The Land Of Fools

2

2

The next morning, Meeko awoke to legs feeling like led and an aching head. Regardless, she readied herself of school, remembering the odd dream she had the night before of the boy named Escape and his bird Caretaker. They did, after all, have to be a dream? This thought plagued her mind as she dashed to school, one side of her argued that reality and the fantasy of her ‘dream’ couldn’t have mixed while the other opposed. But what frustrated her the most was that she couldn’t take out the small, helpful tips given to her in this  ‘dream’. She had to leap with heart and soul. She had to hope in order to escape. Since when did the boy in her dreams decide she had no hope?

As always, Farah came rushing towards Meeko, squealing about news that was irreverent and causing the thumping in Meeko’s head to worsen.  But, keeping up with the routine and rituals of her life, Meeko smiled. She nodded to the words she didn’t listen to and followed as Farah lead her to class. She was a good leader when she wanted to be and Meeko was good as a follower. 

                In her English class that afternoon, Ms. Fitzgerald made mention of fairy tales. They had been covering suspenseful stories for the last several weeks so the mention of anything else was more than exciting. She opened the class by discussing important elements of fairy tales before asking of examples of the most popular ones. Many were mentioned: Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, the Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Peter Pan-

 "Not just as a literary admirer, but as a person, I adore Peter Pan! Can you imagine having the ability to fly?" She asked eagerly, smiling at the faces of her students. “And that’s exactly why I’ve chosen it for our novel study during our fairy tale unit in class. Today, we’ll be starting with a little pop quiz- no, now don’t you groan! This mark will not go on your report card; it’s just to see what sort of knowledge you possess on the novel before we start. Anyways, who’ll hand them out? Farah, excellent.”

When Meeko was passed her pop quiz by a winking Farah, she instantly scanned the questions. There were only five of them:

               1. Who gave Peter Pan the ability to fly?

                2. How did person from the above question give Peter Pan the ability?

                3. Who were the main characters?

                 4. Who were the secondary characters?

                5. Where does Peter Pan take the Darling children?

                 Meeko quickly fills in the answer as quickly as she can, barely paying attention to what she’s writing for once. Because, suddenly, she knew who the mysterious boy in her dream was . . .    

                When Meeko arrived home, she was exhausted. She had a minimal amount of homework to do, which she finished, before falling soundly asleep upon her bed. Sleep was truly her escape, with its magical ability to heal all problems, even temporarily. If only she could sleep for an eternity...

     Creek.

                Meeko’s eyes peeled open and she sat up, glancing around the room. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest due to fear, but it appeared that no one was there. With a sigh, she laid back down, rolling over to her side and- she rolled into something or in this case, someone. 

"Well, hello there,” greeted a husky voice.

Meeko’s eyes flashed open.

It was Escape. He was lying next to her, in her bed, one arm draped over her waist and the other pressed over her head. How she hadn’t noticed him before baffled her mind, but for whatever reason she wasn’t scared. He couldn’t be a dream; people didn’t have different reoccurring dreams, if that made any sense, and that was assuring enough in itself. 

“You know, generally people say hello back instead of creepily staring,” Escape told her, smiling cheekily down at her. 

Meeko blushed. “He-hello." 

“You blush a lot,” Escape informed her.

She scolded like a child, she didn’t appreciate her flaws being pointed out. Despite this, a deeper shade of blush took comfort on her cheeks.

“It’s cute; in fact, I like this color on you." 

“If you keep talking like this, my cheeks are going to combust in flames,” she replied.

“That would be a sight to see.”

She mentally sighed; it was going to be a long night.

 "I thought you were coming at twelve," she told him, wishing she could deny how safe she felt in his arms. Meeko hadn't always been positive that he wasn't just a figment of her imagination, but now she couldn't care less.

    "I wanted to see you," he insisted.

    "Really?" She questioned.

    "No, I came early to sleep," he admitted, sheepishly. 

    Meeko scolded herself for believing such childish fantasies so easily, burying her disappointment deep inside her. “Sleep, you came here to sleep?"

  Escape chuckled. "Am I not allowed to sleep, princess, or am I hogging up too much of your bed?"

    "Well, it is kind of a small bed . . ."

    "I'm hurt, princess." He feigned hurt in his voice. "But I was kidding; I was unentertained and decided to visit you, princess." 

    Meeko shook her head, crazed by his erratic actions, and sighed. Seconds after she did, she was slapped in the mouth by a cupped hand.

   "No sighing; your soul will leave your body! Breathe in, breathe it back in!" Escape snapped, the panic evident in his tone.

    Meeko's lips stung from the slap but she followed Escape's orders.

    "You humans are so naive; do you know what could've happened to you if you didn't breathe it back in, if I hadn't been here?" He breathed, his words a frantic murmur hanging off his lips.

    "You speak as if you weren't human," Meeko replied, ignoring the rest of his comment. Due to their past experiences together, Meeko knew there was something extraordinary about him, but obviously she didn't know the truth behind the matter.

    Escape grinned cheekily at her. "Don't act like I am, princess."

     Meeko didn't know how to respond to that.

    "You're like all those others kids I've helped, they all like to sigh. But by sighing, you're only making the problem worse, since it's easier to fix a whole soul than a broken one, you see?" He continued.

    Meeko really didn't, but she allowed him to continue speaking for the rest of the afternoon; she tried to have a few short winks of sleep but Escape continued to chat away about his adventures with other kids. Although exhausted, it was nothing but exciting for her to hear Escape's tales, to brag about the children he taught, all while combing his fingers through her hair.

    "-And this one kid," Escape started, his tone became more eager as he began his tale. "Found out my name and Caretaker's the second time I met him."

   "What happened after that?" Meeko questioned. 

    "I had to leave." 

    Meeko shot up straight in bed, completely abandoning her cozy spot in Escape's arms. "Leave?"