The sun is going down.
I am standing on a hill, and the sun is going down, and the city I am looking at is bathed in golden light, with the ocean sparkling in the distance.
I feel like this is Seattle, like I'm looking out at the city and at Puget Sound, but I know that there are no hills near Seattle that could give you this view. I used to live in Seattle, with Justin, before my parents went crazy.
The first thing I notice is that I am not a Miniature anymore. I am a full - scale human, with properly proportioned limbs. As fat as I can tell, I'm a little on the short side of human height but I kind of expected it.
There is a huge oak tree next to me, and it is beckoning me. Its branches blow back and forth, waving softly in the breeze. Without giving it a second thought, I charge at the trunk and jump at the last second, launching myself into the tree.
Scaling the tree is easy; it's large and old, with plenty of big, strong branches. I scramble up to the top easily, and the view is even more amazing from the top of the tree.
And then I see them. Two figures, also sitting atop the tree. A girl with a long braid of hair, leaning her head on the shoulder of a guy with close-cropped hair. He has wrapped his arm around her waist. They turn, and the girl smiles, pushing a coil of hair out of her face.
"I thought you'd never come," she laughs. "Welcome home, Carter."
I gape openmouthed at this girl - who I don't know - who not only seems to know ME, but has welcomed me home. Who is she? The boy who sits with her laughs softly, breaking into a small grin.
"Can you believe this place? Looks just like Seattle from when we were kids, eh Kitty-Carter?"
I look at him in astonishment, because I know exactly who he is now. Not only does he remember growing up with me, but only one boy and one girl know my nickname.
"Justin? Hannah?" I whisper. Then I stop whispering and start talking. "I can talk! I don't have an awful stutter anymore, I can talk normally, and you two - you're Normal again as well! And you're dating - I called it, Justin, I so called it!"
Justin laughs as I scramble over to them. He ruffles my hair as Hannah throws her arms around my neck. I give her a quick kiss on the cheek and Justin throws a light punch to my upper arm.
"Hey, she's my girlfriend, not yours!" he says, although he hugs me as well.
"You mean fiancé," Hannah corrects, fishing a thin chain out from around her neck. A simple gold ring dangles from it, a thick band with a glimmering blue sapphire implanted in it. Justin slips his knuckle under her chin and lifts it up, cupping her face and kissing her, long and slow and soft and sweet.
I look out over the city again, smiling, but my smile quickly turns to a look of horror. The golden sunset has turned scarlet, bathing the entire city in a gaudy red light. Plumes of smoke sprout up from the city and the streets run red with rivers of the blood of innocents. I can hear the screams of women and children rising, and gunshots rings through the air.
I turn to Justin and Hannah, pointing to the scene before me, and then I scream. I have no words to describe what I see; I am speechless.
Both of them have withered away to skeletons, dissolved into black bones. A hot, dry wind blows across the treetop and they scatter as ashes in the wind. Someone laughs, and I look up, afraid.
My mothers face looms in the sky, composed of stars, with the red moon glowing in the center of her forehead. She is laughing, and a starry hand reaches down.
The entire world spins, and everything falls away from me. It dissolves into ashes like my friends and I shrink down, down, down until I'm buried in a heap of my clothes. I cower in the folds of the cloth, trying to hide, but she finds me. Of course. She always does.
I'm left crouching naked on her palm as she shoots me up so fast I feel nauseous. Then she shakes her palm boredly and throws me back down to earth. I tumble so fast I black out, still waiting for that final, death-dealing impact.
* * * *
I force my eyes open, sitting upright in my cage and looking around. The pet store is dark and shadowy. I close my eyes and concentrate. I try to remember what my old neighbor used to say, when I would meditate with him.
"There are seven chakras in the body, seven ascending pools of spiraling energy. Each can be blocked by a kind of emotional goo, which mucks up the pathway to the next. Once you unlock each and every one, you will be at peace."
I slowly sit crosslegged, regulating my breathing. And then I begin to think about the first chakra. I've never been able to clear it - not even get close to. The first one deals with survival, and it's blocked by fear.
And I've never been able to get over my fears. So I will never be at peace. A tear slips down my cheek as I begin to quietly meditate, searching for a way to let my fears go. To find peace at last.
