Talia

                                    

                                          
Talia regretted not sleeping that night, but she couldn't keep her mind off of home. She couldn't stop thinking of her mother and what she'd put her through. In her mind, she'd just lost her daughter. She would have to bury her child, only there wasn't a body to bury. She was alone. 
                          
Talia could feel her body shaking, despite her fatigue, as she checked her phone. She had fifty-three missed calls, and twenty-one messages from her friends. By the end of this journey, she didn't know how many more she would have to look at. Five hundred? Five thousand? She wouldn't be able to keep going if she was constantly getting messages and phone calls. Talia flat out refused to listen to the voice mails. She would break if she had to listen to the desperate voices of her loved ones. The young woman knew what she had to do. She could feel tears fighting to escape her eyes as she deleted all her contacts, and blocked their numbers.
                          
"Talisa?" The young woman turned and wiped away a stray tear as Gandalf approached her. "Have you been to sleep at all?" he asked when the faint light of the sun showed the dark circles around her bloodshot eyes. 
                          
"Not exactly." she replied sourly. 
                          
Gandalf saw that she was holding her phone and realized what she had just done. "Everything must come with a price, my dear girl. You made a great sacrifice, and for that I am grateful. I also think you know that they all will be alright." 
                          
Talia wouldn't meet his eyes. "How? The cops will be looking for me for who knows how long. They'll drag this whole thing out for all of them. When they tell them I'm dead, they will live their whole lives wondering what happened to me. How exactly will they be okay?" she whisper-yelled. 
                          
Gandalf looked at her with patience. "You know what happens to people when they die, and so do they. It may not occur to them at the beginning, but once it does, they will continue to live their lives." Talia took what he said into mind. When she finally looked at him, she gave a small smile. The Wizard smiled back. "I suggest you try to get some rest, Talisa. The Dwarves will wake soon, and we have a long way to go today."
                          
Talia laid her head down, but didn't go to sleep. Her mind was fixed on what Gandalf had just told her. You know what happens to people when they die. She did know, which was why she knew deep down that everyone back home would be okay. 
                          
Talia remembered when she was three years old, and her grandmother had passed away. She remembered not being sad, since she didn't know her well enough, until she viewed her body in the casket at the funeral. She remembered seeing her lying there, still and cold, and she worried for her. 
                          
The little girl had started to cry, as she thought that the ground was where it ended. The ground was no place for a person. It was dark, lonely, and full of bugs. As the tears rolled down her chubby cheeks, she felt strong arms wrap around her, picking her up. 
                          
He carried little Talia outside, and placed her on a bench. "Don't worry for her, Little Bo. She's happy, she wouldn't want you to cry." Jimmy told her. When Talia began to blubber about how she shouldn't be taken to live under the ground, he understood.  
                          
"No, Little Bo. That's not what happens when people die. You should never be sad when people die. You see, what happens is, after they breathe their last, they float up into the clouds and stars. They go into a world that was made just for them, and we will too when we die. Don't be sad for Nana, Little Bo. She's up there now, living in her own perfect world." Jimmy explained in his light, gentle voice, all while pointing at the sky. 
                          
The toddler smiled. "I think I see her now!" 
                          
Jimmy chuckled. "She sees you too, and if you miss her, remember that she will always be right there, in your heart." he told her, pointing to her little chest.