To Infinity and Beyond!

“Come on, Becca… It’s time to wake up!" Terrence jumped onto the bed, slightly jostling me yet not enough to make me feel like getting up. I groaned and pulled myself into the fetal position, grimacing at the cold that kissed my skin as Terrence lifted the blanket.

Terrence was my best friend, as he had been for as long as I could remember, and my solo confidant in most cases. I was a young seventeen year old girl with five younger siblings, and my parents had much more important things to do than deal with me - the eldest. We were partners in everything that we did; most people thought that there was more to the story than a guy and a girl being best friends, but it wasn't true. I loved Terrence, but not in a way that foreshadowed marriage - not in that way at all.

We lived in a strange little land where my marriage was long overdue at seventeen years old. It was accustomed to marry young; the younger you married, the more chances you had of keeping the good magic alive - because everyone knew that that was a dying fad. The good magic that had once led the land was being depleted by the sources of the evil magic. This was, of course, always the case when you deal with magic, but it was much stronger than before. There was something that was feeding it, and it seemed as if my world was failing to halt it.

"We have to hunt, Becca," Terrence whined, placing a kiss on my cheek before grabbing my sides to tickle me. "You have five starving little siblings who are going to put you in the oven if you don't bring them something to eat!"

"Fine!" I giggled. "I'm up! I'm up! Are you happy now?"

"Yes," he pecked me on the nose, "you know it's always better when I get to see those beautiful brown eyes of yours." We bantered like this all of the time; to bystanders, it usually sounded like a suitor teasing his fair maiden, but I always knew better. There was an unspoken mutual agreement between us that had promised no more than friendly kisses on the cheek and playful banter.

It wasn't like it would've worked anyway. It was the parents who decided the person which they would promise their children to marry, and my parents strictly hated Terrence. They only allowed him in the house because he encouraged me to hunt with him and helped me put food on the table. With the whole marriage thing, I wasn't quite sure when my parents were getting around to finding a worthy suitor - for I certainly hated others staring down my nose for not having a boy to escort me everywhere. Maybe they had simply forgotten or didn't care, but I couldn't say I minded. As for Terrence, who was a year my senior, he was supposedly engaged to some blonde that lived not far from our houses, though he had chosen to not tell me much about her. As we often passed her house on the trail to our hunting destination, he would often stop and stare for quite a few minutes at the house. (I would have to stop as well, for it was dangerous to be roaming these woods alone - they supposedly harvested the most evil magic of all.) He stared with such an expression that he masked all emotion from me; so far, he had remained tight-lipped about his upcoming marriage and I still wasn't sure if he had any feelings for her whatsoever.

Terrence pulled me out of the warmth of my bed and exited the room so I could get ready to go. My clothes were from no designer and were way past the point of "worn out." We had no large supermarkets or industries, so all of our belongings were homespun. That was usually the woman's job; in fact, hunting for a girl was often frowned upon - for that was "man's work" - but my parents had started to overlook that little detail as soon as I had bringing home large game for a house that was struggling to feed all eight mouths. Still, I was forced to learn the basics of stitching and sewing, and the usual magical finishing touch, to be a good housewife, which made me fear that they were indeed finding someone worthy.

I dressed quickly, layering worn-out layer after worn-out layer to stay warm from the snow that was on the ground. We were likely to be gone for long hours of the day, and Terrence didn't like it when I complained about being cold.

"You finally ready?" He asked through gritted teeth when I finally descended the stairs, looking slightly dazed as three of my Terrence-adoring siblings piled themselves on top of him.

“Sure,” I replied, gathering my bow. Really, I wouldn’t use that as often as it seemed. More commonly, we employed the little magic that we each could conjure and found more success in that.

Then we headed out into the cold, bow in tow and three little girls calling goodbyes to Terrence.

“It’s awfully cold today.” Saripha, the old maid who lived next door, remarked as we walked by. Terrence grabbed my wrist and pulled me ahead as I stopped suddenly with fascination. Rumor was that she was from a parallel universe to our land and had ended up here using some magic that was apparently unknown to the public; she fell in love and chose to stay here. Supposedly she wasn’t the only one that had done so – moving back and forth – but she was the first to stay in a land that wasn’t her own.

~~~

“That old bitty…” Terrence started as soon as we were deep enough into the forest to be out of earshot. “She’s crazy you know. Travelling through worlds: just plain craziness.”

“I don’t know Terrence.” I replied. “Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

“Yeah, sure Beck.” He showed his disapproval for any explanation like that.

~~~

We continued in a silence – a comfortable one. We fell into step together and walked along in confidence to our favorite hunting hotspot.