Why I Wasn't In Madison.

The story is called Fly Me Away, and it was for a contest that had a deadline of tomorrow, the eleventh. So instead of going to Madison I was at home finally getting a cranking out this baby. Hope you guys forgive me for not coming. =/

(FYI, there are probably a few grammatical mistakes still. The story still needs polishing up.)


Forward...backwards...forward...backwards...

Up...down...up...down...

"Silver moons and paper dreams," I sang lightly as I swung to and fro. "Faded maps and shiny things... You're my favorite one-man show. A million different ways to go..."

Besides the creaking of the metal swing set, I could hear the soft crunch of leaves behind me. Whoever it was didn't say anything, so I ignored them.

"Will you fly me away? Take me away with you, my love."

Someone grabbed my sides from behind abruptly. I screamed and fell backwards off the swing, hitting something hard on the way.

"God damn!" the upside down person cried as they clutched their nose above me where I lay.

"Who are you?" I demanded, squinting my eyes through the sun up at him. It was a boy about my age. He had untidy dark hair and wide eyes that resembled those of a puppy.

He ignored my question. "I'm not bleeding, am I?" he asked, moving his hand. A single drop a scarlet liquid was sliding out of his left nostril.

"Not a lot."

He grumbled something unintelligible and turned away.

I sat up and rotated my body in his direction. "Well it's not my fault! You shouldn't have sneaked up on me!"

He moved to face me again. The blood was gone, but there was still a tint of redness where it had been. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. You just looked lonely, swingin' all by yourself. I'm Will." He stuck his hand out.

I hesitated, not knowing what to make of this strange fellow who grabbed people he didn't know from behind just for the heck of it. I stared into his eyes, which were surprisingly light. The brown was more like dark honey, and had flecks of gold. And the look he was giving me...They pleaded to me to trust him.

I sighed and stood up, wiping any dirty off my sundress. "I'm Mave."

He grinned and dropped his hand. "Mave...You're a bit odd, aren't you?"

I crossed my arms. "You're one to talk."

He chuckled and rustled my hair, which I did not like. "Oh come on," he smirked. "You're as sour as a lemon." He walked over to the swing and shook it's chains. "Get on. I'll push you." He smiled encouragingly at me.

I shuffled over to the swing and sat down slowly. "No funny business," I warned.

"Of course, your majesty," he teased. "Cross my heart and hope to die." He began to push me forward lightly. It was a bit bumpy at first, but after gaining enough momentum I was sailing through the air smoothly.

"Close your eyes," he commanded me softly.

I did.

"Now, imagine yourself in the sky, above the trees. No swing. Just you and your wings." His hand was barely touching my back now, and I did imagine it. The cool wind blowing at my face. I flew above the houses. People were standing outside on their lawns, waving at me as I passed them. I waved back, smiling ear to ear. I was so high up. The clouds tickled my skin as I flew through them. Birds chirped their song to me, and they, too, waved.

"See?" his voice was just above an audible whisper. "You're flying."

Now I couldn't help but let the smile stretch across my face.



I opened my eyes, letting the light soak in. I blinked a couple of times to dispatch the blurriness of my vision.

A dark haired woman was sitting in the corner of the room, nose in a magazine. She glanced my way and back at what she was reading. She did a double take.

"Oh! You're awake!" She sounded relieved.

"Who are you?" I asked hoarsely, in a dead voice.

The woman got up and walked over to me. "It's Cindy, Grandma."

"Oh right," I sighed, now remembering why I was here and what my problem was: everything.

"Are you hungry?" Cindy asked. I shook my head. "Thirsty?"

"No." I turned to my side. "I just want to sleep," I grumbled unhappily.

She chuckled lightly, pushing the curtains open to let more sunlight leak in. "Your heart monitor was going a bit crazy. Were you having a bad dream?"

"Life is a bad dream," I mumbled quietly into my pillow. "Quite the opposite actually, dear. It was a very good dream."

"Do you want to share it with me?" Such a caring, bright granddaughter Cindy was. To think that she was still sticking by me...I didn't understand why anyone bothered with me anyone. Withered away, dried up prune. It was cruel of them to leave me like this; trying to see what the extent of my strength was. Didn't know why they haven't pulled the plug yet...

I sighed. "It was more of a memory than a dream."

"When you were young?" she guessed, smiling.

"Well I definitely wouldn't happily dream about my old age, that's for sure."

"You've got a point," she said, sitting back down in her chair. "So, what was the memory?"

I stared blankly at the gray wall, remembering. "I was flying," I finally whispered. "That was when I first met your granddaddy."

"You've never told me stories about Grandpa. I never met him."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Yes, dear, that's because he died when he was nineteen."

A swollen silence filled the room, enabling me to hear the doctors outside speaking to one another.

I continued. "We were barely sixteen when we met on that hot summer day. He was the strangest thing in Georgia. It wasn't until later that I realized he only wanted a friend. His father was never at home, always too drunk to leave the bar. His mother wasn't much different; an addict who eventually succumbed to the voices in her head and shot herself." I rolled over to see if Cindy was still listening. Her brow furrowed lightly and her posture inclined forward as she listened intently.

"Very sad, yes. But he never let on any of that pain in front of me. In fact, you remind me a lot of him." The side of Cindy's mouth curled up. "Now, looking back on it, I know he was in love with me from day one. I, on the other hand, was quite the stubborn one." I almost smiled. "It wasn't until autumn hit that I realized―"

The story was paused by a doctor who came in and interrupted. "You look better today, Ms. Adams," he commented under that white mask over his mouth. I always hated those things. As if I didn't feel diseased enough. His eyes made him look like he was smiling, but I knew that secretly he was thinking Oh, the old hag's still not dead?.

"So, ready for another check-up?"

"Piss off," I grunted, too quiet for him to have the hopes of hearing.

"Grandma Mave was just telling me a story," Cindy told him, giving me a look that warned me to behave.

"A story, eh? How nice."

Yes, how nice. How nice it'd be to shove that stethoscope right up your―

"Your vitals look pretty good," he announced after checking my pulse.

"I'm still going to die," I assured him.

"Grandma," Cindy interjected, no doubt trying to hush my bickering up, "what was Grandpa's name?"

"Will," I answered immediately. "William Jonathan. He was named after his Grandpa."

"Well, I'll come back later, in a few hours," the doctor said, gathering his clip board and heading out.

Once the door closed I told Cindy, "I never did like that man."

She laughed. "He's just trying to do his job, Grandma. Now, continue with the story."

"Alright. Hmm, where was I?"

"It wasn't until later you realized your feelings for Will." She was grinning.

"Oh yes. Well, every day during the summer we were meeting by that damn swing set. It's still there, you know. It was here before this hospital was built."

"It wouldn't happen to be that one a little ways down the road, would it?" Cindy asked.

"Actually, it is."

"Wow! All the times I've passed it on my way over here...I never knew..."

I smiled a tiny smile and it was silent for a while.

"Grandma, what happened to him?" she asked in a small voice.

My smile faded quickly. "We were in love for many years. Always together, never apart. One day I got a letter from him telling me to meet him by the swing set. We haven't been there in so long..." My mind trailed away for a moment, trapping me in the past until Cindy shook my arm.

"Grandma? Grandma?"

"What? Huh?" I blinked and looked at her worried expression. I shook my head. "My memory's not what it once was. I'm falling apart." I gave her a wry smile. "I need to rest."

"Oh, alright," she said, and I could sense a hint of disappointment in her tone. "You can finish up the story when you wake up." She eased my head back onto the pillow and pulled the blanket up to my chin.

"Yes, yes," I agreed faintly. My eyes began to droop. It was amazing how fast an old person could fall asleep after a slight dizzy spell. I was under in less than five minutes.



My car had barely come to a full stop and I was already out the door, sprinting towards the old swing set that held so many fond moments of my times spent with Will. I couldn't keep the smile off my face or the butterflies out of my stomach.

Dear Mave,
Meet me by our swing at noon tomorrow. See you soon.
With love,
Will

I couple rose petals had fallen out when I opened the note. Will must have had good news for me. As did I have news for him. My hand went to my stomach and touched the skin with the lightest pressure. Moisture filled my eyes. It's only been a week since I found out, but I still felt like the the thing growing instead me had a heartbeat already.

I stood at the swing and waited. Will wasn't there yet. I sat down on the grass with his note clutched in my hand.

I waited.

And waited.

Will never showed.

With tears streaming down my face and the sun nearly set, I went back to my car, trudging along slowly, a deflated feeling in my heart.

When I was making my way to the front steps of my house a police officer passed me. I hadn't noticed I parked right next to his car.

"Have a good evening, Mr. and Mrs. Adams," he said solemnly before he parted. He nodded at me when he saw me walking.

"Mom? Dad? What's going on?" I asked, entering the house. The were standing around the front entrance looking worried.

"Mave, honey," my mom addressed me, coming over and putting her arms around my shoulders, "that was Officer Marshall."

"What was he doing here?" I asked, looking at her face and then at my father's.

"You know that boy you like?" my dad said. "Well, Officer Marshall came to tell us, said he knew to come to us because the boy had something on it with your first and last name." And of course, in a town as small as this, everyone knew everyone.

"He ran into Will?" I puzzled.

"You see, there was an accident up on the road next to the gas station. There seemed to be some kind of fight. The boy―I mean, Will―was found lying next to his car."

"I'm sorry, Mave. I-I dont know how to break this down for you gently. Will...Will was dead before the police got there." My dad reached into an envelope and took what was inside of it out. "This was in his pocket though. And we think he intended on giving it to you..." He dropped a silver, single diamond ring in the center of my palm.

I started at it, not able to feel my body. It took me a while to get my mind caught up. "What?" I said. "What?" I yelled. "No!" I cried and fell to the ground. "I-I don't understand!"

"I'm so sorry, Mave, dear." My mother bent down and tried to comfort me but I shook her off and screamed as I sobbed.

"I'm so sorry..." My parents left me alone that night. I couldn't sleep, only cry. And staring at the ring in my hand only made me cry harder.

Cross my heart and hope to die, a voice sad in my head. Will's smiling face popped up and gave me a thumbs up. That sick bastard. I choked on my tears and cursed. I wouldn't survive from this blow. It was too much. I wouldn't survive...



I have to get out of here was my first thought as soon as I opened my eyes again. I sat up and noticed how dark it was in the room. Cindy was asleep in the chair in the corner, snoring lightly.

I threw my blanket off my lap and my legs over the side. A couple of my joints popped. It's been a long time since I've been out of this bed...

I slid open my door cautiously and slowly. I peaked my head out to see if there were any doctors or nurses lurking the halls. As far as I could tell, the coast was clear. I made my way out of my room and closed the door again.

It felt strange to walk and use my legs. A couple of times I would stagger, and I walked with a slight limp. Other than that, I was doing pretty good for a woman in her late nineties. If I was right, it was my birthday tomorrow. The lucky one double zero.

Before I knew it, I was leaving the front entrance of the building. It had been easier to escape than I had thought. I walked out into the night, feeling the soft grass tickle my feet, and the wet mud slide between my toes. It was beautiful.

I knew where I had to go.

The swing set.

It was still standing there. Old and withered away just like me. But I'm sure it still had some swing in it.

As soon as I sat down, I was sixteen again. Long, dark hair. Pale. Bright green eyes. My cheeks went pink and I started to swing. And as I swung, I sang.

"In my mind I've been set free, will you take this journey...You and me... Fly me away with you, my love."

"Mave," a voice said. And there in front of me Will stood, a bouquet of flowers in hand. I continued to swing as high as the sun was in the sky. I smiled brightly at him.

"I've been waiting for you, Mave," he cooed. "Where'd you go?"

"It doesn't matter," I told him. "I'm here now."

Up and up and up I went, never stopped. I closed my eyes.

I was flying.



I ran down the halls, my breathing shallow and rough.

"Grandma?" I called. She was no where in sight. I woke up, expecting to see her sleeping away, but only to find empty sheets.

Luckily there was a nurse at the front desk. She was zoning out, listening to music while reading the newspaper.

"Please," I gasped, "you have to help me. I can't find my grandmother. She was in her room sleeping and now she's gone."

The nurse jumped up and called security.

"Ma'am," one of the guards said to me, "what's your name?"

"Cindy Cole," I answered. "My grandmother is Mave Adams. Please find her."

"Do you have any idea where she could have gone?"

"No, I-" I stopped. Then it came to me. "The swing set," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked, but I was already running out the door. It was pouring down hard when I exited the hospital. I put my arm over my head and ran down the road.

"Grandma?" I called loudly. "Grandma, where are you?" When I got to the swing set I squinted my eyes to see through the darkness and rain.

Then I spotted her. Lying on the ground face down.

"Grandma!" I ran over to her. I rolled her over to look at her. Her face was covered with mud, but the rain quickly washed most of it away. I pressed the side of my head against her chest, trying to find a heart beat.

A group of medics came rushing over to me. One of them knocked me out of the way to get to her.

"No," I sobbed, watching helplessly as they tried and failed to resurrect her.

"I'm sorry," a man said to me. "It was just her time."

"No," I whispered. "It wasn't."

He gave me a sympathetic look and turned back to the corpse.

"Mave Isabella Adams," he said, reading the tag around her wrist. "Time of death?"

"1:01am," replied a different man.

A crack of thunder and a flash of lightning occurred, and in the split second I thought I saw two young teenagers. Next to the far end of the swing set. They looked as if they were smiling at me. A guy with dark hair and puppy-like eyes and a girl with a floral print sundress...

Somehow then, I knew wherever Grandma Mave was, she was gonna be all right.


Well, that's that! Wish me luck. I hope I win at least third place in the contest. I worked really hard on this. :) Now off to the Dells I go! See ya in the evening Sunday (Heidi and Lilly)!