Young Writers Society

James let out a deep sigh and shifted his weight from one hip to the other to give his weak leg a break.

"Of all people, though," he muttered, before realizing how that could sound. "I mean - me. Of all people for it - I don't know what to call it - magic - to lead you to. I'm really not the greatest, the safest, or even the most helpful choice. It's not like I know how to get you back..."

His sentence trailed off, as he re-read the message, in his head.


That... as almost cheesy as that sounded, he wondered if it was that simple.

And then it hit him, differently than it had before.

Saying goodbye to her was inevitable. He'd said it himself. But it was more than just parting ways - she'd be going back to an entirely different world, with different magic, and a different history. Completely and impossibly unreachable, once she was gone. But maybe it was better that way.

"I don't know either," Evaline replied, trailing off before giving James a stern look.

"But I disagree with what you said. You've helped me since the beginning. You've showed me kindness I haven't seen in years and you didn't even know me. I could have been someone trying to hunt you down, for all you knew! I'd have been so lost without you, and you let me travel with you even though I probably slow you down. You shared your food, water, supplies, clothes, and money with me, and I don't even have anything to give you back. I don't know how you let me come this far. I don't know if anyone else would have let me come this far. This is the most obvious example to fate if I've ever seen one."

She stopped before she got too ahead with her rapid words, realizing at this point that her voice level had steadily increased to a yell.

"Anyways, um..." she said, more quietly this time. She looked off in the distance, already starting to regret her embarrassing words. "I think that just about sums up the note."

James felt like his mind entered a slow-moving sludge for a moment. Fate was a word he still didn't know if he was comfortable using, but this situation seemed to call for it, even if it probably wasn't for the reasons Evaline was saying. James wasn't the only person in Nye ever who would've helped her.

Right? Right.

He was glad for Evaline switching the subject back to the note.

"It--" he started, cutting himself for a moment, not sure if it would be helpful to say out loud. Surely, Evaline would've considered the obvious too, right? Or was she just ignoring the obvious?

Well, it certainly wasn't an easy thing the note said was required. Especially with a stranger.

"It did tell you though," he said quietly. "How to get home."

Evaline looked at James suspiciously. Ever since the night at the cave, she started to understand what the note could mean. Fate brought her to him, and although she only spent the first day here alone, she had a basic understanding of what could happen if she went her own way alone. Right now, they were surviving, and they were sharing stories. They had, as the poem suggested, 'opened their hearts' to each other. Trust was established.

So, trust and fate. She heard his story and was supposed to be helping him, somehow. That's what she had to do to return back to Earth. Right?

"I know," she said. "I'm working on it."

James's expression softened, and he smiled a little, with his eyebrows coming together.

"That's fine," he said gently. "Opening up is hard, and I think it's unfair that whatever fate that brought you here is using vulnerability, of all things, as a bargaining chip for things to back to normal for you again."

He paused and turned, getting them walking again.

"I don't mind... however long it takes," he said softly. "We'll just do our best to make sure we both stay safe and stay fed until then. How's that?"

It took a long time for Evaline to fully register James's words, and even then, she still fully didn't understand. It would make sense if she said those words to him, but why was he saying it to her?

"Okay, now I'm just confused," she said, firm on the ground and not following him. "What are you talking about? I'm helping you."

James stopped.

Oh.

Oh. So she really didn't get it, did she?

He turned around and looked at her, meeting her eyes.

"Evaline. The note is about you. It was written to you. For you. It literally says if you want to go home you have to open up your heart, and if that isn't the most literal, easy-to-understand saying for being vulnerable and sharing about yourself and things you're going through, I don't know what is."

"The note is telling you that you have to be open about yourself and actually share personal things if you want to go home."

He closed his eyes for a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose and sighing.

"Which, as I said -it's a weird and unfair ultimatum this thing is making, saying you have to do that or be stuck here forever, but that's what it means. What did you think it meant?"

Evaline's mind went blank.

Just, nothing.

Ordinarily it would have been nice to not have a million thoughts buzzing in her head, and although she had been less stressed and anxious since being in Nye, she still felt like she had to think ahead when she could.

But now? Nothing.

She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Evaline had considered the poem to be literal when she first arrived. But it seemed much too simple and obvious, she couldn't believe that was the path. Surely, knowing that she was supposed to travel with James, it had to be more meaningful, right? It wasn't as simple as 'open your heart to James'? Was she even supposed to meet James? Could she have 'opened her heart' to anyone? What did this all mean?!

"I -- you -- the note --" she stammered, but words no longer wanted to fall out of her mouth anymore.

She decided to not tell him what she thought it meant.

"It can't be that simple," she blurted out. "I mean, why? That's ridiculous."

She bit back her tongue to prevent herself from rambling again.

James held his arm out and then let it fall to his side.

"Yeah. I think it's ridiculous too. But I don't see why the note would say that and then mean something else entirely different. It seems straightforward to me. Doesn't mean you have to like what it says, but it's what it says."

"It is not straightforward!" Evaline barked back, suddenly finding herself getting defensive again. "That can't be what it means."

Had she really spent all this time focusing on the wrong thing? The thought of being played like this made her furious. The thought of magically appearing in Nye just to share her feelings with a random stranger made her furious. All in all, she was furious.

She patted down her pockets, quickly pulling out the note to reread it again. Her eyes darted back and forth reading the lines, but at this point she had already memorized the note; it showed her nothing new.

"I don't think this is right," she said stubbornly. "It can't be right."

She moved her fingers to hastily rip the note in half, but it refused to rip. She tried again and again, but still, it would not rip. It was like it was made out of indestructible paper.

Evaline let out an exasperated screech, balling it up and throwing it. Despite throwing it with great force, the wind suddenly blew and caused it to bounce to a stop next to James's feet.

James wasn't sure if he should laugh or feel bad for Evaline as she fought with the paper. He bent over and picked it up, opting for a neutral expression and a calm tone.

"Look, if I was in your shoes, I would be upset too."

Evaline was unraveling, barely even noticing that James had talked to her.

"Okay, so open you heart, right?" She started pacing in circles. "What if it's metaphorical? Like, um..." She snapped her fingers. "There are wounds on your chest. Maybe I'm supposed to help patch them. I don't know!" Her pacing was becoming more brisk, her voice more anxious. "Or maybe, sure, I can open my heart," she said sarcastically. "Maybe a little. To you. Or maybe not to you. Will it count if I say things alone out loud instead? Or maybe, there really is a heart-shaped land feature. Maybe it's a cave. Maybe it's called Eve's Cave. Maybe you should check your map."

James frowned. He looked to Elliot, and then back to Evaline, and approached her, with Elliot close behind.

"Hey. It's going to be okay, Evaline." He stopped a small distance in front of her. "It's not the end of the world, or your world, or mine. And like I said before, you don't have to do it right away. I wouldn't want you to until you felt comfortable, anyway."

Evaline suddenly stopped walking, stopping right in front of James. He told her some kind words, at least, she thought were kind. She couldn't really pay attention, because one ominous thought lingered in her head --

"What if I get stuck here?" she whispered, hands on her head. "What if I get stuck here, because I can't open my heart, or whatever it means, and I can't return to Earth? What would I do? Where would I go? You probably won't let me travel with you forever. What then?"

She pulled away, her voice becoming more and more frantic. "But maybe it's not so bad, me staying in Nye. Hah! Maybe this is just what I needed. To change things up. Because it's like I relive the same day. Stuck in a room. Can't tell dreams apart from reality. Endless death. Over and over. All because I wanted to make a change that I know won't happen."

She suddenly stopped, concealing her face from James's view because she couldn't stop her lips from quivering and the tears from obscuring in her vision.

The truth stung.

James wasn't sure what she was talking about, about her life back home - and he didn't think that was what she needed to focus on right now. Opening up her heart was something she could do in time, when she wanted to, and when she was ready. The note told her she had to if she wanted to return home, but it gave her no time limit. There was no rush.

He hesitantly reached out his hand, not sure if she was someone okay with physical touch or not, and gently but firmly rested his hand on her shoulder.

"If it comes to it," he said. "I would gladly let you travel with me if you wanted, for however long you need. Even if that means forever."

He didn't want to think, at the moment, about how that would, eventually, make her a criminal by association. How it would put her in danger, like she already was in now.

"But I don't think we have to plan for that just yet. We'll take this one day at a time, and we can talk about this more. We don't have to try to figure it all out right now. Okay?"