Off the Carousel

Another Half

Enjoy!

Twigs snapped under her heavy footfalls; leaves and branches rustled as she pushed through the dense forest, and Meredith panted hard as she crashed through the woods. "Wait! Please!" she called after Derek, but he showed no signs of stopping. She jumped over a log, dodged a tree, and ducked under a branch. He was too fast though, "Derek!"

Great, now he was climbing a steep embankment. But Meredith pushed on. "No one sent me!" she shouted between pants.

"Liar!" young Derek accused, scrabbling for hanging tree roots.

She saw a flash of blue eyes as he snaked up the embankment, pulling himself further and further away from her. Meredith pressed on, her hands running along the dirt, trying to find purchase along the small cliff, trying to get a footing in the soft sandstone. There was no other way to him but up. She couldn't lose him again, no matter how insane the situation seemed. "Please!" she begged, hoping he would stop.

"Go away!"

"I can't!" Above her, Derek grunted, now nearing the top of the cliff. Dirt tumbled down from each step, dusting her as she followed him. Pressed against the soft rock, she reached for a tree root, testing it as she tried to pull herself to the top. But as she did so, the rock beneath her gave way and she slipped, "Ah!" she shouted in surprise, clutching the root as her lifeline.

The root pulled, then snapped! Wordlessly, she fell. She didn't fall so much as slide, tumble, and roll, crashing down the side of the cliff. Moaning with pain, she skidded to the bottom. "Derek!" she called, looking up to the top of the embankment, but he was gone.

Trying again, Meredith attempted to climb back up, but the loose gravel under her caused her to lose her footing and she slipped once more. Stuck, covered in dirt, she wiped unwelcome tears with burned palms. "Derek!" she pleaded. "Please..." she felt her body clench with grief.

But she refused it.

Turning, she pushed herself back onto her feet, "FINE!" she yelled, shaking with anger. At Derek. At the cliff. At fate. "GO AHEAD! RUN AWAY! THAT'S WHAT YOU DO! That's what everybody does, they just leave me!" she huffed. "I'm fine! What's another one, huh? What's another half of me?" Meredith choked, unable to contain herself anymore.

Is this death? she wondered. Was she living in some strange afterlife? Maybe she really did die in that car crash. Maybe the last couple days were just a strange transitioning dream, and now she was dead, really dead. Dirtnap dead.

Or maybe she was in a coma... and she just had to wake up.

Meredith pulled the compass out and opened it. The needle spun and spun. "I want to go home," she told it. "I want to wake up." Please wake up, she told herself. Wake up, Meredith. The needle spun clockwise for a moment, and then reversed, going counter clockwise, but nothing happened. No shiny white light, no dizziness, no nausea. The world stayed perfectly still. Somewhere out in the woods, a crow cawed. She felt the breeze on her cheeks. Nothing changed. She was still here... wherever this was. Lost, alone and frightened, Meredith had reached her limit. "Dammit!" she cursed, throwing the useless brass instrument in the air. It landed hard on the ground several feet away, bouncing and skittering along the gravel. "Damn it!" she cried. Anger and frustration gave way to grief and fear and loss, and everything in between. Meredith couldn't stop the deluge this time.

She wept.

xxx

"Hmm," Michael sighed before opening his eyes. He felt comfortable, and warm for a moment before reality seeped in...

He remembered the calendar.

What year is it?

It's... 2015.