Cadence’s hands were shaking as she carefully unzipped the backpack. “It’s go time, my friend,” she said as she took the plastic bag out of the backpack and carefully set it on the ground. She was hopeful that the bag would be empty when she put it away, but she reminded herself that she promised she wouldn’t pressure him into anything.
In the other compartment, she’d tucked away the container she’d selected, an empty bucket from one of Elliott’s favorite establishments—KFC. It had gotten a bit smooshed, but she reshaped it and took both items over away from the darkness cast from the plateau.
She located a place that seemed to be directly in the moonbeams and placed the bag inside the bucket, which only came about halfway up the sides of the bag so that most of the contents would be in the light. She had no idea if the whole thing had to somehow be illuminated, but she was willing to make some adjustments if she needed to.
Careful not to spill any, she used her superhuman strength to tear through the tape on the top of the bag so that she could unzip it. Tossing the tape aside, she backed up, completely unsure how long this might take—or if it would even work at all.
It took only seconds for her to get her answer. The air seemed to shift around her, as if there was a small pull in the direction of the moonbeams, and then she realized the air above the bucket was beginning to dance. She’d seen many startling things recently, but she couldn’t help but gasp in awe as tiny blue lights began to twinkle in the moonbeams, spinning and twirling, expanding, until they spanned an area about seven feet high and five feet across.
Cadence caught her breath, her hands flying to cover her mouth, as he came into focus. There he was—only a few feet away. She felt tears stinging her eyes, and as she struggled to find her voice, he stared through the portal at her, a look of confusion on his familiar face.
Finally, she managed to find her voice. “Elliott?” she cried, his name catching as she tried to push it out.
He tilted his head to the side and peered at her. After a second, recognition morphed his expression. It was as if he couldn’t quite place her at first. “Kid? Is that you?”
“Yes! It’s me, Cadence,” she replied. Instinctively, her hand shot forward, but she pulled it back, afraid that if she reached through the portal—if that was even possible—she might allow something to come through. “Can you see me?”
“I can see you,” he confirmed, breaking into a smile. “How the hell are you?”
She burst out into a ridiculous laugh, but she knew she was teetering on a loss of self-control. “I’m… okay,” she replied. “How… how are you?”
“Great!” he exclaimed. “Everything is just great. Wow! How am I seeing you? What’s going on?”
“Well,” she began, placing her hands on her hips, “I opened the blue moon portal like you suggested.”
“The what?” he asked, and then after a moment, he began to nod his head. “Oh, right. The blue moon thingy. Right. I’m sorry. I don’t remember very much.”
“You don’t?” She was still having trouble comprehending that he was really there standing before her.
“No, I think it’s some way to keep us from being all depressed, missing everyone, once we cross over. I mean, now that I see you, I remember you, but I’m sad to say that I don’t think I would have even remembered who you were a few minutes ago,” Elliott admitted.
Cadence tried not to be offended. After all, it was hardly his fault if he couldn’t defy the physics of the afterlife. “That’s okay,” she said. “I just wanted to see you again. I miss you… a lot.”
“Awe, man, kid. I’m sure I would miss you, too. If I could.”
“Right. So things are good there?”
“Amazing,” he assured her. “I mean… I’m probably not supposed to say anything, but it’s beyond words.”
“Good,” she nodded her head, the tears starting to flow again. How could she be so selfish to even think of asking him to come back when he was so very happy where he was?
“Hey, where’s everyone else?”
Cadence wasn’t sure how to answer that. She wanted to be honest, but she also didn’t want to alarm or confuse him. Finally, she said, “Well, we didn’t think everyone should know about this, I mean, in case it didn’t work.”
“That makes sense,” Elliott agreed. “But Aaron already knew about it. Where’s he?”
She cleared her throat. “He… thought it was a bad idea. He thought I’d try to talk you into coming over, and he was afraid something evil might come through, too.”
Elliott nodded his head. “I think I remember something about that.”
“He misses you, too, though. We all do.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, and she detected a bit of a waver in his own voice. “How’s Cass?”
She wasn’t a good liar, but she’d try. “Good. She’s fine. She misses you.” Cadence noticed that the blue lights were beginning to dance at the edges again.
His left eye crinkled the way it did when he was trying to figure something out. “Cadence, is something wrong with Cass? Your answer sounded… funny.”
“She’s okay. It’s been… difficult. She’ll make it. She’s got a lot of people around her who love her.”
Elliott was staring down now, though Cadence wasn’t sure if he could see the ground or whatever was on the other side of the portal. He was quiet for a long time. “Tell her… tell her I love her.”
“I will.”
It seemed evident now that the portal was closing. No longer seven feet high, it was more like six; she was having trouble seeing the top of his head. “I think it’s closing, Elliott.” She couldn’t fight the tears now.
“Hey, don’t cry. You know I love you, right? So much.”
“I know. I love you, too.”
“You got my letter?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re not mad at me for being a jerk anymore?”
“No.” It was definitely shutting. He was no longer solid, but the little blue waves that had formed his outline were twinkling now, and she was having trouble seeing through her tears.
“Cadence—don’t cry. It’ll be all right.”
“I’ll come back as soon as I can,” she promised. She stretched her hand out in his direction again, careful not to break the plane.
