Crossing Anthology Two

To Cole’s surprise, Jonah returned to sleeping once he returned to Applejack’s barn. His night of slumber was catastrophic to his mind. His dream was another flashback of that same day in 2000, Jonah and his father had just finished scarfing down on their ice creams cones in the Chapmanville Dairy Delight. Paul talked a bit about where he and his mom were going for the next two years, it would be Somalia in Africa, to defend U.S. Embassies from any intrusions. Their conversing was cut short when Jonah pointed to a small glowing light, coming from the mountain side about two miles away from them. Paul looked at the light closer, it was a fire. The very police office that Paul worked for was in flames. Paul quickly turned to Jonah;

“Woah! Call the fire department! Then go on find your mom and stay with her, I’m going up there to check it out!”

And like that, Paul ran out of the restaurant and hopped into his jeep, driving off with hazardous turning and speed. Jonah did as his father asked and called the authorities, followed by panicked running to get home.

Jonah hopped over the chain gate that surrounded his family’s home, it was there that he once lived with his mother, Kristina; his father, Paul; and his older brother Seth seemingly without conflicts.

Jonah entered his home, running into the parents’ bedroom to see his mother. Kristina was packing her suitcase of everything she would need for her and her husband’s long time away;

“Mom! The police station is on fire! Dad went to go see.”

Kristina’s happy face from seeing her child return home turned to one of shock and worry;

“Is everyone okay? Where is Seth at?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him since…”

Jonah remembered earlier that day in the bathroom, it was as if the fire smothered that conflicting thought dead. It was resurrected, but this time, it didn’t feel so bad to talk about. He continued speaking to his mother;

“Since Seth told me something strange.”

Kristina closed her suitcase and sat on her bed, Jonah sat with her. Kristina asked him;

“What did Seth say to you?”

“… He told me to tell Dad that he hated him and that he didn’t want to see him again…”

Kristina became annoyed;

“He told you that!?”

Jonah only nodded, looking away. Kristina put a hand on her youngest’s shoulder;

“Don’t you worry, I’ll handle this. Seth should never have asked you to do something like that, it was wrong of him. You just take your mind off it.”

Jonah smiled a little and said;

“Thank you, mom.”

Jonah got up and left the room.

Kristina tried her hardest to shelter her and Paul’s extended family’s conflicts, hardships and controversies from her children, especially Jonah. She had always known that Jonah was easily distracted from these sorts of things, and how he could sometimes over examine and let things linger in his thoughts. Jonah having a relaxed and creative mind was always within her best interests. It was also always in her and Paul's dreams to one day move away from Chapmanville together with their children, leaving behind the nonsense and reaching out to new and vast opportunity. One place she favored above many others to move to was Virginia Beach, she often spoke of her desire to move to Virginia Beach with Seth.

Jonah got himself some potato chips from the kitchen, went into the living room and watched some television.

At this point in the flashback, Jonah’s present day physical body moved and rolled so much that it woke Cole, Halie was not there to be woken; she had spent the night with Twilight. Cole walked over to his sleeping friend; he bent down to fake slap Jonah awake. Jonah finally opened his eyes to Cole’s words;

“Hey! Wake up! What’s the matter with you?”

Jonah was unaware of his physical trauma as he slept. Jonah thought that maybe it would be appropriate to finally tell someone about it. Who better to tell than someone he considered to be his true brother? Jonah spoke to Cole;

“I’ve been havin’ these flashbacks…”

“What of?”

Cole sat on the floor with Jonah; the both of them gazed out of the moonlit window. Jonah answered;

“… When I was very little, four years old to be exact, Seth told me to tell our father that he didn’t want to have anything to do with him again… It placed me in one of the most awkward situations that I’ve ever been in, even more so than our three year adventure… Later that day, after my dad picked me up from school, the police station where my dad used to work ‘mysteriously’ caught on fire, and I ran home while my dad went to investigate… Until this point I hadn’t seen Seth since his request, but later that evenin’, my dad came home… he had Seth with him… Seth’s face… was… covered in suit and ash…”

Cole looked confused, Jonah continued;

“The thing is, and I’ve recently figured this out… originally… my dad and I was supposed to be at the station when he picked me up from school like we usually did before.”

Cole went from confusion to concern, Jonah concluded;

“… And Seth… was the only person my Dad found at the fire. No one else was there that day.”

Cole was speechless; he understood why this was messing with Jonah. Cole didn’t speak, he felt like any words at this point would only make things worse for Jonah. Jonah topped off his story;

“I always wondered why Seth and I were forced apart for two years… Now I’ve got my answer.”

Jonah kicked the wall in frustration, not even acknowledging the pain in his wounded foot after. Jonah thought for a moment and said one last thing;

“But what I can’t seem to determine is why I am rememberin’ this day so much lately. All these years I’ve been okay, I hardly remembered it until now. But ever since we got here, it has stayed in my dreams.”

Cole put an arm around Jonah, he suggested;

“Well, Seth did betray us in 2011 remember? He’s been gone for two years now, maybe you just miss him.”

“I think you’re right… I feel bad for him too; he’s had a complicated life… He had us both away from home a week after getting’ back together; he was placed into a psychiatric institute by my friend’s parents in 2004, our house burned down in 2009 and he had us move to Virginia Beach. Then in 2010, after the flood that ruined Virginia Beach, Seth changed considerably, it was at that point when he became more sarcastic and less willin’ to work with us. Do you remember, Cole?”

Cole pondered for a moment, trying to remember;

“… Yeah… yeah he did. I guess that was the turning point for him, and that he began waiting for an opportunity to run away again.”

“Maybe it was us, maybe he was just sick of our adventure. In those three years of fightin’ King, we moved around a lot.”

“Maybe he felt threatened when we arrived in Mobius to look for him in 2011. That could be why he tried to kill us then, he might’ve just not wanted us in his life again.”

“That’s why I think we shouldn’t try lookin’ for him. I believe he is going to be okay, and that he could be tryin’ to better himself in solitude.”

There was silence for a moment, Cole remembered back to the time in 2011 when Seth hunted him and Jonah. Cole tried to remember the weapon Seth was using; it was some sort of firearm. Cole couldn’t remember what it looked like, or what type of gun it was. Cole shook his head;

“… Let’s get some sleep. We gotta meet the Princess in the morning.”

“Yeah you’re right, and hopefully I won’t have any more of these dreams… Sleep well, Cole.”

Cole and Jonah returned to their spots on the floor, they finally fell asleep. The night time air of Ponyville kept Jonah company as he slept, it soothed his thoughts, and he was gifted with a peaceful night of rest.

The night was cool and relaxing, Jonah felt more weight being lifted off his shoulders as he conversed with Cole that night. It was a relieved beginning to the era of peace that was coming.