Dare to Prevail

“This has to be a joke,” I muttered as I finished reading the letter for the third time. The lines of neat handwriting blurred as I thought about the boy who had handed me the letter earlier.

Billy. That was the name he’d given me when he’d intercepted me at the edge of the forest near my old house in Fox Run. And now I was sitting on the couch in the home of a complete stranger. 

Was I crazy? Why had I gone with a boy I’d barely met? 

Enforcers. That’s why. 

When Billy had told me that Enforcers were after me, I’d panicked. Who wouldn’t? Enforcers were a nightmare—always looking for a reason to harass you, happy to drag you away from all that you knew to lock you up. My own father was locked up in a Federally Assisted Thinning Center.

When Billy had grabbed me by the arm and told me I had to come with him now, I’d hardly let my mind travel past the thought that Enforcers were after me before I’d leapt onto the back of his motorcycle and hung on for dear life as we’d raced away from my old neighborhood.

Now, I was in the home of a man named Nick, and Billy was gone. He’d handed me the letter, sat me in the living room, pulled Nick aside, and that was the last I’d seen of him—or anyone. I’d heard Billy’s motorcycle revving up, then driving away a short time before, so I knew he’d left. I’d been on my own for the last half hour and my mind was going in a million directions. 

I carefully folded the letter into thirds and placed it back in its envelope. Putting aside the bizarre information contained in the letter, I stared at the blank television screen hanging on the wall across from me as I tried to sort out my own peculiar occurrences.

I’d been staying at my friend Rochelle Candee’s cabin when she and I had argued about some stupid thing or another and I’d decided to take a walk by myself. It had been right after breakfast when I’d entered the forest with a bottle of water. I’d been walking for about an hour and had just turned around to head back when dizziness had overcome me and I’d closed my eyes.

To my shock, when I’d opened them, the previously dry ground was covered with several inches of snow, and the pleasant morning air had become chilled. Confused, I decided I’d better get back to the Candee’s cabin and I began walking. Then, even though I thought I was retracing my steps, with my lousy sense of direction I’d became disoriented and nothing had looked familiar.

Afraid I was going to become even more lost, I sat on a log for a while and tried to figure out what had happened. When no good answer came to mind, my only option was to keep trying to find my way back to the Candee’s cabin.

I walked on, but when I recognized an unusual tree that I’d passed a short time before, I realized I was going in circles. Trying a different direction, I strode on. A while later, I had another bout of dizziness. Wondering if I was getting dehydrated—I’d finished my one bottle of water by then—I sat on a boulder and hung my head, then I closed my eyes as I waited for the dizziness to pass. When I felt better, I was stunned to see that the snow had melted. Or vanished. I wasn’t sure which. All I knew was the snow which had been there moments before was suddenly gone.

Astonished, and more than a little perplexed, I stood and continued in the direction I’d been going before the dizzy spell had forced me to stop. Eventually, I saw the backs of houses through the trees and I headed toward those. To my complete and utter surprise, I recognized my old house in Fox Run.

Mystified as to how I’d gotten back to my old neighborhood, because my family and I lived in Timber Hills and the Candee’s cabin was at least forty-five minutes away from Fox Run, I stumbled out of the forest and toward the backs of the houses.

That’s when I ran into Billy. I’d never seen him before that moment, but when he looked at me, recognition lit his eyes. Even so, his mouth hung open in apparent shock.

“Morgan?” he asked.

I wondered how this complete stranger knew my name, but since I was trying to comprehend how I’d ended up in Fox Run, I pushed aside any new questions. Instead, I nodded.

He grabbed my arm, and with an urgency that pierced me, he said, “You have to come with me. Right now.”

I balked at going anywhere with him, even taking a step back toward the forest, but that’s when he told me that Enforcers were hunting me. Hunting. That was the word he used. Not searching or looking. But hunting. Like I was some sort of prey.

“Enforcers?” I wanted to ask why they were after me since I’d always been careful to follow the rules. It’s true that sometimes I forgot to weigh myself, but Mom had always gotten a text when that happened and then she would remind me to get on the scale. I’d even gotten a waiver for the few days I would be at Rochelle’s cabin. Maybe they’d rejected it and I didn’t know. Maybe they were going to take me to a F.A.T. Center for punishment. Just like they’d taken Dad. Panic exploded within me and I said, “Okay.”

“Over here,” Billy said, then he rushed to a motorcycle parked near my old house.

Heart slamming against my ribs, I swiftly followed him, and after a brief glance at my old house, I put on the helmet he handed me, then climbed on behind him.

When we reached the house I sat in now, Billy climbed off the motorcycle, then helped me off. As I handed him my helmet, alarm bells rang in my mind. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening.

“Come with me,” Billy said.

I stepped back. “Where am I? What’s going on? Why did you bring me here?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter, then held it out to me. “This will explain everything.”

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