All tagged death
Suzy sighs. “A friend sacrificed his life for hers when she was six,” she says as she looks at me meaningfully.
“That is incorrect, Pirate Mother,” Master Mind says. “Two friends sacrificed themselves for her when she was six.”
Suzy looks at him, and her gaze lingers around the thread that she and Joy had sewn Master Mind’s two halves back together.
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Suzy and I wait for Justin on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge. Joy has banished us from our own home because we asked too many questions. Charlie has not been banished, but he stands there on the deck and looks at Joy from afar and does not move to join her.
Justin finally appears on the deck, always in the same place, always at the same angle.
He sees Suzy’s and my worried looks and immediately says, “What happened? Is she okay?”
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Justin sighs. “Okay. Okay. Let’s all calm down, okay? This is a tough day. Amahle, you’ve yelled at Joy enough, we’re done with that. We’ll talk about it another day, when everyone’s not so excited.”
“You mean when I’m not so excited,” Amahle says.
“You have had a great tragedy. I don’t know what I would do if that ever…when that ever…” his eyes sneak a look at Suzy.
“I want to talk about it now!” Joy stomps her foot.
Justin stands between Joy and Amahle, his back to Amahle. “No! You can’t talk to her now.”
“Why not!” Joy demands.
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“Amahle, uh,” Joy finds it hard to speak. She holds the lion claw necklace in her hand. “When we were in your childhood home, uh…”
“She accidentally made a necklace real,” Justin says, clearly trying to help Joy find a way out.
“What?” Amahle is surprised.
“No, I didn’t!” Joy says aggressively. “It wasn’t an accident! I can control myself! I touched your grandfather’s necklace and made it real. I made it real and then I took it. I just wanted it so bad, and I thought, what’s the harm?”
Amahle’s face shows pain. “I thought you were my friend, Joy. I took you in. I showed you my past. I wake up in your world every day because we’re friends.”
“We are friends!” Joy looks down.
“Friends don’t steal!” Amahle explodes angrily.
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Even though this is Justin’s dream, Amahle is the only dreamer here, and she controls the dream.
The dream changes an hour later. The Zulu village of Amahle’s mother in the middle of the desert changes to a bustling city street. I have never been, but I assume it is Johannesburg, the city Amahle grew up in.
From being inside a hut, surrounded by darkness, Amahle and Joy are in a small apartment building, surrounded by the same cloud of darkness. Bonny’s Revenge, with Suzy and me in it, hovers a few meters above the street, with buildings to every side.
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It’s not a person’s wail, it’s music that imitates a wail. The wail turns into a scream of pain. And the air is then filled with almost unbearably sad music.
“Amahle?” Suzy asks me. She’s heard the music of Amahle’s dream before, but not like this.
I nod.
“It is a tragedy, Pirate Mother,” Master Mind answers softly, his voice only loud enough to get over the music and reach us, who are leaning on the railing a few meters above him, looking down at him. “The Sunless One’s mother had died.”
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“Right now, I am lying at home, in my bed,” Amahle says. “My mother is there. And my friend, Sandile. They don’t let me do much because I was just released from the hospital. They’re very worried.”
“Tell them you don’t need them,” Joy says.
“What happened?” Charlie asks. “Why were you in the hospital?”
“Well, I, uh, died.”
“You died?!” This is Charlie’s voice.
“For a couple of minutes, yes.”
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“... And that is why General Hawk was the greatest soldier who ever lived and will be remembered by us forever.”
A soldier of General Hawk’s Fifth Flying Regiment had spoken for a couple of minutes and now he was finally wrapping it up.
“Thank you,” Justin says. “We have one more thing to do before we can say goodbye.”
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“This is all my fault” Charlie shouts, crying.
“Charlie,” Justin lowers Joy and she takes a step towards Charlie. “What’s your fault?”
“General Hawk died because my dad killed him! My nightmare killed General Hawk!” Charlie is crying. “And he’s dead because I couldn’t kill my dad! Because I killed my dad!”
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“General Hawk,” Justin turns to the grave. “You protected my daughter when she was all alone.” Joy clings to his pants as he speaks. “You saved her life at the cost of yours. You became a dear friend to her.”
Joy buries her head in Justin’s pants. He puts his hand on her head and continues. “You were a hero and a great man and a great friend. I will always thank you for everything you did.”
Everyone nods. The dozens of bird people filling the backyard of our apartment on this tiny island is nodding as well.
Justin takes Joy in his hands. “You want to say a few words to General Hawk?”
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On the small island that now holds Suzy’s and mine’s suburban apartment, there isn’t a lot of room. Bonny’s Revenge, my son’s flying warship, is docked in the front. There’s a heap of dust which apparently has now remained behind and forever, right next to Bonny’s Revenge. Its purpose, apparently, is to get dirty post showers. And now, in the back, is a grave.
Joy, Justin, and Charlie dug a small hole, enough to put in a tombstone.
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“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to bring back General Hawk.”
“Hmmm…”
I step back and give him space. He has his eyes closed and he looks like he’s trying to summon up a mystical force.
He opens his eyes and looks around.
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Dragon Father approached her and put his hand around her shoulder. “You want to tell him you feel bad?”
She nodded.
“Then usually what we say is ‘I’m sorry for your loss’.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, sir!”
The elderly goblin nodded somberly. “You know…” he said in his slow way. “I knew this day would come.”
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Thank You the turtle brought Dragon Little and the small, wooden lifeboat to rest beside Bonny’s Revenge.
Dragon Little began to cry.
She jumped from the lifeboat to Thank You’s shell, then hugged him.
“It was so much fun that you came back, Thank You. So much fun!”
Thank You didn’t answer.
“But you can’t come back again. You can’t ever come back. Do you understand?”
Thank You looked at her.
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“Huh…” Dragon Father kept thinking. “Hmmm… Okay… I get that.” He took her hand. “You know, I don’t know what Red meant. She’s mysterious, right?” Dragon Little nodded.
I smiled. Mysterious? Me?! If my cheeks could burn, I’m sure they would have. How did I achieve such a status? I’m just a lost, unlucky child, then an adult.
I did not know what to do with myself from embarrassment.
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The dolphins leapt into the air, as high as the deck itself, then back underwater, never losing speed.
Dragon Little and Dragon Father watched excitedly from the deck, waving hello to the dolphins and laughing from joy.
“Hello, little dolphin friends!” Joy shouted at them after Dragon Father told her what they were called. “Hello!”
The dolphins made a sound back, apparently saying ‘hello’ in their own language.
“They’re so cuuuuuuuuute! So cuuuuuuuute!” Dragon Little squeezed her father’s hand.
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“General Hawk,” Dragon Father’s voice boomed. “What did you do? Do not lie!”
“I killed him, pirate,” General Hawk’s voice was measured and soft. “I will not apologize for it.”
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Dragon Father appeared on the deck of Bonny’s Revenge and, as usual, went into Dragon Little’s cabin to wake her up.
He found her lying on the cot and crying into the pillow.
“Joy, Joy,” he sat next to her. “What happened?”
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