Chapter Two - The Girl Who Never Saw the Sun

[Language Warning] Chapter two of my book "One Way Out." You do not have my permission to use my work, so please do not use it. Thank you.

Chapter Two

The Girl Who Never Saw the Sun

Standing up for a long period of time can get you to feel… well… numb. The same thing happens when you sit down for a while.

I shuffled around on my old-blue-man-chin-seat, trying to wake my legs up. Sam didn’t pay any attention to the shuffling. He probably understood why I was uncomfortable, but since he was a driver, he’d gotten used to it.

It had stopped raining outside, but the skies were darker than ever. Even the birds were afraid to sing. It kind of felt like we were going through a ghost town, but we couldn’t be, because we were far away from any buildings.

It was just the shadows, the bus, and the road ahead of us. Damn, am I that bored? I even started to rhyme.

“Where’s my time-lapse report, Sammy-boy?” Now I felt drunk. Geez, why didn’t I bring a Gameboy or something?

Sam didn’t seem to notice my lack of sanity. “Three hours in. Looks like it’s gonna come up a storm, too.”

I clapped and sighed at the same time. Showing emotions for a good thing and a bad thing at the same time was pretty challenging. That clap-sigh was just an accident.

Probably just an outcome of my boredom. “Sam, I think we need to talk before I stick my head out the window like a dog.”

He laughed. “No, no! I wanna see you do it!”

“Keep your eyes on the road, master driver!”

“I don’t have to look out for any other cars. I’d bet you five bucks that we’re the only ones driving today.”

“Meh.”

“Is that a deal?”

“Sometimes, I hate you.” I opened the window up and stuck my head out. “Whoooo!”

Sam burst out laughing again. He had trouble keeping the bus on the right lane.

The vehicle swiveled, and I hit my head on the top of the window. I retreated back to my seat and rubbed my new bruise.

“You’re crazy, TB.”

“Why, thank you.”

Silence again. I guess that’s just a new way of communicating. A small conversation, and a large pause.

I looked at the miniature grandfather clock that was on top of all my luggage. It looked like one of those old clocks, but it was nowhere close to its true size. You could hold it in one hand.

Six thirty seven at night. I suddenly thought of something.

“Sam?”

“Yep?”

“Are you going to stop the bus when you need to rest?”

“Well... I want to get you to Texas as soon as possible. I’ll stop the bus when I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. Sound like a deal?”

“Just don’t kill anybody when you’re sleep-driving.”

“Hey, I’m no murderer, you rich thief.”

I smirked. What a nut.

The bumping eventually stopped, which ironically made my stomach feel even worse. I pressed my head against the window. That was obviously a mistake.

Though most of the rubble was gone, the bus rattled, and the window thumped my forehead like a kangaroo would. “Gah... s**t.” I pulled my head back and rubbed it.

“Yeah, probably should’ve warned you about that,” Sam called. He didn’t even have to look up to know what had happened.

“Nah, I should know better. Same thing happened when I was in elementary school.”

Yeah, I remember that clearly, too. Even as a young girl, I was always sluggish. I’d put my head on the window and come home with it purple. It’s as if the universe was saying, ‘you can’t rest until you are home, where you are safe.’

Weird, I know, but it’s just my way of thinking. After I got enrolled into a middle school, I had to be driven to it every day. The only comfort I had was a crooked seat-belt that left my neck sore.

Honestly, I missed the rattle of the old buses. I’m glad I chose to ride a bus out of here. My gaze landed on Sam, and I smiled. Really glad.

Out of nowhere, he spoke. “You’ve heard some of my thoughts, TB.” I jumped a little at the sound of his voice. “Can you share some of your thoughts with me?”

“Um… I guess.”

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Gonna talk to me?”

“I am.”

“This doesn’t necessarily count as communicating.”

“Good observation.”

“Well?”

I sighed. “I don’t know what you’re wanting to hear.”

“Tell me anything. You got a theory or something?”

“How did you know I was a theorist?”

Sam glanced up at the mirror, his eyes not exactly on me, but still seeing at me. “You look at things in a different way than anyone else would. Who wouldn’t take advantage of that kind of thinking?”

I blinked. Damn, this guy was good.

“So, about that theory?”

I nodded. “I have a few, yes. Which would you like to hear?”

“All of them. We’ve got nothing but time, kid.”

“Hmm… I’ll start off with my theory about oblivion, then.”

“Oh. That’s the best kind. Very complex…”

“I have to warn you about my work. I don’t use honest facts in any of my theories. I use my personal opinion, for my thoughts about a particular subject is stronger than any fact out there.”

Sam grinned and shook his head. “See? There it is. Your mind is extraordinary.”

I shrugged a little. “Eh. I’ve gotten used to it, so I guess it doesn’t seem so special to me.”

The bus fell silent again. He wanted me to speak.

I took a breath. I didn’t publish my theories yet, so by willing to share it with people, I am willing to risk them being stolen. I trusted Sam, though.

“The end is something we can not avoid. We don’t have the power to stop our fate. Even if we happen to dodge the death of our sun, our race will never proceed for eternity.

“We knew this for a fact, and so our species became advanced. We wanted to make a huge mark on history so it would be worth losing. Time has no end and no beginning, but our history is a story, and all stories must come to an end.

“I used to know a kid who always ripped the last page out of books so he could avoid seeing the end of it. I never really understood why he thought it meant he was dodging the end. He was simply creating a new end for the book… he was cutting it short.

“He’s proving why we humans wanted to advance and make a large impact on our history. We don’t want our story to be cut short before the end, so we have to make it good enough so that the universe will read it until the very last word - the very last human.

“My friend was incomplete, though. He had no true ending, just like all of the books he’s read. His story was cut short. I found that to be interesting and worthwhile, so I tried to come closer to him and learn about his story - but that ended up hurting both of us.

“Anyway, he didn’t tell me this, but I could see it. I could read the words that were tattooed on his blue veins, and I could see it… he’s seen an ending before. He didn’t want to see another one, so instead, he cut the end short.

“Yeah, we will eventually come to an end, and you can’t avoid that. Maybe we will end in a terrible way… but that’s better than being cut short and not having a true end. He just doesn’t know it. He doesn’t know that the end is the same thing as a beginning.”

Sam shook his head again, his mouth peeped open. It took him a few minutes before he could say, “Damn.”

“It took me a while to memorize. Sorry about that..”

“No, no. It was amazing.”

I blinked. “You really think so?”

“Tell me another theory.”

I nodded. “Alright,” I said when I finally found a good one.

“This one is about the truth. If honesty has the same definition for truth, then that is not the truth - and there is no such thing as a definition, or truth itself. Everyone has their own definition for everything, even truth.

“Therefore, there is no true definition for any word. These words that we speak don’t have a meaning. They don’t exist without our voices.

“When people say, ‘I speak the truth,’ they are speaking their own language, and the word ‘truth’ means something different to them than it does to you.

“There is no such thing as honesty. There is no such thing as the truth. There is no such thing as a definition.

“All of this is just the makings of humankind, and since we will one day perish, so will the truth about our words.”

Sam nodded. I couldn’t tell if he was agreeing or just listening. “Could you give me an example?”

I shrugged. “Sure. A girl is told that fairy tales aren’t real, but unless she tries to live her life like a fairy tale, then her parents are right. If you want something, you have to make it yours. Only then will it be truthful.”

“So you’re saying magic can be real?”

“Magic is only real to those who believe in it.”

“And nothing exists?”

“Not unless you believe it exists.”

He nodded again, a slight smile forming on his lips. “What, you still don’t believe your mind is amazing?”

I grinned back. “I don’t believe it.”

Sam shook his head. “You might not believe it, but I do. You’re amazing, TB. You really are.”

“That’s your own definition of the truth, but I have a different definition. I’m afraid I do not agree with you in this matter.”

Again, the bus fell silent, but it wasn’t for long. I guess Sam just needed to think about a response for a little bit.

“Could you tell me a story every now and then? Every hour or so?”

I blinked. “A story?”

“Yes, a story,” Sam said, glancing up at the mirror to see me.

“Any kind?”

“Any kind.”

“Every hour?”

“Starting at seven, yeah.”

I glanced back at the clock. Five minutes ‘til. “Alright, then. I’ll tell you a story every hour.”

Sam smiled that drunken smile of his. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. Wait, how did you know I was-”

“An author?”

My mouth dropped.

“Well,” he said, rubbing his chin with one hand - which should be on the wheel. “There are many uses for an excellent brain like yours, miss.”

“You sound like a mad scientist or something.”

“That would be a good book, wouldn’t it?” He winked at the mirror.

I wanted to shiver, but I knew it was all friendly. He was teasing. Still, having an old guy wink at you when you’re all alone with him in the middle of nowhere sends chills down your spine.

“Just needs a plot twist.”

“Heh, better think of one fast. You got three minutes.”

“And I assume you also knew that I work harder under pressure?”

“Maybe.”

“Seriously. You scare me sometimes.”

Sam shrugged, putting his hand back on the wheel. “It’s just my way of living, TB.”

This guy was killing me with that brain of his. Not many people thought so hard about things, and I was lucky to come across one that would drive me to Texas… for free, at that.

The clock chimed. Sam tapped his fingers on the wheel. “Once upon a time...”

I grinned. “There was a rich thief, and a mad scientist. They had a weird partnership. They drove around the cities of depression, trying to find a cure for the pandemic that the government cast upon its own people.

“The scientist saw amazing things in the thief, and wanted to learn everything he could about her. The thief, however, only wanted to go to a place she could call home.

“They traveled in an abusive bus, which bruised their faces with its rattling oldness. The thief had stolen nothing but words, and had turned them into her own… but the scientist was extremely observant. He was so observant that he seemed crazy to others, but not to the thief.

“To the thief, he was brilliant. He was this generation’s Galileo.” Sam smiled at that compliment. I continued the story.

“On their way to the thief’s future home, the skies fell upon their vehicle and sang a song about the truth of the end. The sky sang silently, but the two could still hear the song as clear as day.

“In the end, the sky said that the thief would steal the sun and bring it to the scientist, for that was all he wanted to see. The heat and beauty was too immense for their world of mistakes, and the sun exploded with the depression that it had caught from our people.

“They disappeared into nothing… but their story is still alive. The end.”

Sam shook his head again. “You thought of all that just now?”

I shrugged. “Yeah..”

“You’re amazing, TB. You better believe it.”

“That is not my definition of truth. Please speak in a language I can understand.”

He looked at me, grinning. “You taught me how to sing the songs of the fallen skies. In return, I will take you home, and the sun will shine brightly on you and your love.”

I blinked. I understood what he was getting at now, but… “How did you-”

“It’s just my way of living. Tell him I said hi when you get there.”

“But you’re coming with me.”

“I’m not going to take the sunlight away from you, TB. That’s all yours. I had my time to shine.”

“Don’t you want to see the sun?”

“More than ever.”

“Then come with me.”

He shook his head. “I want to see the sun, TB. But I don’t want to see the only beauty left in this world without Lydia. You still have your love. Enjoy the sunshine while you can.”

I was almost crying. “Please, you have to see the sun. I promise everything will be okay.”

“I can’t bear a world without my Lydia.”

“You can still see the sun.”

“Not without her. She never got to see it, and I won’t look at it until she gets the chance to. I can’t live a good life without her. I refuse to.”

Author's Note

If you see a mistake (misspelled words, incorrect grammar, etc), then please tell me. However, I am only a beginner, so please don't ask too much of me if there is something you don't particularly like. ^^"

Reviews

[A Scribbler Named Bek]

Well you totally delivered. Give me a second to figure out how to shut my mouth....there we go. So a few things:
First of all, LOVED IT. But you knew that. Aren't you a psychic or something or am I getting you mixed up with someone else? If you tell me will you have to kill me?
Secondly, I'm not into all the swearing, but I get that sometimes people use it to express feelings that are otherwise impossible to express. Personally, I like to make up my own swear words, especially because then no one can get offended at you calling them a flittering jam rag. So just opinion. I don't know, maybe your attached to the swear words. Maybe they're like children who can't survive on their own and they need to you keep them alive. So I won't comment on them again. At any rate, thanks for posting a language warning. It was really hard to read with my hands over my eyes but I'll keep trying.
Thirdly: I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Sam. At moments I get the feeling that he's a kindred spirit, another bright beam of imagination in TPB's otherwise dark and lonely world. But occasionally there's a moment when TPB's feelings make him seem almost sinister, like when she comments on his winking. But then towards the end she wants him to go with her. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like these two things don't match up. Either he creeps her out or he doesn't. If she's still wary of him why would she be so empathetic? I like the guessing; it keeps me on my toes ;)
Fourthly: Just kidding. I don't have a fourth point to talk about. I've exhausted my talking chords, which some people said I could never do. IN YOUR FACE PEOPLE!!! IN YOUR FACE!!!!!
Keep it coming :D I'm ready for more!!!!!

[iNSOMniAC]

Thanks for reviewing it. ^-^
I'm not completely addicted to using swearing in my work, but it's the beginning of the world's downfall in the book, so I thought that everyone would have a little edge sometimes.

[Meat of Dog]

I’m getting pretty used to, and enjoying the banter between TPB and Sam. I hope they stay together when she reached Texas (she seems to occupy a lonely spot in her, and the lack of other characters makes it feel like a very lonely atmosphere). I liked TPB’s definition of ‘truth’ and that everyone has a separate reality or definition of truth in their own perception. That is a very progressive thought or theory. Sam’s plight with Lydia got me. I really hope he can find resolution with it. I felt for TPB in this situation. I understand that feeling though, being blinded from opportunity by love and loss. Powerful stuff. Keep up the good work.


Suggestions:
“a gameboy or” Capitalize ‘Gameboy’ (brand name).
“Well.. I want to get” Need one more period to complete the ellipsis.
“from it everyday” Every day.

[iNSOMniAC]

Thanks again! I'll be sure to take a look at your work, too. Your support is another reason why I continue writing.

[Meat of Dog]

Of course! That's what I love about this site, it has a good format for reading other people's work, kind of like the Deviantart of writing.