GIRL, UNPLUGGED
YA Novel Chapter 28 | 5 Minute Read
This is Chapter 28 of a YA novel. To see where the story began, check out the GIRL, UNPLUGGED table of contents post, or head to the GIRL, UNPLUGGED section of the Story Hoarder Substack page to see all the chapters.
This chapter is a 5 minute read.
CHAPTER 28: Gifts of the New Day
Outside the hotel there were three horse pulled carriages waiting for us. Each had a cooler on the floor and enough room on the benches facing each other to fit three to four of us on each side. We were the first scheduled trip for the carriages and we were going straight down to the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Since it was early, Chief Grady suspected that we might not have to stay in Manhattan again if we got moving right away.
Russ axnd I climbed up into the first carriage followed by Colin, Terrell, Rainbow, and Princess. Dustin and Stella got into the carriage with Rose, Daria, Murph, and Brenda. A couple of volunteers from the medical tent brought Rose a separate cooler filled with extra doses of a medication that had been helping her feel a little bit better, but had its own share of side effects. One of volunteers, a young guy who could not have been a doctor yet, turned to Daria, “Remember to keep her hydrated. If she gets pins and needles go for gatorade and potassium foods. It’s a quick fix for now, but Rose, honey,” he turned back to Rose, “you have to get to a specialist as soon as you can. You sure you don’t want to stay in the city?”
Rose laughed and it was the best she sounded since everything went sideways. “I’m positive. Gary, you’ve been the best — all of you have. I know I can never repay you, but I will do my best to not ruin whatever healing you put into place for me, okay?”
“That,” Gary said, “is the best deal I could ask for!” Then he gave her an awkward hug over the others in the carriage and gave Daria a high five as he stepped out.
We were finally on our way. I sat back and tried to appreciate the fact that I was not putting any weight on my still-tired feet.
“Wait!” a guy I recognized from Janice’s tent — I think his name was Jeremy — screamed. He was running up to the carriages waving something that looked like an orange flag. My heart sank. I thought we were done for. They were going to take the carriages away again, for some food related emergency. He caught up to Daria and Rose’s carriage first, said something to them and then looked over to our carriage, hopped down and came running over to us. “Which of you is Natalie?” he asked. That was not at all what I was expecting.
“Uh… me,” I said with hesitation.
“Right,” he said as if he knew that all along. “Look, I know you want to get going, but Janice asked me to give this to you.” He handed me the wadded up orange cloth. “She said to say thank you and she was sorry.”
I unraveled the cloth and saw it was a volunteer Food Bank T-shirt just like the one Janice had. I felt a lump in my throat.
Jeremy said, “Don’t lose faith in humanity. That’s what she had said. Yeah… that was the important part.”
“Okay,” I whispered. “Tell her I won’t. And thanks.”
It was quiet after that. Jeremy nodded and stepped back so we could finally get moving. I was awestruck.
She didn’t hate me? She wanted me to have a gift to remind me of the time we worked together? It didn’t seem to match up. Except for that thing my mom always told me about crises — about the reason she insisted we open our home to Amy’s entire family during Hurricane Imelda and for as long as they needed it. “In helping there’s hope, no matter how bad it gets.”
I had forgotten about that, but I had come to that realization myself too, hadn’t I? That it was the helping that made me feel the best. So here was Janice, suffering in her own way, but reaching out to help me get past our shared horror. Perhaps it was this gesture that could help her heal.
Even after the bad she experienced, she kept going. She didn’t lose faith in humanity. I smiled. That was a pretty good policy to live by.
I’m not going to lie and say that the carriage was a comfortable ride. That would be a ridiculous statement. There’s a reason why the romantic horse-drawn carriage rides are limited to short distances around Central Park — any longer and people would lose that loving feeling as it morphed into physical discomfort. The driver took us over to the West Side highway, where there was a path cleared. Cars, and even some buses, had been moved to the side. I suppose this is one of the things the police had been working on as they kept getting shipped out of Times Square. As we drove through the streets some people waved at us from their windows, others from the street, and Janice’s request seemed doable as I was reminded of how kind our city could be. Along the west side there were a number of cyclists and runners in the early morning sun as if it was just another ordinary day in the city. It was an awesome sight to see.
The sight didn’t erase the horrors of the previous day, but it balanced them. It reminded me of another phrase my mother always says, “This too shall pass.” Any time I was feeling sick or sad, she’d pull that phrase out to let me know that the bad feeling wouldn’t last forever. She was right, but as I thought of that I wondered will all of this pass?
Will we get our power back? Will these cars move again? Will the phone in my pocket ever ring again? Will Russ stop caring about me? Which things will stay? Is nothing safe?
I shook the idea from my mind and decided to enjoy the moment, the new T-shirt in my lap, and the warm sun on my face. I leaned my head on Russ’s shoulder and I think I fell asleep for a while.
Russ nudged me awake as we passed by the Freedom Tower. We were getting close to the ferry and I guess he wanted me to clean up my sleep drool from my face and his coat before we stopped. I was a little embarrassed until I saw that Colin, Rainbow, Princess and Terrell had also fallen asleep on each other. For that whispered moment, it was just Russ and me alone, in a sense, on the carriage.
“I’m a fan of you sleeping on my shoulder,” Russ said, touching the side of my face where I was sure I had sleep lines from the imprint of his coat.
“What?” I said, not sure if he was joking about all the time in the recent past he had spent next to my sleeping body.
“I think you are beautiful, Natalie,” he said, “and when you are asleep you look so peaceful.”
All of my self consciousness came pouring all around me. He was looking at me in my sleep after two days of no shower and no brush for my hair. I knew he had just called me beautiful — and I heard that, I really did — but something inside wouldn’t let me believe that was actually what he meant. I wanted to talk about something else so he didn’t feel like he was being held accountable for the things he said in this apparent bout of insanity, “Do you think Catch ‘Em Crazy will have those dragon eggs saved whenever it comes back on line?”
His brow furrowed and his head tilted as he looked deeply into my eyes, “Natalie Turner, I am telling you I think you are beautiful.”
“You don’t have to,” I said.
“No, I don’t, but I just did,” he said and then he leaned in and kissed me. Not on the cheek like he did the day before, but right on my lips. Those same soft, warm, tender lips that brushed my cheek yesterday were on my lips and I was sinking deeply into all of the feelings they brought with them. Russ thinks I’m beautiful. I felt it as much as I felt his hand caressing the side of my face as he kissed me.
“There it is,” said Colin groggily. Breaking Russ away from my lips. He was looking down smiling. I just stared at him, hoping like a two year old child that if he was the only one I saw then he would be the only one there. But that wasn’t true. They had all seen. Princess had woken up first and she woke up the rest of the carriage for the show. They burst into applause. I just laughed while my face burned with embarrassment.
“Oh Natalie, if only you knew how long he’s been dreaming of that,” said Colin. “What the hell took you so long, bro?”
Russ punched him in the arm, then wrapped his other arm around me.
I wanted to stay embarrassed, I felt like it was the right thing to do, but I couldn’t stop smiling. Rainbow, who was sitting across from me, flashed me a quick thumbs up in her lap where the others couldn’t see. It felt good to have her stamp of approval.
It all felt good.
Leave a comment - Question of the Week
Thanks for continuing to read the GIRL, UNPLUGGED. Thoughts about the first real kiss between Russ and Natalie? Also, I’d love to know your thoughts about the horse and carriage ride use in this story. When I first drafted this story I was just beginning to learn of the issues with the practice and how some of the horses were being overworked and mistreated. When I drafted the story, my inclusion of the carriages was born mostly out of nostalgia for holidays with my family as a child, as my parents loved to bring my brother on carriage rides through Central Park around Christmastime. However, even this week, the practice returns to the local news as a horse who was taken out of service this summer due to a collapse in the August heat has passed away. I am wondering, if I were drafting GIRL, UNPLUGGED today, would I (should I?) include the horse drawn carriages or not?
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