Lucy Christopher

“There is no need to put your heart in a bottle, then you will die.- Ty from Stolen”

“Far, far away something made a single ghostly howl, like a banshee in the dark.”

“The sand stretched out gray and ghostlike and illuminated, a column of light leading forward. It was like something a dead person would see, a tunnel leading toward heaven.”

“All I could think about was you. I wanted you in the apartment. I wanted your arms around me, your face close to mine. I wanted your smell. And I knew I couldn’t - shouldn’t - have it. That’s what I hated most. The uncertainty of you. You’d kidnapped me, put my life in danger . . . but I loved you, too.”

“You moved my head so that it was lying in your lap. "Keep your eyes open," you said. "Stay with me."I tried. It felt like I was using every muscle in my face. But I did it. I saw you from upside down, your lips above my eyes and your eyes above my lips. "Talk to me," you said. My throat felt like it was closing up, as if my skin had swollen, making my throat a lump of solid flesh. I gripped your hand. "Keep watching me, then," you said. "Keep listening.”

“I wrapped my arms around me as tightly as I could, and stared up at the stars. Had I not been so cold and wanting to escape so badly, I could have stared at them forever: They were amazingly beautiful, so dense and bright. My eyes could get lost up there if I left them looking long enough. [...] They swallowed me up. They were like a hundred thousand tiny candles, sending out hope.”

“The sun was bobbing on the horizon, just peeking over. Its light shimmered on the sand behind you, making your body look like it was glowing … like it had a kind of aura.”

“There were tiny rainbows in that glass. I turned it so a rainbow danced across my hand.”

“It was like I’d stepped out into an afterlife. Only there were no angels.”

“There were tiny stars behind my eyelids, a whole galaxy of tiny, spinning stars.”

“I didn’t want the person standing there, beside the bed, to have the same face I’d found so attractive at the airport. But you were there all right: the blue eyes, blondish hair, and tiny scar. Only you didn’t look beautiful this time. Just evil.”

“Your beautiful mouth was moving like a caterpillar. I reached out and tried to catch it.”

“I remember the lights turning into blurs of blazing fire. I remember the air-conditioning chilling my arms. The smell of coffee smudging into the smell of eucalyptus.”

“Ty?” I said, trying out your name, liking the way it sounded. “So what’s it like anyway? Australia?”You smiled then, and your whole face changed with it. It kind of lit up, like there were sunbeams coming from inside you.“You’ll find out,” you said.”

“Then your fingers moved down to my chin. You pushed it up with your thumb to look at me, almost like you were studying me in the artificial lights above my head. And, I mean, you really looked at me … with eyes like two stars. [...] And I had wings fluttering away inside me all right. Big fat moth wings. You trapped me easily, drew me toward you like I was already in the net.”

“The deep blue of your eyes had secrets. I wanted them.”

“Your eyes were too intense to stare into for long.”

“I didn’t look back, but I knew you were still watching. It probably sounds weird, but I could just feel it. The hairs on my neck bristled when you blinked.”

“You saw me before I saw you. In the airport, that day in August, you had that look in your eyes, as though you wanted something from me, as though you’d wanted it for a long time. No one had ever looked at me like that before, with that kind of intensity. It unsettled me, surprised me, I guess. Those blue, blue eyes, icy blue, looking back at me as if I could warm them up. They’re pretty powerful, you know, those eyes, pretty beautiful, too.”

“I craved your warmth. I hugged myself, rubbing my fingers up and down. I guess people are like insects sometimes, drawn to heat, A kind of infra-red longing.”

“I stayed there, curled up into the warmth of your body, under the blankets, like something soft in a shell. Your arms were firm as rock around me.”

“It was so big, that view. I’ll never remember it properly. How can anyone remember something that big? I don’t think people’s brains are designed for memories like that. They’re designed for things like phone numbers, or the color of someone’s hair. Not hugeness.”

“The people we care for aren't always the one we should”

“How would she find her herd? How would she find you?”

“I thought you didn't want to let me go.”

“I was surprised at her gentleness, her willingness to give in.”

“You won't be able to hurt me, or touch me.”

“It’s hard to hate someone once you understand them. It felt so mixed up.”

“Everyone wanted answers I wasn't ready to give.”

“And it's hard to hate someone once you understand them.”

“I looked down at my stomach. I grabbed at it, seeing how much fat I could lift up in a roll."Don't worry," you said, one eye open again like a crocodile watching me. "You're beautiful." You tipped your head back. "Beautiful," you murmured. "Perfect.”

“But without humans, the wild would take over. It would only take a hundred years or so for nature to win again.”

“It happened like this.I was stolen from an airport. Taken from everything I knew, everything I was used to. Taken to sand and heat, dirt and danger. And he expected me to love him. This is my story. A letter from nowhere.”

“You saw me before I saw you. You had that look in your eyes, as if you wanted something. Wanted it for a long time.”

“People love what they're used to, I guess.""No." You shook your head. "People should love what needs loving. That way they can save it.”

“It was like I existed in a kind of parallel universe, thinking thoughts and feelings that no one else understood.”

“I thought you wanted to catch a camel," you tried again."No.""I want to.""Well, you go then."You laughed. "I want your beautiful face where I can see it”

“Nobody's bought this land. And no one's going to want it either. It's dying land, lonely land.""Like me, then," I said."Yes, like you." You chewed the corner of your lip. "You both need saving.”

“I remember that feeling of skin. It'sstrange to remember touch more than thought. But my fingersstill tingle with it.”

“You smiled then, and your whole face changed with it. It kind of lit up, like there were sunbeams coming from inside you.”

“You nodded towards the cup. "Wantmore?"I shook my head. "What about the car?""Didn't find it. You were heading back towards me when Ifound you.""Towards . . . ?"You nodded. "So I reckoned the car had probably got stuckor died somehow, and you were just coming home.""Home?""Yeah." Your mouth twitched. "Back to me.”

“Right at that moment it was as if we were the only two people left in the world. And I don't mean that to sound corny; it just honestly did. The only sounds were the droning crickets and chip-chips of the bats, the farawy wind against the sand, and the occasional distant yowl of a dingo. There were no car horns.No trains. No jack-hammers. No lawnmowers No planes. No sirens. No alarms. No anything human. If you'd told me that you'd saved me from a nuclear holocaust, I might have believed you.”

“You're right, he's a killer," you said. "A rooster with some serious issues.”

“Ninja chicken isn't he?" You grinned at me, rolling your sleeves up."We'll see about that." You reached into the cage. Instantly Dick was onto your hand, clawing at you, biting chunks with his beak. "Godamn rooster!”

“Who says I'm not Superman?" You were looking at me with one eye closed against the sun. I shrugged "You would have recued me by now if you were Superman." I said quietly. "Who says I haven't?" Anyone would say you haven't.Anyone's just looking at it wrong then." You pushed yourself up a little, onto your elbows."Anyways, I can't steal you and rescue you. That would give me multiple personalities."And you don't have them already?”

“It sounded weird to hear you talk so much; normally you only said a few words at a time. I'd never imagined that you'd have a story, too. Until that moment, you were just the kidnapper. You didn't have reasons for anything. You were stupid and evil and mentally ill. That was all. When you started talking, you started changing.”

“I hate it, all of this," I screamed, my voice breaking. "I even hate him, even him." A huge sob came up from my chest.And I did, right then. I hated you for everything; for making me feel so helpless everywhere I went, for making me lose control. I hated you for all the emotions in my head, for the confusion... for the way I was suddenly doubting everything. I hated you for turning my life upside down and then smashing it into shards. I hated you for making me stand with a whirring fan in my hand, screaming at my mum. But I hated you for something else, too. Right then, and at every moment since you'd left me, all I could think about was you. I wanted you in that apartment. I wanted your arms around me, your face close to mine. I wanted your smell. And I knew I couldn't-shouldn't-have it. That's what I hated most. The uncertainty of you. You'd kidnapped me, put my life in danger... but I loved you, too. Or thought I did. None of it made sense.”

“How long will you keep me?" I asked.You shrugged. "Forever, of course.”

“You told me once of t he plants that lie dormant through thedrought; that wait, half dead, deep in the earth. The plants thatwait for the rain. You said they'd wait for years, if they had to;that they'd almost kill themselves before they grew again. Butas soon as those first drops of water fall, those plants begin tostretch and spread their roots. They travel up through the soiland sand to reach the surface. There's a chance for them again.One day they'll let you out of that dry, empty cell. You'llreturn to the Separates, without me, and you'll feel the ramonce more. And you'll grow straight, this time, towards thissunlight. I know you will." - Gemma”

“You told me once of the plants that lie dormant through the drought, that wait, half-dead, deep in the earth. The plants that wait for the rain. You said they'd wait for years, if they had to; that they'd almost kill themselves before they grew again. But as soon as those first drops of water fall, those plants begin to stretch and spread their roots. They travel up through the soil and sand to reach the surface. There's a chance for them again.”