Day One Hundred and Sixty Seven - Once Upon A Time Part 2

His brow furrowed even further. "What?"

"Do you remember that trip we took to Florida?" He nodded. "You remember that place we found by the ocean?" He nodded again. "So do I."

He looked at her face, nothing but panic racing through his brain. Nothing about this made any sense. She was speaking gibberish. An elaborate joke? It wasn't her sense of humor. And she'd never been able to keep a secret from him. What she was saying was impossible. He focused on her face, her eyes, trying to see the truth.  At first he didn't notice as the truck around him began to blur. But as the moon turned into the sun, as cornfields turned into a beach, and the truck became a white stone bench, he pulled back, his hand leaving hers as he looked around. He could hear the gentle roar of the ocean, the seagulls. He could smell the salt. "What on earth?"

"Hauke. Mind. I'm remembering, and sharing it with you."

"This isn't possible."

She shrugged, feeling the withdrawal of hand. "The details aren't important," The scene around them began to fade back into a cornfield, "All that matters is that you know when I leave, that I'm safe, that I'm..." Her eyes welled with tears, "on an adventure. And that I will always love you."

He shook his head, "No." He looked her in the eye, "No. You can't leave."

"I have to. The portal was made to function for seven years. I can feel it, Jonah, I can feel it pulling at me. It's time to go home, I have to finish what my parents started. This... this isn't my life."

"This is your life. Here. With Anne and Audrey and Temple."

"I can't stop this. The seven years is almost up. I couldn't stay if I wanted to. I'll just disappear. Anne has a story ready. Shortly after, she’ll leave. And people will assume and forget.”

He didn’t say anything. This wasn’t real. There wasn’t another world. She was sick. She needed to see a doctor. She’d get better and everything was going to be okay.

“If I’m sick then how did you see the ocean?” She asked quietly.

His head jerked up, “You can read it too?”

“No. I just know you. Jonah, what I need you to hear is goodbye.”

“No!” He shouted, surprising them both with the violence of the word.

She took his hand again, “Listen to me. I have to ask one last favor of you. I need to you help the others. I need you to help Anne, to carry on the story. They’ll listen to you, they’ll believe you.”

“Why me?” He asked, realizing that he was slowly starting to believe her. And if it was true… No. His mind blocked out that possibility, unwilling to go where it led.

“You’re my best friend.” She said, squeezing his hand. “I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I don’t know how much time I have left, I can feel it, starting to pull me back. A few days at the most. I wanted to spend them with you and Temple and Audrey. Playing cards, sitting around bonfires.”

“You want me to act like you didn’t tell me any of this? Like you didn’t make a beach appear out of nowhere? Like you’re not going to up and disappear any moment?” He hadn’t meant to shout but her closed eyes were enough to know he was hurting her.

“Would you have rather I didn’t say anything?”

“I would have never stopped looking.”

“I know. That’s why I told you.”

“And there’s nothing I can do. Nothing but wait for you to disappear? And then lie?”

She nodded, “I never anticipated this. I never thought I’d make friends, I never thought you’d come to love me, I never thought I’d come to love you. Before you there was only Saturn. I put it off. I knew you’d think I was crazy. Try and get me to a doctor. I couldn’t have them taking tests because my DNA wouldn’t… let’s just say I’m fairly sure the military would get involved.” She smiled as he stubbornly refused to crack a smile at her joke. “I will never forget you.”

“Stop it,” he said, pulling his hand from her grasp again, “Stop saying goodbye. Stop acting like this is normal. Stop acting like I’ll – like any of us will just be able to pick up and move on.”

She unbuckled her seatbelt, and slid closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him. “I’m not gone yet.” 

He buried his face in her neck. There were no tears. He just squeezed her, determined that if he didn’t let go, she couldn’t leave.