Fort Morgan (48 page)

~~~~~~~~

Sitting on a swing, Sissy felt a giggle
develop in the back of her throat. She was going to fly as high as
possible today. No one was going to stop her! She pumped her short
legs and leaned back. Her long braids bounced on her chest as the
wind whipped underneath her. She looked back to see if her
babysitter had noticed how high she was flying.

“
Go, Sissy!” her
babysitter cheered.

And Sissy took off again. She pumped her
legs and pulled with her arms. It was a spectacular day. Each swing
brought her closer to the baby-blue sky and white, puffy clouds.
She hung in the air for a brief moment before descending toward the
playground’s perfect sand. She flew backwards until she could see
the gorgeous green grass that surrounded the playground. Then, she
flew up, up, up into the sky again.

At the very top of her swinging arc, Sissy
could see the horizon. The Castle lay off in the distance over
there on her right. Her brother was sitting on a picnic table with
Tink on her left. When she swung up again, she craned her neck to
see if she could see Sandy. She was so intent on making sure she
could see everyone she loved that her focus slipped.

Soon, she wasn’t swinging so high. She
slowed to a stop, and her babysitter came over.

“
I remember this place,”
Sissy said to her babysitter. The woman smiled. “What do I call
you?”

“
Hedone,” she said. “It’s
my name.”

“
Am I still Sissy?” she
asked.

“
You’ve always been
Sissy,” Hedone said. “Long before your mother met your father, long
before Denver, you were Sissy. You’ll be Sissy long
after.”

Hedone gave Sissy a soft push, and she
floated back and forth for a while.

“
I remember coming here,”
Sissy said. “With you. It’s so perfect, so beautiful. I used to ask
Sandy to come here and not to the park. We looked and looked, but
Sandy could never find this place.”

“
You’re in Olympia,”
Hedone said.

“
Why?” Sissy
said.

Hedone sighed. Sissy saw that a small infant
was tied close to her babysitter’s chest. The baby was fast asleep.
Sissy swung for a while, and her babysitter gave her gentle pushes.
Time had a different quality here. It wasn’t one moment or the
next; it was more like you’re either swinging or you’re not. Ivan
appeared at the opposite end of the swings near the hunter-green
posts. He gave Sissy a loving look and waved to her babysitter
before starting to swing at his own pace.

“
Where is the man?” Sissy
asked.

“
What man?” her babysitter
asked.

“
The man you used to meet
here,” Sissy said. “I would swing, and you would argue with that
man.”

“
You have a good memory,”
Hedone said.

“
Is he coming to yell at
you some more?” Sissy asked.

Hedone chuckled.

“
What was his problem?”
Sissy asked.

“
Actually, it was my
problem,” Hedone said. “He had done something that I found
reprehensible. I was angry with him.”

“
What?” Sissy
asked.

“
He made you love someone
you would never possibly meet,” Hedone said.

On the swings

“
Ivan,” Sissy
said.

Hedone nodded.

“
But Delphie found Ivan,”
Sissy said. “We were going to start dating! He even kissed me
twice! And it was. . . amazing!”

“
This time,” Hedone
said.

“
This time?” Sissy asked.
“Have there been others?”

“
Many, many lonely
lifetimes,” Hedone said. “I tried everything to get him to change
his mind, remove the arrow, but he refused.”

“
Arrow?” Sissy
asked.

“
My father, Eros,” Hedone
said. “He went through this dark phase where he’d create soulmate
love only in people who could never possibly meet. It was like a
game to him. Could the people find each other? Was it possible? He
loved it when two love-arrow-struck humans pined away for loves
they would never know. He thought it was hilarious.”

Hedone snorted.

“
For all I know, he still
thinks it’s funny,” Hedone said with a nod.

“
That’s not very nice,”
Sissy said.

“
He’s not very nice,”
Hedone said.

Sissy let her babysitter push her on the
swing for a while.

“
But Ivan is here now!”
Sissy said, the words bursting out of her.

Sissy stretched out her feet to stop the
swing. She was surprised to find that her legs didn’t touch the
ground. Hedone stopped the swing. Sissy tried to get off, but her
babysitter held her in place.

“
You’ll have to leave
Olympia if you get off the swing,” Hedone said.

Rage pumped through Sissy’s veins.

“
Ivan’s here now!” Sissy
yelled. “We’re going to start dating.”

Hedone nodded.

“
He loves me!” Sissy
screamed.

Hedone nodded.

“
I love him!”

Sissy kicked her legs and batted her arms,
but didn’t dare get off the swing. She looked over and Ivan was
gone. She stopped moving and sat very still.

“
What’s happening to us?”
Sissy asked.

“
I’m not sure,” Hedone
said. “Ivan’s been stabbed, and your stitches ripped when you tried
to save him. On earth, you are both dying.”

“
Oh.”

Her babysitter gave her a little push, and
Sissy started swinging again. She felt the desire to swing as high
as the swing would take her. She longed for the bright-blue sky and
the rush of air. She looked at Hedone, and her babysitter
smiled.

“
Are we waiting for the
man?” Sissy asked.

“
No,” Hedone said. “He’s
otherwise occupied.”

“
Then what are we waiting
for?” Sissy asked. “Let’s go back so Ivan and I can have our
happily ever after.”

“
I’d like that.” Hedone
gave Sissy a lovely smile.

Sissy started her ascension to the horizon.
She pumped her arms and swung her feet. She felt the sensation of
merging with the blue sky. When she looked down, she saw Hedone was
having a quiet conversation with a tall, thin woman with dark hair
and beautiful features. The woman was so gorgeous that she had to
be a Goddess. Her babysitter and the Goddess seemed to be good
friends. The woman gave Sissy a beautiful smile. When Sissy swung
backwards, she heard Hedone say:

“
But I don’t know
how!”

“
It’s not about how,” the
Goddess said.

The air filled Sissy’s ears. She turned her
head to see if she could see what her babysitter said next but
Sissy was too far away. She reached the top of the swing and began
to descend. She swung past the perfect sand, and. . .

Sissy opened her eyes to the blazing
overhead light. She closed her eyes, but the light was so bright
that her eyelids shone bright red. Her ears filled with the sound
of screaming machines. She sensed people around her — moving,
arguing, working. She opened her mouth to say something, anything,
but found her mouth covered with some kind of mask.

The machines were all silenced at the same
time. She opened her eyes. There was a feeling of palpable tension
as the people moved at lightning speed.

“
She’s back!” an
unfamiliar man’s voice near her head said. He leaned into her.
“Sissy?”

Sissy tried to speak. The man looked at
someone who nodded. The man removed a mask from her face.

“
Sissy?” a shadow with
Sandy’s voice asked. “Sissy? Can you hear me?”

“
Sandy?” Sissy
whispered.

“
I’m here.” Sandy grabbed
her hand and held it to her chest.

“
Ivan?” Sissy whispered.
“You have to tell me — how is Ivan?”

“
Who?” Sandy asked with a
little shake of her head.

Sissy felt the life flow out from her. The
machines started screaming again. A mask came over her
face. . .

. . . and Sissy was on the swings
in her four-year-old body. She felt Hedone’s hand on her back and
turned to look. Her babysitter smiled and gave her a little push.
Sissy started to swing again. She pumped her arms and swung her
legs until she felt like she was flying. She was descending toward
the sand when the beautiful Goddess appeared again.

“
That didn’t work,” Hedone
said.

“
I noticed,” the Goddess
said. “You know, she might just be. . .”

“
You saw what happened,”
Hedone said. “She won’t live without him. Not now. Not since she’s
had a chance to know him. Not since they’ve kissed.”

“
They’ve kissed?” the
Goddess asked.

Hedone nodded. The Goddess said something
else, but Sissy couldn’t hear her. She was flying too high and too
fast to catch what the women were saying now. She was descending
toward the sand again when the Goddess hugged Hedone.

“
You should have told me,”
the Goddess said as Sissy zoomed by.

“
I thought you knew,”
Hedone said.

Sissy’s heart dropped when she saw that her
babysitter was crying. Next to Sandy, her babysitter was the most
important person in Sissy’s world. Her babysitter was tough and
strong and still loving and kind. If her babysitter was upset, then
something was seriously wrong. Sissy put her feet down to stop the
swing. When she slowed, Hedone looked up at her. Sissy opened her
mouth to ask what was wrong. . .

. . .and she was in a long, dark
tunnel, floating toward the screaming health monitoring machines.
Sissy opened her eyes to the blazing overhead light. She saw
shadows moving around the overwhelming light. She closed her eyes.
She sensed people around her — moving, arguing, working.

The machines were all silenced at the same
time, but the light blazed on. As the light invaded her skull, her
eyelids shone bright red. There was a feeling of palpable tension
as the people moved around her in a silent play of light and shadow
where speed was of the essence.

“
She’s back!” a loud,
unfamiliar male voice near her head said. He leaned into her.
“Sissy? Miss Delgado?”

Sissy tried to speak. The man looked at
someone who nodded. A hand stretched out to remove a mask from her
face.

“
Sissy?” a shadow with
Sandy’s voice asked. “Sissy? Can you hear me?”

“
Sandy?” Sissy
whispered.

“
I’m here.” Sandy grabbed
her hand and held it to her chest.

“
Sandy,” Sissy
whispered.

She felt more than saw Sandy’s tears. She
tried to reach out to comfort Sandy, but the movement was too much
effort. She closed her eyes.

“
Ivan?” Sissy whispered.
“How is Ivan?”

When Sandy didn’t respond, Sissy opened her
eyes. Sandy’s eyebrows were pinched together. Sandy’s tear-reddened
eyes squinted to keep her tears from falling.

“
Tell me,” Sissy
whispered. “I have to know.”

“
I’m so sorry, Sissy,”
Sandy said. “He’s gone.”

“
Gone where?” Sissy
asked.

“
Ivan is dead,” Sandy
said. “He didn’t survive surgery.”

Sissy felt as if she’d been punched in the
gut. She tried to speak but instead spat out blood. The machines
started screaming and Sissy felt herself fading again. She lost the
strength to hold onto Sandy’s hand, and. . .

. . .Sissy was flying through the
baby blue sky again. The white, puffy clouds were so perfect that
Sissy wondered if they had been painted by a masterful artist. She
looked to the horizon to see if she could see the Castle.
Strangely, a perfect carpet of green grass stretched out from the
edge of the sand to as far as she could see.

She turned around to see if she could see
her babysitter. The Goddess and Hedone were standing next to the
hunter-green swing supports. The women were shaking their heads in
a kind of “I don’t know what to do” way. From her swing, Sissy
could tell that her babysitter was crying. Sissy wanted to stop and
ask what was going on, but her babysitter pointed for her to turn
around. Sissy loved her babysitter, so she did what she was told.
She pumped her arms and swung her feet to keep flying high.

A man appeared just as she zoomed past her
babysitter and the Goddess. It was the same man who used to yell at
her babysitter when they came here a long time ago. It was the man
her babysitter had said was her father. The man had a smug look on
his face. When she reached the top of her swinging arc, Sissy
wrenched around to look. Hedone was crying, and the man was
laughing. The Goddess looked angry. She said something, and the man
looked more pleased with himself.

Sissy heard the Goddess and the man yell at
each other in some strange language. The more angry the Goddess
became, the more scary she became. The air filled with electric
tension. But the more angry she became, the more the man laughed.
After yelling at the Goddess, the man started in on Hedone.

Sissy got mad. No matter what, her
babysitter did not deserve to be yelled at, especially by her
useless father. Sissy remembered Tink talking about what a selfish
jerk he’d been at Hedone’s mother’s house. Nodding to herself,
Sissy slowed down. She needed to stop this man from hurting her
precious babysitter.