Mental Fiction Follows Me

Syd's POV

February passed with me mostly singing to the stars at night.

March passed as Julie taught me how to knit, and my fingers will forever hold the scars of my first attempt.

April passed with me and Chase playing chess, which he had to teach me.

May passed, and I seemed to be unusually happy the entire month.

June passed as my knitting got better, and I started working on Christmas presents for everyone back home.

July passed quickly and I taught the village children how to play games like hide and seek.

August passed as I started exercising daily, just to give me something to do. The village children usually joined in.

September passed as I turned twenty-eight.

October passed with me helping Julie with the vegetables. Picking, peeling, and washing all the month long.

November arrived and I was going home.

Jimmy's POV

The months flew by, and it amazed me how fast time could pass. At one time, I had thought that time went too slow. Well, not anymore. Devin turned five on June sixth, and he started school the following August. I hated taking him on that first day, and I almost cried on the way back home. September passed too, and we all met up at Syd's grave. Ryanne and the guys made it this time, and the Escape guys returned once again. We celebrated Syd's birthday as cheerfully as possible, and more than one person cried before the night was over.

After that, all the Escape guys decided they needed a change in scenery. They've been living in California ever since. The Horizon guys left back for home, but Ryanne and Oli came back a month later. Ryanne wanted to be closer to her family, and Oli came with her. I took Devin trick-or-treating, and then we were both sick the next day from eating too much candy. October melted into November, and that's where we are now.

"Daddy, look at what I made!" Devin yelled as he climbed into the passenger side of the truck. I was letting him sit up front now, but he still had to sit in the booster seat. He was pulling something out of his bookbag, and I glanced at him from time to time as I pulled away from the school.

"What is it?" I asked as he continued to wrestle with his bookbag. He finally pulled a piece of paper free, and he had a wide smile as he showed it to me.

"We made it in class today. It's a turkey!" Devin yelled.

"It's a purple turkey," I said as I looked at it.

"This one's for Uncle Brian. I made this one for you," Devin said and showed me another piece of paper. It was a picture of the pilgrims and Indians sitting down for the very first Thanksgiving.

"I love it," I said and reached over to ruffle his hair.

"Can we put it on the fridge too?" Devin asked.

"Yep, as soon as we get home," I said and smiled at him.

"I got all stars this week, Daddy," Devin said and opened his little folder. They got stars each day if they were good, and the teacher sent home folders every Friday.

"I'm proud of you, but we'll have to go to McDonalds tomorrow. We gotta go to Uncle Matt and Aunt Nikki's today. Uncle Brian will be there, so you can give him his picture," I said and smiled over at him.

"Yay!" Devin yelled. He started putting everything back in his bookbag, except for the turkey, and then he zipped it and placed it in the floorboard. We got to Matt and Nikki's a few minutes later, and Devin ran ahead of me into the house. When I made it into the living room, Devin was sitting in Zacky's lap and holding his picture up for Brian to look at. I sat down in one of Matt's chairs and watched.

"Thanks, little dude. Do you think I should frame it?" Brian asked. Devin laughed and shook his head.

"No! You're supposed to put it on the fridge," Devin explained. He still had a bit of a baby-voice, and it made him sound adorable. About ten minutes later the whole living room was filled, and Devin was now sitting with me. I was talking to Robert when Nikki finally walked in. She fell into Matt's lap and whispered something in his ear, and he yelled for all of us to shut up.

"So, what's this big news we've been waiting for?" Ryanne asked. Matt and Nikki smiled at each other and then looked at the rest of us.

"We're going to have a baby!" Everyone immediately started yelling and clapping, including Devin. Matt stood up a few minutes later, while Nikki and the girls were all huddled together, and caught my eye. He nodded his head towards the kitchen, and I gave my head a small nod.

"Devin, why don't you go congratulate Aunt Nikki on the new baby?" I asked. Devin's face lit up, and he scrambled off my lap and ran over to Nikki. I stood up and made my way to the kitchen. Matt was sitting at the island, and he smiled at me as I walked in. I sat down next to him and tried to figure out what we were doing in here.

"Congratulations, man!" I said and clapped him on the shoulder. Matt's smile grew and he looked down at his hands.

"It was a shock at first, but now I love the idea," Matt said.

"You should! I don't know much about the baby stages, but kids are the greatest," I said. Devin was living proof of that.

"There's something I want to talk to you about though," Matt said and looked over at me.

"Is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just...Nikki...she, umm..."

"Matt, just tell me."

"If it's a girl, she wants to name her Sydney." Matt was still looking at his hands as he spoke, but he looked up when I didn't answer. Matt's eyes connected with mine, and I gave him a small smile to let him know everything was alright.

"I think that'd be great," I said and nodded my head. I felt arms wrap around me from behind, and when I looked over Nikki had her chin propped on my shoulder.

"Thank you, Jimmy," she whispered. I gave her hands a small squeeze and leaned my head against her shoulder.

"Thank you," I whispered back.

Syd's POV

"Syd, wake up," someone whispered in my ear. I desperately clung to the dream I was having and tried to ignore the voice.

"Syd, please, wake up," the same person whispered.

"Not...yet..."

"Wake up!" I jumped up at the voice and caught Chase's eyes. He had a smug smile on his face, and I sent him a small glare before looking at Julie.

"Today's the nineteenth, Syd," Julie said and smiled at me.

"The nineteenth?"

"We're going home!" Chase yelled with a wide smile. Yes, they loved what they did, but they missed home sometimes too.

"Home? I'm finally going home?" I asked and looked at their smiling faces.

"Yes, now get up! You have to get dressed and pack up all your things," Julie said. I quickly did as she said, and I changed into a pair of loose capris and a white tank top. I told Julie there was no sense in me taking any of her clothes, since I had my own back home (that is, if Brian didn't get rid of them. If he did, then I'd just buy more). So all I really had to pack was my Army uniform, which had been washed, and my giant pile of Christmas blankets.

"They should be here any minute now," Chase said as he stood at the door.

"I'm finally going home. I'm finally going home. Hi-ho the dairy-o, I'm finally going home!" I sung.

"Yep, you're finally going home," Julie said and smiled down at me.

"I know! Why don't you come with me? I'm sure everyone would love to meet you, and I bet you two would love California," I said.

"Oh, Syd, I don't know..." Julie said.

"Come on, Jules, I think it'd be fun. You always said you wanted to go to California, and we could use the vacation," Chase said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I...well...okay!" Julie said in a defeated tone. I could still see her smile though.

"You're going to love it, Julie. And I'll introduce you to my mom and Aunt Jan, and Chase can hang out with Mark and Papa Gates," I said as I smiled at them.

"Sounds wonderful," Julie said.

"Chase and Julie Fischer?" I turned my eyes to the doorway, and there was a man standing there. He was wearing a pair of tan shorts and a tan tank top.

"Yes, that's us," Chase said. The man's eyes flicked over to me, and I managed a small smile.

"And you are?" he asked.

"The name's Sydney Haner, of the United States Army," I said.

"I wasn't told to pick up any Army people," the man said.

"We found her out in the desert. Her team got blown up, and everyone thinks she's dead," Julie said. The man looked over at me again, and then he shrugged.

"I guess one more won't hurt. The name's Kyle Robertson. I'm here to take you to the airport," the man said. Julie smiled, and we started grabbing our things. Kyle helped us secure everything to the very back of the jeep, and then I climbed into the passenger seat. Chase and Julie got in the back, and then Kyle drove off.

"How long is this going to take?" I asked.

"Two days," Kyle said and looked over at me.

"Two days?"

"Yep, two days. There's extra gas under your feet." I looked down at the floorboard and saw a couple of gas cans.

"Don't worry, Syd. We'll be there in no time," Julie said and patted my shoulder. I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. Just two more days. I could make it.