The Annihilation of Foreverland

Zin made hardly any effort to speak, but his words resounded clearly across the whistling wind. “You can’t go out there, it’s the edge of the program. Where your memories are.”
    “Wait. What?”
    “Your memories.” Zin put a finger on Danny’s forehead. Inside Foreverland, there was no hole. “Haven’t you noticed?”
    Danny concentrated on flying straight, but he was remembering the time he stepped on a nail when he was six and had to get a tetanus shot; the time he got caught smoking his mom’s cigarette and had to finish the pack in front of her as punishment. The time he kissed a girl behind the garage on a dare— He began to wobble. Zin grabbed his arm to straighten him out.
    “I don’t get it,” Danny shouted.
    “It’s part of the reprogramming, Danny Boy. The healing. They sucked our memories out so our bad habits get fixed. You know, like addiction and stealing and whatever else the bunch of us lowlifes did wrong before we got here. Inside the needle, we get them back until we’re whole again.”
    “Reed said we’ll get sucked inside the needle.”
    “Yeah, well, he’s not exactly the voice of reason.” Zin resumed his relaxed posture. “But he might not be all that crazy.”
    “Why?”
    “You might not want to remember everything, Danny Boy. There’s a reason we’re here.”
    He didn’t have a chance to ask for more. Zin floated farther away, eyes closed. Not so happy. If they were a bunch of screw-ups before they got to the island, it wouldn’t be so rosy to remember.
    They soared over the beach. The waves were just as angry as the day he went to visit Reed but the beach was empty. Reed was still back in the Haystack, forced to stand in the blowing cold. How would he know what was going on if he’d never been inside the needle?
    Danny liked the way it felt, remembering his life. He wasn’t sure it made sense, how it was fixing him, but if he was broken then maybe he shouldn’t know how it worked. Just because he was regaining memories, though, didn’t make him more of who he was.
    Is that what I am, memories? Or am I something else?
    It was too confusing to think about. He was perfectly fine with the thrilling sensation of flying, of being so far off the ground without the fear of falling. If they just did circles all day, it would be a good one.
    There were no girls on the ground. Zin was flying with his eyes closed. Danny wanted to ask about them, even about the redheaded one, but then a squad of boys blasted between them in v-shaped formation and tossed Danny head over heel. He went tumbling.
    I’m going to crash, I’m going to die!
    Zin steadied him. “You got to watch it. If you let your thoughts get a hold of you, you’ll divebomb out, man. You crash, it’s going to hurt. You’re not ready to control your pain so if you split a bone, you’re going to feel it. Remember, they’re just thoughts. You are not your thoughts. Stay focused. Sometimes it helps to imagine a dot in the middle of your brain. Breathe in and out of it until there’s nothing left but the dot. You’ll get the hang of it.”
    He did that. First, with his eyes closed. Next, eyes open.
    They did a complete circle around the island. The second time around, he felt a little more in control. In fact, he put his arms down and did a Superman pose. Zin was pretending to swim.
    They were over the south end of the island where the Investors’ Mansion divided the trees from the coast. They soared around it and cut across the middle of the island. Zin turned on the jets and did loops around the Chimney.
    The Chimney, where everyone woke up and everyone disappeared. Graduated. Smoked. But no one knew what really happened. Would Foreverland really show them what was inside?
    “Get to the ground, Danny Boy,” he said. “I don’t want you crashing and burning, my man.”
    “Where you going?”
    Zin pointed down. Danny could see the girls popping into existence near the sundial. “Girl plus boy… you do the math.”
    They landed safely. Danny didn’t see Zin after that.

    The two moons had fallen below the tree line. There was a castle in the Yard with smolder holes in it. The moat was on fire. Danny watched Vikings carry out chests of gold. They celebrated around a fire with pre-historic turkey legs and vats of beer, wine or whatever was slurring their speech. Apparently, they won.
    Danny had gone to the beach. It was empty. No sign of the redhead. He explored the island, messed around inside