Rue’s head was throbbing. Darkness shrouded her vision, heavy dust clogging her lungs. Rue tried to breathe, and choked on her own blood.
What happened?
Sunday service was proceeding as usual. Everyone gathered at the worship hall. The choir was just finishing their hymns, and Rue was preparing the pastries for lunch. Then, everything flashed white. They hadn’t even processed what happened when the ceiling beam descended upon them.
Now, all that was left of the orphanage was heaps of debris on the ground. Rue’s eyes slowly adjusted to the dark, relief and desperation flooding her as she made out two figures on the ground before her. She cried out as much as she could--her voice faint but eager. They did not move. As the dust dissipated, Rue saw them more clearly. The two little choir boys, blood all around them. Bloody pulps where their heads used to be. A shrill scream clawed its way out of Rue’s throat.
“Please help!” She wheezed. “Somebody!”
She jerked her own legs which were pinned under heavy rubble. She clawed on the ground in an effort to free herself. She was trapped. Useless.
Her pleas echoed off the walls.
“Is anyone alive?” She cried, salty tears streaming down her cheeks. Sister Marla, sister Lucy... little Olivia, Timmy, no...
“Please protect them, deity,” Rue prayed desperately. “Please protect us, and deliver us to safety.” No matter what happens, the deity always watches over us. He always answers our plights.
“Please, help us,” Rue chanted fervently. Somehow, the kind, safe, reassuring warmth she usually felt never arrived. All that answered her was barren silence.
Rue must have prayed until she passed out, because the next thing she knew, she was jerking awake, her left cheek indented with pebbles and dirt.
“Deity...” She tried again, but what came out was a croak. Her throat felt dry. She swallowed. It burned.
"Deity.... please...... save us......” How much time had passed? Seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? It was impossible to tell in the dark.
The bodies of the children still lay there, unmoving.
No matter how much Rue pleaded, no man nor deity replied. Instead, something else returned.
Something familiar.
The desperation.
The dread.
The suffocating feeling of having no where to go. No where to run. No escape from the death which was slowly closing in on her.
Her vision was dotting, her head swimming.
She was losing feeling in her limbs...
A sinister voice whispered in her ear.
“You deserve this.”
Rue shivered.
“Haven’t I always told you? Bad girls get punished.”
Her heart raced.
“Endure it...”
“I’m sorry,” Rue cried hysterically, sinking into the depth of her shattered psyche. “I understand...”
“Good girl.”
A pleasant warmth pooled in her stomach, spreading to the tips of her fingers.
The sky was blue, the flowers were blooming. His husky ran cheerfully along his side, begging for a treat even though they were still far from their destination. Gale smiled. He reached into his pocket and wrapped his fingers around the piece of jerky he’d prepared. Only one small piece, he thought, we’ll rip off a teeny tiny portion so to not spoil Junior too much.
With the jerky revealed, the dog’s tail only wagged harder. He planted his front paws onto Gale’s knees, eagerness positively radiating.
“Just a moment,” Gale chided. “Patience is a virtue.” He applied pressure, feeling the jerky bend underneath his grip but not come apart as desired. Gale lowered his head to check on his progress, only to realize he could barely see.
Somehow, the sky had gone dark.
His smile faded, replaced by puzzlement. Cold bit at his exposed legs and arms in a way that didn’t make sense. The weather was always nice in Chromos. Even when it rained, the droplets tasted sweet and snow was only an excuse for children to play outside. This...it was something different.
Darkness was chased away by a light, but it was not a warm, pleasant brightness. Blinding, intense, it came with a powerful force that pushed Gale back. He flew, shoulders colliding painfully against hard concrete over and over again as he rolled. In the end, a tree caught him with its sturdy trunk and sent him into a long, uncomfortable slumber.
When he opened his eyes again, the world was different.
He blinked, as if that would make it go away.
The sky was not engulfed in darkness, yet it was not the beautiful azure blue he was accustomed to either. It felt dimmer. Sadder.
Logic was failing, so Gale opted to focus on sensations. The throbbing pain all over his body, the debris digging into his flesh. The scent of blood in the air and the warmth of it dripping onto his palm. Junior whimpered, begging for his attention. Gale raised his eyes to see his sweet dog hobbling unsteadily towards him, a river of red accompanying him on his journey. He wanted to crawl over and meet the baby half way, but Gale could barely breathe, let alone move.
Junior, truly the stronger member of this duo, only allowed himself to collapse onto Gale’s chest after walking his last step. He made a little noise of contentment in his throat when Gale put a shaky hand over his head - the kind he used to make as a puppy whenever Gale allowed him to sleep at the foot of the bed and provided belly rubs with both hands.
“Come here, Junior.” Gale found his voice. Reality was crashing down and his heart felt like it was being weighed down by dozens of rocks. “Let’s take a nap, yeah?” He said to his doggo as he wrapped his arms around his best buddy of fifteen years. “You are a good boy, you know that? The best boy.” Tears were flowing by the time he buried his face against Junior’s fur. “Everything will be alright.”
