Thirty-five
A little history on birthdays. When Mom was married to Michael and trying to convince the world she was mother of the year, we had elaborate birthday celebrations. Cake, family, friends, the whole nine yards. His family came, my grandparents showed up, and for that one day out of the year it was heaven on earth. Then one day Mom and Michael were no more and money just got too tight to have parties or celebrations. So we'd have a sleepover on Aurora's birthday and do our best to pretend we weren't destitute. Grandma and Grandpa would show up on my birthday bearing gifts; otherwise it wasn't mentioned at all. The truth was I didn't want to celebrate my birthday with Mom and Aurora, because if they had to be bothered in any way I never heard the end of it. So when they glossed over it I did the same thing. It was just easier if we skipped the day I got another day older. It came, it went. End of story. It never occurred to me to be upset or hurt over it, except for the occasional times I needed to remind my mom there was a day I was placed on the planet, if for no other reason than to piss her off.
That night I went to sleep thinking of everything but my eighteenth birthday. I was thinking about Jordan, I was thinking about her family. She hadn't called. I tried to remind myself that they had just packed up their meager belongings and run from a situation that could have easily turned to tragedy, so as long as I was hearing no bad news I should continue to hope for the best. But it was difficult not knowing where they were heading and how long it would take to hear back from her. To be honest I hadn't the slightest idea where Jordan's aunt or her family actually lived. They could be on the road for days, and even then they had to get settled. Don't worry, they're fine. I tried to get myself to believe that, but it wouldn't sink in. I hugged my pillow and stared at the alarm clock, closing my eyes and after a few minutes opening them again. 11:45 PM, where's Jordan...12:05 AM, where's Jordan...12:26 AM, where's Jordan...12:49 AM, where's...
The next thing I saw was a massive head looking down at me, which made me jump back several feet. Huge, jagged teeth that would send most people in a terror greeted me with something similar to a smile. "Oh, hi Masaru." I said, sitting up.
Lyra ran up to me, excited. "Miss Medora, Miss Medora, I taught Masaru to stand on his hind legs! Watch!" She made a motion toward the sky, and Masaru indeed stood on his hind legs. But he came down with a deafening THUD and a reverberation that brought pieces of the roller coaster track hurtling toward the ground and people running for their lives.
"Um, very nice Lyra. But how about we hold off on that trick for a while, okay?" She nodded and smiled, and as she skipped away, Masaru in tow. Dresden came up to speak with me.
"Dresden, you are supposed to be home." I chided him. "Why aren't you with the Counsel? Have you all returned?"
"We've gone and come back." Dresden told me. "There were no guards on our journey, nothing to hide from and no reason to be cautious. The soldier, he was able to get us to the curtain and back in less than a day. Donla and the others were packed and waiting for us. We've been here for the majority of the day." Needing to see my grandfather's warm and smiling face, I told Dresden to lead on. After the fear that had plagued all throughout my day and into the night, this a little happiness was exactly what I needed.
As I walked through the impromptu entrance to the stage where we had set up our base of operations I noticed the change immediately. People were smiling. They had gone from looking down, drowning in their despair to running and joking with each other. Several children had almost run into me in the process, and the parents looked at me mortified, still worried their little ones would be severely punished, but I usually just tousled their hair or chased them in turn, which sent them into squeals of frightened delight. As I climbed the stairs to the once site of execution, I was greeted by Grandpa, who held my hand and helped me the rest of the way. Barathasan and Roland were staring at a map and speaking with some of the former engineers who knew the insides and the outsides of the park like the back of their hands. Seeing Roland again put an anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was a strange feeling of unfettered delight...mixed with a tiny bit of queasiness. As I approached, Roland looked up at me in a way I had never seen before from anyone. It was a welcome look of relief mixed with caring.
