Annihilation: Love Conquers All Read Free

lying on the lawn in front of Eric’s home, looking up at the quickly darkening sky as the first stars made an appearance. Eric’s home was on a small hill on the outskirts of Central City, and the spires of the government buildings could be seen in the distance reflecting the setting sun off their crystal windows. Both boys loved looking at the stars and dreaming about someday flying a starship out into the galaxy. The night was coming quickly, and the hum of the insects as they flew around coupled with the drone of the floaters flying far overhead gave a peaceful background noise to the evening. Eric was taller than Thomas, with red hair and a demeanor to match; he was constantly getting into things. His mother had told Thomas’s mother that if the world was a bucket, then Eric was a spoon; he kept things stirred up. Thomas thought that Eric was the most fun to be around of anyone he knew, and Eric played off him constantly. They lay on their backs and stared up at the stars in silence; then Eric rolled over and asked with frustration in his voice, “Why can’t I catch you? I know I’m faster than you are but I can’t ever catch you.”
     
    Thomas laughed and said, “Because no one can catch the tag master; he’s uncatchable. No one in the universe can catch him.” Then Thomas poked Eric in the ribs and laughed even louder.
     
    “I want to know why I can’t catch you.”
     
    Thomas looked at his best friend, who had a very serious expression, and said, “I don’t know. I just go in another direction than the one you’re going. I see which way you’re going and I go the other way.”
     
    “How do you see which way I’m going?”
     
    “Your shadows give you away.”
     
    “Duh, if you haven’t noticed, it’s dark.”
     
    “I don’t mean that kind of shadow,” he said, just as Eric’s mother came through the front door and shouted, “Eric, get in this house right now. You’ve left your room in a mess and you know you’re supposed to be in when it gets dark.”
     
    “Eric’s in trouble, Eric’s in trouble,” Thomas began chanting as they jumped up, and they both laughed as they ran up the grassy slope and through the front door, their game of tag forgotten as they headed upstairs.
     
    One of Thomas Gardner’s favorite games was tag. He was the tag master in his class at school not because he was so fast, although he had good speed, but it seemed just before you could touch him he would dodge just out of reach. No one could catch him. His schoolmates started calling him by his initials, T A G. Somehow the name stuck and from the first level on he was just known as Tag. If you asked his playmates if they liked Thomas, they wouldn’t know who you were talking about; everyone knew him as Tag. Even his teachers began calling him that. His playmates didn’t give much thought as to why he was uncatchable but just assumed he was really quick. If you asked Tag why he couldn’t be caught, he’d say, “I go one way, they go another.” His teachers noticed occasionally that he would start to stand up just before they would ask him a question. They thought this was due to his paying close attention and seeing he was about to be called on. All in all, if you asked anyone who knew him they would tell you he was just a normal, everyday five-year-old. Nothing was farther from the truth.
     
    At home his father would talk with him about life and the things he would have to do to be successful. Often they would lie on the floor in their family room and his father would lift him up and he would pretend he was flying. He would close his eyes and feel all the things surrounding him in the room. Tag always looked forward to this time of day. His father had a good job but he had to work long hours, so Tag was always excited when he came home and his father was there.
     
    “I’m flying, I’m flying,” Tag yelled and held his arms out as his father lifted him and swung him back and forth and side to