//------------------------------// // Chapter 8, Nothing Left, Part 2 // Story: The Chronicles of Summer Rain, Vol. 9 -- Future Perfect // by shysage //------------------------------// My day started the way it normally does -- just a small bowl of Cheerios (yes they still make that), and some non-fat milk. I know it sounds bland, and it really is, but I like the taste. They are made with Oats, and I've always liked Oats even though I'm not sure why. I could eat something else for breakfast, that tastes better, I guess. From what my doctors keep telling me, if it tastes good, it is probably not very good for me. I'm still trying to lose weight... Waking up alone hurts worse though. I stopped eating and cried a little while after this thought surfaced... I really thought I had found the right man. I thought Dan took good care of me. He bought me nice clothes, and a nice house. It really felt like we were in love, even if I never felt I knew what was in his heart... Well, when I got cancer, I found out. As soon as the word inoperable was used, he was gone. He let me keep everything, until... ...But he took the only thing that really mattered, the only thing I had left. That was six months ago. It still hurts, a lot... Like I said, I cried for a while. Well, when my crying hurt me inside, I mean physical pain, I had to stop. It was either that or take another pain pill, but... I try to avoid those. I have them, but I've heard too many stories about being addicted to them until you die. I guess I have precious little 'fight' left, but enough to want to try to live normally as long as I can... And noone really knows how long that will be. I had to drop that line of thinking right away. It was way too dangerous. I finished my soggy Oat breakfast, by myself... ... I pressed a button on my wrist watch, and out popped the keyboard and display, my CV. An alarm sounded almost immediately. Hair-dresser appointment at 9:30 a.m. Well, I didn't work any more, but my curls were sagging some, and that needed attention. I like my curls. There is not much else I like these days, so... Touching a few buttons brought up the GOB schedule. Ok, so GOB is short for GoBus, someone's idea of a good name for public transportation. Evidently some extremely bright person high up in the government determined that driving cars was ecologically incorrect. But it is common knowledge he still drives his car. The rest of us got GoBus instead, and we were supposed to like that. Of course it got shortened to GOB. The bus kind of looks that way, anyway. I laughed at this. Me laughing is rare any more. But it hurt too. I stopped laughing. I could have gotten angry, again, over some condescending bureaucrat, shaking his finger at the rest of us, like we were naughty children, and telling us his way was better, even though he had absolutely no intention of doing that himself. And studies quickly proved that a sea of GOB's running constantly, actually used far more gas... Oh, nevermind... I used to get angry at all that, a lot. It just doesn't make any difference any more. Whatever. I'll bet Princess Celestia would never... Wait, what? Oops, I noticed from the clock on my CV... I could have checked the weather, but I realized from the time, that I needed to hustle to make the next GOB at the stop down the road. I guess I had cried too long, or daydreamed. Sometimes daydreaming hurts less though. I pulled on a coat, grabbed my very heavy purse, and was on my way. ... My doctors keep telling me to exercise. And I like walking. But if I walk too fast, it hurts. My answer? Whatever. I'm not going to lose sleep over that. I don't think I have much sleep left to lose. I made it to the stop on time, and the GOB ride was quiet, at least. This isn't always the case. And it hasn't been freezing cold lately either; it's Spring. Sitting through a bunch of stops, and twenty five minutes later, I got out at the salon. Of course, I could have driven a car here in less than ten minutes, and it would have actually been FUN. Again, whatever... I guess I think that a lot... I have known Marge for years; she runs the salon. She sent me down to chair 4, and told me they were breaking a new hire in on me, because I was so patient, she said. I don't know, maybe that is true. I guess I have nothing to lose... except time... At least sitting felt better, or hurt less, or... After talking with Marge a few minutes, the new girl, currently a faded red-head, walked quickly over. I have been coming here to this salon for a while, and watched the ladies that work here. It seems they change hair color monthly, so I don't know. The new girl started our time together with pleasant conversation, and we just talked trivialities for a minute, and I mentioned I just needed my curls recurled. Like I said, I like my curly hair. It just takes work to keep it that way. I told her to just ignore the lighter streak... Before even starting in on my curls, the new girl stopped abruptly and looked at me curiously. Well, she froze, and really looked at me. "Twilight..." ... I don't often run into people I know any more. I didn't recognize the smiling lady who would redo my curls until I glanced at the business license at her station. It was Fiona... ... Like I said, crying hurt, but I slowly got up, and, trying to not cry, I hugged her. Well, our hug wasn't short. Filia, Fiona's twin sister, was my charge, but I deeply loved them both. But that was long ago. Very long ago... I sat back down in the chair, and this blazing flash from the past started redoing the curls in my hair. I really wanted to take Fiona to coffee so we could talk. For now, I just slowly and carefully chose some questions. I tried to sound cheerful. It was hard. "Fiona, it has been years. How are you doing?" I asked cautiously. Fiona sighed, and answered after some thought "I... I wish I could say good, but... Life... happens... I guess..." It was quiet for a minute, then she asked calmly as she worked on my curls "You?" When I was entrusted with these two girls at the dawn of time (i.e. decades ago), I told them both I would never lie to them. I still held myself to that promise. I sighed. "As good as can be expected with inoperable cancer..." I had to fight to not cry, but Fiona quickly was crying. She said "Oh Twilight, that's terrible, I'm so sorry..." and she hugged me as I sat. We both cried together a little while, then Fiona apologized. "Fiona, thats ok, I really appreciate... Hey are you going to the reunion at the High School tonight? We could meet there and talk..." I offered. Fiona sighed. "Probably, my sister and I have no life..." Fiona broke down and cried, and she couldn't continue. I got slowly up and hugged her and we cried together a little while more. After we cried together for, well, quite a while, we both worked on calming down. Crying was hurting me, and Fiona was no doubt afraid of what Marge was thinking. "Fiona, hug your sister for me. I loved you girls so much. Please meet me at the High School tonight" I said quietly. "Ok, Twilight. This sounds fun. And we don't have much of that any more, so yes, we will come" Fiona said, still holding back tears. Fiona did an excellent job on my curls, and I told Marge that. I also explained that Fiona was an old friend, and seeing her again after so many years was amazing for both of us. I paid, even left a nice tip, and was soon heading out the door of the salon. ... Still, I had to have a discussion with myself after I left. I had made the reservations for the High School reunion for both Dan and I. I made them right before Dan had filed for divorce. I had already swore to myself that I wasn't going tonight. Besides, it would just be a huge waste of time... It was a High School Reunion... The first 10 years were about how good you looked. The next 10 years were about how great your family was. Since then, it was how much money you had, how big your yacht was, and so forth. It would soon be about if you were even alive. "I failed at all of those" I thought to myself, and had to work to not cry. Still, I wondered where these words came from... Leaving the salon, I headed towards the Pharmacy; that was my next stop, and I could easily walk there. I needed more pills. Well, my doctors said I did. What do I know. Waiting for them to make my latest chemical stew, I thought seriously about going back and just arranging coffee with the girls, instead of trying to brave the reunion. I really wanted to visit with both Filia and Fiona... I sighed... I should just go... I paid the smiling young lady for this latest brew, threw it into my huge and heavy purse along with the rest, and headed out the door. "We can just meet there and then leave" I thought to myself. When I walked out the Pharmacy door... It was raining very hard... My hair was quickly soaked... My curls were all gone... A few months ago, I would have stopped on the spot and cried for a long time. What did I do this time? "Whatever..." I found a GOB stop and waited... in the rain... I guess, I just didn't care any more. Of course, I was soaking wet when I got home. I took a nice warm shower, without worrying about my curls, because I could. Then I got into the clothes I would wear to the reunion, even though it was just lunch time. Then I stood in front of the mirror, and combed out my painfully straight hair. The lighter streak was still there. It didn't matter if I liked it or not. That is how my hair would be tonight. "Just like the old Twilight" I said to myself. Still, I noted that it had been ages since... The timer on the microwave beeped and pulled me quickly back to the present. My barely edible, low fat, low taste lunch was hot and ready to eat. Of course, I sat in the exact same spot at the kitchen table while I ate. And it tasted just about as bland as warm, wet cardboard. I heard the pitter-patter of rain against the window next to me. That was ok. It was almost calming, I don't know. ... I have had this happen before. I will get an idea, and all sorts of red lights will flash, but I will keep going... I had been fighting for months, but I gave in. I pushed the button on my wrist watch, and pulled up the display and keyboard. I checked in on Dan's Facebook page. Of course, I was immediately sorry I did... Married... Already... I took that wrist watch off, and threw it across the room. I wanted to be mad, but I knew that would accomplish nothing. I also wanted to cry buckets, but that would hurt... a lot... I just sat there, and tried to calm down. Then I realized. I had nothing left. I could only calmly await my death. My mom was so messed up... She left me with no legacy here. And everyone has always seemed to be screaming something different. I had no hope beyond the time when cancer would grow so much that my body could no longer function. All I could do was sit here calmly and wait for that. I had nothing else left. "Well, visiting with Filia and Fiona will be nice" I said quietly to myself, hoping that what I was saying was true. Well, I knew it would be... Times I had spent with Filia and her sister were amazing... That was just so long ago... My mind slowly started drifting off to these two amazing Red-head twins... I noticed the mail truck out of the corner of my eye. It had stopped raining. Getting the mail seemed to be one of the few daily traditions I had going. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this. Either would hurt. Mostly bills, of course, and a bunch of useless advertisements. I realized long ago that I should sort my mail next to the recycle bin. I ended up crying again. I realized this would soon be Dan's problem. I didn't want... I was soon sitting back at the kitchen table. I had stopped crying, and was trying to relax. After staring off into space a few minutes, I was just looking around the kitchen. So many memorable times had hap-- I did start crying again. Jim's picture was still on the wall. He was our only son. He was amazing, gifted and caring. He went out with his friends one night... Jim didn't drink, but his friends were drinking. Jim alone, never came back that night. That was over ten years ago. I still wanted to cry buckets. And now after Dan left... "This is just so unfair... My body hurts... My heart hurts... What did I do to deserve this?" I shouted all this... Dumb question... Whatever... I moved to the recliner, and tried to relax. I did nap for a while too, and actually made it back up in time. I started an oh, so nutritious, but utterly bland tasting low fat microwave dinner, then headed into the bathroom to check my hair. Still flat. Still dark Purple with a lighter streak. There was nothing I could do about that. I sat in the exact same spot at the kitchen table, and force-fed myself some nutrition. I wanted to throw it across the room too. But I guess my body needed it. A cardboard box would have been cheaper than what I paid for this, though. That's right... Soon, that wouldn't matter... It was getting dark now, but that was ok. The High School was close enough that I could walk. I didn't need to suffer through a GOB ride tonight. And if anyone attacked me, my heavy purse could do a lot of damage. Still, I thought to myself that I hadn't made it very far away from my High School... When I thought I should, I headed out the door. I had checked first, the rain had stopped, and the clouds had mostly cleared. The air was a little humid, but warm enough that I didn't really need a coat. But I did slip the strap of my boat anchor purse that rattled like pills over my shoulder. There was nothing I could do about that, either. I walked slowly. I was very scared how tonight would turn out. I really didn't even want to go. But I had said... And seeing Filia again, I really did want that... My walk took me past the now very old aluminum bleachers out next to the Soccer field. How they were still standing was beyond me. But the Soccer field was gone, replaced by a batting practice gizmo and some pen looking things. I don't care for sports, so could not make heads or tails. Still, I stopped in front of the bleachers... And began to remember... The bleacher girls... So many amaz-- Right on cue, the band fired up, and was quickly blaring loudly out the open, double wide doors of the main Gym. I didn't even bother going around the front of the School, I just walked into the Gym through those open doors. The band was really loud. "Maybe they think we all have hearing aids" I said sarcastically to myself. ... My plan was to find the registration table, give them my ticket, and get my name-tag, so everyone would be able to not care who I was. Then I would find Filia and Fiona, and we would leave. I didn't want to be in here for very long. I had walked maybe half way across the Gym; everyone was just standing around talking this early in the evening. I ended up face to face with... Dan... and his new wife... He started to introduce... I didn't even let him finish... I burst into tears (which hurt), and was quickly crying loudly... I hastily ran out the same doors I had just come in through. I think I may have bumped into a few people on the way out; I was crying hard and couldn't see well. I ran quickly out the double wide doors from the already stale air of the Gym to the calm evening air of what used to be the Soccer field outside... I cried by myself for a while. "This is just so unfair..." I thought to myself more than once. Well, crying was hurting, so I worked on calming down. After a little while, I was looking up at the night sky, billions of stars twinkling brightly. I thought that they never changed... ...since a similar night... ...that seemed so long ago... ...in a totally different world... ...watching the same stars, it seemed... ...Equestria... I had not swam into these memories very long when another woman ran out the same doors, sobbing violently... How could I ever forget that voice, even sobbing... It was Fluttershy... ...Her face was buried in her hands as she sobbed... Fluttershy didn't even know that I was maybe 20 feet further out in the grass. But I remembered her... I walked slowly over to my old friend, well maybe not slowly, then I gathered her into my arms, and I just held her. Fluttershy didn't even look up, and just sobbed louder... Of course, I was soon crying again too... It hurt, but... whatever... After maybe 5 minutes, Fluttershy's crying, our crying, slowed then stopped. Fluttershy only then looked up at me, to see who was comforting her. "Hi, Twilight... I really missed you" she said softly, and was soon weeping again. I just held her close, weeping as well. It hurt, but honestly, I just didn't care any more. First Fiona, now Fluttershy... Broken remnants of a time so long ago... when I really loved... when I could really give... Oh how I missed that... And now I had... nothing... And my time was running out... Fluttershy and I both soon calmed down, and just took what solace we could, from finding such amazing friends, after ages... Well, I know this is just uncanny, but I somehow knew we weren't alone, and I looked slowly up. Pinkie Pie was standing quietly to the side of both of us, and I only saw her as I lifted my head and looked around. As Pinkie brushed her straight hair out of her eyes, it was clear that she had been crying a lot too, already. And the reunion had not been going more than 15 minutes... Fluttershy and I both just pulled Pinkie into our hug. We were all soon weeping softly together. "Girls, I really missed you..." I said softly. I was trying to not cry buckets, because that would hurt a lot. But I really wanted to... Well, I made an accurate guess that almost 40 years of life had shattered the three of us. We just held each other tightly for a little while. For me at least, everything hurt a little less. Maybe a lot less. Pinkie started crying again after a few minutes. She was crying pretty hard, and I was concerned at first. I had unofficially 'led' these amazing girls in the dim and distant past, and I think that was coming out again. But, I guess, for the first time in many years, her Pinkie Sense was active, and Pinkie had dearly missed this part of herself, and was really crying for joy at it's return. "Twilight" Pinkie said through tears, "The others are here too..." I jumped in right away, and said without even thinking "Yeah, Filia and Fiona are supp--" ... One single thought surfaced in my head with the force of a thunderbolt... I stopped dead in my tracks and couldn't continue. I quickly burst into tears and sobbed heavily. And it hurt like mad, but I couldn't stop, not for a while... As soon as I barely could, I said the thought that had interrupted... everything... I could barely talk... Sobbing heavily, I croaked out... "Girls... Summer's Dream..." Fluttershy immediately put her hand over her mouth and said "Oh, my goodness..." Pinkie Pie thought briefly, then shouted "Yippeeee!", then said "Ouch, that hurt" Nopony needed to tell me what that meant. ... It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered. "But after you feel you are done in your world, we will be glad to welcome you home..." Decades ago, Princess Twilight said these exact words to us Equestria Girls... It was time... If the Portal was still there... We were going HOME...