Chapter Sixteen

The sky looked the same as it did yesterday. There was no sun or sky, and the purple clouds remained heavy and unending. The only thing that was different was the ground. It glowed enough to give the illusion of day. It was still covered in the black dirt, but I could see the pebbles and the specks of other things mixed in. I turned to Nina, pointing to the ground.

“Daytime?” I asked.

“I guess that’s what you would call this,” Nina said, unsure. “The books always said that daytime was when the sun was shining over us, but I don’t know what that looks like. The clouds have always been there.” I followed Nina as she headed in the direction of the mountains. She made sure to match my pace, although it was a new sensation for her. I wanted to move faster, but all my legs could do were uneven shuffles. Nina turned to me. “I get that you’re excited, but you don’t have to force yourself. I’m okay with not going as fast.”

“Feel bad,” I said. “You said, danger.”

“It’s okay, I don’t remember ever seeing anyone go down this path. As far as I know, it’s–” She was interrupted by a group of shouts to the right of us. We turned in that direction but saw nothing. They were distant, enough for me to know that it wasn’t meant for us. But I knew that they weren’t as nice as Nina.

“Safe,” I said, holding my arm.

“Don’t you start,” Nina said, crossing her arms. “But we need to get out of the open. It’s never a good idea to give anyone a good look at you out here.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her. The loud pop reminded her of my predicament. “Oh, it happened again. Sorry, let me put that back.” My right arm began to move, shaking from left to right trying to get back to me. Seeing how fast it moved set a lightbulb off in my head.

“Wait,” I said. “Body moves fast.”

“It sure does, but what does that have to do with anything?” Nina said, trying to calm my right arm down.

“Disconnect from me, walk faster. Get away.”

“Do you really thing that will work.”

“Try.” Nina put my arm back in its place, and I used it and my other arm to pop my head off, and hand it to Nina. Though she stuck her hands out, she hesitated taking me again. My body pushed me into her arms, making sure she held on tight. When Nina turned my head around to face forward, I saw my body stretch and flex like a normal person. She ran in place, did jumping jacks, and almost did a backflip. It remembered my movements and replicated them without any errors. I smiled and looked up to Nina.

“Good body,” I said.

“I agree. I like your body,” she said with an innocent smile. She turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “Why is your head getting warmer?”

“No problem. Let’s go,” I said, shifting my loose hair over my face. Nina smiled again and combed it back with her hand.

“You’re pretty nimble,” Nina said, turning towards my body. “But do you really think you can keep up with me?” My body focused on Nina, clapping a fist into her other hand. “Looks like you’re ready. Then, don’t get lost now!” Nina took off, making sure my head was secure. My body was caught off guard but regained its senses and began following her. I watched as the few trees and piles of rocks around us became blurs. The wind, although not refreshing, blew past us, blending our hair into the open plains around us. I could hear my footsteps behind us. My body was keeping pace, and it didn’t look like slowing down.

I turned back to look, hoping to see myself in action once more. I watched as light began to glow around my body, and time slowed down. I watched as the headless purple body transform into a blonde, high school girl, a confident smile on her face, in the lead against other students. It was me, finishing the semifinal race during my second year. The memories came flooding back to me. It was warm, but the breeze kept the day cool. The girl in second place had no hope of catching me and instead was focused on not finishing any lower. I watched as I finished in first, and turn to everyone else, exclaiming, ‘Number one! Forever!’ with a loud voice and a big smile. When the girl in second arrived, she looked towards me. I recognized the narrow eyes of anger. I saw the fist on her right hand, trembling on its own. I saw the scowl directed at me. I looked towards myself and saw someone focused only on herself. The light faded and time returned to normal. I never felt when Nina stopped to rest in between two walls of rubble.