Chapter 5A Chapter by Preeti Chapter 5 of Semantic Blends: A Chain Novel Experiment
CHAPTER FIVE
Written by Sarusai Hiryu (http://www.writerscafe.org/Sarusai%20Hiryu) Written for Semantic Blends: A Chain Novel Experiment ----------------------------------------------------------------- Josh
ran blindly, stumbling and tripping over his own heels. His world had never
been particularly sane since the disaster, but the few coherent threads there
were snapping, one by one. He
had to get away from this new horror. Fast. “Tut.
Tut.” Mockingly mournful. “One thing you might as well learn, my boy, and the
sooner you learn it the happier you’ll be. You can’t run from me.” The
old man was blocking his way, one hand on his shoulder, smiling at him rather
ironically. Somewhere in the tangle of grey bristles the snarl lay, sheathed
for the moment, but as ready to dart forth as a wildcat’s claws. “Relax,
I’m not here to hurt you.” For
some reason Josh found himself believing the cool, amused voice. Some of his
fear left him, but paradoxically, relief from immediate fear brought back his
anger. “So
you are here to hurt somebody.” He
said, calmer and steadier than he could have supposed himself to be. School,
his bleak home, with nothing in it but a blank, greying face waiting for death,
as bitter and bewildered as his own " they receded as though they had never
been; he was alive as he had been in those first few days after the earthquake,
every sense alert. “If
you dare to lay a hand on any of my friends or my family,” The Josh of five
minutes ago could never have believed himself capable of such cold menace. “I’ll
see you damned before -” “Whoa!
Whoa! Easy, young fire-eater!” “I
mean every word of it!” snapped Josh, irritated by the man’s chortling. “I
know. That’s why I chose you to save.” “You
mean " from those boys?” He could not repress a shudder as he thought of the
Smart Guys. “No.
I’d do that for anyone.” He shrugged. “From them.”
He spoke the simple pronoun with more vicious loathing than the vilest
invective could have carried. “Them?” “Don’t
pretend to be stupid, boy!” Josh
felt himself stiffen. “How dare you"” “Oh
shut up.” The old man said
wearily. He had himself well in hand again. When Josh continued to glare at
him, he spread out his gnarled hands and grinned. “Do you expect me to
apologize? Come now, really!” Josh
would have retorted, but the old man gestured imperiously for silence. “Enough
of this! Lets get to the point.” “Fine
by me.” Said Josh shortly. “Earlier,
you spoke of protecting your friends, your family. Tell me, Josh " yes, I know
your name; in fact, I know quite a bit about you. Tell me, is there really
anyone left for you to protect?” The
question took Josh utterly aback. Josephine,
he thought. Mother. And Gail…Gail…
and then he remembered as he had seen her last, in Sergeant Hawk’s arms…his
mother’s face, listless and broken, Josephine, with her gentle, wistful smile,
not quite of the present and not quite of the past. “Do
you truly have a life, do they truly have a life they can love and cherish?” A
life he could love… But
this time Josh did not permit memory to engulf him. He gave a hard, dry chuckle
as he shrugged. “It’s been better. But what of that? What is that to you? Who
are you, anyway?” “You’ll
know. You’ll know when you are meant to know.” “When
I’m meant to know? Meant to?” Suddenly he was shouting. “It’s the ‘meant to’s
that destroyed Thousand Oaks in the first place! The Great Quake " it was ‘meant
to be’, wasn’t it? And then the government " “ “No!”
interrupted the old man sharply. “It was not. It was your own weakness that let
them gain such control over you, you and all your friends.” He held up his hand
for silence, cutting Josh’s reply off once again. “Don’t start whining about
all your exploits right after the Quake. I know all about them. Survival " a pack of Coyotes could have
accomplished as much. But what of the true resilience, the unshakable spirit
that distinguishes man from beast? You show about as much of it as this.” He
kicked a piece of rubble contemptuously out of the way. “
You " You what do you know of anything?” growled Josh. He lunged at the man’s
collar and twisted it almost to a chokehold. “Blind!” He spat out the word,
cruelly. “You’re blind! What can you see of me, of any of us?” “Unhand
me.” The cold voice was absolutely unruffled. “Blind? Yes, my eyes are lightless, but it is you who do not
see!” Something
in his voice awed Josh, made him release the mangled collar. “What do you want
from me?” he demanded.” Tell me what you want!” “I?
Why, nothing at all. But your heart " your heart that’s been bleeding away for
six long years, your people, who have long, long since slain theirs " they need
something from you, Josh.” “What?
What?” And cracking through his voice was the plea of a child, lost and
desolate. “You’re
lying again, Josh.” It was stated so simply that he could not deny it. “In your
innermost heart you know. You have always known, haven’t you?” And
before Josh could say anything, he turned around and walked away. ----------------------------------------------------------------
Gail
Lewellin lay on her couch, the most luxurious in all Thousand Oaks, yet another
gift from the man who would soon become her husband. In front of her lay her
favourite fashion magazine, full of glamorous dresses. Thomas had told her to
choose anything that caught her eye and he’d get it…for her trousseau, for
their new home, or simply for herself. She
pushed the magazine pettishly away. She could not concentrate; the pursuit that
had given so much pleasure until an hour ago had suddenly become meaningless. The
ripple from the past had destroyed it all. Josh.
Josh Camper. Lord, how long ago it had all been. Yet she could remember as
clearly as Josh himself the kiss they’d shared, all those moments of innocent,
blissful love and hope. Her old shocking-pink-painted room. She smiled rather
tremulously as she had remembered how earnestly they had discussed the colour,
how hard it had been to reconcile her parents to their unorthodox decision. The
closet… the note she’d left for him, sure he would go back, sure he would find
it and understand… but she’d never once gone back herself, so why would he? He
hadn’t forgotten her. Even with all the changes the years had wrought, he still
knew her at sight, just as she’d recognised him at once. “Ok. Thanks, Gail.”
Just as though she’d handed him a cup of coffee or something " just as he used
to smile when she tossed his baseballs back over the wall, when they were
children, when he was still too young to play with the other boys, pretending
to be bored… then joining in, gradually, and then, as they grew older… Abruptly
she stood up and put her coat on. Not until she was actually in the street and
locking her front door did Gail realise that she was going to break Thousand
Oaks’s most stringent law. © 2011 PreetiFeatured Review
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