Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down

Chapter 5: Symphony

July 8th, 2478

7/8/2478

A melody Guinevere had never heard before was playing. The orchestra behind the conductor had violins, violas, kettle drums. Bassoons, tubas. A singular french horn.

Why there was only one french horn is beyond me.

Then the music stopped and everything was gone. Guinevere knew about silence, but this silence scared her. It was thick, choking silence. It wrapped her in what seemed like a warm blanket, but then it pulled tighter, suffocating her. She woke up, gasping.

The lights were off -- they always turned off at midnight. Well, except for Author's Day. Then the lights didn't turn off unless you manually clicked them off. Mostly because when mandated times of electricity were implemented people got upset that their parties were cut short.

And since the parties were about me, who was I to discourage them? The rest of the time however, curfew was at eleven and lights went out at twelve. No exceptions.

"It'll be fine, Nick."

"What if it's not, Chris?"

"We can't think about that. That's always been our motto, hasn't it? Don't think about what happens when they leave?"

"You know that doesn't work."

A sigh. "Yeah. I know."

Silence again. But a different silence than before. This silence was quieter, sweeter. It made one feel closer to the world, rather than feel as if they were being dragged from it.

Guinevere slipped out of bed, into the living room. A small glow came from the Screen, where a campfire crackled.

Of course I knew the ways people skirted around my rules, but none of the infractions seemed major enough to warrant my interest. I didn't really care all that much about people who stayed up past midnight reading by the light of a synthetic, illusioned fire. Perhaps I should have. But I didn't, and it doesn't matter anymore.

"I'm not going anywhere," Guinevere said, a blanket draped on her shoulders like a cape, and both Nicholas and Christopher could see her at six in the exact same position, different words on her lips.

"I'm running away!" she announced. "I don't want to be here anymore."

A sharp gasp was heard from Nicholas as Christopher knelt down to Guinevere's level. "Where are you going to go?"

"I'm going to Victoria's. She said her mommy lets her stay up until midnight! And when we went over for a sleepover that one time, we had cake!"

Christopher took a deep breath. A steadying one. For him, and for Nicholas. "Do you have a map, and know how to get to Victoria's?"

"Yes. I take the Trolley all the way to Eight and Victoria's apartment will be there."

"Okay then." Christopher nodded, glancing helplessly at Nicholas. "Do you need help packing? Nicholas and I are experts at packing. If you like, you can use my suitcase."

Guinevere furrowed her eyes suspiciously at Christopher. "You don't want me to stay?" A small quiver of tears was present in her voice. "Because I am leaving. And I mean it."

"Oh no, honey. You misunderstand me," Christopher said, wrapping an arm around Guinevere's waist and gently pulling her to his knee. "I want you to stay more than anything. Dad too." Nicholas gave an awkward smile and waved behind Christopher's back at Guinevere, but she wasn't paying him any attention. "But if you insist on going, we want to make sure you're safe and that you have a plan. But we don't want you to leave at all. We want you to stay forever and be our little pumpkin. And when you get older, you can be our big pumpkin." He wrapped her in a hug, and her scratchy blue blanket that smelled of Government issued bleach glided across his cheek.