Young Writers Society

"We're doing all right," Anna said. "How did you sleep last night?"

"We slept well," Esther said quietly.

Just then, Anna turned to Jay. "Tell them what you want to say."

"My mom and I are going for a picnic later," he said quietly. "If you want to come."

"We'd love to," Esther said after a long pause.

"Yes, we'll look forward to it," Queenie agreed, cursing herself internally for choosing this character to play. She had had other options, didn't she? If she was someone just a little less akin to a doormat, she'd be permitted to do just about anything but go on a picnic.

She'd almost rather be caught sneaking out.

The last hour passed at an agonized rate. Even as the number of customers picked up near the end, Carte thought it would never be over. He didn't know how anyone could enjoy chopping vegetables and preparing food. It was mind-numbingly boring, and it wasn't like he even had intelligent people to talk to while they worked. It was just Esther who was sad and stressed Skull who had an eternal attitude, and Queenie, who'd made it clear she didn't want anything to do with him. At least, not personally.

She was the one he found himself annoyed by the least, though. Of all the people to be paired off with he was glad it was her at this rate.

The only thing he could think about as they worked as a way to get Anna away from Jay long enough for an accident to occur. That, or doing things more directly. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to toss subtlety into the bin and just get it over with so he could go home. He had more important things to do than worry about a random child who turned into a murderer in some other world.

When their shift was over, Anna met back up with them and packed them all into her car. He was only just beginning to learn about what cars were, but he'd already been inside a few now - and they were still strange. Horseless, moving carriages, and he knew it wasn't magic.

He was relieved when they pulled up to the park. They all pitched in as they threw out a blanket near the edge of the open field, by a grove of trees and a garden of flowers. (Carter had intentionally led them in that direction by pointing out the appeal of the trees for shade, but that wasn't the only reason. Trees could provide good cover.)

When they all gathered around the blanket Anna set down a basket of food, Carter found himself watching Jay in the corner of his eye, but his gaze landed on Queenie.

She didn't seem interested in listening to the Librarian out of spite, but he wondered if he could, perhaps, convince her. But if he pulled her away, he knew Esther and Skull might be suspicious. He knew he wasn't trusted.

So he decided to wait for just a little longer before putting any action to his thoughts.

In the very back of my mind, something about the picnic seemed familiar. My memory of before I died - the first time - was always a little questionable, especially when it involved everything that happened before I ended up on the streets. But there must have been a time when my parents were still alive where they had brought me outside for some kind of picnic.

There hadn't been any other chance for me to. Not with the streets, and Bickerstaff, and my jar. And it certainly wasn't from me traveling around with Natty boy and Asmira. We might have eaten outside a lot, but it wasn't like this. That was out of necessity. This was out of fun.

I glanced over at Jay. It was weird thinking of him as Esther's future dad. I could almost see some semblance of similarity between the two of them right now, but it was a stretch. I gave him a grin in case he noticed me watching him.

Then my gaze switched to the basket.

I could feel my stomach longing for some food, but for once in my life I wasn't going to rush things. I didn't want to be here; that much was true. But I also didn't want to risk getting kicked out from all of this like I had been back the last time we went to the past. There was something...nice about being able to do something so calm, even if my mind kept returning to what the librarian had wanted us to do.

Esther helped Anna unload the car. Jay was silent for much of the time they spent getting out their lunch. Just plain ham and cheese sandwiches on dry bread and apples. And a few Hershey bars to split. They couldn't really do much more than that right now.

As Anna spread out the blanket, she asked the others what they like to do for fun. Esther almost said she liked watching TV before she caught herself. It was odd to think that they were in a time before that.

"I like movies," she said. "And singing."

"What do you like to sing?" Anna asked.

Esther remembered Jay's obsession with the Wizard of Oz started around this time. She wanted to sing Over the Rainbow because she was sure it was the only song from this time that she knew, but she didn't know if the movie was out. Come on, she thought. Think of something.

Then, it came to her. She didn't know the full song, but she knew enough to convince Anna.

Say, its only a paper moon
Sailing over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me
Yes, it's only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me...

She hummed before getting to the next part she knew.

It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
But it wouldn't be make-believe
If you believed in me.

Anna stared. "That's my favorite song," she said. "How did you know?"

"Lucky guess," Esther replied nervously. Just then, Anna's eyes drifted to a family also sitting in the park. A dark haired woman beside a man and a young daughter.

"Ruth! George! Beatrice!" She called.

The dark haired woman, named Ruth, waved back at Anna and approached her. After Anna quickly introduced them, and said Ruth was an old friend that she'd known since the two were kids, she and Ruth were now lost in conversation. Distracted.

Esther's eyes drifted to Carter and Queenie and then to Jay.

Carter wasn't sure if it was the dull conversation or the impromptu singing, but he was starting to grow tired of playing the long game. He wanted to go home. It had been fun, sure, but he was a lot less motivated to invest time deceiving people he wasn't going to see again after all of this was over. They didn't even exist in his world - when he got home, he was going to forget all of this ever happened and he could rest.

He kept a placid, relaxed expression as Anna asked simple questions and then got distracted by her childhood friend. As Esther's gaze drifted over the rest of them, he decided to make his move.

He stood up slowly with a small sigh and stretched a little.

"Well, I think I'm going to go around for a little walk," he stated, looking down at Queenie, before saying a little more quietly (mostly for Skull, Esther, and Queenie to hear): "I just need a little space to breathe."

He made eye contact with Queenie. "Would you like to join me, sweetheart?"

Queenie gave him that lover's smile again and got up to join him. "I'd love to," she said, though she didn't particularly want to. She had been busy thinking up a plan, some way to get home without simply bending to the will of the bitch with the time machine.

Her heart stopped.

Under the guise of dusting herself off, her fingers brushed against her neck. Nothing.

I am so fucked.

Carter gave a quick glance back at Esther and Skull.

“You two are good to stay with Jay, right?” he asked, not because he thought they’d hurt Jay, but more for appearances sake and absolve at least some suspicion by pretending he cared about Jay’s wellbeing.

Queenie finished righting her appearance and took hold of Carter's arm as someone who genuinely loved him might, "Let's get going," she said with a cheeriness that felt unnatural to her vocal cords.

Her patience for this little game was fraying, and she was moments away from using the gun she was gifted. Kill everyone but the kid. Just to piss her off.

I glanced over at Jay.

I couldn't help but feel a little suspicious of Carter wanting to go for a walk - especially when it would just be with Elizabeth. Maybe it was just me being paranoid and they were trying to keep up appearances, but the gun was still missing.

And I doubted Esther had taken it.

"We are," I said, scooting a little closer to both Esther and Jay.

As long as I stayed with Jay, nothing could happen to him.

That was all Carter needed. He turned away from Skull and Esther and walked with Queenie, waiting until they were a dependable distance away that the others couldn't hear them.

He turned to Queenie, keeping his face in a relaxed smile.

"Surely I'm not the only one getting tired of this charade. As much as I don't like the Librarian, at this rate, I'd rather just do what she wants so we can be done with this drama. I know there was a gun. I'm assuming you have it since I can't imagine Skull or Esther being able to hide it that easily."

She eyed him, quickly running through the pros and cons of playing dumb in her head. In the end, she sighed and pulled away, but stayed close enough to be just within his personal space. It was a little touch, and would help sell the act if any curious eyes turned their way. On the other side of things, she could hit him quicker and harder from this distance, considering the training he clearly had.

"Are you asking me to use it for the same thing I was given it for?"

Carter leaned in just a little, reaching for her hand to hold. She was still actively working to sell their act, so he would keep it up too.

He hummed curiously. "Yes. Unless you have a different idea?"

She let him take her hand, though the urge to hit him for doing so shot through her muscles only to dissipate with the gentle reminder that this was a job, just like any other.

"You see," she said, listening for anyone who might be near enough to hear them, "I'm not exactly known for being good about taking orders-" that was exactly what she was known for, but he had no reason to know that, "-so why, pray tell, do you think I would start following them now?" She was tempted, she really was, though she was still liking her earlier plan better. She imagined that watching his mom get murdered at this age might send little Jay down an entirely different path, and wasn't that what the Librarian wanted?

Carter shrugged his head slightly to the side.

"It would mean this whole dream would be over," he said. "You go back to your world, I go back to mine, and we can forget about Esther and her twisted family. And Skull. I'll eagerly forget him."