AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I knew Grandpa would send you. Hi, Malachi, sorry I’m so late…” And the first time she met me, the night under the moonlight, just when she got close to me she’d fainted in my arms. She hadn’t fainted again since…it wasn’t out of exhaustion…that dazed look in her eyes, the way she looked as if she were looking right through me…it was how I was when the memories started to come back to me.
“Your love, your life has inspired millions—no billions—of people to love foolishly…selfishly…unreasonably, with no regard for anyone or anything else.”
“It was her…” I said so softly I wasn’t even sure if the words came from my lips… “It was her.” I broke out laughing. It was impossible and yet… Sophocles had fallen at my feet twice. Warning me twice.
He didn’t just write Antigone…but he also wrote Oedipus Rex…and like him, I’m trying to avoid my fate I had created it.
RUN.
It was the only thing I could do, I picked up my things and made it only a few feet before I remembered the old man. But when I looked back he was no longer there…neither was his carry on.
Where in the…?
Beep. Beep. “Excuse us.” A woman called up ahead from one of the carts. And there he was, sitting facing me, his nose in my book as he held on to his cane…his cane that looked like…like Alfred’s.
Like the one he’d been holding in my dream…What am I thinking? It’s not possible.
And yet the old man who was dressed in flannel with a large bald spot in the center of his head looked up at me and the corner of his lip turned up.
“No.” I took a step forward but the sea of people quickly closed the gap the cart had created and just like that they were gone in the bustle of the airport and I was sure I was going insane. Part of me wanted to go to the gate just to make sure I hadn’t lost my sanity…instead I turned away and ran in the opposite direction as the screens above showed a picture of John F. Kennedy. His words appeared on every screen and his voice rang out in my ear as I ran.
“In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience—the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men—each man must decide for himself the course he will follow. The stories of past courage can define that ingredient—they can teach, they can offer hope, they provide inspiration. But they cannot supply courage itself. For this each man must look into his own soul. - John F Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States… Thank you for choosing JFK International Airport. Tell us your destination…there is no place we can’t get you.”
Her.
It had always been her.
It was the only place I could think of going and the only person who could get me to her was…
“Li-Mei!” I grabbed her arm and she stared at me wide-eyed and terrified. “I’m sorry but I need your help!”
I couldn’t run from this…from her. Everything wasn’t coincidence. It was fate.
Our fate.
16. SURVIVE, BE GREAT.
ESTHER
Walk slowly.
Don’t trip.
Don’t smile too much.
You can do this Esther.
You can do this.
“Are you nervous?” Adith asked as he made sure that not a single thread was showing on the beading of my gold-stitched waist-styled dress. “This is your first time coming without your grandfather, right?”
I stared at him for second unsure of what to say so I looked back out the window at the slowly moving queue. Even through the heavily tinted windows the flashes made me dizzy. All the cameras, the crowd along the sidelines…it didn’t make me nervous. No. It terrified me. The longer I looked out the heavier my heart pounded against my chest. My hands were balled into fists and my nails dug into my palms as I tried to control my breathing.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered shaking my head. “Why am I doing this?”
“You said it was because your grandfather never missed the Autumn Gala and you didn’t want people to forget him—”
“I know what I said!” I hollered, and as I placed my hands over my face, my breathing came out in a short gasp. Everyone who was anyone would be here and I was sure they would all look perfectly amazing. The most artistic created an iconic look for themselves that left people going, ‘did you see what she wore to the Autumn Gala?’ for weeks and have everyone asking next year, ‘you think she’ll top it for the Met in May?’
