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Called
The
stars fell in a silver rain, leaving sparkling trails that quickly faded from
the night sky. Brooke sighed happily as she lay on a picnic blanket in her
backyard, watching the meteor shower. All
around her, peaceful silence reigned, undisturbed by the rustle of a breeze or
the rumble of a car engine.
“Perfect
ending to an amazing day, huh?” Alex asked as the last of the meteors faded
away.
Brooke
glanced at her best friend and grinned. “Definitely. Though . . .” She looked
back up at the sky. “Maybe I’m crazy, but I feel like something even more
special’s going to happen before tomorrow gets here.”
Alex
peered at his watch. “Well, if it’s going to happen, it better happen soon.
We’ve only got about fifteen minutes left in the day.” He paused. “We didn’t
forget to do something today, did we?”
Brooke
shook her head. “Nope. It was the best sixteenth birthday I could want,
especially since you came over.”
Alex
grinned. “Good.” He reached for the soda can sitting by the blanket and frowned
when he picked it up. “Empty. I’m going to go get another drink. You want
anything, Brooke?”
Brooke
nodded. “If you can find any more cream sodas, I’d like one of those. If not,
just my water bottle from the fridge, please.”
“I’m
on it.” Alex stood and walked over towards the house. He pulled open the door
and stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.
Once
he was gone, Brooke turned her gaze back up to the star-filled sky. A bit of
movement caught the corner of her eye, and she looked to see one last shooting
star arcing across the sky. This one appeared bigger and lower than the others,
and it almost seemed to be coming towards her. Then it faded from sight, just
as the others had.
Suddenly,
there came a noise from behind her that was both musical and mechanical at
once, followed by the sound of something heavy settling onto the ground. Brooke
sat up and turned to see what had made the sound. She gasped. At the edge of the yard, a large, torpedo-shaped
capsule had appeared. Its surface looked as smooth and polished as silver, and
seemed to glow with the same light as the stars. There was a single
porthole-style window set into it at about head height, but all she could see
through it was a warm, comfortable golden glow.
She
stood and approached the thing curiously, but cautiously. When she was less
than a foot away and nothing jumped out at her, she reached out a hand to feel
its surface. Just before her fingers touched it, however, a line appeared in
its side and extended to trace out the shape of a door. Brooke stepped back as
the door swung open and revealed a golden-haired man standing in the doorway.
The
man looked her over and smiled. “Hello, Brooke. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Brooke’s
eyes widened. “You have?” She felt as if she should be frightened, but she
wasn’t. Just curious and cautious. “Why?”
The
man’s eyes sparkled. They were honest, ancient eyes, though the man himself
looked quite young, and gave Brooke the feeling that this man could not lie at
all, even if he wanted to. “Because I have chosen to Call you, but you have not
been ready until tonight.” He held out a hand. “Will you answer?”
Brooke
hesitated, looking from the man’s face to his outstretched hand. “Calling me
for what?”
“To
come with me, of course.” The man seemed genuinely surprised by the question.
“To travel with me in my ship. There are hundreds of adventures to be had,
Brooke, hundreds of wrongs to be righted, and I can’t do it alone.”
Is this it? Is this the special something I
thought would happen? Brooke felt it had to be, but she didn’t say yes.
“But who are you?”
“I
am a Guardian,” he replied, simply, “a protector of Good and a wanderer of the
worlds. Surely your mother has told you something of my kind; she knew us well
enough at one time.”
A Guardian. Brooke remembered her mother
mentioning them once or twice, though never in any great detail. All she’d ever
said when Brooke asked for more information was that “saying yes to one will
break your heart eventually, but it’ll be worth it. It’s always worth it. And
if you say yes and break your heart, it’ll be healed again before long.”
Brooke
had never known her mother to steer her wrong. Still, she didn’t say yes. “What
about my parents? What about Alex?” What
about everything here?
“Your
parents will understand,” the Guardian replied. “I have spoken with them, asked
their permission to Call you, and they gave it. As for your friend, you will
have to say goodbye to him for now, but if all goes well, you will see him
again.” He paused. “Brooke, understand this. If you come with me, I cannot
promise you that you will not face danger and hardship. Just the opposite, in
fact; I am certain you will. But I can promise you that I will do my very best
to protect you through it all, and that whatever happens, it will not be
without a reason.”
Brooke
bit her lip. Is it worth it? She
didn’t want to leave Alex. She didn’t want to leave her safe, comfortable home.
But at the same time, she wanted to say yes to the Guardian. She wanted to go
with him, have adventures, find out how her mother knew about the Guardians and
why she said that saying yes to one would always be worth it. What do people say? Nothing good is easy?
And I guess you can’t really have adventures without facing danger too.
Only Alex remained to hold her back now. “Couldn’t Alex come too?”
The
Guardian shook his head. “No. Not yet, at least. Perhaps one day he will be
ready to be Called, but not today.” He looked steadily into her eyes. “You are
ready, Brooke, and I have Called you. Will you answer?”
Brooke
took a deep breath. She looked back at her house, back to Alex and her family
and all she’d ever known. Then she looked at the Guardian and his ship, into
his kind, honest, ancient eyes. She looked back at the house once more. Then
she made her choice and took a step.
~~~~~~~
It
took Alex longer than he’d hoped, but he’d finally managed to find a cream soda
for Brooke. Carrying her soda and a Coke for himself, he pushed the back door
open and started to step out into the backyard, but stopped short. In the far
corner of the yard, he could see Brooke being helped into a silver torpedo-like
thing by a strange, golden-haired man. He dashed out, dropping the sodas in his
panic. “Brooke, no!”
He
was too late. She glanced back for a minute from the doorway and gave him a
smile and a wave before stepping all the way inside. Then the strange man
nodded to Alex, walked in after her, and shut the door behind them both. There
was a hint of a rumble and a musical sound, and the silvery glow around the
craft intensified near the ground. The thing began to lift into the sky,
leaving a trail of light like stardust and moonshine. Alex could do nothing but
watch as it rose above the trees and up into the sky until finally it looked
like nothing more than another shooting star.
Only
when it was lost to view did Alex lower his head and notice a faintly glowing
sheet of paper on the ground. He walked over and picked it up, and for a
moment, he thought he heard Brooke’s laugh; saw her eager face staring out an
immense window at the stars. Then laugh and image both faded and all he saw was
the letter, written in Brooke’s familiar, curly handwriting.
Dear Alex,
I’m sorry I
couldn’t stay. I’ve been Called. I could’ve said no, but I think I would’ve
regretted it if I had. I’ll miss you so much, and I hope that you’ll be Called
too so we can have adventures together. If you aren’t, I’ll see when I get
back. Until then, keep me in your heart and I’ll keep you in mine. Your best
friend,
Brooke
Alex
stared at the letter for a moment, despair slowly crushing the faint hope that
had risen in his heart. Then the paper began to slowly disappear from his hand.
He watched sadly as it faded away until it was all gone, just like Brooke.
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Wow! that was awesome... A bit of a leap having brook go with the guy but still! I can tell there's tons of meaning in it for you. Now you just need to write one were Alex gets called and call it "speed of love" XD
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