Never That Far Apart

I scale the steps three at a time and sprint down the now empty hallway. My own heartbeat echoes in my head deeper than any siren.

"Please still be inside!"

I attempt to tear the wood off of its hinges when I arrive. The door doesn't budge, only groaning at the amount of force I applied. When I try to insert the key, my shaking hands take far too long to aim and leave scratches all over the metal. Regardless, the door swings open and slams into the outside wall as I charge inside.

"Mira!?"

All air empties from my body as I gasp. The lights are still on, but there does not appear to be any life inside. Normally, the sounds of falling droplets would be berating the window with an annoying clack. That isn't the case right now. The sound of water is completely cushioned by the carpet near the wall. Our pale woven fabric is visibly darker in that single space.

Just in case, I check in the bathroom and under the bed, but the worst possibility seems to be all that remains. Heavy rain pours onto my head as I try to check the ground below for Mira.

"Where are you…"

The young rabbit isn't on the ground below. Cedar Lake is huge and searching the entire thing will be almost impossible while it's raining. Even if I manage to avoid collapsing from exhaustion, the slippery mud may very well send me plummeting to my doom in the lake. This very well may have happened to her, but I refuse to believe in that possibility.

My vision struggles against the streams of water flowing down my face, but I can't take my eyes off the ground below. What if she really got hurt somewhere? How would I even go about finding her? I can feel my legs shaking, but they refuse to move. For the first time, I think I'm experiencing true fear. Nothing hurts more than losing someone important to you.

"Miraaaaaa!"

My scream doesn't travel far in the chorus of droplets.

I'm too weak to become the hero capable of saving her from trouble, that much never changed. Even if I startled looking right now, I doubt that I would get even close to finding her. Things like these have to be left to the people with resources to search every corner of the map for a missing person. Those of us without power can only sit by and wait.

"Damn it…"

My nails dig into the brick on the other end of the wall. The cold and constant downpour slowly blurs my vision further and further. I can feel my consciousness slowly begin to fade along with my own will to continue fighting. I've lost her.

"Noa!"

A voice reaches forward and pulls me from within the darkness. I look around behind me and out into the darkened brush below, but nothing is there. Nothing, except for a small purple ribbon hanging precariously on a branch. All it would take is a strong gust and the little ornament will be thrown into the darkness elsewhere.

"ARGH!"

I throw my weathered body into motion and dash out the way I had arrived. This time, I don't exit out at the parking lot. I exit at the forest behind the apartment.

My feet hang in the mud at every step, but I continue wading through the marsh. With bushes growing almost right up against the wall, I can't get far without obtaining several scratches from the branches. It doesn't matter if I bleed. My body is far too numb to register anything other than this burning desire.

Mud covers my legs by the time I locate the suffering little stroke of colour in among the foliage. The tear that caused it to fly free from the young girl's neck is obvious at the touch. This was my first gift to her and look how beat up it is now.

I grasp the ribbon tightly in my hand.

"I can't leave you alone for one second, you cursed rabbit!"

The target of my words are misplaced, but at least I'm aware that the target of my frustration is myself. There is nobody else to blame. I didn't teach her about what to do in the case of emergencies. I didn't stress enough about the dangers of falling from the window. I hesitated when I found out that she was missing. I've made nothing but mistakes.

"Hold on, Mira! I'm going to find you!"

* * * * *

Mira can't hear anything aside from the beating of rain above her. She hugs her legs together on the grass shadowed not just by the clouds, but by concrete.

"It's cold…"

Squeak Squeak.

A party of floppy-eared rabbits are huddled around her, but none of them can warm more than her scratch covered body. The real frigid feeling comes from inside. Even though these rabbits are also her family, they can't bring her any relief.

"What have I done…"

The young girl lowers her face into her mud-covered knees. Her outfit is covered in cuts and has completely lost its original colour in much of its places. Her body hasn't served much better as a throbbing pain in her ankle persists from some time earlier. She isn't aware of how long she has been camping under the bridge.

When the sirens started, she was unable to think as the sound overwhelmed her. If Noa were there, he would probably have led her out the door and away from the building. However, this only started making sense to her now that the blinking lights are no longer visible. In that moment, the window appeared to be the best option. All she could think of was to run, run anywhere that wasn't there.

"Still running away…"

Mira recalls the words Ange had left with her earlier today. They aren't just rabbits anymore, they can't continue to run from everything scary, all of it makes sense. Even Mira at some point realised that the way she's lived up until now is no more.

"Noa is probably angry…"

What face does Noa have on right now? She tries to imagine the face of the young man that has given her so much, but the thought of him looking sad is scary. The young girl that had wanted to make him smile seemed to only do the opposite. Whenever things get rough, her first response is always to cry and wait for somebody else to save her.

That first night pops into her head. Everything changed from that point when he found her and saved her life. The boy that she had seen her whole life was there when she needed him most. Day after day until now has been nothing but trouble for him. If she never returned, would that make his life easier?

"I don't want that!"

It feels like the correct answer, but Mira feels her entire body reject it.

That room, that desk, that couch, that bed, they're all so warm, so comfortable. It was a mistake to leave that place, even if the sirens threatened to knock her unconscious. Noa had said it himself, it was home for both of them. The young girl has witnessed his struggle in protecting the place where they belong. Never once did he run away when she caused him trouble. He would sometimes turn to look away, but he always reached out his hand at the same time. His hand always reached out for her.

"I don't want to leave!"

Sensing some change, the rabbits quickly move a few paces away from the young girl.

"I want us to eat together!"

She supports her body against the incline of dirt as she slowly rises to her feet.

"I want us to talk about school together!"

The pain in her ankle attempts to drag her back to the ground, but she forces it to lock in place.

"I want us to take a bath and go to sleep together!"

Her foot drags across the dirt with her first step. The soaked fabric over her body applies a heavy weight on her shoulders, but she continues moving. The young girl would have normally removed these hindrances, but that would make the young man angry.

"I want to go home to Noa!"

With a heavy limp, Mira steps back into the heavy downpour.