Chapter 25: Somewhere Under the Rainbow
The robot in the hall ground to a halt as Amy disappeared from inside it. Cecily sat there at the kitchen table, tongue burnt from the hot pasta and hands shaking from what she’d just done.
“Did… did something go wrong?” Ravioli Girl asked, looking Cecily up and down in disbelief. “I was sure I made it right.”
“It worked,” Cecily whispered, staring at the spot where August had just been. “It worked.”
Puddle dragged the robot backwards out of the house, then rushed in. “Glow!” he shouted, scooping the little girl into his arms. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I had fun with Cecily! We played with matches!” Glow answered, then touched Puddle’s bruised face and arms. “You have an owie. Does it hurt?”
Puddle shook his head, though Cecily could tell he was lying. “No, I’m alright.”
Bright flew in through the kitten hole and looked around the room with a confused frown. “Where’s August?”
Cecily took a deep breath as everyone looked at her and Puddle put his hands over Glow’s ears, giving her a nod to continue. “I used the magic ravioli to wish August and Amy back to Earth,” she announced, still struggling to believe her own actions.
The others were silent for a moment. “What did she say?” Glow asked, twisting out of Puddle’s grip and looking at Cecily. “I didn’t hear.”
“Bright, would you take Glow outside for a minute?” Puddle asked, keeping his eyes on Cecily.
To Cecily’s surprise, Bright didn’t object. He cast one more perturbed look around the room, then his eyes met Cecily’s with an expression she couldn’t figure out. He stared at her for a few moments, then held his hand out to Glow. “Come on, Glow, let’s dismantle a robot.”
“Ooh, fun!” Glow grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the shell of Amy’s robot. Cecily noticed Puddle’s face twitch, but the man must have been truly spent because he didn’t object as Bright took his five-year-old daughter to play with the remnants of a war machine.
“Cecily,” Puddle said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay?”
“I’m great!” she said a little too loudly, standing up. “I just sent my brother back to Earth alone because I knew one of us had to keep your needy child-god from getting lonely and kidnapping us all over again, and now I’m stuck in this crazy world for the foreseeable future. What’s not to like about that situation?”
Puddle looked like she’d slapped him. “I’m so sorry, Cecily. I don’t know what else to say, or to do.”
Well, that’s your problem, she thought, but instead said, “For a start, you could take Glow home and let me process this in peace. Please.”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
He looked around the house uncomfortably. “Cecily, this house isn’t really fit to stay in…”
“She can stay with me,” Ravioli Girl interrupted. Cecily looked at her and the witch gave her a small smile that lifted her spirits just enough to keep the panic at bay a little longer.
Puddle nodded. “Yes, that’s a good solution. Thank you, Echo.” He cleared his throat. “I suppose I’ll go, then. But Cecily, once you’ve had time to process I hope you’ll accept my help with whatever you need.”
“Yeah, I’ll definitely come talk to you,” Cecily said, looking up at him. “I think there are a lot of conversations we’ll need to have once I’m ready.”
“Yes, I suppose there are,” he agreed softly, then turned and left.
It was just Cecily and Ravioli Girl left in the kitchen. Even the kitten had left when it no longer had Glow to stare at. They sat at the table in silence until Cecily was sure everyone else was gone, then she stood and picked up her empty pasta bowl. “Time to do the dishes, I guess.”
Cecily and Ravioli Girl washed the dishes together in silence, sunlight streaming in through the hole in the wall behind them. They put everything away, then Cecily gathered the few belongings she cared about. She packed her backpack with her clothes, August’s writings, and her wallet and long-dead phone, which would be useful when she eventually made it back to Earth, however long that took. After some debate, she added Glow’s drawing as well. It was a good reminder of her goal.
Ravioli Girl stayed close the whole time, but kept a respectful silence. Cecily appreciated that. The two of them walked out the torn-apart front door and Cecily looked at the body of Amy’s robot. It looked like Bright had ripped off the arms, and Cecily was pretty sure she could see one of them sticking out slightly from on top of the roof. He child-proofed the robot, she thought with a numb sort of amusement. Not bad.
She reached in through one of the arm holes and fished around inside the robot, feeling various levers and switches that Amy must have used to control it. It really was an impressive invention, and she wondered what Amy would do with those skills back on Earth. Maybe she would take over the state of Oregon.
After a few seconds, she found what she was looking for and pulled out the locket, putting it on. “I guess it did come in handy in the end,” she admitted to Ravioli Girl, but the witch wasn’t looking at her. She was staring up at the sky, where Cecily had failed to notice the most enormous rainbow she’d ever seen. The colors were all out of order and there were more different shades than rainbows on Earth, plus the addition of colors like brown, pink, and even black.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Ravioli Girl whispered in awe. “Have you?”
“Oh, I’m very familiar,” Cecily said with a small smile. “But you’re saying this is a new development for your world?” You’re saying something has changed?
Ravioli Girl nodded. “It’s beautiful. I hope there are more of them like this.”
Cecily adjusted her backpack. “Oh, I have a feeling there will be. In fact, I think there will be a lot of new things happening in the near future.” After all, she’d been asked to teach God how to be less selfish; who knew what could happen?
Unfortunately, she wasn’t exactly the expert on being unselfish, and figuring it out would be a lot harder without August there to give her a reason to be kind. Take care of yourself out there, she thought, hoping he understood why she’d done what she had. Read lots of books, write lots of poetry, go to school. I’ll be there soon.
“Ready?” Ravioli Girl asked, holding out her hand. Cecily glanced back one more time at the house she and August had inherited from their first failed attempt to get home. It felt almost poetic that it had been so thoroughly ruined by the first successful attempt.
“Ready,” she said as she took Ravioli Girl’s hand and followed her home.