Lock and Key

In Space

"You're going to make so many new friends!" Grace told the girl happily. Amelia rolled her eyes, apparently having grown bored of the conversation and she pressed on into the next car. Grace braced herself, all she had to do was get through this car and the next part of her life could truly begin. She and Hazel followed Amelia across the bridge and entered into the next car only to find an outer space themed car. It was the largest car Grace had ever seen. A sparkling ball of light floated over to them which Grace assumed was a star and began talking to them.

"Hello, and welcome to space. It's expansive and ever expanding! I assume you three will want to get to the exit right?" the star asked. Grace nodded suddenly overwhelmed by the sheer scope and size of the car. The star hadn't been kidding about it being ever expanding, as soon as Grace thought she could see where the car ended it just got bigger again. "Well, as you might have noticed, right now you're floating in the void."

Grace, Hazel, and Amelia looked down to find that they were indeed floating. "Your goal is to get all the way over there," the star gestured the best it could without limbs. "To planet earth, but as mentioned space is constantly expanding, and you may find that after a while it's expanded so much that you've lost sight of where you're going and are stuck here forever." the star added casually. "Anyway good luck." and with that the star floated away joining the billions of others that looked just like it in the never ending landscape of space. Amelia looked around trying to formulate an idea.

"Alright, we know our goal. All we have to do is find the most efficient way of moving while floating that can get us from point A to point B before the car becomes too large, follow my lead." she said. Grace and Hazel did as she asked following Amelia's lead as she used the minor gravitational pull of each of the celestial bodies in order to propel herself forward. They were all still quite a ways from their goal of the planet earth but they'd been making great progress. As they traveled across the stars Grace closed her eyes for a moment and allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of zipping across the cosmos, unbridled, unbothered, completely free.

It had been so long since Grace had felt like maybe, truly, things might be okay. And she knew that this feeling wouldn't last, but she also knew it would return. And she knew that over time, the feeling would become more and more frequent. Maybe that was enough. Grace's relaxation was quickly ended when she heard a scream and stopped in her tracks. She and Amelia whipped around to see that Hazel had been pulled in by the gravity of a small asteroid and was falling towards the surface. The two rushed over as fast as they could doing their best to save her. Grace got there first and was only able to slow Hazel's descent but not fully stop it.

"Ow!" Hazel said holding her arm as she hit the surface of the rock. Grace and Amelia joined her side looking at the injury. Amelia quickly diagnosed it.

"It's likely a hairline fracture. We'll have to get you back to the emergency car." she explained. Hazel quickly shook her head.

"No! I'm fine. I want to stay with Grace and the Apex." she replied. Grace sighed and looked at the little girl's arm.

"Hazel, you're hurt. You need to go to the doctor." she said matter of factly. Hazel looked disappointed but didn't begin crying. She squeezed her eyes tight and shook her head again.

"No. I missed you, I want to stay with you." she explained. Grace gave the girl a hug.

"Hazel, as soon as I can I'll find you again okay?" she asked. She could hear Hazel sniffling as she asked her question in return.

"Promise?" she asked sadly.

"I promise." Grace responded and she meant it. Hazel broke the hug and nodded, now looking to Amelia expectantly. Before taking Hazel back to the emergency car Amelia addressed Grace, rummaging through her satchel before handing Grace something in a closed fist. Grace looked at what she'd been handed only to find that it was a wad of crumpled bills. She looked at Amelia confused, who gave her answer.

"Sometimes around the train you find money, most of the time American. I have no use for any of it for multiple reasons, so i'm offering it to you." Grace shook her head and attempted to hand the money back but Amelia refused, and surprised Grace by removing her glove. Grace hadn't seen her number in so long. It was low, lower than it had been in almost her entire time on the train.

"You'll be off the train soon. And I have no idea where the train drops you, but you might want just a bit of money to start off with, trust me." Grace put the bills in her pocket alongside the photo and nodded at Amelia, accepting her offer. Hazel gave Grace a weak wave and Grace waved back as the two headed off in opposite directions. The car had expanded in the time it had taken to have that conversation but earth was still in her sights. All Grace had to do was sit back for however long it took to get there.

Grace finally arrived at the car's exit and took a deep breath. She exited onto the bridge and as she reached the door she stood for a moment bracing herself. Everything that had happened, everything that she'd done, had been for this. She entered the car to see that it was themed after a quiet lake. From where she'd entered this was the more secluded area and there was a more populated beach on the other side. As she walked deeper inside she was met with many colorful tents set up on the banks of the lake. As she got close out poured the Apex kids who quickly ran to give her hugs and to beg for tales of her journey.

"Apex, there will be plenty of time to tell you all about what happened, but there's something more important first." the children gathered around her and took seats at her feet excited to be regaled with the story. Cautiously Grace showed off her arm and her severely lowered number to a crowd of shocked faces. "Let me tell you about numbers." and so she did, explaining the truth about numbers to a nervous but ultimately excited crowd of children. So many wanted to see their families again, to go home. Grace made another promise, that she'd make sure each one did. It was a promise that she would keep.