Part 5 – You Are Free

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Chapter 21 – Glow

After blowing her nose and drying her eyes, Marley had a moment to take in her bedroom.

It was the same as always but somehow felt new to her. The light-blue color which had been there forever. The twinkle stars she and Jessica added when they graduated from elementary. They still looked terrible, like deformed H’s, but they made her smile.

The TV at the other end of the room, the long closet with a fancy glass partition, her nice little table to sit at with a comfy chair. And the mounds of stuffed animals. As she scanned the room, Jessica leaned close and whispered in her ear, “I’m here because you need to get up for class.”

Marley’s eyes darted wide. She hopped out of bed and hustled over to the toilet and bath area adjoining her room. She muttered a quick, “Be done soon….uhh…what time is it?”

Jessica told her with a sympathetic smile. Marley blanched and added, “Be done fast!”

So fast she nearly confused her hairbrush for her toothbrush. One thing she didn’t rush was her shower. She took a few minutes, rotated her neck with a warm, relaxing tingle, and stared up at the cool, pleasant light glowing above her, washing over the azure tiles of the shower.

She had no idea how she got through drying her hair as fast as she did but was satisfied with the results. She hopped out of the bathroom, all wrapped up, in record time. Jessica was still waiting on her bed with Crumpet resting at her feet. With Marley’s appearance, Crumpet’s brown head popped up and his pale tongue hung out. After a pleasant rub behind the ears, Marley looked through her dressers as Crumpet watched. He checked out everything with his nose but offered little in the way of an opinion.

Looking behind her, Marley contemplated Jessica’s choice of a black and white, long-sleeved striped shirt with one of the oldest, most faded blue jeans she had. After passing up a few choices, she settled on a pale pink top, some regular jeans, warm shoes, and a blue and lavender striped overshirt, recalling it had been windy yesterday.

After putting on her eyeliner and getting her bag ready, they hurried to the kitchen with Crumpet leading the way.

The kitchen smelled lightly of a mix of herbs and dish soap. Marley’s father was humming to himself, his face cloaked behind the morning paper. Her mother set down a steaming plate of mixed veggies and eggs for Marley and let Crumpet out to do his business in the yard.

With a chuckle, her mom announced, “You got her up just in time. Good job, Jess.” Jessica rubbed behind her head with a laugh, offering, “No biggie, Mrs. Russell.” Marley’s mom poured her some OJ, which she drank eagerly.

Eating casually but with purpose, Marley listened in as her father sedately noted that a new theater was being planned in town. She’d worked in a local theater not too long ago for some extra money. It ended in them closing down (not her fault) and a projector spontaneously-combusting (*mostly* not her fault).

As Marley was halfway through her meal, the doorbell rang. Jessica’s eyes darted up and she hopped from her chair, announcing, “That’s probably Marisa. She texted me that she was meeting us here.” Jessica hustled down the front hallway.

Chewing softly, Marley smiled and then glanced around as she asked her mom, “Where is….Olivia?”

Setting her hands on her hips with a sigh, Marley’s mom announced, “Good question. I told her to come down for breakfast ten minutes ago…Oliiiivia!” She moved quickly but without running from the kitchen to the back of the house. Sipping her milk, Marley glanced over at her father’s newspaper and felt an odd sensation on her temple. It was a prodding feeling, like she’d been sent to the store with a list, but the most important item had been omitted. The moment soon passed as a throbbing warmth relaxed her head. Her father reached a gentle hand over and asked through the paper, “Marley, sweetie, you seem a bit out of sorts today. You okay?”

Softly, Marley answered with a nod, telling him, “Just…a nagging feeling. It’s probably something for class I forgot.” Stroking her hand with a careful touch, he chuckled into the paper and mused, “Isn’t that always the way? I’m sure it’s nothing. Eat up and go see how your friends are doing.”

Marley finished as much as she wanted and pushed the plate away. Backpack stretched comfortably over her shoulders, Marley walked into the front room where she found Marisa flipping through a new book and Jessica stretching with a yawn. Marisa gave a smiling wave and Marley returned it as she peered over and asked, “What book?”

Marisa Wells, Marley’s best friend almost as long as Jessica, turned the book around to show. The title didn’t mean anything to her, but she listened as her friend unfurled a tale of magic, mystery, and transformation of bad men into better ladies. Marley didn’t question Marisa’s choices in reading, although she could never quite give a solid answer as to why she picked those sorts of stories.

Just before returning to her book, Marisa paused and gave a quick look around the room as she asked, “I heard your mom call your sister’s name…is she…around?” Marisa looked behind and even above her, as though suspicious of an unseen predator. Folding her arms, Marley replied, “I haven’t seen her today….but I thought you two made up.”

Without conviction, Marisa muttered, “That’s what I’m hoping…” Jessica flexed her narrow legs and asked, “Do you remember your dream, Marley?” With a quick aside, Jessica characterized Marley’s awakening as “like she’d seen a ghost” for Marisa.

All eyes on her, Marley shrugged, “I don’t…really. That’s usually how it is with my dreams. But I think it was kinda like a sci-fi movie. All of us trapped in a weird place without knowing how we got there. We faced down this evil lady. Unfortunately, I was the only one who escaped…alone. Umm…It was like a submarine in one part but, otherwise, it was just these long, never-ending hallways. Kinda generic. That’s all I remember.”

Marley got a few more hugs and reassurances that she was, “Never alone.” as the trio started to head out the front door. Marley’s mom, a little out of breath, kissed her good day followed by a hug from her father. And she was to inform Olivia that she was grounded.

Marisa was first out the front door and got a face full of water from a giggling Olivia crouched behind one of the porch bushes. Fuming and growling as she wiped her face, Marisa yelled out, “I’m gonna strangle you, you brat!” Squealing, Olivia dashed off and around the house.

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Olivia was no match for Marisa’s running (she was on the cross-country team). Holding Olivia by the scruff of her neck, Marisa marched her back inside. Reaching out, Olivia pleaded with her big sister for clemency. Her pale eyes were wide and doe-like and her tear-streaked visage was definitely her best effort at sympathy. But Marley knew her sister too well and delighted a moment in relaying, “Mom says you’re grounded…” as Olivia’s head hung in dejection. Marley loved her little sister as far as a little sister four years her junior could be loved. But she adored knowing Olivia got caught.

Marisa dusted off her hands when she returned, having delivered her bounty with motherly gratitude and rewards of a peanut butter and chocolate cookie for each of them. Marley savored the chocolate with a long breath for the aroma. She was still rationing hers a block after the others were done.

The first leg of their trip to school was filled by Marisa furiously flipping through her book and describing a role-playing game she was looking forward to. Their neighborhood was so dense with trees stretching high and full, especially at their pinnacles with birds quivering along the narrowest of branches. Barely-tamed bushes spilled over brick walls and hung above sidewalks. A small, plain store broke the rainbow of colorful, well-kept houses. In front, a freezer with ice and frozen treats had a payment box beside it with prices marked on the side.

Jessica snatched a small, butter-toned flower from a bush and twirled it around a few times before setting it in Marisa’s hair. She finally turned away from her book and asked if it looked nice. Jessica answered with a thumbs-up as she trod backward on the pavement.

Marley breathed deeply. The air was as cool as one would expect on a morning where the sun was bright enough to look like daytime but still hidden behind a lingering bank of clouds. It rendered everything in a crisp but soft glow.

Still casually slide-stepping backward, Jessica recounted the last time her brother, Nicolas, was home from deployment helping to build schools in reunified Palestine. He took her to one of the biggest flower gardens along the coast. She was dressed in long, pink bloomers because of a bet they’d made before he’d left and she spent the day picking her favorite flowers when the groundskeepers weren’t looking.

Marley giggled as she walked with her friends and adjusted her bag. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a blue printout flyer taped to a wall like people sometimes taped lost pet notices. She caught one word of it…OPEN…and then turned her head to see better. There was no flyer, although the house behind the wall was a comforting shade of blue. Frowning, she put her arms behind her head and pondered this for a moment before her friends urged her onward.

Down past a green row of trees which still had all their leaves despite the crisp chill this late in the year, was the usual intersection they crossed with an Islamic institute and a Christian fellowship together down the road. The cars moved slowly but they always made sure to cross at the right place. It was manned today by a figure seated in a fold-up chair with his head bowed low. As they approached, he staggered to his feet with a red, STOP sign clutched in one hand.

He wore a bright orange vest with the initials SIM marked on the back. Searching her memory, Marley recalled it meant “street intersection manager” or something like that. The man was a good deal older than them and he appeared older yet. His face was haggard and dark in places like he’d recently gotten in a fistfight. One of his hands was artificial, looking like a stiff rubber glove. He held out the sign and looked down at the pavement as the three of them passed through the intersection. He said nothing and made no motion to speak. Looking back, Marley watched him sink into the same chair, like a wind-up toy without any energy left. She felt an odd sense of satisfaction looking at him although she was embarrassed by it.

Marisa was able to distract her by talking about a guitar she wanted to buy when she had enough money. She’d been practicing on a friend’s loaned guitar for a while. Marley and Jessica both urged her to play the next time they came for a visit. Marisa gave a shy, noncommittal laugh and rubbed her arm.

Their school was in view. Even with the muted morning light, the front side of campus had a warm glow which Marley usually associated with fireplaces at night. The bright brick façade rose high with most of the classrooms contained within the main building. The freshly cut, dew-shimmering field was dotted with a few more rooms but most were tucked behind in calm, coolly colorful rows like sprouting plants ready for harvest. A couple of old oaks patrolled the edge of the original fence, which was barely there anymore, only good for keeping out the occasional runaway chicken from random farms in the more rural areas nearby.

That’s what Marley had always seen when she looked at her school. But there was something else this time. She couldn’t quite tell what it was. It was something odd. Perhaps it was the closeness of the clouds above against the straight stretches of the school’s sharp corners. But she felt like the confines of that always welcoming shape had taken on strict lines.

And that wasn’t all. They felt like an echo when comparing the walls of the school, orderly, neat, and marked with the school's eagle mascot on the nearest side, to the sky above. They felt the same. The sky felt like it was a solid box all around her.

Marley scrunched up her face and remembered an amusement park from years ago. Some boat ride with a cityscape made up of a large soundstage. The air and the mood with a moving moon and pinprick stars gave the illusion it was outside. This felt like the same thing, but she wasn’t fooled. Squinting again, she was sure she could see the edges of the sky if she just looked at it right.

At that moment, Jessica chuckled and touched her on the shoulder as she asked, “You alright there, Marls?” Blinking a little, Marley noticed that the oddity had diminished. No amount of squinting summoned it back. Marisa waved a hand and asked, “Earth to Marley?”

With a light cough, Marley chuckled and put an arm behind her head as she smiled and explained, “Sorry! I definitely spaced out. Let’s go!”

Jessica smiled back and led the way to campus. Marley lingered at the back. All strangeness in the sky was gone but the memory and the sensation stuck in her thoughts like a pebble in her shoe which refused to come out.