• I will never forget Sarah’s reaction to the news that I brought about Hughes. She knew it almost instantly when she saw the Galileo on my back but it wasn’t until I recited his final words that she screamed the most painful scream. My mind was still numb and up until then I hadn’t really been able to shed one tear. Strangely enough as Sarah cried and yelled and begged and pleaded I couldn’t help but feel her contagious emotions contaminate me and soon I was crying as well.

    The breeze of the forest was refreshing but you can feel a slight whimper as the survivors just stood and watched as a couple of men lifted Sarah from the ground, and I looked away as they carried her off into a nearby tent.

    No words were exchanged for days, families stayed close, some mourning and some silently praying. Sarah had slept most of the time and I kept myself busy by keeping an eye on her while trying to plan out my next move. I felt both lost and stuck, and every move I made I felt judged. No one blamed me for Hughes’ death, as a matter of fact some praised me for being able to stay by his side till the end, but I couldn’t help but feel like a traitor to Sarah and myself. Days past and some of the men started to get anxious with the unknown dangers of the forest. Many confronted me while others sat back in an awkward silence, I ignored them all. Finally Sarah walked up to me. She seemed dazed and frail; the stress of her loss had seemed to have somehow aged her.

    “Can I talk to you,” she murmured.

    “Yes….of course.” I stood up and escorted her out of my tent. She shuffled slowly as she led the way. Her arm was tangled in mine and she lightly leaned on me for support. No one looked our way, they seemed to be frightened at the sight of their human sunlight eclipsed and broken. Instead they carried on with their duties, bowing their heads when we passed. Sarah had become aware of her appearance and everyone’s reaction to it days ago but showed no concern toward it. Instead she looked forward as she slowly led me deeper into the forest and farther from the camp sight. After what I assumed was a few miles she stopped and sat on a rock near a small stream. I leaned on a tree and examined the area.

    “This forest is a lot bigger on the inside. I never would’ve guessed.” I giggled at the attempt to break the ice.

    She only nodded her head.

    As she stood there I couldn’t help but notice that her body seemed malnourished and petite. Her once Golden brown hair was stripped of its beautiful curls and was now dull brown mess that dangled in front of her face in a chaotic manner. Her once perfectly young skin was now pale and fragile. Dark circles surrounded her beautiful rose colored eyes as they tweaked around endlessly as if she had been drugged and lost. Her brown shirt seemed oversized and the sleeves were longer, covering her strong, but feminine hands. She wore a yellow ribbon tightly tied to her upper left sleeve. It was the symbolization of a proposal between two lovers in the gypsy culture. Hughes had given it to her two weeks before we got into the desert and promised to marry her as soon as we got out. She began to tear up but held in her feelings, and I ran to her side to hold her.

    She whimpered, “I don’t think I can continue Niklas. I don’t think I can go on without him. First I lose my sister and now my lover. What am I to do without them Seth. I don’t know what to do.” She began to cry as she buried her head in my chest. I didn’t cry, I couldn’t cry, all I did was stroke her tangled hair in an effort to comfort her. In the end I couldn’t do much more, I was just as lost as she was. I was just too much of a coward to show it the way she did.

    Slowly she began to stop and began to breathe easier. She looked up at me and all I can do was stare back. Quickly she looked away and apologized.

    “No need to be sorry,” I said as I reach into my back pockets for my handkerchief.

    She took it cautiously and cleaned her face. I felt useless and ridiculous as I attempted to comfort her. It seemed pointless when I also needed just as much help as she did. Her cold hand was soon reaching for mine as she scooted closer to me.

    Then she spoke with a cracked voice, “we need to continue you know. We need to pull ourselves together and keep on going.” She skimmed her eyes to meet mine and she smiled a somber smile. “I hate to have to move on, but he’s right, he can never be at peace if we stay miserable. How can he when were just throwing his hard work away.”

    No words came to mind so I closed my eyes and shook my head. It had always been my way of saying “I don’t know how.” She then gripped my hand tighter as she squirmed in her seat.

    After a moments silence she spoke again. “My Brabbit Bird finally flew away. It was a beautiful but sad sight. He didn’t even look back, he just went on. Animals are amazing for having that ability. You know, the ability to forget about things and just keep moving forward. They seem to understand life more than us humans. I hate that but love it all at the same time. There’s times that I wish that I was an animal. Times that I wish I can forget about the pains of life and just move forward.” She stopped as if to rethink what she was saying. “Then again, things would be dull and while there will never be sad times there would also never be happy times.”

    She had lost me, “What do you mean?”

    “Well think about it. To just forget about things when they’re sad would mean to expect anything, and then move on once you’re done. Both death, birth, and the life cycle are, you know…routine. So to have to move on would mean no celebrations or breaks to enjoy the happy times. Just keep going without knowing. It’s not so great when it’s put that way.”

    She wasn’t making much sense to me. I wasn’t even sure what we were talking about anymore but I couldn’t help but giggle when I realized that she had made her last to statements rhyme in an attempt to sound wise. She turned to me with a very noticeable blush.

    “What are you giggling at?” She said a bit irritated.

    My giggle then turned to a laugh when I tried to explain myself. I fell over to the floor and pounded it as I tried to catch my breath.
    “What’s the matter with you?” She asked as she too began to giggle at the scene I was causing.

    I still don’t know what had come over me, maybe months of not laughing had finally caught up to me, but in the end it was a good thing that I was able to cheer us both up. She threw herself on the floor to sit next to me. I sat up and as I did she threw a shockingly strong punch to my arm. I smiled as I massaged the pain away. “What was that for?”

    She giggled, “That’s for making fun of me when I’m trying to be serious.” It was then I noticed that her eyes seemed happier, as if a dark cloud had finally lifted from her mind. She tossed herself to the ground with her head cradled in her palms. “I feel so much better,” she said.

    “I’m glad.” I sang.

    I’m not really sure how long we were there but it had gotten dark as we spent most of our time bringing up fond memories of Hughes and his crazy antics. In the end there were too many to even mention. Story after story Sarah began to show sleepiness. I stood up and reached my hand to help her up.
    She opened on eye and reached out for my hand. When I pulled her up the thought of her arm falling off ran across my mind and I let go as soon as I saw her standing up.

    She noticed my reaction and tilted her head, “I’m not contagious, is one of my buttons unbuttoned.” She looked down at her shirt and examined it carefully. I giggled, “It’s nothing. Just thought you might break from how strong I am.”
    Her eyes looked at me in amazement and she smirked. “Where did that come from?”

    “What do you mean?” I asked in confusion.

    She asked placing her hands on her hips, “the old Seth Niklas, where were you hiding him?”

    “You’re starting to sound like Hughes.”

    I began to walk toward the camp with her following right behind. She soon began to hum a tune and snapped her fingers to start a rhythm. She was enjoying herself but I wasn’t sure when she started doing it. All I did was smile as I led the way.