SOPHIA’S POV
Looking up from the pit, I heard lions roaring, and some strange animals kept screaming. Couldn’t help my heart from beating fast, and my tears from dropping. Down here, I regretted leaving the house, wondering where my friends would think I was.
The sun from the vaster sky shone on me, draining tears as my eyes never get tired of betraying her tears. I sat on my backpack, as the sand was getting hot. And then, everything here: the stone, the leaves, the sticks, butterflies looked allied to me, so totally allied that I was forced to thinks of committing suicide. Not long longer, I don’t know when a bee flies here as I bent my head down in sorrow, and then stings me. Leaving me with another pain.
I realized that if someone can’t endure feeling if one can’t endure pain, one should not love. One should not walk all the way the loves show. Because, people say love is blind, I thought.
If love is blind, how could it see the angel in someone’s face? If love is blind, how could it understand what her lover wants through a glance of an eye?
And here, I concluded that love was not blind, neither we, as human beings. We were not blind too. But sometimes we closed our eyes when love wants us to see. And opened it ajar when she wants us to shut it.
We rushed when love wants us to be patient. And then we failed. We committed crimes in the name of love, whereas love is innocent.
A bird flew inside the pit, gazing at me. I was scared the first time because I thought it was an eagle, but when I looked at it closely. It was Titanic. The bird of Reuben.
“How are you?” I asked, rubbing its feathers. “How do you know I was here?”
Titanic attacked three bees near my head, and eats them, looking at me. And in its eyes, I perceived it was telling me something but I don’t understand its language. If Reuben was here, he would understand better.
I rubbed its beautiful feathers, saying, “Thank you, darling. Do you know where Henry is living?”
Titanic stares at me for a while, its eyes glow, and it jumped on my leg and surrendered its feathers on my breasts and then jumped down again.
I sensed that it tells me something with that action. Surrendering its feathers on my breasts might mean Henry was near me. “He is near?”
Titanic noded.
“Henry is near?”
Titanic noded again.
“Oh! Wow! Where?”
It cut a leaf and then dropped it on my palm.
“What does that mean?” I gaze at the leaf on my palm. “Do you mean, Henry, is in my palm?”
Titanic walked nearer and rest its beautiful head on my lap, shaking like the day I was shaking on Anabelle’s lap. And then, it stood up, still staring at me. Maybe Titanic was wondering if I get the message.
“I don’t understand,” I said, “I need to gets out of here first. Go tell Reuben that I was here.”
And then, Titanic nodded and flew away.
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Titanic is flying. Flying above the top of trees. And its feathers were rising air against eagles above the mountains, where the carcass of animals was. It is flying above glistening water, and the sun was behind its shoulder, showing the way.
And it landed beside Reuben and Ben, who were busing eating bread, beside a river.
“Oh dear,” Reuben said, as he saw Titanic. He picked his sword up quickly, and said, “where are they?”
Titanic looked down. It didn’t come to inform him of war. It came for peace, to save one of Rueben’s friend’s life.
Titanic moved to the river, gazing at it, in silence. And then Reuben got the message, once. He dropped his sword and sat back.
“Who?” he asked Titanic. And it closed one of its eyes.
“You mean a girl?” he asked, “where is she?”
And Titanic laid its feathers down.
“Pit? Where exactly?”
And Titanic flew on a tree and plucking a dried leaf.
“In the desert?”
And then, Titanic flew back and rest on his shoulder and then flew away. Which means ‘Reuben should not wait any longer.”
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JACKSON’S POV
The night that I have been waiting for, had finally come. I stood, leaving John, who is snoring on the bed.
I walked to the sitting room and stares at my piano. I hide the sword that my father gave to me in it. I take it out and I wear black clothes, with a black mask, and black shoes. The sword glistens. I remembered my father give it to me as a birthday gift but my mom doesn’t love it. To oppose my dad’s intention to get me into the business of war, she bought a piano for me and she taught me well. And now, the sword glistens again in my hand as my face looked fearless behind the mask. Closing my eyes to feel the inner power, because I can’t trust my outer power.
For a moment, I feel inner silence, emptiness. And then I darted out.
I hurried to the palace through the night. My shoes stepped soundlessly. And on getting to the palace, the main door was closed and I climbed the fence. Some guards noticed something fell from the fence. But I quickly hide beside flowers, unmoved.
“Do you heard that?”
“Yeah,”
“What could that be?”
“We need to check.”
Light flare to where I am but they couldn’t see me. I hold my breath and the steps came nearer and nearer.
“Help me light my cigarettes. It’s nothing”
And I heard a sound of matches and as I peep through the flowers, I saw them smoking and they walked back to their position.
I crawled to the other side and run as quickly as I could to hides in the darkness beside one chamber. I glanced around and I saw that the chamber’s window was opened. I peeped in and I saw a maid teaching two kids how to read, in the library. The kids were the princes.
The kids looked at the woman and one said. “I notice that you are feeling sleepy. Go and sleep.”
“Your highness, I must obey the kind commandments, please concentrate.”
I pity them, especially the woman. But I need to move on because this was not the reason why am here. I need to find the prison. Which way? Which way? I thought and go to the left side because there is a lot of darkness there.
I saw someone wearing the same clothes that I wore. The person opened a door of a chamber quiet, walked in, and then closed it back. I tiptoed there to find out what is happening. I opened the window and I saw the person stealing the treasure of the King. The person had killed five guards in a minute. I quickly dodged the nail the person throws at me, my anger rise. “What if the nail hit me?” I jumped in through the window and we started fighting. The person yelled as I bounce the person’s breasts.
“You are a girl?”
“Who are you,” she keeps fighting me.
“I’m here to break the prison. Could you show me where it is?
She stayed still. “Climbed the roof.”
We heard a step of the guard walking in and we hide. She gave me sharp nails to attack him, whispering, “Do you know how to use it?”
“Nichole,” the guard said, “why are you sleeping. Are they dead?” Torches flares from his hand and the girl throws him a nail to his neck and he fell dead.
“Bye,” she said and darted away.
I stood there in silence, remembering her words. “Climbed the roof.”
I jumped out of the window and then climbed the roof quietly and I laid down flatly, looking down. Glancing around, and I saw the maid and the two princes coming out of the library, they were talking with guards and the guards closed the library door.
My eyes follow them as they walked to one chamber and then closed the door. This is not why I’m here, I remind myself and I was quickly looking around, searching for the prison. And then I saw it. It was near the fence I jumped in. I saw Lucy and Bella sleeping on the floor, in the prison, shaking.
Two guards were guarding the prison and a maid brought a portion of food for them. They eat small and gave the remaining one to Lucy and Bella. But Lucy refused to eat it, and the idea that she loves dropped down from my head. The guards scolded them so many times but they didn’t eat it. And then they left them alone and walked out. I marked the face of the one that locked the door to remind myself that the key to the prison was in his hand. So he becomes my next target.
I jumped down without my shoemaking a sound and then I go back to the place I came from. I darted, passing the treasure chamber. Stopping at the library wall and then peeped to see if the guards were still smoking cigarettes. And lucky to me, they had sat down, talking. I crawled back to the flowers. And I throw them the nails that the girl gave to me, they fell flat without making a noise.
I ran to them and I saw that the guard with the key had already died. The nail work perfectly, I thought to myself. I bent down and remove the keys and then darted to the prison. Opening it.
Lucy and Bella were shaking in cold as I woke them up and they were afraid to see me.
“Ssshhh,” I said, removing the mask from my face.
“Jackson, what are you doing here,” Lucy said.
“Ssshhh,” I said, “we need to go out quickly before they caught us.”
Lucy fell before the prison and screamed. “My legs.”
“Ahh, shhh,” I whispered, looking around. Silence, no one noticed us.
“C’mon, we need to be quick,” Bella whispered to her
I carry her to my back and I looked at Bella. “Follow me to the fence.”
We ran and then I let Bella climbed a ladder and jumped first. She yelled as she landed her buttock on stony sand.
“Sorry. Get up quickly, we need to help Lucy down.” I think of what to do to get Lucy downs. And I saw another ladder near the prison gate, I ran there and quickly carry it without caring to be caught. And darted back to the fence safely, dropping the ladder to the other side as I climbed the first one, and Bella carried it and set it up on the wall.
“Ouch.” Lucy forced herself to climb the ladder up. And then Bella was rubbing her buttock as she held the ladder still, till Lucy climbed the ladder down.
I looked back and I saw a guard booming, “Who are you?”
And then, I jumped down.
The guards want to climb the ladder down but I quickly pushed it away and he hangs himself on the fence shouting to wake others up.
I carry Lucy again to my back and we darted away through the darkness.