Free Glow by Anya Monroe

story.” He reaches out his hand, as though he wants to touch the light, but pulls away, scared, like a child. I look across the crowd and realize everyone’s staring at me, and at Lucy.
    I suppose I feel normal, being lit up, but everyone else here is seeing me and Lucy for the first time.
    “I’m real,” I say to him, but Charlie cuts me off.
    Lucy steps forward as she address the guy next to Charlie. “What are you doing here?”
    “Hi, Lucy,” he says bashfully. “I had no idea how special you are. And look, the thing about being locked up at Reagan’s, that wasn’t what any of us wanted for you. I’m glad you got away.”
    “Yeah, no thanks to you,” she says, accusation in her voice,
    “I’m Jax, by the way,” he says to the rest of us. “The not-so-notorious cell-keeper of Lucy and Timid.” He gives a slight bow.
    “Good to see you, man,” Colton says, and Junie walks over, giving him a hug. If these two trust him, I trust him too.
    “Are we cool, Lucy?” Jax asks her. She just nods her head, still giving him a hard time. I get it; she had just escaped The Light when she arrived at the Safe House. She was terrified, and being locked in a cell wouldn’t have helped her feel safe.
    “So, how did you all meet up?” Duke asks.
    Charlie and Jax give us a rundown of what happened, ending with the bridge battle. I’m torn up inside as I hear them talk about Mom and Dad. But I know enough to realize no one here wants to reminisce about the past. The group gathered here wants a purpose, that’s what Jax has been saying.
    I can give them what they want.
    “Do you mind if I speak to the Cowboy Coalition?” I ask Jax, who seems to be leading the pack.
    “Go for it. We had no idea you were real … and I think … well, everyone wants to meet you.”
    I raise my hands, high above my head, sending rays of light across the field. Lucy tugs at my shirt, “Lukas,” she whispers. “Give them the light like you do at the Haven. That light has the most power,” she urges me.
    Listening to the one who I trust most, I let the light pour out of me, streaming radiant beams across everyone. Heads lift as they allow themselves to be washed with the glow.
    “I’m Lukas, the prophet of The Light. A fold prepared for a world that would be consumed by darkness. When darkness ascended upon the people of the world, we remained. You remained. We are here, and we have the power to rise from the ashes, like the ashes over there.” I point to the remains of the apple tree. “We can rise from the ashes and return to The Light, offering ourselves as the future. We can take back what once was ours, by giving of ourselves. I ask you to join Lucy and me, the Rainbow Children of the future, as we lead in light and love.” I grab Lucy’s hand, clasping it tightly in mine.
    Her body radiates with the energy she always had within her, but never fully realized. She never knew her potential, but now we do.
    Covered in our kaleidoscope of color, the people around us gasp in what seems like perfect unison. They watch in awe at the marvelous color display before them, as we release our full potential, as we embrace the people we were born to be.
    Lucy and Lukas, Rainbow Children, the bearers of light.
    The future.

24.
     
    Lucy
     
    Back inside the house, after Lukas’s rallying speech, I escape. A huge party rages outside, and I have no interest in being a part of that. After our glorious light display, the group of cowboys went wild. Delirious at the hope they had found, not questioning who Lukas and I were.
    Not realizing that beneath the hazy green light, I’m longing to know who I’d be if the light weren’t a part of my identity. No one would be cheering for me if I were just a girl with chestnut hair and green eyes, with a narrow waist and hollow cheeks from a lifetime of being underfed. A girl without many skills to her credit, besides sliding a needle through fabric and creating a sunset with thread, or gathering