What Lies Between ✔

Twin Moons

8

Nameless

Ben had bolted out of the house, leaving me alone to witness his brother pick himself up brokenly. I wasn't thinking when, stupidly, I asked him, "Are you all right?"

The boy instantly stiffened. "No," he said, shaking his head. He seemed to be talking to himself rather than to me. "You're better now. You didn't hear anything. He's the crazy one."

"That isn't true," I said. Okay, I know that it would have been be stand smarter if I just stayed silent, but I couldn't. This boy wasn't insane, and neither was Ben. His parents didn't understand the gifts they both had, and it was tearing them apart.

Josh's eyes widened in horror. "No, shut up! You're not real!" He began shaking his head again. "Ben. This is his fault. I get worse when he's around!" Then he stumbled over to one of the kitchen cupboards and pulled out a pill bottle that was similar to the one he'd shoved at Ben. "I just need these, that's all." He sounded hysterical. I watched him shakily grab a glass of water and swallow three of the little blue pills, probably more than needed. I couldn't bear to watch anymore, turning away. He was so convinced he was the one with the problem when it was his parents. Ben's parents.

I felt a twinge of guilt. I had asked him a lot of questions about his mother and father because I thought he was being ungrateful at what a wonderful thing it was to know your parents. I had no clue how Ben had suffered. Looking at Josh, I realized this was what Ben was trying to escape. He was as alone as I was, even with his parents around.

I focused on Ben's energy, which I had become accustomed to, and imagined my soul hooking onto it like an anchor and pulling me towards him. I left the house, letting Ben's energy guide me to where he was. Eventually, I found myself standing in a park. The sign read Brooklyn War Memorial. It reminded me a little of Purgatory's park, but this one wasn't dreary and imprisoning. It was flooded with the rich colors of the earth, painted in a pink hue by the setting sun.

The sun! How glorious it was. Everything had been such a rush that I hadn't had the time to really get a sense of my surroundings, all that the Living Realm had to offer, including the magnificence of the giant, blazing star. It's warm, glowing light stole my breath whenever I looked to the sky. I was excited to see the moon come nightfall, and all the constellations of the shining stars I'd read about. The stars, as myth had it, were all the different versions of Paradise, beaming their watchful light down on earth.

I breathed in the cooling air. Temperature! No one would ever believe what a lovely thing it was to feel dry heat turn to crisp air. No human would ever understand how much I'd cherished it the very first day I planted my soul in the Living Realm. The noise had been overwhelming at first, but standing in the park surrounded by the rustling trees and the birds singing their last song before the night's arrival was simply melodic, and I felt so secure with all the signs of life around me that I wanted to burst into blissful laughter. But that was not why I came to the park, I remembered. Ben needed me, so there was no time for my joyous spectacle.

I had to walk for a short while towards the feeling of his energy. I could sense its origin and soon found Ben, hunched on a bench, eyes distant. I didn't expect to find him in a miserable, weeping heap.If there was one thing about Ben I had learned that day, it was that he was the type who would rather saw his own leg off than show emotion or what he thought was weakness in front of others. I walked slowly to the bench and sat beside him. Saying something wouldn't help him. I knew that as well, and what could I say anyway? I had no life experience to draw from. So I just set my hand comfortingly on his shoulder until he got his feelings and thoughts together. We sat like that for some time, until the pink hue of the sky dimmed to a dark shade of blue.