Rum and Coke

“I want you to start on your family trees as soon as you can! I know you have a little over a month, but try to get a jump start on it! Who knows what you’ll find!” Mrs. Shirley yelled as we filed out of the classroom.

“ELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIE!” Ellie’s almost-twin, Ryan, sung out at the top of his lungs as he swung his arms around her tiny shoulders.

“What did you do this time?” she asked impatiently as she crammed her head into her locker and grabbed the books that she would need later.

“Wow, what got stuck up your ass?” he asked as he crossed his arms and leaned on a nearby locker. “Look, if it’s about last night, then I don’t know what your problem is. You know that I can’t go in that theatre!”

Ellie would have responded, if not for Bailey cutting her off

“Ellie! Ryan! Wait up!” The tiny girl yelled as she struggled to get through the crowd. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry, I just found out!” Bailey wheezed out once she got close to the other two. “Will you forgive me?” she asked the taller girl timidly.

“What’s going on?” Ryan asked, his head snapping back and forth between Bailey and Ellie.

“Matt died, you idiot! Seriously, are you that insensitive? Thinking about yourself over our poor Ellie!” Bailey glared at him before turning back to face the taller girl again. “At least you have one friend that has some compassion.”

Ryan quickly looked between the two girls. “What? Is it true? Ellie?”

Ellie slammed her locker shut and quickly walked out of the building, her friends trailing behind her. She quickly out-ran them and followed the familiar path to her chosen place of solitude.

She ran to the Wall, a graffitied slab of building stones that had once belonged to a stone wall that encircled a large neighborhood full of luxurious mini-mansions. She tugged at the hemline of her grey blazer as she climbed to the tallest part of the stone structure. She crouched down once she reached the top and willed the chilly northern wind to cease. She hid her face in her arms. Her legs were pulled up to her chest.

“Ellie, we’re here to help,” her third, and final best friend told her.

Ellie looked up to see that Mark had worry in his light green eyes as he slowly climbed up to her. She recoiled at his touch.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Ellie,” he said softly, almost as if her were offended, before placing his hand back on her shoulder. “I just want to help you.”

“Then figure out a way to go back in time and stop him from enlisting.” She bit back coldly.

It was Mark’s turn to recoil. “I’m sorry.”

Rolling her eyes, Ellie looked back to see that her two other friends were waiting at the base anxiously. “Don’t be.” She said calmly as she extracted a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. “Look, I know you want to help and all, but, I just want to be alone right now, if you don’t mind.”

Mark nodded. “Okay, but come to us when you’re ready to talk, okay?” he asked.

Ellie nodded her head. “Sure.”

Mark nodded his head in confirmation before sliding down the wall and relaying the information to the other two. Ryan didn’t look too happy about the situation, but he eventually left and caught up with Bailey and Mark.

Once they were out of her line of sight, Ellie stood up and crushed her cigarette under her shoe before screaming her heart out, breaking the silent air. The scream reverberated through the thick pad of woods that she was in. It bounced off the ground, trees, and rocks. The trickling of the nearby stream calmed her down and she began to sing the saddest song that she knew.

“There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed."

Calmly, she sat back down so that her legs were dangling over one side. She leaned back on her elbows and closed her eyes, enjoying the peace and quiet that she only got out here. After two hours of doing nothing but listening to nature’s orchestra, she quietly got up and headed home.