Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Lucky Rabbits Foot ❯ Mint: In the Thick Black Smoke ( Chapter 2 )

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By: Ayuru

The thick black smoke... It was hard to breathe here, like the air was thicker, like it was heavier. I didn't like it here. It turned out that under the cover of volcanic black smoke there was a town. It wasn't much of a town really, more like a collaboration of houses. It was a place for the people who wanted a quiet life. Everyone lived their own lives. Maybe a hundred in total. None were very friendly. And it was dark. There was no sun. It was a very cold place, cold and dark. And the air was thick, with the black.

There were no streets, no sidewalks, no post offices or stores. There were houses and farms. The only thing in the whole place was a huge fountain. We walked past it. There was only one person in sight. He had a large bird like animal with him. He walked with a limp. I looked over at Blacky. “For people who want a quiet life.”, I said, it felt good to hear something but the quiet breeze and our own footsteps. “I like it here. Other then the fact that its cold here, instead of boiling hot like in the desert, its just like home. Quiet, lonely, gray.”

“Hey Mister Finklestein!”, yelled a voice from behind them It seemed out of place. The place seemed to zap the life out of anything, till it was just an empty body. That voice was young, and lively, and almost happy, it was out of place. The man with the bird turned, smiled, and kept walking. Foot steps could be heard now. They were too springy. “Yoo-hoo! Mister Finklestein!”, a girl ran past them.

She had flamboyant pink hair, and a pair of ear phones around her neck. “Wow.”, I said aloud, “You don't see someone with tech like that around here.”, I smiled to Blacky, who smiled back happily. The girl had caught up to `Mister Finklestien', who was smiling at her sweetly. “I have to say Abby, if it weren't for you, I think we would all just fall into depression.”, the girl was panting. “Mister Finklestien, my mom just wanted to give you some of the pie she made last night.”, he chuckled.

“No, I couldn't possibly, Abby!”, he took the pie anyways. She smiled. “Call me Mint, all my friends do.”

I turned to Blacky. “Wait... I just realized, I don't know what to do now. The letter said to come here, that's it.”, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was the girl. Her face was very pretty. “Are you Lucky?”, I nodded. The sky seemed to get darker, the air thicker. “Come with me she said.”. She was serious now. It scared me. Blacky seemed to feel it to, his smile faded. He wasn't quiet as at-home.

So we walked. The air was almost tangible, you could feel every molecule in your lungs. The dark smoke overhead billowed. `Why are we following her anyways?', I heard my head say, `We don't know who she is.', we kept walking. It felt like a wasteland, there weren't even houses. It felt like the middle of nowhere. Mint had a disk in her player and was walking to a beat.

“Where are we going.”, I asked her. She pulled down the phones. “My house. I have something for you.”, she said. I felt like I was back in the sand. I wish I could be running. “Hey Lucky, does this place remind you of the sand?”, I heard Blacky say. It did. Because it never seemed to end. And it was dry, like it hadn't rained in years. I guess it hasn't, cause of the smoke.

So we walked. And walked. Till we came to a house. Finally, it felt like somewhere. And what I saw made me smile. There was a ray of sunlight on the side of the house. The air felt like... just air. It made me light headed. Blacky smiled. It had been a week since we had left the house, back in the desert. We ran, and slept. Blacky made sandwiches. And we ran. It was nice.

It felt like home now, cause you could see the desert, just beyond the house. The sun was bright and the heat was radiating out.

* * *

I was running again. In the heat of the desert. I had only been in that dark smoke for a day, but I know, I would never, ever forget it. the way the air felt in my lugs. More and more I thought about it. I hadn't felt it before, but now that place seemed almost... evil... My ears waved behind me, I could hear the wind, whispering like a song. Blacky coughed.

Blacky was running behind me. God he was fun to talk to. I had only seen him upset once, in the black smoke. And any other time he was wonderful. Always he had something to say. About the heat, or the cold, or about my cloths, or how he'd love to pierce my ear, or something like that. I would just listen most of the time, I didn't have much to say. It was a surprise to hear Blackys voice behind me. “What are you running from?”

Running from? Im not running from anything. “Nothing.”, I said simply. Yeah right. “Yeah right.”, said Blacky, “You've gotta have some kind of tragic back story.”, he said. That made me think. What was I running from. I kept running. My stomach was beginning to hurt. “I don't know.”, I said atlast. The sun was setting. All I knew was that I was running.

It was getting dark. I stopped running. My stomach was hurting. I don't like thinking about that. I turned, Blacky was catching up. “Lets head back.”, said Blacky. Head back where? To under the thick black smoke? I hate it there. I had to talk to Mint. She seemed different. There was something about her that made living, or even being in that place, bearable. It seemed like the black didn't hurt her. I wish I was like that. She was glowing. It was just like that. Without the sun, it was dark, and it was horrible. She was glowing, it made everyone else feel better, like she was a ray of sunshine. It must be hard to be a sun.

Why do I feel so bad? Am I running away from myself? I was running again. This time I had my hand in Blackys. He was nice. And so was Mint. I wonder what she knew. My mind focused again, on what was important. Where was she. Where was my little sister. I had to save her. I have to say her, and I will.

I knocked on Mints door, and I felt her sun like presence. “Lucky?”, she asked. She looked stressed, like she was waiting for something important. I nodded. She had an envelope in her hands. It was black, like the one I got. “I was told give this to you.”, she said, “Open it.”

So I did.

Across the desert. Im proud of you. I hope you made a friend.

Now leave the smoke, and come over the mountains, Il be waiting.

Over the mountains. He'll be waiting. Leave the black smoke.... what about the desert? And Mint? I was confused. My thoughts weren't making sense. “Well?”, I snapped out of my trance, “What does it say?” I read it allowed for them. More for myself actually.

“Over the mountains?”, asked Blacky, “Woah, Iv never even thought of what's on the other side.”, Blacky and Mint started to jabber on about what might be there. I looked at the letter in my hands “-nd big mega-cities, and a huge river!”, said Mint, smiling. “Mint, pack your bags, we're moving out.”

And we left, Mint didnt even put up a fight. Fifteen minutes, we were out the door. She had an orange backpack over her shoulder and we started to walk. Enough batterys for a lifetime, a few dollars of food money and some CD's. I wonder why she wanted to leave. But we were gone. Il ask her later.