'A Story Untold' Read online

chilly breeze from his window at night. Not like the muggy heat of his cramped classroom. It was like the air in dreams, he thought.

  Myra and Todd turned in circles next to one another. Now around this way to take in the eerie scene, then back around again. They locked eyes each time their orbits met, making vaguely menacing faces at each other as they did.

  Bruce saw Zeke at the far end, where the tear drop shape must have made the space narrower, although it was hard to tell. He had a big grin on his face—the kind he’d wear every time he got some treat their parents assumed Bruce would be too old to want.

  “Wait till we tell everyone about this,” Zeke cooed, and the fireflies in his eyes were dancing now. Stepping aside, Zeke turned and pointed to a small bulge in the far end of the ship. It glowed—a warm, red egg sitting nestled in the clouds.

  The red called to Bruce. A burning star in the murky white all around him, it spoke in words Bruce had never heard but always knew—an eager, urgent compulsion which he’d been trained to despise and resist ever since the time he’d been trying to sneak snacks when his parents were out, and managed to let Zeke fall down the stairs.

  “You’re so scared, look at you.” Todd’s voice came from behind them, but seemed muffled and distant.

  “You’re scared!” Myra’s retort was accompanied by the thud of a small fist into a chubby arm. It was all worlds away, unimportant and uninteresting.

  All that mattered to Bruce was the big, dumb grin on his brother’s face as Zeke reached out and touched the red bump. “This will be great, I can’t wait,” he cheered, then giggled at his accidental rhyme.

  Bruce’s jaw dropped. There was an odd hiss, and the red light disappeared. Then, the incandescent white glow around them faded, and the walls vanished like they’d never been there at all. Bruce could see the short trees just outside, and on the grass a few feet beneath them four shadows drifted alone in the clearing.

  “What’s happening?” asked Todd. The tremor in his voice scared Bruce more than he could understand.

  “What did you do kid?” Myra demanded, whirling about to face Zeke angrily.

  “He didn’t know…” Bruce started to explain, but fell abruptly silent.

  The world around them began to shift. Like an image on a screen drawing slowly back, the ground fell away underneath them. The now transparent craft carried them up along the lengths of the trees, leaving no shadow as it passed above them. It was a strange movement, with no starts or stops, no feeling to it at all.

  No one said anything. Todd and Myra stared at each other with shocked expressions. Both clenched their fists tightly at their sides. Bruce gasped for breath as he gaped at the joyous expression on his little brother’s face. Zeke never understood the weight of his choices, and it always seemed to be Bruce who was left to clean up the mess.

  Gazing down, Bruce could see the forest they’d been playing in moments before. From the playground, the forbidden forest had been a thing of rumour and dread. But from this height it appeared merely as a small cluster of trees. Barely a forest at all, it was more like an overgrown parking lot filled with ragged old pine trees and the occasional ash, with a small clearing in the middle just big enough to give the impression of natural solitude for anyone young enough to tune out the sounds of nearby traffic.

  The forest rocked back and forth now like a still picture floating on a turbid sea, growing slowly smaller until it was nothing more than a green speck in the little town Bruce was still struggling to navigate. It didn’t seem that big from above either. A few streets, a couple of buildings…then it was too far off to focus on.

  “We’re flying!” The glee in Zeke’s voice made Bruce’s blood boil. It was like the time he’d gotten into all of their mom’s fresh pineapple squares, ruining them for the impending staff party. Bruce had tried frantically to put them back together for half an hour. Zeke had just blathered about how happy he was—his entire face covered in whipped cream and pineapple chunks.

  “Get us down!” screamed Todd.

  “I’m not doing it!” Myra tossed her hands helplessly above her head.

  “I wasn’t talking to you!” Todd wrapped his arms tight around his body, gently rocking in place.

  “Everyone calm down,” Bruce’s breath came in short, thin gasps.

  “I can see a lake down there. Do you think there’s fishes in it?” asked Zeke.

  “Be quiet Zeke! We’re in real trouble now!” said Bruce.

  “Bruce is scared,” Myra teased. Her voice was distant and empty.

  “He’s going to cry!” Todd joined in. He was staring straight ahead, a bright sheen over his eyes.

  “Shut up you guys, what’s going to happen to us?” Bruce resented the truth in Todd’s words.

  “We’re going on an adventure!” Zeke explained.

  Below them, the world was a patchwork quilt. Greens, browns, and grays all lined themselves up in neat little rows. Then, they disappeared for a moment, and the room turned white as the children tore into a thick layer of clouds.

  Then they were through.

  “Wheee!” cried Zeke.

  “Oh geez, oh geez,” said Bruce. “We’re supposed to be home soon Zeke, this isn’t funny.”

  “Do you think we’ll meet the aliens?” asked Zeke. He placed his hands against the translucent curve of the walls, pressing his nose flat to get a better view of the clouds and fields and little splotches of water so far below.

  “Oh damn—aliens?” The fear in Todd’s voice was undeniable.

  “They’ll eat you first, cause you’re the slowest,” said Myra.

  “They’ll eat you last, cause you smell the worst.” Todd shoved her gently, then followed as she stumbled back, maintaining their proximity. The cabin was growing dimmer, and a quick glance down showed Bruce the curve of the earth as its warm glow shrank away beneath them.

  “We’ll see aliens, and animals, and stars, and maybe some giraffes.” Zeke counted the highlights on his fingers as he spoke.

  Bruce stared at his watch, but the numbers and hands were meaningless to him now, and he chewed his fingers nervously while Zeke prattled on.

  “…and we’ll get to make a bunch of new stories to share with our friends.” Zeke stared straight out into the stars as he spoke.

  Bruce looked down at the ever diminishing Earth, its blues and greens—they’d never looked so incredible in his textbook.

  “It’ll all be ok Zeke,” Bruce whispered.

  “You really think so man?” asked Todd. “I don’t know what the hell is happening!”

  “Watch your language dude, my brother’s here!” said Bruce.

  “Yeah moron,” Myra agreed.

  “Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds,” said Zeke. He sat cross-legged now in what was presumably the small end of the ship. With the walls entirely transparent and a sea of blackness all about, it looked like little Zeke was playing amongst the stars—the shining arm of the Milky Way wrapping around him like their mother’s would each night before bedtime. The countless stars reflected amongst the fireflies in his eyes as he gazed out in wonder.

  “It’s just like any other star now,” Myra sounded distant, and somehow like she was asking a question. She stared down towards the back of the ship, where the Earth had indeed shrunk down to just another point of light among so many others.

  Bruce had to squint to be certain he was looking at the right one.

  “We’ll never find our way back,” Todd said.

  “Don’t scare Zeke,” replied Bruce, still watching the tiny shining dot he’d once called home.

  “Maybe they’ll give us some nice gifts to bring back.” Zeke mused merrily to himself, the way he used to rehearse his Christmas list as he laid awake beside Bruce on Christmas Eve.

  “Wait…” mumbled Bruce. The distant Earth had begun to move sideways now, sliding off to the right with the gentle grace of a leaf on a smooth flowing river. All the other stars were doing the same, and Bruce fought to swallow do
wn his impending conclusion. “We’re going really fast.”

  “How do you know?” Myra asked. There was an empty note of challenge in her tone.

  “Remember science, and how far apart all the stars are? Look at them go by, we’re going fast.” Bruce tried to swallow again, but failed, “…and straight. We turned back there, that means—”

  “We’re going to a brand new place,” sang Zeke, clapping his hands to a rhythm no one else could hear.

  “What does it mean?” Todd turned towards Bruce menacingly as he spoke, but his eyes drifted downward, and his chin bounced up and down in sync with Bruce’s racing heart.

  “Zeke’s right. It means we’re being taken somewhere.” Bruce finally swallowed the doubt in his throat, and nearly gagged for his efforts.

  “Taken where?” Myra’s rough edge had broken entirely now, and her words skittered through the room like breaking glass.

  “To a planet probably,” Zeke was bouncing up and down. He still faced directly forward, and his head wagged back and forth in a frantic effort to ensure he missed nothing. “Or maybe another spaceship. Or maybe a big space-whale that makes ships to bring him friends.”

  “Jesus! A space whale?” Todd yelped.

  “Be quiet, you’ll frighten him!” growled Bruce.

  “You be quiet punk!” Todd didn’t turn to face him, but rather took a half-step towards Myra, who stood at his side.

  “Everyone just shut up,” Myra whined, and moved a step towards Todd. Their hands brushed together, but neither said anything about it.

  “I can’t wait to tell