Heart-Shaped Locket

At the time Shea started watching the sky, it was orange and swirled with pinks and yellows, piled atop pillows of purple. How slow time moved in these moments of the day that were perfect for kisses and foot massage but horrible if spent waiting, especially to pee. He rushed to his window and jumped onto the bed, bouncing to the side Indian style and facing the sunset, imagining what Kira might wear today when he saw her from around her father’s shed. She made her way to the gate taking the path through her Mom’s garden outside her bedroom. She craned her neck, ear near the glass. The tv was still on. She pushed off the wall and walked through the gate at a hurried pace to the Sutton’s grazing field. He darted out of the room and down the hall, through the kitchen and out the door. He trotted up to the large group who hurried to pick their side in today’s game. smiled to himself, happily noting that Ian was able to walk again despite his near death to COVID-19 which had not dimmed his eyes to Shea’s affect on the world-- however filled with nightmares. He took note of every clue in Ian’s expression when his view became obscured by the burst of action that closed in around him on the quarterback’s command,

“Hut!” The plastic-padded statues sprang to action unaware of the pale enthusiast in the implied front row. A throwback to pre-COVID seating arrangements likely made them more noticeable. If the Boots found them “engaged in unlawful Assembly of ‘more than two’ outside the context of a family situation,” every child’s back, front, and face would bear the nasty reminders of their indiscretions. The one-time famous dairy farm community, Gandy, nursed the notion of hope quietly, hoping to rise and take back Her Majesty’s stolen freedom in democracy. Shea glanced at Seth Padersven, who’s eyes flashed blue mischief in the fraction of a second that his gaze gave way to a cheesy, big-toothed grin.

“Something’s up….” Shea breathed. Padersven inspired a flush of panic, realizing it had been 3 days since Ian was declared symptom-free. Shea barely heard the quarterback,

“Hut!” A confusing flurry of movement in front of his eyes looked almost like a synchronized swimming team’s interpretation of “Football.”

“Twenty-two… LEFFFFT….” He noted.

“Looked like he had it…”” He sang inwardly.

“Fifty-one… RRRRRRRRIIIIGHT…”

“Looked like he did, too.” He started to worry as he realized that they ALL carried their arms in the cradled position, every one fanning out to escape Shea’s reach.

Ian frantically looked for any angle to move past the frozen terror that gripped him. He couldn’t read Shea’s hesitation as the offense was swarming with the and the only thing he could think of at the time was to say something.

Snapped to reality by Ian’s voice 20 feet away, Ian’s encouragement exploded through a dense wall of mental fog only Shea only caught the last half of what Ian had said:

“HEART-SHAPED LOCKET!!”

Shea cocked his head.

“Heart-shaped locket??!!”

Shea struggled to understand the words.

“Heart-shaped locket? Alright?!!” he thought, as he trailed off.

“Well,“ he reasoned,

”It COULD be feasible… I wear mom’s butterfly.” he noted, which was crafted in pearls and opal and was worn to honor his mother who had been murdered by The Boots 5 years ago. When the vaccinations had become mandatory and enforced by fines that eventually escalated to mandated quarantine, half-believing whispers of the Quarantine Isolated Enforcement Facilities (known as….. QUEEF) called them places of certain death. Found by the Boots exchanging her children’s vaccine during the In-Home Contamination Prevention for a mixture of saline solution she was swiftly shot in the back of the head before all of her personal associations without even cringing or flinching from the bullet because she hadn’t been aware of their approach during her conversation. She had attempted to curb the lethal radioactive field she had identified in the vaccine that emitted enough radiation to be fatal just inside 3 years after vaccination. Those in the densely populated areas saw death quicker because of exposure to the many hidden 5G towers that peppered cities above and below. These sources of cell carrier service managed to kill people off 3 years after vaccination. In Gandy, people didn’t expect to meet their expiration date until 7 years after vaccination.

“My butterfly’s badass, dare anyone to call ME girly,” Shea scoffed. Wearing Dad’s determination across his heaving chest, he abruptly zoned in on the one who wore the locket and leaned in to make solid contact with his Sunday fishing buddy, Keegan Price, sending them both diving to the one entire foot before the touchdown line. Relieved of his deepest breaths, his heart started to falter and Keegan fainted and toppled over onto his side, leaving no one to help. Keegan died moments later. Shea and the others were caught off guard when Savage J and Toxxie denied Keegan’s mother her planting of her memorial tree for Keegan. She wanted to immortalize the day forever and never let anyone forget that he died doing what he loved to do. Shea would never forget that day, himself, though he understood why Savage J and Toxxie did not allow Keegan’s memorial. It seemed that leaving his memory in a place they planned to destroy in their escape was a discredit to Keegan’s memory, which they thought final. It was he who had essentially tackled Keegan to his death that day, and it turned out Keegan didn’t even have the ball, nor was the necklace on his neck a heart-shaped locket, but a golden whale. Shea could never muster the testicular fortitude to say anything new on the subject beyond

“…I don’t know, that’s just so unfortunate.” Truly they felt the shit get too real and too fast. No one ever wants to actually step off into the answer in progress on that one. Too soon. To real. And it opened an entire catfish farm-sized can of worms that no one could ever so much as hope be ready for. And for Shea, it was bad enough to have to address Keegan’s death that day. Most tellings of the story end when Keegan doesn’t wake up. But the climactic ending befitting Shea’s copy of the extended version DVD continued past his opening the door to Death for Keegan to a final conversation between brothers. Ian’s face fell behind the sobering realization that his moments as well had become specifically numbered. Not days, or weeks. He would go within hours. Ian felt the change in his body as soon as Keegan hit the ground under Shea. He wondered why Shea had tackled Keegan…he could see only just now that Tanner Simmins had the ball on the other side of the field, headed for a touchdown with it. As his face finally assumed ownership of the confused expression that rested there, he felt suddenly very weak and dizzy. He looked over at Shea and saw the ground rushing up to meet him.

“What was the deal with the heart-shaped locket at the game, Ian?” he heard Shea softly ask the out at the 7pm sky outside the window.

“How pretty,” thought Ian.

“No wonder.” He finished, referring to Shea’s daily sunset ritual.

“Mystery explained. Check off the bucket list.” Ian mused.

“hmmmm? Shea. What heart-shaped locket?” Ian seriously asked. Thinking Ian’s memory loss was due to his death that greeted him again during COVID-19.

“Anna tried, and didn’t so I stepped up and made my sacrifice.” Ian had no idea what he was saying was irrelevant to this plane. Judging from Ian’s expression, the boy truly didn’t remember anything about a heart-shaped locket. Though he had just come to, he was tired again very suddenly.

“…sometime, please we love him too”. Shea silently pleaded looking to the sky with giant tears rolling. Softly, a voice floated just barely to his ears at the window.

“Hard, Shea. Block it.” Ian barely wheezed.

“What? What does that mean??” He pressed, now face to face with his pale and clammy Ian.

“I didn’t know what to say to help you yesterday… I couldn’t see. I just had to say something! So I said,

“ HARD, Shea! BLOCK IT!! I didn’t know where…I thought you did. But why did you tackle Keegan?” his innocent voice inquired, prompting Shea to quickly stand and go to the window again in an effort to escape Ian’s expectant gaze. After a time, when he could speak, Shea gave Ian his answer.

“Because you told me ‘heart-shaped locket.’ And then, everybody else started joining in. You guys were yelling at me as a crowd to go for the “heart-shaped locket!!” And you know, I messed up. His gold necklace was a golden whale, dude! He laughed dissapointedly as he turned, face down, to look at Ian, who offered absolutely no response.

If he was honest, Shea didn’t think Ian even got his answer. His gaze fell on Ian, sleeping peacefully now, never to be woken, and then turned with tears in his eyes to go find Mom and Dad.

On the day of Ian’s modest funeral (like out of the stone age, thanks to Her Majesty’s Rule and her big, stupid Boots.) They were grateful that they were able to say a few words before his body was loaded onto the Stomper for transport and disposal. On Ian’s thin, pale neck, rested a tiny golden locket.

After he was loaded up, the Boots driving the Stomper played scissors, paper, rocks for the locket they immediately removed from his body. The old, short thin Boot with the crazy grey hair, name a’Karcher ,won the small trinket. Opening it, he found inside a picture of each brother, laughing as if in mid-conversation. As he scooped the pictures out and they fluttered to the floor, he commented,

“Guess I’ll have to go get a girlfriend, now. Huh, Stones??” Stones gave a half-enthused chuckle over his shoulder as he cranked the engine and eased down the muddy trail through the pasture.

Shea walked home alone, and he buttoned his shirt to hide and protect his little heart-shaped locket that dangled next to Mom’s butterfly on the same chain. Inside, were the pictures of two brothers that would remain intact until Shea fell to gunfire in an uprising later that year. His service to the resistance had not been long, but his sacrifice was great and his mark on History was made. His locket was saved and later displayed in the National Museum of the New State of BLOCKETT in the town of Shea. A few years later, a woman named Feline De’Karcher brought in the exact twin locket, claiming her father had given it to her when she was younger. Her father was killed by the resistance in a place called Gandy during the initial uprising.

Kira turned the locket over in her hand and leaned close, squinting to make out the engraving that must surely match the one on display in the West Lobby.

“HARD, Shea!! BLOCK IT!” rang out in echoes across the smooth back side of the tiny locket.

Within minutes, the old piece of jewelry joined its brother in the display halls of the Natural History of the New World, finally next to its twin, where it belonged..