Memories

[05.01.01] » by J. H. Fee

There are people pointing at me, from down on the street. I can’t really blame them, I mean, here I am, perched on the edge of a roof some ten or so stories up, feet curled up under the ledge, wind blowing through that sandy-colored hair Kara loves running her hands through. She tells me it’s relaxing.

Maybe it is. Her hair’s all wrong for that, all black and straight, just tumbles from my fingers. Ah well…

Kara…

She can’t remember. Well, not everything. Not like I can. And the others, none of them remember either. Blue haired Lily, or Neil with that green cloak he still wears, even though no one is even sure what it is anymore. Not in this world of television and designer clothes and simulated music.

Everyone agrees I should try to get a “deal” for my playing. Apparently I could join a band with this flute of mine, though who’d want flute music today? Everything’s much too loud for flute music to matter.

There’s a policeman waving to me. I wave back, smiling, assure him nothing is wrong. I just like being high up, watching the world go by. Before the change, before the buildings and the cars and the electricity, I could have jumped from a height like this and been fine.

Kara wont let me try now. I suppose it’s for the best.

Still, what a sight to see! I can still remember jumping from the crow’s nest of the gold-ship, before Kara and I got shipwrecked. What a thrill! Freefalling through the sky, the rush of air, the ground coming up at me, that thud as I hit the ground, braced myself, and stood up. The startled looks of the Inca guards when I grinned at them.

They’re all gone now, of course. A product of the other world no one remembers.

No one but me.

The dark space is still here, on this world, just like the old one, but Gaia wont answer me, and Freedom stays as dead as…well, as the statue he is now, I guess. It’s sad, really. Trapped forever in that stone.

The people are killing Gaia, I think. Now that the threats are gone, the monsters and the comet, they swarm the earth like rats, taking everything, consuming everything. Maybe that’s why she wont answer. Maybe Gaia is angry; maybe she blames me for the change. At least when the comet was around she was fairly safe, even if the people on her weren’t.

I sure as hell blame me.

I almost wish I hadn’t won that battle. Kara and I saw the world change, standing on the moon, protected and secure. We saw the kingdoms fade, the forests, the Tower, the towns. Our home was gone, and in it’s place, was “Civilization” and all it’s glory.

Who needs it?

Gaia said I wouldn’t remember, that I’d live a new life. Kara and I would find each other, of course, that was inevitable, but we shouldn’t have remembered!

The people are pointing again. Oh, I’m standing. I hadn’t realized I’d stood up. Must’ve been when I was thinking about the moon. I wave down to them again and smile, then hop backwards onto the roof, out of sight. That should calm them down.

No jumping today. Kara would be waiting at school, with the others. We’re going to go see a movie.

No jumping today.