“Ava
wake up. We are here.” Rev is shaking
me. I guess I could fall asleep. I feel like we were just outside the city and
now we are here. Rev and I slowly get out of the van and slowly walk up to the
door. I put my hand out for Rev to walk in front of me. “So what is the plan
now? Do we knock? Is she waiting for us?” Rev shrugs. “I don’t know. Your mom
just said to get you here and the rest would just happen.” What would happen? We
both stand at the front door. Rev knocks. “Come in.” A voice comes from the
other side. Rev goes to open the door. “What the hell!” Rev backs away from the
door. “What’s wrong?” I ask her, she is looking down at her hand. “The door pricked
me and it’s still locked.” I don’t understand. How can a door prick her? “What
does this mean?” She pulls out her gun. “I am not sure. Your mom said this part
would be easy but a door that pricks doesn’t seem easy. Maybe we shouldn’t be
out here in midday. I think we should come back at night.” I look at her and
she looks around at all the other house. “Why don’t we just ask my grandma to
open the door?” If she is telling us to come in she should be able to open the
door. Rev moves out of the way for me to
knock. I start knocking on the door. “Come in.” Again the voice says. “Grandma
it’s me Ava. The door won’t open, you have it locked.” I wait for her to say something. “I cannot
open the door for you. The door must open its’ self. I’m sorry. Have a nice
day!” What does that even mean? I look
at Rev. “Like I said we will come back at night.” We start to walk back to the
van, but then I see a group of kids in the neighborhood garden. I start to walk
over to them. “Where are you going?” Rev asks me as I head over. “To get some
answers.”
Rev
follows as I walk up to the kids planting trees. “Wow, your rose bushes are
very beautiful.” The kids light up and
get up from their gardening to talk to me. “Thank you. Our garden is the best
in the city. Pretty soon we will have to go to all the other gardens to make
them just as nice.” They smile so proudly. “Why would you do that if you have
the best?” Rev asks, not understanding Timetopia’s ways. “You’re funny. If you’re
good at something you have to share it with the group. No one can be too good
at anything.” One of the girls says giggling. “Right. Complete nonsense. So
what makes you special then?” All the girls and boys laugh. “Nothing. We are
all one community. To be special is to be selfish.” I start to laugh at the
anger on Rev’s face. This is what we are taught all our lives, I’m not sure
what response she expected to get. “Well then I’m going to step over here while
you talk to the Stanford children.” The what? We all look at her confused and
she throws her hands in the air. “I’m sorry about my friend. We have been
traveling all night.” One of the girls steps forward. “How can we help?” She
says with a smile. “Do you see that house over there?” I point at
my grandma’s house. “No man’s land.” The kids all say. I have never heard that
term before. “What does that mean?” The kids all look at each other. “Why do
you want to get in that house?” asks the same girl who offered to help. “My
grandmother lives there.” The kids all look at me. “She never comes out. No one
has ever seen her, only the wellness checkers.” Wait, if she was sick she would
be in the wellness center. This makes no sense. “Do any of you know what’s
wrong with her?” They all shake their heads no. “No one sees or talks to her.
Just the wellness checker who comes once a month.” The kids seem scared. “You
have never heard your parents say anything about her?” A little boy stands up.
“My dad thinks it’s a watch center. He said his dad told him that long ago
there were watch centers in the neighborhoods to make sure the people were
safe.” What would we need to be safe from? I smile. “Thank you for all your
help. I’m sure my grandma is just too old to be in a wellness center. But once
I see her I will be sure to have her come out and say hi.” I have a horrible
feeling about this! The kids smile and all give me a hug. I turn back to Rev
and get in the van. We will come back at night fall.
We are
back at the house. Rev looks at me. “I think only you can open the door.” I
look down because I think so too. “I know. I mean you can go with me once it’s
opened.” She shakes her head no. “I don’t think so. I think this is part where
you go in. I’ll wait for you out here.” I don’t want to do this without Rev.
What if is something happens to her when I’m in there. We both get out of the
van. I hug Rev, “Just in case once I go in and you get everything you need to
get Charles and go back home… Thank you for all your help Rev.” She hugs me
back. “Like I said, I’ll be waiting right out here until you come out, so no
good byes just yet.” She smiles at me. I walk up to the door and take a deep
breath. I grab the door knob to turn it when I feel the prick. I hear the door
unlock and I walk inside. I hear the door close behind me and I feel the floor
give out. I am falling. I try to scream but nothing is coming out. I hit the
floor hard. I can’t breathe! “Breathe Ava. Drink this.” A voice says as someone
hands me a glass of water. I am sipping on the water trying not to throw up. I
look around and I am in the house, but its daylight outside. I don’t
understand. Where did I fall from? “Ava speak to me, are you okay?” I can’t
believe my eyes.
Great 🖒!!
ReplyDelete