The Mirror Realm

Yellow Brick Road

"Where to now, ma'am?" Jeremy asks. We were walking down a small yellow path that we found a few hours earlier, it had then widened into a huge road. My legs felt like jelly and I was dragging myself forwards.

"I don't know, and that's what makes me upset." I suddenly sit down, my face goes red and tears rush to my eyes. "I'm the worst big sister in the world! I'm all he has left and he's all I have left!" I start sobbing.

"Alex, calm down we will find him! I swear it!" He crouches down and rubs my back sympathetically. I lean into his chest automatically and my hands wind themselves around his neck. My sobs echo around us, it had seemed as though everything in the world had stopped breathing, so that's all you could hear.

I ball my fists up and push away from him gently. My nose immediately stats running and I wipe it with my sleeve. "I'm sorry," I sniff. "I just needed to get it out."

"Hey, everyone needs to cry at some point in life." I stare at the apple trees above us. Their branches are leaning into us, as though they're trying to comfort me.

"Yeah." I sigh and stand up. Jeremy grabs my outstretched hand, his hands are like a mans should be; rough but not too rough, and gentle to touch. His hands linger on mine longer than they should, making me flame up all the way down to my toes.

"So, where does your heart tell you to go?" He says softly.

"West." I breathe out hurriedly. His eyes pierce into mine, giving me a bit of a chill. The sun behind me goes in, his eyes going from a sparkling emerald green to a forest green. Goosebumps appear on my arm and when I shiver, he glances at them.

"Cold?" Jeremy smirks.

I blush and pull away quickly. "Not really."

He moves his head up to stare at the darkening sky. "We better find shelter soon, it looks like it might storm."

Sure enough, dark clouds roll in with great speed and I hear the trees around us rustle with anticipation. A pink leaf detaches from a tree and falls in front of us. Our eyes follow it, going down and suddenly blowing up.

We share a glance. "Looks like it might be a bad one, too." He says. I nod and start forwards, out of the small forest and deeper into the upcoming storm.

•••

"Alex, look!" Jeremy points up head to a small circle of light, bobbing up and down in the harsh winds and rain.

"Hey, hey!" I start screaming and wave my numb arms.

"Alex, wait! We don't know if they're trustworthy!" I ignore him and run to the light. "Don't run into the light, look away!" He begs, laughing.

I chuckle and loose focus on putting my feet in front of each other. I drag my foot behind me and catch it on the other foot, crashing to the brick road. Pain webs up my left leg. I groan and slam fists into the ground.

"See," Jeremy huffs above me. "I told you not to look into the light."

"Shut up, just get the syringe out of my bag." I sigh, a few tears leak out of my eyes but I don't care.

"Did you fall on your shot leg?" He asks while rummaging through my bag. All I can do is nod, tears still coming down my face.

"Ready?" He uncap the syringe and flicks it like a creepy scientist.

I don't even have time to register the pinch in the back of my leg. "Better?" He says, stowing the needle back in my back.

"I don't know, you tell me." Sarcasm dripping from my words. He helps me up and only small amounts of pain shoot down my leg. I look back up at Jeremey. Water is dripping from the tips of his bangs, some running down his tan face. His plump lips are slightly open and turned up in the tiniest smile. His eyes skate over my face, finally settling on my lips. Hands still intertwined, he leans in, eyes still zeroed in on my lips. He closes his eyes and gently grabs my chin to direct our lips together. I stand there, still not processing anything.

Lightning cracks through the sky and strikes a tree down the middle close to us. We jump back in shock and I slip and fall into a huge puddle. Jeremy stands and stares at me until he himself falls down in another puddle in laughter. The puddle was so deep, waves came up all around him and soaked me, if I wasn't already soaked to the bone. We shared a glance and started laughing hysterically. The wind slows down to a dull roar and the rain stops completely.

We stay silent for a few more minutes, taking in what had just happened. "So," Jeremy begins awkwardly.

"I don't-"

"What just-" We stutter at the same time. I shake my head and laugh again, this time until I snort, causing him to laugh again.

"That was over the top hot, I gotta say." Jeremy says in between giggles.

I hit him in the chest. "It happens."

"So now what do we do?" He asks quietly after a few moments of silence.

I stay quiet, only leaning back into the puddle to keep the cold from overtaking my body. The water is actually quite warm, despite the early spring temperatures. "We stay for the night." I say, staring up at the stars now peaking through the evaporating clouds.

Jeremy stands up and harshly walks through the trees. Water droplets had splattered on me as he stood up and I flinched. "Where are you going?" I called after him.

He didn't answer and I called after him again.

"Turn around when I'm talking to you!" I yell frustratedly.

"I'm going to get firewood." He growls just loud enough for me to hear him. "I'll be back in the morning, hope you stay warm in that puddle."

"What is your freaking problem?" I start to stand up but decide against it. The still air clashed horribly with my body.

"It's you, alright? Just give me space to think!" He flings his hands around exasperatedly.

He then leaves me sitting in shock.

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