Defining the Question
Up until three weeks ago, everything had been just average everyday ordinary. Inabry and I were the best of buds, always together. Yeah, that’s always what they’d say, Ina and Milo, insuperable. It’s a funny thing that word, insuperable. By definition, incapable of being passed over, overcome, or surmounted. That which cannot be broken. In this world we believe that we’ve achieved these kinds of things. But as we develop more, that force, trying to overcome the next barrier grows more intelligent, learning from one another. This is the way that humans work, so it’s important I tell you; there was nothing we could learn.
Observations
Ina and I never really went to church a lot. Get that huh, never going to church when your in a catholic school. Everyone would point and say there goes Ina and Milo again, running out on class. But we had our own ideas. Ina and I we were kind of the same us. We weren’t into those idea the crows at the monastery would drone into our heads all day. We all saw em smokin’ in the lunchroom anyway and they try to tell us god is all they love and junk? Father McHery wasn’t such a bad guy really. He’d let Ina and I come sit in his office while he read the bible, and he told us what all the gibberish was supposed to mean. It was kind of cool, Ina really liked it, but I’m not into it all that much. Ina and I would go to our hiding spot, and she’d ask me.
“Milo…. Do you think there is a god?”
“How should I know?” I’d tell her, I didn’t wanna make anyone mad in case I was wrong to be honest.
“Well I mean, if he does exist… It means he watches us ALL the time.”
“What?! No not all the time!”
“Why not? You think he would look away?” She liked to argue with me.
“Well I mean, if he watched all the time, they’d he’d see all sorts of gross stuff, if he’s like… All knowing and junk, he prolly knows when to look away, that way we still have our privacy if we’re like getting naked or something!”
“Hmm…But, then couldn’t you just rob a bank nakey?”
“Ah geeze I don’t know, let’s go steal some tomatoes from Mother McKaw!” I love tomatoes!!
“Wait Milo!! God will see us!” Ina would scream, but I’d already be running. Ina was kind of a chicken like that. She never really liked to do bad stuff cause her father was some kind of big shot and wanted his daughter in a good school where she’d be safe and junk. He was going to make her join a girls only but she only ended up picking up smoking and getting a tattoo. Turns out a lot of those catholic school girls were sent there as a last resort of salvation, but Ina wasn’t like them. I know she only does it to fit in, but sometimes she’ll get that look.
“Milo….” She’ll say to me, and she’ll stare into the sky right behind me, like she’s looking through my head, YIKES, it gives me the creeps!
“What, hey geeze I’m over here!”
“Milo…. I want to go to heaven….” Ina’s a good girl, I don’t know what she worries about. Personally I don’t know about all that. I steal a lot of stuff and like, I’m not really too nice of a guy. But it’s only cause everyone else thinks I’m some kind of IDIOT or something that I don’t wanna have anything to do with them! Ina’s different though, iunno maybe I got her fooled well or something but, she knows I’m smart I just don’t communicate like all those wannabe college kids.
It was always like that with Ina, we were close, but she never really told me much about herself. I’d tell her about my uncles shack and how he eats beans out of a shoe cause Mom says he drank too much and now he can’t think well anymore. Or how my dad chops wood with an ice skate taped to a stick. She always laughs and tells me.
“Your family sounds like fun….”
“I don’t know what you mean, they’re just a family.” My pop is always ragging me about being a man and my mom is always giving me crap about manners.
“My family doesn’t do anything….”
“My mom told me your dad owns all sorts of tv stations, does that mean he gets to be on tv whenever he wants?”
“I never see him on there…” And I never seen him…. Period. Of all the time I’ve known Ina, not once had I ever seen her out of school. After the end of the day, she’d get picked up right as the bell rang. No phone number, no instant messenger name, no face book. See that’s why we snuck out all the time, she didn’t want to at first but once I showed her how mindless those stupid nuns are it’s easy to get her. I just grab her hand and we were out the door.
The snow was just starting to melt, Christmas was over and everyone was waiting out the winters end for spring to come. It wasn’t even really cold out anymore, just the kind of weather I liked, but everything was still all wet. Ina had her lil white rubber boots on, and a puffy matching coat cause she’s a wimp about the cold. I just wear some gloves and my hat and I’m fine. It’s funny looking down at Ina with her puffy coat, she looks like a marshmallow. We were walking down to the abandoned tracks where the steel mill used to ship out. Everything is shut down on the section, but trains still use the system it’s connected to down the way. We go out there to put coins down and watch em shake off from the passing of trains connected to the rail. Sometimes we make a race out of it.
“Check out this one I found today…” I held up my coin with pride.
“Why’s it all green…”
“That’s lime…. I figure if there’s less actual metal and more lime, it will go faster, I’m SURE to beat you today!” I could never explain it, but Ina…. ALWAYS won!
“Ok….” She put down her coin as we waited for the 12:13. She always used the same exact coin, I had no idea what it was. It had a strange triangular symbol on it, and sometimes it seemed like it was glowing when the light hit it right. It seemed to be silver, but highly reflective. Her father gave it to her when she was young, I guess it was some kind of heirloom but she didn’t much care. He claimed it brought him great fortune.
The vibrations started and I started to hoot and holler. We got a decently close spot by the train, we could easily hear it tooting and grinding against the rails, but the driver couldn’t see us to yell at us for trespassing. My coin was doing pretty well from the start, but I think hers must have shined light in my eye, cause I don’t remember much of what happened next…
I remember I felt heavy, everything felt like it fell a little lower into the ground, I saw Ina looking to the sky with her eyes wide. I mean, I saw her looking for a good 10 or 15 seconds even… But I don’t know what it was… I tried to look but it was like I was sick and too weak to lift my head. I just remember looking down at the coin, and seeing something so bright…. Then I heard a sudden harsh ripping sound.
Even with the train barreling past us only a a dozen or so meters away. I heard it clear as day. It sounded like a tree being ripped in two even sections. I felt myself cringe at the sound as my head went back. I saw the sun shining, as feathers of the softest touch fluttered down against our faces. They came down upon us like a cloud, and they almost seemed to be glittering. I was still in awe while Ina was already running down to the source.
“W-what’s going on, what are all these feathers…? Did a bird just get shot?” I ran after Ina off the tracks and into the brush. I wasn’t sure then what I felt. I just knew I needed be there for Ina. If it was up to me, we would never have even gone down there. I don’t like to get my nose where it don’t belong but I wouldn’t let nothing happen to Ina. That’s why I stayed with her.
Now I want you to know, I wanted NOTHING to do with this. Ina made all the decisions but… Don’t blame her ok? She’s a good hearted person and you know if you were in her shoes you’d feel like a total jerk if you didn’t do what she did. So it wasn’t her fault.
Observation 2, TO BE CONTINUED
