Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
She pouted. “I am not yours.”
I smirked. “You know you are.”
Lunita looked up and scowled. “You are a dumb, nasty lion.”
But, you did not call me mean ole lion. I will take that as a win.
“I am not yours,” she said again, but there was no conviction behind her words.
My heart warmed. “Lunita. Lunita.”
She blushed and looked away.
Pavel coughed again. “We need to focus, Kazimir.”
I sighed, realizing again how dire the situation was. “Alright, Lunita. Come with us to see M.”
A somber expression covered her face. “Why?”
“I like having you near me.”
“You just don’t want me to sneak out.”
That too.
I placed my hands in my pockets. “Come with us, Lunita.”
“We are who we are.” Lunita huffed. “She has to understand that. You have to understand that.”
“And what if there is a solution?”
“Then, she will go, and I will go, and even. . .” Lunita pointed to the little girl. “She will go too.”
Sadness decorated the little girl’s face. “I don’t want to go.”
“We will all go.” Lunita began to twist the front of her dress with her hands. “There is no us, if there is healing.”
“I do not believe that.” I took one step forward. “I think that you will all still be there, but life may be different.”
“How?”
“I do not know.”
“Then, don’t change things.”
“Change is the law of life.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“It is an inevitable force. There is always change, Lunita.”
She went back to hugging herself. “I don’t like this. Her coming here. You coming here. That witch needs to die.”
“We are scared of fear because it is darkness.” I pulled my hands out of my pockets. “It is. . .the unknown. Even I am afraid of the unknown.”
“You should wake up, nasty lion.”
“After I meet M.”
“M is crazy. He is the scarecrow with all those pieces of cut paper in his head, but no logical thought to his mind.”
Confusion filled me. “The what?”
“The scarecrow. He won’t have anything new to say that she hasn’t already told you.”
“Perhaps, I can find out something more.”
Lunita shook her head. “Dumb.”
“You all are stuck in this building and cannot even see the beautiful view out here.” I gestured to all of the sparkling buildings around us. “I think that this place and that darkness that only you see. . .it was just supposed to be temporary to protect you.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“I know that my mouse wants healing, and you would just rather remain shackled to the past, to old wounds, to this roof.”
Lunita inched back as if I had tried to slap her.
I remained where I was, so I wouldn’t make her nervous anymore. “Come with us, Lunita. Help me get some new answers.”
“There are none.” To my surprise, she turned her gaze onto the cityscape. Her lips parted slightly and suddenly there was a silence that made me shift uncomfortably. “You. . .”
I eyed her. “Yes?”
She whispered, “You really see all those cities out there? Right now?”
“Yes.” I gestured to Pavel. “He sees it too.”
Pavel sighed. “I do.”
Lunita blinked at us. “Are there demons there too?”
“Demons?” I shook my head. “No. I do not see demons.”
Lunita processed this for a moment before looking down at her bare feet. “Do you think I will see it all one day?”
“Yes.”
She put her view back on me. “Don’t let her get rid of me.”
“I will not let that happen. . .”
If I can.
She sighed. “I love her. Tell her that.”
“I will tell my mouse. However. . .” My heart ached. “I think that she is slowly learning to love you too all by herself.”
Lunita widened those eyes. “She is?”
“I believe so.”
Pavel jumped into the conversation. “We should go.”
Lunita gave him an odd look. “Maybe, he is the tin man, since the little girl never wants me to call her the tin man.”
Pavel widened his eyes. “I have no idea what you are saying.”
I gritted my teeth. “Lunita?”
She remained motionless, lost in thought, her eyes fixated on something only she could see.
What if she says no? Would she let me go down to M, and then sneak out?
Enough happened with my entering Emily’s mind. I didn’t need her waking up and killing people.
Come on, Lunita.
A minute stretched out, heavy and unbroken, before she finally stirred. “Justice and honor.”
What does she mean?
With a decisive turn, she pivoted on her bare heels and began walking in this awkward-zig-zag way as if she were navigating through an invisible maze.
My smile widened. “You are coming with us?”
“Yes.” Slowly, she made her way forward. Despite the awkwardness of her gait, there was a purpose to her actions, a silent resolve that spoke louder than words.
I directed my view to the little girl. “Are you coming?”
“Yes.” Smiling, she slowly rose from the ground, picked up her stuffed lion, and brushed dirt off his mane.
The sight pulled at something deep within me.