Today I,book Three: Endless Cycles Chapter One 7:30 AM Friday, September 21, 2039 Justin I haven't seen Mayzie since she went to Victoria's two years ago. She went and never came back. I can't eat or even look at pancakes anymore, because they were her favorite. I made them the day she went to Victoria's, because it was her birthday. She'd be sixteen now. The work I do as a chef keeps the grief of Mayzie's situation at bay. She had a dream to be a photographer when she was little, and would pretend she took pictures of me for TIME magazine. That was before the fanalettes came. When they came four years ago, we had our weapons because we were hunting that day. They ambushed us, killing our parents. Then, it was all Mayzie and me could do to survive.We set up a camp after wandering in the forest for a week. It got lost after we strayed too far from it. Then we found the safe compound and then she got...well, I don't know what happened to her. Chapter Two 7:46AM Friday, September 21,2039 Mayzie It's the fall equinox. Victoria told me so. Anyway, two years ago, I got kidnapped by Victoria and taken to the woods, where she chained me to a tree and has interrogated me for months, years, actually. She gives me food every morning and evening. So, right now, she's poking me, trying to get me to talk. I have been so silent for two years, I am not sure my voice still works. "What do the fanalettes do?" Her voice is raspy. "Maizelle, answer me!" I see a fanalette behind her and realize it's going after me. Chapter Three 80 AM Friday, September 21, 2039 Justin I go to the restaurant down at the lobby of the safe apartments. The first order, a woman, asks for a short stack. I tell her that we no longer serve it at this restaurant and she yells at me about how this is a breakfast place without pancakes and I do something I can't explain. I grab a chair and fling it across the room. It nearly hits Mayzie and I stop short, Mayzie? She isn't here. But she flings herself at me and I react the way any rational human being would. I hug her and lift her up, my vision getting wobbly from happy, joyful tears. "Mayzie! Where've you been?" She tugs me along to the woods. "Mayzie. Stop. Come on." I see Victoria, sprawled on the ground. She points to a tree branch, stuck through Victoria's eye, slanted up into her scull. "Mayzie. No way. You did that?" I say, pointing at the stick. And then, Mayzie speaks. Two years ago I heard her voice, once filled with #life and laughter and happiness, is now worn to a thick rasp, one of an old man." Yeah, I did. To come home. To you." I fiddle my fingers and she looks at me with her bright, charismatic eyes. Suddenly, I get so angry I do something I can't explain. I pin her against a tree and ask her, " Why? Why did you leave me? All alone?Mayzie, you left me." She looks at me, and my anger melts like butter. She is crying and I can't leave her like this."Justin, I didn't want to. I was kidnapped,okay? Get it through your thick scull." Then she was gone. Chapter Four 8:40 AM Friday, September 21, 2039 Mayzie "Got it through your scull yet?" I say as Justin chases after me. I see the guards. They are the same from the first day we got here. Their names are Damian and Alicia, and they are brother and sister. "Got what through my scull?" Damian asks. I answer,"Justin here needs to get it through his scull that I was kidnapped and didn't run off for two years willingly. Okay?" I snap the last word at Justin. He asks,"Who are we? Why are we here?" Damian stares at Alicia." Fine. You- " He points at me- are Roxie and Jacob Luciata's daughter. You-" He points at Justin- "Are not her brother. You are her cousin, Sallie and Clutch Ramirez's son. You are both 15 except he" Damian motions to Justin- "is one month older. You were placed together as a brother-sister pair when Sallie, Clutch, Roxie, and Jacob were killed by Victoria. Both of you got that wiped from your memory. They made you believe that fanalettes killed them. Obviously Victoria is dead now or she-" He motions to me again-"Would not be here. Now, you don't know anything. Scram!" He shoos us off and a guy named Mr. Phillips, obviously Damian's boss- shows up. I walk to our apartment and sit down. Chapter Five 9:56AM Friday,September 21,2039 Justin Mayzie flops on her bed and I begin making pancakes for her because I'd guess she hasn't had anything good to eat in years and besides, who knows if she doesn't like them still? She gets off her bed and grabs a pair of tan hiking shorts and a pale green tank top. She walks into our small bathroom and shuts the door. I continue cooking until they are done. Then Mayzie comes out with her tank top and hiking shorts on and completely clean. She'd washed the twigs and leaves out of her hair and brushed it into a ponytail reaching her mid-back, the dirt is off her face, her legs,and her arms. She has obviously been coughing and hacking up stuff like she's doing now. I hear her talk again, her voice mostly back to normal. "I smell pancakes!" She says in a singsong voice. I smile and set the pancakes down. "How did Damian know who we were?" She asks, her voice showing a hint of seriousness, her face with a ghost of a smile. "Me. He knew because of me. He once said my pancakes had an ingredient like no other-grief and love. Both were for you, Mayzie. He already knew we weren't brother and sister, though, and he said grief like that came only from family. So he figured out who our parents were. Then he told us." Her face fell into a serious tone. "I wish I could've come back earlier. Every day, I tried. I really did. But I'm okay now so it's cool." Chapter Six 10:38 AM Friday, September 21,2039 Mayzie I love the pancakes and the chef who made them. He says,"Lets play Imagine." Imagine is a game we would play when Mama and Papa were out. In Imagine, we would make things from the four elements to use to achieve a goal. Say, build a house of wood from Earth, a well from Water and Earth, or a fireplace from Earth and Fire. "Okay, we'll play Imagine. You start." I say. He decides we'll build a bed of Earth. "Mayzie, you build a headboard and frame. I'll build a mattress, pillow, and blanket. You start." I begin by asking,"Oh, Mother of Earth, may we use your resources to create a bed so we may peacefully sleep through the night?" She "replies","Yes, Child, you may." I step up to the "Forge" and "craft"wooden framing and a headboard. I step back and Justin "creates" a woolen blanket, pillow, and mattress. We "fit them together" and study our "product." "Perfect!" Justin exclaims. "Now we can sleep peacefully through the night. It is beautifully crafted." "The blanket is beautiful with the designs. I love it. And its designer." I give him a half smile. He smiles, a grin as big as the moon. And as white. He holds me up and I touch the ceiling. He sets me down. Then a quiet knock drifts from the door. A girl from the compound named Paige is there. "Hello, Mayzie. Justin." She says in a quiet voice. Her white hair glistens. "What's up?" He says. She smiles, a small, shy smile. "May I come in?" I say,"Of course." She pulls a blade out and before my body knows what my brain is doing, my bow is loaded and pointed at her chest. She smiles. The knife nearly hits my arm. The arrow flies, hitting Paige square in the chest. She collapses, dead. I retrieve the arrow and clean it in the sink. He glances at me and says,"Mayzie, how'd you do that?" I shoot back,"Do what?" He responds,"Pull out your bow, load it, and aim it so fast?" I frown."I don't know. My brain responded to the threat faster than my body did." Chapter Seven 9:37 PM Sunday, November 23,2057 Twelve years later Justin Me and Mayzie both had children who were stubborn and quick witted. We live in the plains of Nevada, where we have small orchards and dairy ranches. Actually, I found the cure for a fanalette to turn human again.One egg, completely raw, a tablespoon of nutmeg, and a tablespoon of pure vanilla extract, mixed together completely and put in a syringe. Shoot it in any part of them,then they become human again. They don't lose any memories of who they are. We- meaning me and Mayzie- have little cabins outside of our own. Each has one bed, a rug, a fireplace with a poker, and a table and chair. Everything can be moved- except the fireplace. We each built 8 and are building more. They are for humans with no place to live. Most have a place. Anyway, our children- Mayzie's son, J.R, standing for Jonathan Ryan,and daughter, Ally, and my son, Sam- are hunting for game. Lots runs free around here. Mayzie is shooting a tree for fun. I am watching the kids trot back with arms and game bags full and laughing happily. "Hi,Papa." Says Sam. "Hey, half-pint." Mayzie retrieves her arrows and turns to the twins. "Hey,Momma! We got a deer!" I hear a female- meaning Ally's- voice say excitedly. J.R chimes in, "It was easy. She was laying by the stream. We got her and now we can have stew." These three children are the world to me. Mayzie, too. When Piper left, I was devastated. When Jake left Mayzie with twins to take care of, she trained her children to be independent, to deal with tragedy not with anger, but with peace. They were 7. My child learned from her children to be peaceful and look on the bright side of things, to see the cup as half full, not half empty. Love and happiness are branded like a scar into them all. They go out to milk the cows and I see Mayzie heading to the orchard with her pail labeled Apples and another labeled Oranges. She sees me following and sets the Oranges pail down for me since she knows I like the orange side of the orchard better. The tangy smell and the spongy dirt on my bare feet are why I like it. I pick it up and pick the fruit on the bottom first. Then I see J.R and Ally with their own pails and Sam coming after. They all pick a tree and climb. I go to the tree next to J.R and climb, picking every piece of fruit on the tree all the way to the top. Then I walk to my house and peel two, eating them. Then I make a gallon of juice and put it in our ice-tub. Then I go back out, pail empty. The sunset causes streaks across the sky and the children to walk home, pails full. Sam comes in, going to a counter top and squeezing juice into glass jars with lids on them. The top goes on and I tell him to go wash up for bed so he does. I do too then tuck him in. I go to sleep myself. THE END
Today, I: book Two: Kidnapped Chapter One 8:48 AM Tuesday, May 23, 2034 Mayzie I need to find Justin. He's been gone for two hours." Get back here, you brat!" I yell as I see him running from a fanalette as I now see. "Sorry, stupid thing!" I yell as I lock on to the fanalette. Oh, right, what is a fanalette? It's a creature that is sort of like a zombie vampire mix. It bites you and you become one through a crucial process. Anyway,my arrow punctures as Justin's dart hit the thing. He yells something inaudible at me. I make out,"Mayzie! Over here!" I run to him furiously. "You jerk!" I scream. I slap him hard. "All you had to do was walk those few yards to get water. Two hours you've been gone and that's all you had to do." He looks down, ashamed of himself, probably. "Now its about 9:30,so we should go." Justin agrees mutely as I retrieve my arrow, careful not to touch the poisioned part. Chapter Two 9:34 AM Tuesday, May 23, 2034 Justin Mayzie dunks her arrow into the river. Seeing that it is now clean, she sidles up to me and slides her arrow into her hip quiver carefully. I see her small pocketknife attached to her quiver.I step back and I feel myself getting pulled into the air like a Raggedy Ann doll that Mayzie used to play with. "Justin!"she yells. "Don't look up. The fanalettes take eye contact as aggression." Chapter Three 9:37 AM Tuesday, May 23, 2034 Mayzie Justin takes a silver-meaning unpoisoned- dart and lifts it slowly. I realize what he is making a move to do. I tell him no with hand gestures. I know he'll do it anyway so I hold my arms out to catch him so he falls into them. He does and pain in my arm blossoms instantly. He must see it because he frowns at me worriedly. "Mayzie,uh, we gotta go. Like, now. He slowly motions to the trees and I see them. Hundreds of fanalettes, waiting to attack. Chapter Four 9:58 AM Tuesday, May 23,2034 Justin My sister catches on quickly. We walk out of the woods into a clearing, where the sun blazes through. You might not think this is important. It is to me and Mayzie. Fanalettes hate bright light, therein, they hate sunlight. But I see a thing, a speck, in the distance. But as we near it, it is not a speck, it is a tower of brick and black stones, effectively placed so the fanalettes cannot climb it. Near it, a sign, a billboard, says we can come in if we identify ourselves at the west gate. What gate? Then I see it. A looming seal, 30 feet high, topped with brightly colored steel points. I walk to it,and guards who are maybe 18 or 19, point rifle barrels at us." Identify yourselves, or we will shoot." The man on the left says it. I say, "I'm Justin Luciata, and this is Mayzie, my little sister. I'm sixteen and she's fourteen." At "my little sister," Mayzie shoots a nasty glare at me. I say, "What's the building for?" Mayzie looks at the building,studying it. The woman on the right answers,"It is a safe house from the fanalettes. Go right in." Chapter Five 2:37 PM Thursday,January 14,2035 Mayzie I guess I'll explain the timeskip. It's been a few months. #life's been boring. They, meaning the people at the compound, gave me and Justin a third story room. There are three stories in the compound, so we're at the top. Our room has two beds across from the door with a dresser in the middle. We put our assigned clothes in it. On the top of the dresser is an alarm clock. On the left is a bathroom.On the right, a kitchenette, complete with a microwave, toaster, and stove oven. Anyway, I wake up and sunlight is pouring through the window by the bathroom. Justin is cooking pancakes, my favorite. I guess I should mention. Today's my birthday. The clock reads 2:39 PM. I yawn. I grab a pair of jeans and a sunset orange tee shirt. I change and brush my wavy sunlight red hair into a long curtain just under my shoulder blades. I only then realize exactly why Justin always says I'm beautiful no matter how I am. It's the truth. "Sis!" Says Justin. I walk out of the bathroom and he sets down the pancakes. "You have to meet Victoria today at four. Remember that?" It clicks in my brain. Victoria is a black haired, snappish woman who loves my expertise in weaponry and fanalettes. She wants to know all about it. Chapter Six 3:52 PM Thursday, January 14, 2035 Mayzie I walk down the hall to Victoria's room. She snaps her phone shut with a click."Hello,Maizelle Amantha Luciata. How do you do this fine afternoon?" That's bad. She knows my real name. No one knows my name but Justin, and even he calls me Mayzie. What goes through my mind next is how does she know my name? How? My question is answered in her next sentence. "The agency needs you, Mayzie. Because you are Roxie and Jacob Luciata's daughter." I respond with silence. Then Victoria hands me a drink. I don't trust it so she shoves it down my throat and instantly, I collapse to the floor. I guess it's got sedatives. I faintly recall her saying,"Good night, Maizelle."
Today I, Book One:Hey There, Roxie Chapter 1 I wake up at five. I'm not sure why. I head to bed for another hour until six when I get up for school. I dress in a tight black tee shirt and blue jeans with my grey sneakers and blue socks and grab my black EastSport backpack and a paper sack and throw in a red apple,a turkey-and-cheese sandwich, and a can of Ginger Ale. I roll up the top and put it in my backpack. I make some toast and eat it. I call into the house, "Bye,Mom!" I grab the keys to my red Hyundai Elantra. I drive from my house to Plainview High School and grab my science book and my folder and walk to class and walk in. Mrs. Clark, the teacher, and Ms. Freeman, the teacher's aid, start class. They are talking about blood types and animals. I read and listen about it. The bell rings and I grab the folder and book and head to my locker. Chapter 2 I grab my math book and the next folder and head to math class. As I expected, it's more algebra and division so I listen boredly to Mr. Lucia and pretend I'm circling answers when really I'm ahead. My best friend, Sallie Luciata,was also ahead and I see this now. I see that she is keeping her head away from me. I wonder why. I finally hear the bell ring and me and Sallie meet up. "I have something to tell you." We say at the same time. I stop talking and she continues. "I'm dating your brother..." She says. I smirk. "Me too." I say with the smirk. "Lets go before we miss the ceremony." I say. We run to the cafeteria and I sit down with Sallie. She smiles at me and looks back at the stage. Her brother, Jacob, and my brother, Clutch, walk onto the stage. They look happy but nervous up there. I smile at Clutch and Jacob. Jacob blows me a kiss and I catch it and blow him one. He catches it and I smile at Clutch and Sallie goes with it. She blows a kiss to "Jacob" and she's really blowing it to Clutch. They go on and on until Jacob and Clutch throw up their hats. We step out of the room. I pull out my keys with a pocketwatch on them. "Sallie! Come on! We'll be late!" I drag her through the halls until we reach class. We veer into the room. Chapter 3 I pull the Spanish book out. She does the same. We start off easily because this is an easy class. It's easy because Mr.Senna makes it easy. I grin at her. She smirks at me. We go back to our books. It takes me about five seconds to learn how to say "Hello. How are you? My name is Roxie Ramirez." In Spanish. Sallie has a little trouble so I help her. She masters it in about 30 minutes. Then class ends and the loud bell goes off. I remember there is gym next. I go to my gym locker and grab my uniform-a red short sleeve shirt and tan capris- and change into it. I walk to gym and find a note on the empty chair. No students were in here. I read the note that was on the chair. It read,"My dear students, I have quit to spend more time with my husband and son. I do hope you understand. Sincerely,Mrs. Verna." Chapter 4 I keep my cool but I'm really sad about my teacher leaving. I find my locker and pull my normal clothes out. I find the restroom and change. I put the gym clothes in the locker and walk to the softball field. I find my locker for softball in the dugout and pull the beautifully carved bat out and my memories of the first time I played. I was 5. I remember my father, teaching me. He was helping me hold this very same bat. "Now,swing it as hard as you can!" My mother was pitcher. She pitched the ball and I hit it. My first run was that day. I was sitting on the field on home plate with the bat in my hands as if I was about to hit the ball. The end of the bat was on the ground, though. I smile at the memory. The bell rings and I step off the plate. I put the bat away and walk to my locker. I pull out the lunch I packed this morning. I see Sallie walking past me. I catch her. "Hi,Sallie." I say. She walks ahead again. "Sallie! Wait!" She pauses and I tug her shirt again. This time she flips around and glares at me. I ask her,"What's up? Sallie, you can tell me. I'm your best friend." She faces me with embaressment in her face. "I, um, I," she says, embaressed. I catch her by the collar and flip her around. "Sallie. Tell me." I say, not demanding or anything. She gets out, "I-I-I'm pregnant." Then she flees to the lunchroom. I am shocked but happy for her. I wonder who the father is. I find her and ask her. She tells me and I wish she hadn't, for the child is my niece. Chapter 5 "Clutch. You got my best friend pregnant?! Seriously? You could have waited a few years!" I stalk out of the room and walk to the bathroom. I do a pregnancy test and it reads positive. I call Sallie to come if she can. Then I walk back to my room before I hear a knock on my window. I open the window and Sallie hoists herself in. I pull her up and she climbs up onto the bed. "So, why did you call me over?" She asks. I glance at her stomach and point at mine. She looks at me funny so I point at hers and then at mine. She smiles. "Who's the father?" She asks. I point at her and make a larger gesture with my other hand. She is smirking at me. Then her smirk disappears. She looks at me like "Seriously?!" And says, "Jacob?!" I nod and look down. "It's only fair. You did it to me." She glares at me and I smile. She says, "I don't care. You just should have told me when you found out." It's my turn to glare at her. "Sallie. Be more observant. I would have called you when I did. I just did." Chapter 6 I reach home after softball practice. I race into the den and set my bookbag down on the navy blue chair and I see something on the windowsill outside. I hear knocking on the window so I open it and Jacob climbs in followed by Sallie. Then Clutch walks through the door and we all start yelling about who knows what. Then my mom walks in. "What a beautiful brawl!" She jumps which startles us and separates us. Sallie and I start talking at the same time. "One at a time, girls!" I smirk. "Sallie." She says. "What's up, girls?" We spit out,"I'm pregnant." At the same time. I throw the door shut and lock it. "Don't your parents have a key?" Sallie says worriedly. I point at the wall and she sees the key. "I stole it years ago." I say. She laughs. "Never thought I'd need it. Apparently I do." I grab a purple Nine West purse from the chair and put a black shirt in it. I find a pair of pants and throw them in. I put a pair of socks in the bag. I motion for Sallie to go do the same as I and she goes. Chapter 7 I folllow her and put my 400 dollars in, for I work as a softball instructor and jump out after Sallie. I walk to Sallie's window and see her putting on her track shoes. She ties the light green shoes up. She grabs a backpack and puts her favorite tight red shirt and faded jeans in it. She grabs lavender socks. Then she puts her backpack in the back of her orange Hyundai Elantra and hops in it herself. I follow the move and she drives down 5th street to school and I park and run in and Sallie follows soon after me. She runs to the track and I run to the dugout of the softball field. I grab the bat and put it in with the outfit I picked for our journey. We flash hand signals and I follow her and go in front of her. Suddenly I see a scrawny, flea-riddled dog cross the road ahead. I motion and we stop suddenly but safely. I pull some fleas off of her and think about my dog who ran away a year ago. I want to keep the pup. Sallie jumps out. "What's wrong,Roxie?" She walks over,seeing me pulling the fleas off the thin, mud covered dog. Sallie starts helping me so I know we can keep him. I point down the road at the outline of a dog in neon lights. We decide to take my car and someone tows hers away. We jump into the car. I drive at 50 mph. Then I fall asleep. Chapter 8 I feel happy and catch a glimpse of white tile and a bed with a pair of shoes poking out. But they aren't any shoes. They're Sallie's. This wakes me up a little.I see Sallie and the little puppy. I get up and grab the puppy which makes the little thing wake up. I see her eyes and then see it looks like my black Lab puppy I had a year ago, but it's grown.A lot. It's a big thing now, up to my knee. I see it's fully clean and eating a bowl of chicken and other meats. It has water in it, making it look like a goopy stew. " Sallie? " I walk to the other bed and find her sleeping but safe. She rolls over in her sleep and I gently turn her over so as not to wake her. Then I wonder how we got here. I decide to ask Sallie when she wakes up. Then I look at my wristwatch and it reads 0434. My watch is twenty four hour time. That means it's four thirty -four in the morning. I make the bed- it was originally messy- one blanket, one normal pillow, one small pillow, all various shades of white. The room has a door opposite the beds and a knocked over night table in between them. It is a shade of ivory white and so are the bed frames. On our left, a small window. The right, an open door and a kitchenette ingrained in the wall. The mini-fridge is open, the freezer is off, the toaster is by the window, the blender, on the floor,the oven is by Sallie's and my own bed, the food is everywhere. Next to the door, a coat closet with lab coat hangers filling it. The coats are strewn about.Then the dog whines, waking Sallie. Chapter 9 "Morning, sleepyhead!" I say in a singsong voice. She mutters something about a stupid dog. She looks around the room and says," I knew it!" I ask her where we are and she says,"We've been taken and we're being watched. We're in Alliat, about 20 miles off the coast of Washington." Washington was our home forever. Then the dog whines again. He's finished his soup and wants more." Why were we taken?" I ask." The government is planning an apocalypse with fanalettes and we are supposed to be safe from it because we can give the world new #life, and we are going to be royalty of some kind if ever needed." I stare at her for a while before a camera twitches and stares at me and Sallie for a minute, then droops again. " What about our brothers?" I ask. "They'll be safe too. I promise." She holds out her right hand, so I shake it. Chapter 10 I check my watch. It reads 0500. Five o'clock on the dot. I make Sallie's bed and she strolls over to our kitchenette. I pick up the food, handful by handful and Sallie helps me put it in the cabinet. I walk into the bathroom for a minute and I come back. Sallie is cleaning up our place. She's plugged in the blender and toaster and is putting away our food in the two shelf cabinet. We have two cans of green beans and diced carrots, a loaf of wheat bread, and 4 bottles of water. I turn on the freezer, shut the mini-fridge which had nothing in it, and pick up the nightstand. Sallie has started heaving the oven over and I rush to her to help. Inch by inch, we scoot it into the place it is supposed to be in. I look around our new apartment and see a small gleam under the beds. I look and find two pots and a frying pan. I see three hooks above the oven and put them there. Then I get the small roll of paper towels, dampen it, and start dusting. And, last but not least, I pick up the 4 lab coats and put them in the closet. Then I fall asleep again. Sallie leaves me there and falls asleep herself. Later,I wake up, still on the floor. Sallie's figure pops into view. "You've been asleep for 5 hours. I woke up an hour ago." Sure enough, I check my watch and it's ten thirty-nine. I get up and Sallie offers a plate of toast to me. I take it and eat the two pieces. "What about these two?" I say, motioning to our stomachs. "What about them?" She says, because there's nothing left to say. I ask,"How far along are you?" She replies," 8 and a half months." I say," I'm seven and a half." Chapter 11 11 years later The children me and Sallie had 11 years ago are hunting today. Jacob and Clutch built us log cabins with separate rooms in the woods of Nebraska and we have lived there since. The fanalettes are in Iraq, fighting everyone they come across. I am cleaning our home and stoking the fire in the hearth of the stone fireplace while Sallie sits on a wooden rocking chair on her porch, knitting. I come to my daughter, Mayzie's, room, and see her bed, her desk, and the box of skins in the back. We use the animal skins for clothing and quilts of every kind. Then I go to me and Jacob's room and see our bed, the night tables, and the candles on them. I sweep in both the rooms and leave the house to sit on my own rocking chair. I stitch together Mayzie's new quilt for her bed, because the old one is threadbare and frayed. Then a blade pokes through Sallie's skin and she slumps, dead. I don't even have time to panic or get angry when Clutch is dead, too. Then Jacob appears, pale as moonlight and soon he's dead, too. Then a blade drives through my skin and I see a light. Then everything is black. THE END