|JULY BONES|

Josiah never answers the important questions. I hate that. I hate how he answers me with more questions, or how he straight up avoids it. This time, his answer was "we'll explore that later." I want to know where my body is. I need to find myself.

Josiah paced up ahead of me. He obviously doesn't have time to waste, which means that I don't either. I know he can hear my thoughts, but he doesn't care. He doesn't care if I'm totally confused, or upset. It's all about the stupid "mission".

"Can you slow down!?" I called to him. "Where are we going anyway!?"

He stopped to look around, like he was searching for something, but still didn't answer me. It did give me time to catch up though.

Woods lined the road we were walking on down both sides. Josiah's gaze was fixed on the left side.

"This isn't good." He whispered to himself.

"What isn't? What are you talking about?" I asked. He's being weirder than usual.

Again he didn't answer, he just pointed off into the woods.

I followed his outstretched arm. My heart fell into my stomach as I saw what he was talking about.

Fog. Weird fog. Just on the left side of the road, not the right. It hugged the trees so closely, almost as if the fog was a part of each individual tree. It wasn't floating in air, it was attached to the bark and leaves.

It reminded me of the fog in the visions I had so long ago when I drank the alcohol. I'm not sure if it was real that time, but I know it's real now.

"What kind of fog is that?" I asked after studying it for a while.

"It isn't fog. The trees are disappearing." He answered.

What does that even mean. I could yank out my hair I'm so frustrated with him.

"It's not fog that is making the trees look like that. They are blurring out; fading away."

Both of us went to the tree line, I had to explore this. I carefully reached out to touch one after looking to Josiah for permission.

He was right, they weren't tree like anymore. They felt almost like cotton, very thin cotton. I pulled a piece of the bark away. The thin fibers disintegrated right before my eyes.

I gasped. "What does this mean?!"

"Your world is dying." He answered quietly. "We have to hurry and get through the rest of the memories."

"I thought you said it would last long enough for us to finish?!" I asked frantically.

"It will last as long as you let it. It's your world after all. When you're ready to move on, you will." His face wasn't very excited to give me this news, and I wasn't excited to hear it.

"I don't want to move on yet!" I said with thoughts of the dark place clouding my head. "I'm not causing this..."

"You're losing hope whether you realize it or not." He said. "Come on, we need to go."

He took my hand and we were in a new place, or rather one I haven't visited in a while since my days with Larson.

"I already know what happened here." I said simply.

The Jackson's house stood in front of us, complete with the line of red rose bushes down the side. The Hummer was parked in the driveway.

"Larson has taken me here." I thought of the horrible stories he had fed me about this place. The ones about how mean Mr. Jackson was to Mrs. Jackson, and how awful their son was. All the foster kids lived in one, neglected room...

Josiah's eyes studied me carefully as I formed thought after thought. He was waiting for me to come to some sort of conclusion on my own.

If Larson's story about his dad killing his mom was really about me, then that means Mr. Jackson was my foster dad, and Baylor and I lived here...

"You're right." Josiah said. He seemed ashamed, perhaps more hurt by the realization than me. Surprisingly, it doesn't bother me. I mean after you watch your dad kill your mom, nothing can be worse than that.

"So what big important memory happened here?" I asked. By this point, I want to get it over with so I can leave.

"Follow me." He said, walking through the front door.

I followed him, taking in my surroundings as I went. It all looked the same as the day Larson and I walked through here. The perfect dining room and kitchen were barren of any signs of happiness.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Mr. Jackson is outside having a beer, Mrs. Jackson is in her room."

I wondered if this was a normal night. Is this what they always did?

"So where am I?"

He pointed up the stairs without a word. We both walked up them without making a sound. The top of the stair case was still dark. We headed to the right toward the infamous bedroom.

I walked through the door first, eager to see myself alive again.

Harley was stretched out on the bed, facing the wall. She didn't seem to be doing anything in particular.

A little girl sat in the floor drawing. I didn't recognize her.

"Who is that?" I asked Josiah.

"Her name is Cara. She lives here too."

I really remember nothing about my life. "So I had a sister too?"

"No, not exactly. She was your foster sister I guess you could say. Her parents both died in fire when she was three. She's been here almost as long as you have."

"How long is that?" I asked.

"You went to three other foster homes before you ended up at this one. You've been here for a little over two years."

Wow, two years in this horrible place. At least I think it's horrible, it was when Larson showed it to me. That could have been a lie...

"You did think it was horrible when you were alive." Josiah answered my unspoken question.

Of course I did. "How old was I?" I asked, looking back into the direction of Harley. She seemed unhappy about something, like she would cry.

"Seventeen."

That stirred something in me. She will be dead in a year. She'll never see her graduation, and she has no idea.

"Where's Baylor?" I asked, suddenly noticing his absence. My stomach curled a little. Wonder if he doesn't live here with me afterall?

"He's at work, he'll be home soon." Josiah smiled a little, perhaps because of the mini freak out I almost had. I don't know much about my old life, but I do know that Harley couldn't function without her brother.

It makes me wonder how Baylor is doing without me...

The door swung open, and in he walked; a smile on his face and a bag in his hand.

Harley sat up quickly, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Cara hopped up from the floor to hug Baylor.

Baylor had on a hat with the local super markets logo on it. I assumed that's where he worked.

He dug through the paper sack, pulling out a pack of Skittles, and a bag of gummy worms. He handed the Skittles to Cara, and tossed the gummy worms at Harley.

Cara's blonde hair bounced as she hopped up and down with delight.

I glanced at Josiah. He was smiling wide at the three orphans; wider than I think I've seen from him. It was kind of heart warming to watch.

Even Harley smiled now as she pulled open her candy bag.

"Gummy worms were your favorite, besides the cookies of course." Josiah filled in.

I guess she hasn't had her favorite cookies since our grandmother died.

Baylor collapsed into the floor with Cara. She climbed into his lap, showing him drawings she had been working on. He ooed and aaahed which was totally satisfying to her.

Harley crouched back into her corner, facing the wall while she finished her snack. Baylor kept a worried eye on her.

"How come Harley is so... unhappy?" I asked after finding a good word for her strange behavior. "Baylor is always smiling..."

Josiah exhaled, keeping his eyes focused on her balled up body. "You saw more. You were there when your dad did what he did. It affected you more."

"So Baylor isn't sad about it anymore?" I asked.

"He is, he just shows it in a different way. He chooses to make the best of the situation."

"He doesn't have that mental image burned into his brain." I said.

"You're right. He didn't have to watch it happen. He also tried to make you smile whenever he could, he knew you were hurting."

I sighed. I miss my brother. I wish I could tell him thank you for entertaining me, and protecting me. I'll never get that chance. I can see now that he was my protector when I was on Earth, now, Josiah is my only protector.

After a while, Baylor lifted up a floor board behind the chest of drawers after making sure Harley or Cara wasn't paying attention.

I hurried over to peek inside. I gasped at what a saw. The hole was full of money. I couldn't tell how much, but I noticed several hundreds balled up with other assorted bills.

Baylor shifted the money around until his hands found a brown leather notebook. He closed the secret hiding spot back up, then he opened the journal in front of him.

I didn't feel comfortable reading over his shoulder, so I returned to Josiah's side.

"Where did he get all that money?" I asked.

"He has been saving for years." Josiah answered.

"For what?" I asked.

"Anything he may need it for."

That makes sense I guess. "And the book, what's that?"

"His journal."

"Baylor kept a journal." I said to myself, making a mental note.

"There's a lot you didn't know about Baylor." Josiah said.

That comment made me nervous, especially when I think about what he said to me in the prom memory. Something about 'we will get away from them'. I still don't know what he meant by that. I know Josiah's listening, so if he wants to answer, he will.

He didn't. It's another mystery for me to find out later, or perhaps never.

"He wasn't mixed up with anything bad, was he?" I tried. Maybe he would at least answer that.

"He always had your best interest in mind." Josiah said.

That doesn't really answer my question. What was Baylor doing that had my best interest in mind? Did he know of something that I'm missing?