The Paper Sky

Chapter Five

I walked close behind Delilah as we scaled the mountain.  When I looked back at where my house used to be, I only saw oblivion.  Stars, galaxies... They were all that was left.  It was almost as if my world was a page, and someone was pulling it back.  Thunder roared in my ears, and storm clouds marched across the sky to the mountain.  There had to be a way out.

"Delilah," I said, and she turned her head.

"What is it?" she said. 

"I--I can't remember my family," I said.  All at once, I couldn't remember my mother's name.  I couldn't recall what happened to my father.  I could almost see my sibling's faces in my mind, but I couldn't remember what their voices sounded like.  I had forgotten how their faces crinkled when they laughed.  It was as if my thoughts were being tossed into oblivion.

"That's absurd," Delilah said.  "It must be your nerves.  Come on, we don't have much time."

I took out a pen from my pocket and scrawled her name on my arm, just in case I happened to forget.  If my memory was already fading, I would soon forget her name, I supposed.  I pulled my sleeve down and held onto it to keep the wind from getting into my clothing.  "Do you remember what it was like?" I asked, staring into the sky.  "To laugh?  Do you remember how that felt?"

"I do," Delilah smiled.  "I remember how much I used to laugh when... That's odd.  I can't remember his name.  The boy from the inn who used to stand outside with me when it was raining.  We would watch the sky fall and make each other laugh.  We laughed at stupid things..."

"I hope you can find him again," I said.  "If this was a dream, I would wake up and never take anything for granted again.  I would live every moment and every day to the fullest.  I just wish I could wake up."

"This isn't a dream," Delilah said.  "As much as I wish it was.  We can't wake up.  So, I guess we have to make the most of it.  Right?"

"I guess so," I said.  But how was I supposed to make the best of things when the world was ending?

We walked for hours on end.  Delilah insisted on taking no stops, no breaks, and no time to look back.  We couldn't look back.  It slowed us down.  It made us regret.  It made us wish for something else.  If we thought like that, I feared that we would be swallowed by the oblivion.

After a few hours, we were almost to the top of the mountain.  Delilah had been urging me on all day, and my legs felt like putty.  Just as we were about to reach the top, Delilah stopped dead in her tracks.  She turned around to me with a confused look. 

"Where am I?" she said.  "Who are you?"