The Two Halves

ABIGAIL DAVIDSON, THIS LETTER IS OFFICIAL DOCUMENTATION NOTIFYING YOU THAT YOU ARE HEREBY LEGALLY DRAFTED INTO THE SERVICES OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE FREE REPUBLIC. YOU WILL REPORT TO YOUR LOCAL MILITARY REGISTRATION OFFICE WITHIN 24 HOURS. FAILURE TO COMPLY IS A SERIOUS OFFENCE AND WILL INCUR SEVERE PENALTIES.

Abby stared at the heavy black type, her heart thumping against her chest. A thousand wild scenarios were suddenly racing through her mind. This couldn’t be real. She flipped the paper over, and the blood red official military seal glared back at her. She got up and started pacing around the tiny kitchen. What could she do? Run away? Hide? In her agitation she stubbed her toe on the kitchen table and swore loudly, clutching at her foot and sinking into one of the chairs. Her eyes fell upon the only painting on the wall of her windowless apartment. It showed a bright meadow filled with poppies below a sunset strewn sky, flecked with pink clouds. She sighed. Every childhood birthday, she had blown out the candles and wished with all her heart to see the real sky.

'Be careful what you wish for.' She muttered to herself.

Her phone rang on the kitchen counter and she jumped.

‘Hello?’

‘That’s all I get, ‘hello?’ You’ve left me to fend for myself on the Monday breakfast rush and your greeting is just ‘hello?’. Not even an attempt at ‘Sorry Kitty, how can I ever repay you Kitty.’’

‘Wait, what time is it?’

‘Abby-should-have-been-here-15-minutes-ago o’clock?’

Abby looked at her watch. She was late for her shift at the diner.

‘It’s absolutely not good enough Miss James,’ said Kitty in mock outrage. ‘I’m afraid you’ve now officially volunteered to bake an amazing cake today to make it up to me. Then I may consider the possibility of forgiving you. You can make it during lunch service and get in Manny’s way and we can take bets on how long it will take his face to turn that amazing purple color.’

Abby opened her mouth but nothing came out.

‘Oh Abby I’m kidding, I’m not actually going to subject you to the wrath of Manny for revenge.’ When Abby still didn’t reply, Kitty’s voice suddenly lost its light teasing tone and she sounded concerned, ‘Abs, are you OK?’

Abby’s eyes slid to the letter on the table. ‘Abby?’ came Kitty’s voice from the receiver.

‘I – I’ll be there now.’

‘Well ok, see you soon. I’ll have coffee ready - you sound like you need it.’ And she hung up.

Abby stood there for a moment staring into space, the phone in her hand hanging loosely at her side. How would she tell Kitty? Her stomach tied itself in knots. Is this how her father had felt when he’d had to tell her?

Her hand went instinctively to the silver pendant around her neck, a broken half of a heart shaped locket - the last gift her father had given her. It had been her mother's lucky charm. She ran her fingers along the jagged edge of the broken hinge where she'd snapped the locket in two - so they could both have half her luck.

The TV in the corner of the small room suddenly blared.

‘BREAKING: An Armed Forces spokesman today confirmed a red alert as hostile forces come within striking distance of the city limits. The Forces are calling for immediate reinforcements as recruit numbers reach a record low. New measures-’

She fumbled for the remote and turned it off, feeling sick. She picked up the letter from the table and slipped it into her coat pocket, before unlocking the door and stepping out into the underground city.

The sector G resident’s tunnel was packed and busy with throngs of late morning commuters she usually avoided with her early shift. It was a relief to reach the end of G block where the small low roofed residential tunnels opened out into the huge domed cavern of the main city. Huge fluorescent lights flooded the underground city from hundreds of feet above, imitating the light of dawn.

Abby turned a corner on the main street and the familiar blue door of the diner came into view. She could see Kitty placing plates of eggs and bacon in front of two regular customers through the windows and she felt a pang of sadness. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

‘Auntie Abby, Auntie Abby!’ Something small and waist height darted out from behind a table and flung its arms around her knees. She looked down and a small blonde girl with a toothy grin beamed up at her.

‘Finn!’ hissed Kitty in a stern voice, wending her way through the mismatched tables and chairs. 'You need to stay behind the counter when we have customers, how many times?’ She looked up at Abby and frowned. ‘Are you OK? You're taking pale to a whole new level this morning.’

Abby stared at them both, her best friend and the bright eyed Finn and something clicked into place inside her head.

She hitched a convincing smile on her face. ‘Nah, I just didn’t sleep too well, I’ll be fine after some coffee.’ She turned to Finn. ‘Now, I think it’s a cake sort of day, don’t you?’ Finn cheered. Kitty narrowed her eyes at Abby suspiciously.

Abby shrugged and grinned. ‘All is forgiven with cake, right?’

**

At closing time Abby watched Kitty was pulling on her coat and turning off the lights, her heart beating fast. She couldn’t put it off any longer. She had to tell her.

‘Kitty?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I need to tell you something.’

Kitty turned around, her eyes narrowed. ‘I knew you were being weird this morning.’ She put her hands on her hips. ‘Come on then miss mysterious, spit it out.’

Abby took a deep breath, pulled the letter from her pocket and held it out. Kitty took it frowning and turned it over. Her eyes found the seal and her face drained of color. She stood frozen for several moments, then looked up with a pained expression on her face.

‘So, how are we getting you out of this?’ Kitty’s eyes were determined.

‘I- I don’t know.’

‘You’ve had this letter all day and you don’t know?’ She sounded angry. ‘Look,’ Kitty continued, trying to sound calm. ‘There are ways out. But there’s a cost, and not just money – though there’s that too, but I can help you.’

‘Kitty I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve got Finn and -’

‘You aren’t thinking of going are you?’ Her tone was suddenly sharp. Abby didn’t say anything. ‘You can’t be thinking of going. Not after – your Dad -’ she looked at Abby twisting the broken locket between her fingers. 'Half a broken charm didn't help him find his way back and it won’t help you either.'

‘Missing in action.' Abby said quietly, 'He could be out there.'

'Oh Abby, don’t kid yourself.’ Kitty snapped harshly. ‘You know the number of people who come back. He shouldn’t have gone.'

‘He didn’t have a choice.’

‘Everyone has a choice!’ Kitty was shouting now.

Abby felt herself getting angry. ‘You think we have a choice! Have you seen what's going on outside? And who’s going to stop it? Who’s going to keep us safe? Who’s going to protect the kids, kids like Finn!’

‘WELL IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE YOU!’ Kitty bellowed back.

‘Then who!? My dad knew it, that's why he went and that's why I have to go too.'

Kitty threw up her hands. ‘I'm not going to listen to you justify this to yourself. Finn depends on you. Hell, I depend on you! You're just being selfish'

'I'm the selfish one? Do you hear yourself?'

Kitty grabbed her keys angrily from the side and stormed to the door.

‘I’m not going to change my mind.’

Kitty froze, her hand on the door handle. Then she strode out of the diner, slamming the door behind her.

**

Abby barely slept. Her father's face swam in her dreams, sometimes from fond memories in her childhood and sometimes from her years of nightmares, where her imagination showed her gruesome images of what could have happened to him. Every time she awoke she checked her phone, but Kitty hadn't called.

In the morning she stood in line for an hour at the military registration office, until she was ushered into a cold room for a series of medical tests. After being told she'd passed, a stern woman handed her a set of papers and told her to report to the military compound the following morning where she'd be taken for training.

Back at the apartment she checked her phone again. No missed calls.

She couldn't stay in the small four walls of her tiny apartment so she walked around the city. Her feet wanted to carry her to the diner, but she couldn't bring herself to go there. She couldn't bear another fight. And maybe it was better this way. Maybe they'd find it easier. Her heart ached.

**

The following day she stood outside the military compound's iron gates, surrounded by the scared faces of her fellow new recruits. Some were saying goodbye to their families. Staring towards the compound her feet seemed to be glued to the ground.

‘What am I going to do without you?’ She turned. Kitty was standing behind her in her dirty jeans and apron. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘I know.’ replied Abby quickly. She didn’t want her apology. It didn’t seem to matter now.

‘I didn’t want to leave it like that’

'Neither did I.'

Kitty looked at the ground. ‘I do understand. I don’t like it and I don’t want you to do it, but I understand. I just feel so useless.’

‘Well, there is something really important you can do.’

Kitty nodded tears sparkling in her eyes. ‘Anything’

‘It’s up to you now.’ Abby took a deep breath ‘To keep Manny in his place. A good knocking down a peg at least once a week, punctuated by cutting comments daily. I’m counting on you. I can’t have his head getting too inflated.’

Kitty laughed and hugged her, and Abby hugged her back.

‘I’ll take care of it,' whispered Kitty. ‘For when you - when you get back.’ Abby squeezed her eyes shut, hoping it were true.

They stood there for a long moment. When they finally broke apart, they didn’t say a word. With a huge effort Abby turned and walked away through the iron gates.

**

A few weeks later, a rugged soldier walked towards the diner, his military issue pack blackened and burned at the edges, his once handsome face had several deep scars and one of his eyes milky and blind. His eyes seemed hollow gazing straight ahead, but his feet seemed to know where they were going, carrying him down a path he knew obviously. He pushed open the door to the shabby diner and for the first time the soldier’s eyes seemed to come alive as they darted around the room, looking for something. He walked to the counter just as Kitty turned from the hatch, a plate of scrambled eggs in hand and caught the stranger’s eye. The plate fell to the floor and smashed.

Pinned to the man’s lapel was a small glint of silver. The other half of small broken half of a silver heart shaped locket.

**

Outside in the world, Abby jumped down from the huge tank with the other cadets, her heavy boots throwing up clouds of dust on the dry parched earth. She took a deep breath of the cool fresh air and looked up at the wide expanse of blue above for the first time. It was streaked with thin pink clouds in the setting sun. Her hand went to the chain around her neck and fingered the broken silver half of the locket, and she smiled.

END