The Annihilation of Foreverland

the castle and went swimming. He even went to the game room and helped the team win.
    (They were getting slaughtered before he showed up.)
    DA-NNY! DA-NNY! DA-NNY!
    Sid was all happy.
    Danny looked for the redhead some more. He ended up where he first met her on the Yard. The castle had crumbled into dust by then. The moat continued to burn with eerie red flames. Campfires were all around it. When the moons began to fade, they were hugging and saying goodbye. Some of them were crying. Danny watched from the edge of the trees, alone.
    Someone walked toward him.
    “You Danny Boy?” It was one of the girls. “Someone found this by the fire.”
    She handed him a gift. It was wrapped in red paper that sparkled in the dimming light. He opened the card taped to the top.
    Merry Christmas, Danny Boy.
    He could hardly see his hands as he ripped the paper from the box. The fires were nearly gone when he pulled the top open. He put his hand inside.
    Sand.

ROUND

Fire Takes Life of Mother and Son

    GILBERT, Arizona . – The Gilbert Fire Department responded to a call at 4:22 AM where a two-story house belonging to Allison Forrester was engulfed in flames. Fire fighters were able to keep the blaze from jumping to neighboring houses but unable to rescue the occupants. Once the fire was extinguished, two unidentified bodies were discovered inside. One is believed to be Allison Forrester, 47, and her son, Daniel Forrester, 13.
    The cause of the fire is unknown.

18
    She neared the edge of the gray boundary, dared not go any closer.
    But she could see… all of Foreverland.
    Danny flew by with the other boy. He was quite… good.
    Quite.
    She… she was right. He was who she needed. She needed someone to watch Reed. Needed someone to help her… to put an end…
    She watched, she watched.
    He would need the practice. He would need to learn the ways of Foreverland. He would need to be stronger. She couldn’t wait long, but she… she needed to wait for now. To give him time to get stronger.
    She left him a present. A gift. A clue.
    He would use it.
    To find her next time.
    In the…
    Nowhere.

19
    Light softly flooded the Haystack. Danny shivered.
    The boys were slowly coming to life. Zin was still on his back. Reed’s cell was empty. Danny didn’t bother wondering where he was or if he was alive, he just needed to get out. The others were already ahead of him, scurrying for the exit. No one spoke.
    Danny’s clothes were near the opening of his cell, the door slung open. He quickly got dressed and hurried for the outdoors, to get heat into his bones. They exited into the shade of the trees, but the air was so much warmer than inside the Haystack. They trotted down the path to the end. Sun .
    Danny stopped as he entered the Yard, savoring the warmth on his face, the smell of green grass and the sound of birds.
    Something flashed.
    He shaded his eyes and picked up a small twinkle in the top floor of the Chimney behind the black windows. He gave it little thought. Instead, he started for the dorms to get some rest. He hadn’t moved all day, but all that healing was exhausting. He couldn’t exactly remember what had happened.
    Danny crossed the Yard.
    Zin was still inside the Haystack, shivering on the floor.

20
    The Director scrubbed his hair with a towel.
    It had been days since he’d showered. Work was demanding. Sometimes he forgot what he smelled like. But when a man stays locked away on the top floor of a luxury penthouse-style apartment, it didn’t matter what he smelled like. But a shower was in order. He needed to get outside and stretch a bit, see his island. Reconnect with the reason he came to it in the first place.
    Things have evolved so quickly.
    He saw the line of boys emerging from the trees.
    The Director threw the towel over the back of a chair and aimed one of his telescopes. He dialed the knob until the faces came into focus. They were exhausted and shivering. Eight hours of bone-chilling cold would make a polar bear chatter. Those boys had no idea what their bodies were enduring while they were away.
    Foreverland , they called it.
    The Director couldn’t have come up with a better name. Then again, he never could have envisioned what his island had become. Not in a million years.
    These kids had no idea what a gift they’d received. If they knew what their lives had been like before he brought them to this paradise, they’d break down like rag dolls. Then again, if they knew the price they were paying