Blueprints in history books prepared me for this.
I sprint through the putrid gray water, crouching under the low pipe ceilings and following the directions I gave to a T.
“I’m here!” I shout-whisper.
Jack and Sophia have made it to the end.
“Hurry—let’s go!” Jack signals for us to jump into the waterfall that leads to the coast. A perfect path to get passage to Dementia.
I don’t move as Sophia tries to grab my hand.
“I’m not going with you,” I tell them calmly.
Jack’s mouth falls open. “No, goddamned you. Your plan worked. We’re all leaving together!”
“I made a promise to my wife that I would get you two out of here.”
Sophia starts to cry.
“We have what we need for all of us to leave though!” Jack tugs at his backpack in frustration.
“Please,” Sophia sobs.
Moonlight leaks across the running water at our feet, highlighting their faces that will forever be etched into my memory.
“I can’t leave,” I admit. Though there is no sadness in my tone. It’s acceptance. I’m just happy they get to start their lives, even if their fate is harsh where they’re going. For a short while, they’ll know happiness. Jack, when he meets Sapphire’s grandmother, Violet. From what I remember, they were in love. And Sophia, when she has her two sons, Kane and Arthur.
“Yes, you can!”
I sigh, hearing the footsteps and shouting down the pipes from where I came. They figured it out.
“If there’s still a chance my wife could come back, I can’t leave here.”
Sophia cries, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. Her light brown hair is greasy and askew across her face. They’re both covered in grime and shit. But they’re free now.
“Hey—don’t feel bad for me.” I tap her chin with my thumb. “Now, jump! Otherwise, we’ll all get punished!”
Jack and Sophia exchange a final hopeless look, then silently thank me with their eyes. I don’t know what I would have done this last year without them. Sophia, although she is younger than me here, was the most nurturing woman I have ever met. She tended to my wounds, was patient when I went through every stage of grief, and never once judged me. Jack became my best friend. Most of the time, he’s very serious and a little bitter, but he was also hilarious. He helped me adapt with dark humor and companionship.
Hergrandparents became my closest friends.
And I will never see them again.
The two clasp hands and jump into the waterfall, plunging down to the river that empties into the coast. That place where they’ll eventually find safe passage.
Goodbye, Sophia and Jack.
As the sentinels swarm the humid tunnels, tackling me into rushing water—I know I will sleep well tonight.
Wherever you are, I hope you can see this.
I kept my promise.
65. Incurable Disease
Sapphire
“And the Nightlung…does itfeel like a place or a sensation that you feel when you’re moving to another time?”
