Trapped Under Ice

Faerie and Ason walked slowly through the village. They couldn’t hold hands, because it would attract too much attention, but their hands would occasionally brush softly against each other as they walked. Each time it happened Faerie felt a jolt of electricity in her body and a swirl of emotions in her stomach. She wanted to kiss Ason again, but that would definitely attract too much attention. Kissing was something people in the Republic simply did not do.

Ason looked around to make sure nobody was within earshot before saying, “My family would really love to have you come out to the farm again sometime.” He looked at her and smiled before adding, “so would I.”

“I would love to come out again. When do you want me to?”

“Any time you’re able to. You could come out tomorrow if you want to.”

“I will ask Rey if she needs me in the shop tomorrow when we get to my house, but that should be fine. I’m sure she’s enjoying getting some private time with Xenin.”

“Well, we should probably let her have it, then,” said Ason with a knowing smile.

“Your mom makes the best food I’ve ever tasted in my entire life,” said Faerie. “She seems to enjoy cooking, too. Maybe she would be willing to teach me how to cook some new things. Rey and I usually cook together, but it’s definitely not as exciting as anything your mom makes.”

Ason looked at Faerie with a smile that was full of pride, contentment, and longing. “I’m sure she would love to teach you anything you want to learn from her. My dad’s pretty good, too. My parents would love to have you out at the farm as often as you’re willing to come. They both have a great deal of respect for you and I think they can tell how important you are to me.”

Faerie wasn’t sure how to answer that, so she just said, “you’re important to me, too.”

“They were serious about the offer for you to come out and work on the farm if you ever want to. We have enough bedrooms in the house for you to have your own...if you want to. Or if you don’t want to stay in the house we could get the bunkhouse fixed up for you and...whoever else you want to stay there with.”

Faerie wondered if Ason was imagining the same future she was. A future where the two of them were together the way Ason’s parents were together. They could live on the farm and stay in the bunkhouse. They could probably even build a bigger house somewhere on the property. Maybe someday they would even have their own children. She pulled herself out of her daydream when she realized Ason was looking at her and seeing the foolish smile she had on her face. She quickly realized, though, that he had a similarly foolish smile on his face. They both blushed and looked down, aware that they were probably having very similar thoughts.

They reached Faerie’s house and stole a moment together in the dark entryway which was hidden from the sight of anyone who happened to be outside in the street. They intertwined the fingers of both hands and Ason leaned down to give Faerie a long, lingering kiss full of the promise that a life together would be everything either of them could possibly want. As they pulled away, reluctantly, Ason caught Faerie in an embrace that felt warmer and more intense than the heat of the sun and every fire on Earth at the same time. She threw her arms around him and pulled him against her like she was afraid they would never see each other again. They looked at each other for a moment, absorbing every detail they could take in that last moment before Faerie opened the door. Ason gently caressed her cheek and then took a step back so their bodies were no longer pressed against each other. Faerie took a deep breath, put on a casual smile, and then opened the door.

The scene she was met with when she opened the door, however, was not what she had been expecting. The house looked as though it had been picked up into the air, spun around, and then put back in the same place as before. All of the carefully organized records Rey kept for her business, as well as the supplies she used to run it, had been pulled from their usual places and dropped carelessly on the floor. Faerie stood frozen in place as Ason moved through the house, looking for a sign that Rey was there and somehow still okay. She was not in the house. The only clue they could find was that there was a brief, official-sounding notice on the table addressed to any other occupants of the house. It had the current date, September 23, 2231 on the top and read: “Notice to occupants of this residence: Rey Taylor has been taken into the custody of the Republic’s Punitive Forces on suspicion of violating the directives of the Great Shutdown. A hearing of the evidence will be set for a time in the future not to exceed 365 days from the date of this notice.”

Faerie stared blankly at the letter for an excessive amount of time. She felt like she was trying to decipher a message written in some sort of ancient runes whose meaning had been lost to human history long ago. She looked at Ason, who seemed to be just as lost as she was. “What am I supposed to do?” she asked him. “She’s my guardian and I don’t know who else I’m supposed to get guidance from. She’s supposed to be here to deal with things like this. Will they come and arrest me, too, because I’m in her guardianship? What could she have done that anyone would have even noticed? How could anyone without emotions even know that someone else had them?”

“I’m so sorry, Faerie,” said Ason. “I don’t know how things work in the Republic, because I’ve lived outside of it most of my life. I want to help, but I don’t know what to do. If you come back to the farm with me we can ask my parents what to do. At the very least you won’t have to be alone here with your home torn apart. My father can sign an affidavit that you are performing contract work on the farm if anyone questions your presence there. Most farms in the area hire outside help this time of year to harvest crops, so it won’t be suspicious. My father can come back to town tomorrow with you to find out what happened with Rey and how we can get her out of custody.”

Faerie felt completely lost, so she let Ason lead her out of the house and through the streets of the village on the way back to the farm. She felt numb, but she couldn’t help but think about their first kiss that had probably happened only an hour ago. It seemed like it might have happened years ago, or even like it might have happened to someone else. The carefree, swimmy feelings she had while walking home with Ason were a distant memory. In fact, she felt guilty for being so happy and daydreaming about a future with Ason while Rey was probably already in custody.

Maybe this is my fault, she thought. If I hadn’t gone off to spend the day with Ason and his family, maybe I could have done something to keep Rey from being arrested. I was out at the farm enjoying the delicious food all day while Rey was being hauled off somewhere against her will. She’s taken care of me since I was eleven years old and I’ve repaid her efforts with my self-centered focus on my own happiness while she was getting locked up. Maybe she was even covering for the crazy things I’ve been doing lately. I haven’t been as careful as I should've been, running around getting emotional over things.

Faerie and Ason reached the farm much more quickly than they had reached the village. They didn’t talk to each other during the entire trip. There just wasn’t anything to say at the moment. Ason’s parents had gone to bed since they left, but he went and got them. Amanda insisted on taking Faerie up to the extra bedroom herself. She got her a big, comfortable shirt to sleep in and brought her a cup of hot tea made with chrysanthemums while she changed. When she got back with the tea Amanda said, “don’t feel like you need to say anything, Faerie. But if you do want to talk about anything or if you need anything, any member of my family would be willing to listen.”

“Thank you,” said Faerie. “I think I just need to sleep for a while.”

“Of course you do, dear. Good night.”

Faerie gave her a weak smile and took a sip of the tea.

After drinking the tea she laid down on the bed. She didn’t feel like she would be able to fall asleep with everything that was going on, but her mind and body were so tired that it happened very quickly.

Suddenly, Faerie was standing in the middle of a frozen pond. Snow fell as she looked around to see where she was. The trees around the pond had long ago lost all of their leaves, but their branches all held a layer of snow except in the spots where the snow had gotten thick and heavy enough that it had fallen in a pile at the bottom of the tree. A light, frigid wind moved across the solid surface of the lake carrying serpentine tufts of powdery snow as it went. The whole scene was dreary and bleak, and Faerie shivered at the very sight of it.

She felt a thumping under her feet, and she looked down to see Rey underneath the ice. She was slamming her fists against it, but she couldn’t break through it. She was going to drown! Faerie instantly went into a panic. She knew she had to help Rey, but her brain refused to function. She tried stomping on the ice, but it was too thick for her to break. She looked frantically at her surroundings trying to come up with a plan that would allow her to free Rey from the ice. She ran several feet in one direction, skidded to a stop, and then ran several feet back in the other direction. She was overcome with fear and didn’t know what to do. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to try to slow down her thoughts a little bit.

When Faerie opened her eyes again she saw a thick chunk of wood at the edge of the pond. She ran toward it and picked it up. It was heavy, but that was what she needed to help her break through the ice. She started running back to where Rey was trapped under the ice, but she never made it. Ten feet before she made it back to where Rey was she tripped and fell. The chunk of wood broke the surface of the ice just like she had planned, but Faerie fell into the hole and sank into the ice cold water.

Faerie opened her eyes to see sunlight flooding into the windows. Amanda had come into the room and had wrapped her arms around Faerie. “It’s okay, Faerie. You had a bad dream. Are you okay?”

She was relieved that she had only been dreaming. Then she remembered that Rey had been taken the night before and she was filled, once again, with a feeling of helplessness.

The story continues in Defeat.