmeline see her sister she barely knows and comfort the one she can't let herself hate. I want to reunite her family because I can't figure out how to reunite mine. It's been so long since I've seen my mom.

        The creatures are leaving, spinning away, farther into the sky. But there's something familiar about the way it feels. They way they all felt. The sound and energy. I like it. It feels like home. Like lavender-scented people and tripping on sidewalk cracks and mushed-together accents from all over the world. Like Mom and Dad.

        "Why'd that feel so familiar?" I stand back up, trying to suppress the first answer that comes to mind. Emmeline is grabbing my hand, staring at me, her eyes wide.

        "Come on! I can see it now! The front door to the Reaper-Mother's home has been opened! 'Oh, the things you can find if you don't stay behind!'" I follow Hans. Emmeline is perfectly matching each of her steps with mine, hopping slightly to make up for the several inches of height she doesn't have.

        "Are you okay? Because I really can't tell." The worry in her words reminds me I'm not okay. But I can deal with myself. Is she okay? Is she bleeding? Is she hearing strange sounds? Is she about to be possessed?

        That's something I can check. I hold her eye contact, examining my peripherals for anything unsightly. I stop at her confused eyebrows. I forgot to tell her about this. "I can see the Translucent around us if I look into your eyes while they're in your line of sight. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier." I hope she doesn't kill me. I hope I don't kill me.

        "Okay. That's okay." She smiles. Well if she's not questioning anything right now I might as well tell her about the others too.

        "And all the ones that were coming from the sky just now, I saw them too," I share. Her smile has dissipated.

        "I didn't see any—I couldn't even see! How could you?" Her breathing has sped up, her steps no longer matching mine. I guess I have to question why I could see them now.

        "They were all over. I mean, they didn't look like the other Translucent but—Oh, God, those weren't Translucent were they?" My breath is stolen. I want so badly to unrealize this. I wipe at my face, feeling my throat choke and my eyes begin to swell with tears. I know why they didn't look like the Translucent. They were the Opaque, coming to hijack us. "This day is going so frustratingly and it's not even noon yet. I bet it was the broken windshield, I mean it's not a mirror but—"

        "Are you talking about all the ballerinas, rocketing to Earth?" Hans interrupts my suspicions. "Because you shouldn't have been able to see them. Not even the JIBBOO noticed they we're here. Everything flinched when they landed, but nothing could see them."