Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 147649 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 738(@200wpm)___ 591(@250wpm)___ 492(@300wpm)
“Yes.”
“Well… are you gonna fill me in?”
I let out a long breath. “I’m stuck in the dungeon with Tomas. You’re in my tomb. And the monsters are pissed at me for accidentally using my new voice power to kill Frecks. So I’m using the hallways to get back to my tomb. But they sent me here, to this day with you. And it’s… well…”
She doesn’t laugh at me. She doesn’t call me a liar. She just stares up at me with those sky-blue eyes of hers and whispers, “It’s what, Pell?”
“Nice. To be here with you before everything that happens next, happens next. And if I had known that we had such little time together—alone, I mean. Ya know?—I’d have done more with this day. I’d have come to dinner, not gone to bed. I would’ve taken you for a walk down by the lake. Maybe looked at the stars. I would’ve listened to you.”
I can tell she’s thinking wild things. Her eyes are darting back and forth, looking into mine. She presses her lips together and stays silent.
“In a couple days, we’re going to be in love, Pie.”
A smile slowly creeps up her face. “We’re going to be in love?”
“It’s soulmate kind of shit.”
“Is it?” She giggles a little.
“It is. Because you’re gonna do amazing things, and travel to another world, and cut off my horn, and save the sanctuary.”
“Wow. I sound busy. What do you do?”
“I save you.”
Her smile falters as the full meaning of these words sinks in.
“And then, in a couple weeks, we’re gonna do it all again.”
“Huh.”
“And then we will get to this day—my day—and I will make a ring for you.” The smile is back. “And get stuck in the dungeon. And ask the hallway gods to put us back together. And they will send me to this day. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I could live this day forever. This first day with you.”
“Second, actually.”
“Yesterday doesn’t count. I was a dick.”
“Oh, my God. You so were. But where am I again?”
“In my tomb. You made a spell to walk into it.” Now it’s my turn to smile. “You’re an excellent speller.”
“Ummm, OK. Well, thanks. I did win a spelling bee once when I was eight.”
“And you know what the best part is, Pie?”
“What?”
“You say you’re ordinary, but nothing about you is ordinary. You care so much, and you’re so kind, and a good friend.”
She blushes. “Wow. I feel like I should say nice things back. But I don’t know you, Pell.”
I offer her my hand again. “No. You don’t. Not yet. But since we get this afternoon together, we could change that.”
She looks at my hand, understanding that she has to make a decision. Then she looks up at me and allows me to help her out of the Jeep, pausing for a moment to glance around at the woods. “Where are we?”
“Just a short walk away from the sanctuary.”
She lets out a long breath, like she’s giving in to what I’m offering her, then looks up at me. “You know what I never knew before?”
“Tell me.”
“How pretty Pennsylvania is. I’ve lived in this state all my life, but mostly in Philadelphia. Have you ever been there?”
“No. It’s too far away. The curse won’t allow it.”
“Well, compared to here? To these woods and all the leaves and the colors and the hills?” She sighs. “I’d rather be here than there any day.”
“You wanna hear a confession from me?”
“Sure.”
“I don’t want to break the curse.”
“What? Why? But I thought you wanted to be free?”
“I am free. We both are. We just don’t realize it.”
“Hmm.” She thinks for a moment, then says, “Then what’s the point of me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, if I’m not here to break the curse, then why am I here?”
Something changes in the air. A shimmer, maybe, or the way the sun falls through the leaves of the trees. I don’t know what happens, but something changes. The illusion is about to break and I’m not ready for this. I want a day, just a day. To love her, and laugh with her, and forget all the stupid shit that’s happening all around us in the real version of our lives.
And then I see it.
A door.
Pie notices me looking at something, and turns her head in that direction. “What is that?”
“It’s… the end of this moment. I have to leave.”
“Leave? But…” She looks at the Jeep. “How will I get home?”
“You’re not really here.”
She opens her mouth to object but no sound comes out and her body begins to fade away. A few seconds later, there is nothing left of Pie. It’s just me, and this forest, and that door.
What else can I do?
What choice do I have?
I go over to the door and walk through it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN – PIE
The fog around me morphs into the tomb maze behind the sanctuary but immediately, I know it’s not real. I know this because I see myself standing with Pell in front of his tomb.