The Day

"I am tired of all this."

"I can't do it anymore."

These words still echo in the back of my mind every time his memories rush into my brain. Hardly ever does a day go by without a reminder that I failed.

Failed him!

A hand came flying from behind, hitting the back of the boy's head

'Takada, you get that look off your face.'

"Oh, it's you Yamada."

'What's up with you these days? Looking so blue.'

"Not much. It's just-...I ran into his parents the other day. "

"What did they say?"

"Nothing... Absolutely nothing"

Although they said nothing to my face. I could read it all in their eyes vividly. Their eyes screamed with regret, "If only we hadn't allowed him to accompany you." All of it was my fault.

'It's not our fault he disappeared. You decided to arrange a trip to the woods so that Tanaka could get a break from them working him like a horse' he gruffed.

Hmm funny ain't it they didn't care about his wellbeing when he was with them, and now all they care about is their son.

But deep down I knew my fault was to be shouldered by me. He used to express his wish to run away to a place far away, and what did I do? Ignored it as if everything was fine. What could have been done for that poor soul? Could I have encouraged him that times will pass? Perhaps he merely needed a compassionate friend whom he could cry to.

It was nigh impossible for me to gather up the courage to confront his parents. Explain to them the mental state they had enforced on their child. Who would even listen to me when they are so convinced they know better?

Instead, arranging a trip to get him some time away sounded like a good plan, and the plan was a success even. However, I failed to comprehend that it was no more than a breather to the drowning. The day of the trip, he kept looking at me with his dead eyes, staring right through my existence with those baggy eyes. There was no malice, no emotion even, only a question," Why? "My eyes the entire trip shied away from his afraid of being reprimanded for my incompetence. That was the day he disappeared into the woods.

"A year has passed. It keeps eating me inside out, constantly wondering where he is. Alive? Dead? Happy? Sad? No more, it's too much."

'Ok, but what can you do. If he is alive, he probably has no plan of returning and if... He is-

"That'll be plenty for me. I will go looking for any trace of him."

Yamada glared at me and looked away as it wasn't what he wanted, but after a minute or two, he clenched his teeth and made a volte-face decision out of the blue.

'Fine, but you are going with me. Can't have another friend leave me.'

We set out for the woods that we had visited that day. It was packed with majestic trees, some were straight like a pole, while others curled and slanted. Flowers were plenty to feast one's eyes. Though spring was long gone, they still had a sense of beauty and attractiveness. They still were flamboyant, but as the saying goes, 'nothing pleases the one who is dead inside'

After we reached our destination, we began to walk in the direction where our friend ran. We tried to catch up with him, but he soon faded out of our sight. The search team tried to find him but it couldn't have been that hard to find a high schooler. After all, how far could he have possibly gone. They couldn't track him down in a year, must have been half assing their job.

We walked and walked and walked, no sign of him anywhere in the vicinity. Somehow, it made us happy that there was a possibility that he survived after all; we would have had found his remains by now if there were any. We took several breaks, gasping and panting, we kept on with our endeavour, a worthless yet worthwhile endeavour.

Aagh aagh*

'Still no signs, ' Yamada cried as he breathed heavily.

Even I was growing tired at this point. I looked back at him and replied as I kept walking forward

"We will find something so--

The ground crumbled beneath me, and I rolled down the somewhat steep slope in the woods. I was praying, thinking that today was my day, as my friend chased me down the slope. A tree was about to change my facial features, but gladly, Yamada managed to rescue me.

'Are you blind. You would have been a goner back there, said Yamada, grabbing me by the collar.

"Sorry, my bad."

He shoved me in anger, and as he was in a fit of fury, my eyes went somewhere else. Just in front of us was a cave, and a gleaming golden light was coming from the cave. I pointed it out to him, and with his flushed red face, he replied

'WHAT IS IT?'

"Light coming from the cave over there".

We went over to check it out. We entered the cave without hesitation, but as we continued to move towards the light, there was a strange sense of danger about it. I turned around with the opening of the cave behind me getting more distant more hazy.

'It's the exit, ' Yamada shouted as he rushed towards the light.

___________________________________

We stood in a trance at the sight that was bestowed upon us.