Free The Arrival by CM Doporto

hope.
    θ

Chapter
5
     
    “Wow—I can’t, I mean—” Kate pressed a
hand to her chest.
    “I know.” We stood in my room, not sure
what to do. “To the bathroom,” I mouthed in a hushed voice.
    We rushed to our safe place, trying not
to drop anything on the way. Kate hit the close button for the bathroom doors,
while I turned on the water.
    She reached into her shirt and pulled
out a fistful of folded letters. I removed stacks of intricately folded notes
from my pockets. I kicked off my shoes and retrieved more memos that girls had
slipped me.
    “I can’t believe this.” I shook my head,
still shocked by what had happened. I never imagined our venting sessions would
turn into a great movement, with Kate and I at the head of it. More than ever,
I felt like I had a duty, a calling, and a responsibility to these girls.
    “I know. It’s kind of surreal,” Kate
said, continuing to unload more notes along with trinkets in the shapes of
hearts, stars, and peace signs.
    “Look at all these bracelets they gave
me.” I showed her my wrists, which were covered with red, white, and blue beads
strung on black leather rope.
    “I know, look at mine,” she held up her
hands.
    “Oh, I love your ring.” I pointed to a star-shaped
flag that sparkled when the light hit it.
    “I hadn’t even noticed.” Her eyes
gravitated to me. “Look, you have one, too.”
    I wiggled my fingers, admiring the ring
crafted in tiny red, white, and blue beads that resembled hers. “I can’t
believe they made all of this.” I scanned my dress and lost count of the
pendants pinned to me. “For us, Kate.” I swallowed the lump quickly forming in
the back of my throat. “For us.”
    “I know, Miranda. It’s so sweet and
thoughtful.” Her voice quivered as tears trickled down her cheeks. “Check this
out.”
    She placed a large peace-sign brooch,
strung with beads representing the colors of our nation that formed the US
flag, in my palm. “Wow, that’s so cool.”
    “You can have it.”
    “Are you sure?”
    She nodded. “Yeah, go ahead.”
    “Thanks. I think I’ll pin it on that
ugly backpack. Give it some color.” When I smiled, a single tear dropped to the
sack. I had never been so moved in my life. No one had ever made me feel that
important, ever. I had to do whatever it took to help those poor, desperate
girls. I had to save us and free us from Nidus.
    Kate and I stacked the letters in the
center of the floor. There had to be at least a two hundred, if not more. “We
have to check them. We need to see if they are words of encouragement or if
they have actual information that can help us.”
    “Okay.” Kate eased to the floor.
    For the next two hours we reviewed every
single letter. Many were addressed directly to their parents, boyfriends,
friends, cousins, or other family members, while several were written for Kate
and I. Out of all the letters addressed to us, only five had actual names of
people with political power that might be able to intervene on our behalf.
Unfortunately, they were located further than Columbia, South Carolina, where
Kate’s uncle lived.
    “What do we do with these?” Kate scooped
a handful of letters, allowing them to sift through her fingers and land on the
pile.
    I looked at the mound of paper, made up
of so many hopes and dreams and folded in different shapes, decorated with
flowers, hearts, kisses, and smiley faces in a variety of colors. They were
personal messages, handwritten by someone’s daughter, sister, friend, or
girlfriend. But the paper reflected more than words. It held someone’s
emotions, feelings, thoughts—or maybe even explained what the Eslites were
doing to them.
    “We have to mail them.”
    “All of these?”
    I retrieved one letter. “Yes, every
single one of them.”
    It wouldn’t be easy, but we had to at
least try. Those girls were counting on us.
    “Hey, do you hear that?” Kate stood and
pressed her ear to the wall.
    “Hear what?”
    “I think