Paradise Among Metal

Chapter 8

"Sweet Jesus!" Emerson complained. "How big is this city?"

Mara and the two boys have been wandering Metal for hours on end, chasing the colors. They had thought that the colors would lead them out of it, but they were still in the city.

"I have no clue," Mara replied. "The map Errid gave us made the city seem pretty large, but not this large." The wind picked up, and she shivered.

The sun was going down, and without the protection of Errid's sepia hotel, they would have to sleep out on the streets. Anything could happen in Metal's streets; Mara knew that for sure.

Earlier in the day, she had seen a group of Metal's soulless burning leaves on the ground for no apparent reason. The soulless had also harassed the trio throughout the day, telling them to give up their dreams of getting to Paradise.

"Hey, look!" Jacob said, pointing to an orange flowerpot sitting on a windowsill high above the ground. "Color!"

"Good job, Jake," Emerson said, sarcasm in his voice.

"My name isn't Jake," Jacob growled. "It's Jacob."

Mara chuckled to herself. It was ironic how they dressed so different, yet acted the same. Jacob wore a polo, dressy shorts, and loafers, with his hair slicked to the side. He was the rich kid. Emerson had on a lightweight sports shirt and a backwards baseball cap, with basketball shorts and sneakers. He also had a floppy hairdo, like Justin Bieber's.

Mara couldn't remember who Justin Bieber was, but she was certain he was a joke.

"Should one of us touch the flowerpot, to see what happens?" Emerson asked Mara and Jacob.

"I'll do it." Mara volunteered.

Jacob looked up at the flowerpot, frowning.

"It's a bit far up there, though. You'll be okay up there, right?"

"Yeah. I'm completely capable of climbing up an old fire escape to touch a freaking flowerpot." Mara replied, rolling her eyes.

She pushed a nearby trash can under the fire escape's ladder, which hung about seven feet off the ground. She got on top of it and climbed her way up to the flowerpot, a few stories up.

As soon as she could reach it, Mara extended her hand and placed it on the side of the flowerpot. A warmth entered her hand, filling her body with pleasure.

Mara sighed, looking around from her vantage point. The bland buildings rose around her, and gray mountains in the distance guarded them.

Just a few blocks away was a familiar sepia rooftop.

"Are you kidding me?" Mara yelled, her voice echoing across the buildings.

"What's up?" Emerson called up.

"We've been travelling all this time just to move a few blocks." Mara replied, her innards aflame with anger.

"Maybe we've just been going in circles for a while," Jacob said. "That would explain why it took us so long."

"I don't think so," Mara said, shaking her head. "If we were, then places would have looked familiar. I have definitely not seen this flowerpot and fire exit before."

"Everything looks the same here," Emerson said.

Mara sighed.

"You have a point."

"Maybe we should take the flowerpot with us," Jacob said. "Maybe something new will happen."

"Okay." Mara nodded.

She grabbed the flowerpot and made her way down to the ground, careful not to drop the flowerpot. She sensed it was fragile.

As soon as she got to the ground, Jacob put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked, peering into her eyes. "You seem angry."

"She's not angry, she's frustrated," Emerson answered, running his hands through his bangs. "Angry is just being pissed because things didn't go your way. Frustrated is being pissed because you're trying to do something and it didn't go your way. So basically, frustration is anger with a purpose."

Jacob stared at him, jaw slack.

"Damn, dude. I didn't know you were a philosopher."

"Well, my zodiac sign is Aquarius," Emerson said, winking at Jacob and Mara.

"I don't even remember what a zodiac sign is," Mara muttered. Fuzzy memories surfaced in her mind at the mention of zodiac signs. It was a jumble of stars and gray cartoon aliens with colored horns and blood.

Jacob just rolled his eyes.

Another memory surfaced in Mara's mind, a warm, fuzzy one.

The Wizard Of Oz.

"Follow the yellow brick road," She whispered to herself.

"What yellow brick road?" Emerson asked.

Jacob smacked him upside the head.

"That yellow brick road."

He pointed to a yellow brick path, hidden among dead branches.

The three teenagers dashed towards it. As soon as Mara stepped on it, warmth radiated into the air, combatting the cold wind.

Jacob sighed, laying his cheek on the road.

"Now this is what rainbow unicorns feel like."

Mara dropped to the ground and joined him. Emerson followed suit.

Cradling the flowerpot to her chest, Mara layed on the golden road and stared up into the darkening sky, pure bliss rolling through her body.

Stars began to appear in the sky.

What could be down the yellow brick road? Stay tuned to find out! Please remember to comment, vote, and share! Thanks for reading!