The Magic Between Us

A Chance

After breakfast, Twyla decided she needed a distraction today. She had the same nightmare again, the one where she watched Shane disappear into the void, darkness enveloping him, his screams soundless and his eyes full of fear, reaching out to her for help. She quickly wiped away the escaped tears. If only she could have somehow known, made them all stay. Made him stay with her for another year.

Shaking her head to clear it, Twyla dressed herself in an oversized shirt with baggy sleeves, dirty leggings and rain boots, throwing her copper hair into a messy bun. She headed to the quiet barn after that to feed the two horses her mother had kept. One of the horses was her late fathers, who had passed on in her late teens. The other was her mother’s mare, who Charlotte would still ride from time to time. Twyla liked to come and ride her father’s horse Andi, an Andalusian who was larger than life, and a beautiful grey-white with a silvery mane. Twyla teased her father about his name. “How original,” she’d laugh, and her father scoffed. “It suits him just fine,” he smiled.

Andi made soft noises at her, knowing it was feeding time. Twyla kissed his velvety nose on the way to the feed room, giving her mother’s Friesian some kisses as well. Twilight, as she was called, tried to nibble on Twyla’s messy bun which made her laugh. “Yall are too cute,” she giggled, feeling a little bit better. “Let’s get you two some food.”

Twyla filled each feed bucket with a scoop of grain, each of them getting a treat with their breakfast. The sounds of the horses munching were soothing in its own way, and Twyla moved on to the small chicken coop. After her father passed, their farm got smaller, as her mother could no longer keep up with its maintenance on her own. Twyla had lived in the city at the time, finishing up her degree. It was the first time that she’d wished she could have been closer to home to help. She loved the city and its liveliness, but after Shane’s disappearance, Twyla preferred her mother’s house over the loud noises at her apartment. She wanted to be alone, and her mother never hovered over her.

After collecting the eggs in her shirt, Twyla brought them inside and washed the eggs off at the sink before putting them into the basket on the counter next to her. The garden was next on her list of chores, but before she could get started her mother handed her a glass of sweet tea.

“Why don’t you relax for a minute, the garden isn’t going anywhere.”

“I know,” Twyla half laughed. “It just helps to keep busy.” Twyla took the glass and chugged half of it, not realizing how thirsty she’d been. The sun was still hidden behind the planet, casting them in a hue of twilight. Because they had more darkness than light, and the light from the sun wasn’t always strong enough, Twyla had large grow lights staked around the garden to help with the lack of sunlight. It was the only way they could produce anything on Interim to sustain society.

“Breaking news,” came from the TV, and both women paused to look at it. The floor plan of the ranch house allowed for the kitchen, dinning room and living room to be open, so as the women drank their tea at the kitchen table, they listened to the news.

“…Allowing a space program for four volunteers to orbit the planet at a safe distance from the currents…new development from the space between. They’re picking up a signal from inside it.” Twyla’s head snapped up from her drink. She had to be dreaming. A signal from the shuttle in the shimmering space that no one knew anything about? It had to be. Her mother saw it written all over her face.

“Now honey-“ her mother tried to get the words out, but Twyla couldn’t hear her.

“It has to be Shane,” she choked out, the breath in her lungs unable to catch up with her rapid breathing.

“Don’t get your hopes up just yet. Twyla, nobody knows anything about the phenomenon between our worlds. It’s as big a mystery as the deepest depth of our oceans.” But Twyla didn’t hear her. She knew he couldn’t have been lost to the void forever. But how he ended up in the space between was a trick in itself. No one in either world had the guts to try and figure out what it was, or if it was even safe to send people to.

“They couldn’t find him, he has to be inside of it somehow,” Twyla spoke frantically, pacing the floor now. The irony behind it almost made her laugh, the man she loved inside of the shimmering mystery he obsessed over. Shane used to tell her it felt like a calling, as if it were beckoning him. Twyla laughed but she supported his dreams, as he did hers. It had to be luck that brought him there.

“You’re not seriously considering going there Twyla, it’s too dangerous! No one knows if it’s even him!” her mother shouted, bringing Twyla out of her racing mind. She finally noticed how scared she looked, and Twyla sighed.

I have to try; I have to find him. If there’s a signal, he must be alive to have sent it.” The television in the background was still calling for people to volunteer. Twyla knew she had to be apart of the expedition.

“I can not loose you too,” her mother whispered, and it made Twyla stop pacing. Her mother was trying hard to not cry, but she was terrified. There was no guarantee that her only child would make it through to the shimmering void without being killed, no one knew what lay inside of it. The thought of it made her want to lock Twyla in her room until the madness of her mind released her from such a thought.

“You wont loose me,” Twyla spoke softly, enveloping her mother in a tight hug. “I will find him, and I will bring him home.” She was determined. Twyla knew in her heart she had to go, or she would never be satisfied living a life of what ifs. She’d caught a glimpse already within the year she lived without Shane, the what if she could have kept him here, stalled them somehow. She’d rather have faced the consequences of delaying the trip over the death of his team. Charlotte knew she couldn’t talk her out of it.

“I believe you,” her mother sighed, hugging her daughter back. For all she knew, this was the last time she’d hold her baby in her arms. She was proud of the woman she grew up to be, proud she developed her father’s bravery and integrity. Twyla was always outgoing, helping wherever she could. She knew she couldn’t keep her daughter from trying to save Shane if she believed he was still alive. It just terrified her to no end. She felt like she was on the edge of a cliff, already waiting for the call that Twyla was torn to shreds in the currents of the Twin Planets.

“I have to make some calls; I know exactly who to talk to about joining this expedition.” Twyla hurried off up the stairs to change out of her dirty clothes, in hopes that after being on the phone she could just make the trip into the city and speak with them face to face. Her mother couldn’t hold in the silent tears that made their way down her cheeks. She sat down at the kitchen table, and laid her head down in defeat.