/-------------------Secret
Base------------------------/
~I was standing blankly after school
waiting for the light to change on my way home.~
from “Secret Base”
waiting for the light to change on my way home.~
from “Secret Base”
Keeping
her eyesight level, she followed the tug of Anne, staying as close to the
central axis of the umbrella as possible. Within several minutes, the park,
specifically a white gazebo with faded streaks, was in view. Shiina’s rear sank
onto the faintly chilly wooden bench – sigh
escaped her mouth. Realizing its volume, her face transformed into a tomato.
Anne, lifting her right leg and swinging it to-and-fro, remained standing. Drip drip drip.
“Is
this odd?” Anne inquired, for the first time glancing downward.
“A
little,” Shiina murmured while still staring down.
“So,
Garden of Words, then! Perhaps that highlights my oddness, huh? But, permit me
talking to myself, there was something I wanted to share. And, it’s
strange…It’s…” said Anne. Her hands started twitching slightly, an intense aura
swelling around her. At her friend, Shiina glanced, witnessing for the first
time Anne’s dilated pupils.
“H-how
about I just show you…Watch closely, because…I’m not sure I could do it again.
It’s…it’s…” Anne trailed off.
Shudder
– the ground shook. With feline prowess, she had leaped back five feet in a
blur. Smooth contours across her right hand, palm faced upwards – her fingers
retained the slight reflection from lotion, perhaps as if gloves usually hid
them.
But,
it was the regions proximal to the finger tips, the phalanges…Black, scarred
flesh coated her palm, stretching across the metacarpals, as if Anne were a dragon.
A breath deep enough to wake any sea deity escaped her mouth, as her eyes
closed. A torrent of emerald green flames ensnared the air above Anne, stemming
from her hand’s maw – parting ways, the sea assumed a split spiral staircase
formation, as if a slice of magical imagery. Drifting, levitating clouds of
ember landed close to Shiina, eyes ablaze with shock and hands near to her
chest and her legs stiffened. And soon, the sound itself sizzled out, giving
way to the eternal pitter-patter coating their surroundings in dew. Being held tightly by her friend, who was
now standing, Anne closed her palm, water falling from the sky and from her
eyes.
The drops evacuating her eyes, and the drops leaving the lofty clouds. Still clasped in embrace, Anne fully unveiled her pupils once more, and began. “I told you, it’s strange. I’m more mythical creature and less human, and I’m just showing you, someone I hardly know. Was it wrong of me to show you? Was this too much? Was—“
Running her hands along each knot, lush from attention, Shiina opted to move her right hand across the top of Anne’s head. A slight smile across her face, she spoke, “It’s strange. Definitely strange. But people are strange, so they say. But it wasn’t wrong of you. It’s weird, but you bravely shared your own essence. And I appreciate that.”
Transitioning to massaging Anne’s back, Shiina finally heard the formation of words. “Th-thank you…Scared…I was so…a-arigatou gozaim-m-masu[1]…”
“De rien, mon amie[2],” replied Shiina as she slowly disentangled from her friend. “See you tomorrow, n’est-ce pas[3]?” (Of course, Shiina spoke with a broken French accent clearly reserved for Americans.)
“A-ah…C’est vrai, mon amie! Au revoir![4]” joyously responded Anne, as she wore white leather gloves, gripped her umbrella, and departed.
And, soon enough, Shiina returned home, swapping her soaked corduroy pants for, of course, the same leisurely purple pants. Though it was still only seven PM, the early autumn sun scarcely present, she chose to sleep, exhausted by the day’s events. Without even changing, she left consciousness. About to lecture her daughter about putting clothes away, Shiina’s mother noticed her deep breathing. Chalk it up to maternal instinct, but perhaps humans knew when each other had faced the most demanding circumstances. Of course, before forgetting, she left a note for her daughter, pulled the blanket snugly over her, and left quietly.
Around 6 AM, Shiina, woken by birds chirping, checked her desk, and saw a post-it note that read: “Last night, I noticed how deeply you were sleeping. It seemed like you were holding something difficult tightly to your chest. I was wondering if you wanted to share what happened, if you needed help with anything. Let me know, okay?”
This note weighed heavily on her mind as she prepared for school. In a break from her attire the past two days, she donned a steel grey skirt, fashioned of softest cotton, and black tights. H-how do I face her…she wondered, metaphorical clouds drifting above her head. Face wrenched into a half-scowl, Shiina finished her morning preparations and left for school. Right next to Anne in her first period class, once again.
“How-how’s the reading going,” Anne stuttered quietly, her long eyelashes less curly than normal.
“Um…” Shiina said under her breath inaudibly.
“Was yesterday disturbing for you…I feel bad now,” Anne responded, intertwining her fingers cautiously.
The clock nervously ticked towards the start time.
“I’m not good at expressing my feelings…but what you did was very brave. And I’m grateful…so don’t worry,” Shiina’s voice trailed off.
Anne breathed out deeply. “I feel relieved now. It’s not something…”
“That you could tell just anyone, right? Don’t worry,” Shiina comforted her friend.
She cross-chopped her friend lightly on the shoulder. “Cheer up. That’s an order.”
Anne, moist around the eyes, responded “Owchie!” as if she were five.
The bell rang, stopping any further conversation. Now, one would wonder if English turned out more interesting, but it was more something like The Great Gatsby and less something like The Secret Lives of Bees or Cyrano de Bergerac. When called upon, Shiina deftly answered, without coming across as too intrigued by the material. Though not exactly slouching, her eyes seemed focused on the barest of doodles across the top slice of the notebook page. Mouth slightly open, levitating a sleepy, soundless sigh. In case, this wasn’t obvious: today was excruciatingly long.
The drops evacuating her eyes, and the drops leaving the lofty clouds. Still clasped in embrace, Anne fully unveiled her pupils once more, and began. “I told you, it’s strange. I’m more mythical creature and less human, and I’m just showing you, someone I hardly know. Was it wrong of me to show you? Was this too much? Was—“
Running her hands along each knot, lush from attention, Shiina opted to move her right hand across the top of Anne’s head. A slight smile across her face, she spoke, “It’s strange. Definitely strange. But people are strange, so they say. But it wasn’t wrong of you. It’s weird, but you bravely shared your own essence. And I appreciate that.”
Transitioning to massaging Anne’s back, Shiina finally heard the formation of words. “Th-thank you…Scared…I was so…a-arigatou gozaim-m-masu[1]…”
“De rien, mon amie[2],” replied Shiina as she slowly disentangled from her friend. “See you tomorrow, n’est-ce pas[3]?” (Of course, Shiina spoke with a broken French accent clearly reserved for Americans.)
“A-ah…C’est vrai, mon amie! Au revoir![4]” joyously responded Anne, as she wore white leather gloves, gripped her umbrella, and departed.
And, soon enough, Shiina returned home, swapping her soaked corduroy pants for, of course, the same leisurely purple pants. Though it was still only seven PM, the early autumn sun scarcely present, she chose to sleep, exhausted by the day’s events. Without even changing, she left consciousness. About to lecture her daughter about putting clothes away, Shiina’s mother noticed her deep breathing. Chalk it up to maternal instinct, but perhaps humans knew when each other had faced the most demanding circumstances. Of course, before forgetting, she left a note for her daughter, pulled the blanket snugly over her, and left quietly.
Around 6 AM, Shiina, woken by birds chirping, checked her desk, and saw a post-it note that read: “Last night, I noticed how deeply you were sleeping. It seemed like you were holding something difficult tightly to your chest. I was wondering if you wanted to share what happened, if you needed help with anything. Let me know, okay?”
This note weighed heavily on her mind as she prepared for school. In a break from her attire the past two days, she donned a steel grey skirt, fashioned of softest cotton, and black tights. H-how do I face her…she wondered, metaphorical clouds drifting above her head. Face wrenched into a half-scowl, Shiina finished her morning preparations and left for school. Right next to Anne in her first period class, once again.
“How-how’s the reading going,” Anne stuttered quietly, her long eyelashes less curly than normal.
“Um…” Shiina said under her breath inaudibly.
“Was yesterday disturbing for you…I feel bad now,” Anne responded, intertwining her fingers cautiously.
The clock nervously ticked towards the start time.
“I’m not good at expressing my feelings…but what you did was very brave. And I’m grateful…so don’t worry,” Shiina’s voice trailed off.
Anne breathed out deeply. “I feel relieved now. It’s not something…”
“That you could tell just anyone, right? Don’t worry,” Shiina comforted her friend.
She cross-chopped her friend lightly on the shoulder. “Cheer up. That’s an order.”
Anne, moist around the eyes, responded “Owchie!” as if she were five.
The bell rang, stopping any further conversation. Now, one would wonder if English turned out more interesting, but it was more something like The Great Gatsby and less something like The Secret Lives of Bees or Cyrano de Bergerac. When called upon, Shiina deftly answered, without coming across as too intrigued by the material. Though not exactly slouching, her eyes seemed focused on the barest of doodles across the top slice of the notebook page. Mouth slightly open, levitating a sleepy, soundless sigh. In case, this wasn’t obvious: today was excruciatingly long.
As
Shiina headed home, a hand tugged at her skirt. It was Anne, of course today
clad in a black dress just short of gothic style. Twenty minutes later, Shiina
was holding the door open for her friend. She neatly removed her rain boots and
set them against the adjacent wall and followed. Being a mom, Shiina’s mother,
named Sanae, offered piping hot green to them.
A nervous glance from Anne to her mom seemed to signal to Sanae – she
winked and left her daughter and friend alone, in a criss-cross applesauce
formation facing each other. (Anne, of course, texted her parents that she
would be late, and also provided the address.)
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