Catalyst – Parallax Winter 2007

Under the circumstances, it would have been a very rude and tactless thing to do, but seeing as Mr. Wright left us to our own business, I figured that we were dismissed from our dismal duties. The whole thing was merely a sham to give some political hack good publicity as the puppet masters prompted us to smile for the cameras. Apparently, given that we did some good in the world, it was only an excuse for everyone to box us in a corner about attending. Since there was no longer anyone holding myself and two others in place, I did the first sensible thing that came to mind: I severed ties.

Despite being in a vastly empty room, I was oddly claustrophobic. I only felt slightly guilty about leaving these two behind without any explanation; the only logical excuse I had would be to tell them, “Oh, I’m sorry; I just had the unexplainable urge to dash out for a run.” We have been through so much together over the years; they deserve better than that, but they are old enough to fend for themselves.

I started to run and quickly realized that I was going to have myself killed if I did anything else in the heeled shoes someone coerced me into wearing. I unceremoniously kicked them off and continued on my way as I vaguely heard the combined echoes of the shoes hitting everything in their path as they rolled down the incline to the stage and the shouts of one calling my ill-suited name: Merry. It was trivial, although I always found that to be one of life’s biggest ironies.

The sound of exuberant celebration was close to bursting, and I decided that I no longer cared whether I crashed a victory party. Shouts of “We won, we won!” echoed across the walls, and I let it pass, because wasn’t it just wonderful to see them win, for once. I weaved my way through the sardine-packed crowd – a very impressive feat when one is invisible – and ran into anyone who would not move. The door now in front of me seemed to be a barrier, and for the first time that night, I hesitated, but only momentarily; I pushed it open and continued on with my crusade.

As soon as I stepped outside, it started to rain. Not a simple shower, mind you, but rather a drenching downpour; a bolt of lightning flashed on Earth’s projector and thunder swiftly followed it. On one side of me, I heard the shrieks of girls finding cover to vainly save their hair and on the other, a group of boys taking full-advantage of the chaos. I could not decide whether I relished or loathed the rain tonight, but I felt the chill in the depths of my bones and knew that it was inevitable. The rain streaked down my face – it was both hot and cold, pleasure and pain – and the faster I ran, the more blurred my vision became and soon I lost sight of everything; only the songs stuck in my head kept me going. There seemed to be a leek under the small shelter I eventually found, for I could still feel the rain there too. There was no escaping it: The damage had been done, and the only thing I could do now was wait.

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Author’s Note: This was the only piece I ever submitted to Steinert’s literary magazine. I did it on a complete whim, and luckily, it got published. It’s a different perspective of looking the very beginning of chapter 24 in NP. Obviously, since not too many people know or have read NP at this point, I couldn’t go into too much detail on things, like what Meredith was doing in that room and all; you guys know since it was covered in the Prologue. I figured writing this part would be good because it’s one of those things that puts Meredith into unfamiliar territory, and also, this and the scenes directly after is the bit I’ve written most about, meaning that I have so many different pieces and views on it. Hope you enjoy and please, leave comments! I never get it, but I want to hear criticism.