The InBetween

Memories of different life events unraveled before the boys eyes rapidly. From episodes of that same day dating all the way back to when he was a newborn. A small Latino boy could be heard cooing  in a woman's arms. The mother whispered with a tired yet proud smile, "He's beautiful..."  That was the last thing he saw before a bright, white flash occurred. And just like that, for a few barren and empty seconds, the boy was nothing. Miguel's eyes shot open from beneath the river. The water was warm and relaxing and through the warped vision of the water he could see it was still daytime after all. Maybe they weren't out of time just yet. The child broke through the surface with a gasp and looked around. The river they all fell in seemed to be only two feet high. Weird, he crossed this river all the time, it was certainly deeper.  Two heads in front of him popped up from the smooth coursing river. A kid with dark brown skin, Darker, afro hair with eyes like caramel turned to face Miguel. His shocked face turned into a bit of a smug grin. "I told you it was a bad idea crossing the river! You're just lucky we survived or I'd give you a butt-whooping from the clouds!" "LUCKY!?" A plump kid beside him wiped his face. "Lucky is an understatement. That was a MIRACLE! I thought I saw my whole life flash before my eyes!" This kid was fair-skinned with ginger hair and steel blue eyes. He wore a look of utter fear, like he stared Death right in the face. "Look, the point is we're fine. Let's get a move on okay?" Miguel said to his friends. The two nodded and all three slowly got out of the river, taking extra time with hauling the plump one out. "Gargh, Jacob you weigh a ton! Miguel help me out here!" The scrawnier one said. "I can't help if my baby fat hasn't disappeared yet Tyrone!" Jacob snapped back. Jacob and Tyrone bickered back an forth while Miguel took a full view at the more- updated version of their local woods. A long, calm river tore the forest in half with odd moss-covered rocks sprouting out of it. Beautiful oak and pine trees towered above everything, they loomed so large yet stood straight enough for the sun to come poking through. On the ground, through the trees Miguel could see the soft grass and patched of soil here and there with beautiful daises blooming from the shade the trees provided. This forest had a whimsical, yet haunting feeling. Miguel then realized that this place was not quite the same from when they fell in the river. "Guys, I think we're lost." he said to the other two, who were now roughhousing on the grass. "What do you mean we're lost?" Tyrone stood up first and started toward Miguel, but not before giving a last kick to Jacob's bellybutton. "This is Wither's Woods. Always has been, always will be." The boys knew these woods well. They grew up in them, with their neighborhood not too far from it. Memories of playing, fighting and even dancing in these woods flooded Miguel's mind. "I get that Tyrone. But look, where's the path that leads us back to the estate? And I do NOT remember the river being that shallow. I've fallen in it plenty of times to know." "Maybe this is just another part of the woods," Jacob suggested "One we haven't explored before." "Hmmm, maybe..." Miguel placed his fingers under his chin, as if deep in thought. "Doesn't matter. I don't like the looks of it so we're leaving. We got to get back to Logan's party if we wanna impress him with our dance. Remember the plan?" Tyrone and Jacob nodded. They were experts at this plan. To impress Logan, the three had devised a flashmob they could perform at his party. Those plans fell through sadly when they ended up here. "Hey wait a second," Tyrone thought out loud "How did we fall in the river again? I don't remember being anywhere near it." "We probably took a wrong turn, fell in and ended up at this part of the wither." Miguel replied "But I would remember that!" Tyrone said in frustration "Well no shame in memory loss. Being dropped on your head as a kid will do that to you." Miguel said with a smirk. "Oh you little-" Tyrone lunged forward but Jacob acted fast and pulled back the kid's arms. "Hey, where's your satchel, Ty?" Tyrone suddenly dropped the urge to fight Miguel. He sprinted back to the river and searched, nothing was there. "All my stuff!" Tyrone cried out "My camera, my pencils, MY MEMOIR. All washed away forever!" Jacob came over and placed a supporting hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's okay, Ty. That memoir wasn't much of a loss when you really think about it." Tyrone shot Jacob a dirty look. The child began back-tracking. "No, no. I don't mean it wasn't valuable." "That's what I would've meant." Miguel chimed. "I meant that a memoir is impossible to lose because, it's all your memories." Jacob said sweetly. Tyrone stared in disbelief "You have NO idea what a memoir is do you?" "Not a clue," Jacob admitted "I only ever heard you and your father talk about it and I didn't wanna seem dumb." The three continued their conversation as they walked north. "Why do you care so much about it anyway." "My pops said memoirs are how you build legacies with paper. I wanna build a legacy out of paper one day. Just for him." "I don't think your papa knows what a memoir is either." Miguel commented dryly. Tyrone gave Miguel the dirty look this time "My pops knows everything! That's why he's not in JAIL." The whole group stopped in their tracks. Now Miguel was giving dirty looks. No, not dirty. Deathly. "That...is a low blow." "Just don't crap on my writing. THAT'S a low blow." "It's really not." Jacob said. But quickly shut his mouth when two deathly looks were pointed at him. "Can we PLEASE talk about something else?!" The boy asked desperately. He wasn't sure how to handle these two when they become petty like this. Normally he'd sit and watch until they were both sauced with mud from their roughhousing, but this time he couldn't with the current stress he was feeling. And this place just looked to clean for a mud fight. He quickly changed the subject himself. "Sooo, you guys wanna rehearse the flashmob?" Tyrone and Miguel looked at the boy as if he set himself on fire. Not a great topic change but you got to commit. "It'll be fun! I know we don't have the music right now, but that doesn't mean we don't know the words!" Jacob began humming the intro to their song while tapping his foot rhythmically. Then, despite the other two fighting to clown on him, he started singing. "I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums-" At the apparent two beats of the drums, Jacob jumped into two dance poses, pointing at Tyrone for the next line. The guy hesitated, secretly pleading he could just jump into the river and drown. He looked at Miguel, who seemed a little more relaxed at the mention of the flashmob. He even nodded encouragingly at Tyrone to continue to routine. "Oh what a shame that you came here with someone," He did his dance part, adding his break-dancing specialty before passing to Miguel. "So while your here in my arms-"  The group leader joined in with his part. The boys dancing began syncing up as they said these next lines all in unison. "Let's make the most of tonight like we're gonna die young!" If I were to sit and explain the origins of the boys obsession with 2000's pop, we'd be here all day. The point is, Kesha brings them together in times like these. "We're gonna die young!" They could say the most nasty things to each other and throw it all out the window when this song comes on. "We're gonna die young!" The boys were really getting into it. Usually it would look awkward with no music, but for them it just plays in their heads simultaneously. The synchronized movements came to a swift close when all three came together for one last pose. "Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young!" "I feel like I just might after witnessing THAT." A voice appeared in front of the boys, scaring them out of their Kesha headspace and back to reality. The witness in question was a girl their age. She had long, purple- yes PURPLE hair tied into a low braid and moss green eyes. She wore a pastel purple tank top with a beige overcoat. She wore dark blue leggings with pink stripes and pink worn out sneakers. Her facial expression only read disappointment with a small hint of amusement. The boys stared at her, still holding their finishing stance while she had her arms folded unimpressively.   "Greetings boys. My name's Connie. Thanks for getting me stuck out here."