A Place to Sit

A girl burst from the trees.

She saw her.

Their eyes met.

And then, the girls hand closed gently over Sachi's, slowly pushing the blade away.

"I don't know what's on your mind but it would be pretty inconvenient if you died right now. I just met you after all" the girl said warmly.

Silence.

The girl's clear blue eyes gaze into Sachi's empty brown ones. 

Sachi froze. The words not making sense to her in the moment.

The stranger's hand was warm. Too warm for someone who appeared out of nowhere. 

Her words? Even stranger.

"Huh...?"

The girl tilted her head, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to interrupt someone holding a blade to their neck. 

"I said" the girl repeated "it would be inconvenient if you died right now. I just met you"

Sachi stared lost in the tranquility of the girls eyes. For a moment, she forgot to breathe. 

This girl. She was looking at Sachi. 

Not out of fear. 

Not out of disgust.

Not out of disappointment.

Not out of pity.

Truly looking at her. 

It was overwhelming. 

Sachi jerked her hand away, hiding the knife behind her. "Why are you here?"

The girl let out a long sigh and plopped herself next to Sachi as if they were old friends.

"I was running" the girl said simply. "I like the way the wind feels against my face. Makes me feel free."

"Feel free...?"

"Yeah." the girl leaned back on her hands, gazing up at the canopy. "Sometimes, it feels like I'm stuck inside my own head. So when I run it feels like I break away from the thoughts weighing me down."

Sachi didn't respond. It never felted like she could break away from her thoughts. She felt a sense of envy towards this girl. 

"But anyway, if you're going to sit here and cry then at least pick a better spot. If you keep crying in such a dark depressing place then of course it's going to make you feel worse. Just beyond here there's a beautiful lake and at nighttime the fairies come out." the girl said pointing past the trees. 

"Fairies...?" Sachi asked confused.

"You don't know about the fairies?" the girl asked shocked. "Then again you're not from here so that makes sense. You see the fairies only come out for a little bit during the night and they say if you're lucky enough to catch one then they'll grant you any wish."

The prospect of fairies and wishes peaked Sachi's curiosity but something the girl said made her pause.

"Wait... How'd you know I'm not from here...?"

"Your eyes." the girl answered simply.

"My eyes? What about them?"

The girl turned to look Sachi in eyes, "They're brown."

"Huh?"

"No one in the world has brown eyes so of course that means you're not from this world."

"But my eyes are really common where I'm from..." Sachi said confused.

"In this world there are only two eye colors." the girl pointed at her own eyes "Blue or green. Blue eyed are the ones from the sky and green eyed are the ones from the surface."

"The sky and surface?"

"The two kingdoms of the world. Motokami the islands of the sky and Motonari the land of the surface. If you couldn't tell, I'm from the sky islands by the way" she said chuckling softly. 

Sachi was lost in thought thinking back to the prophecy the old woman told her about, "The sky shall meet the earth..."

"Oh the ancient prophecy? Yeah they say the sky islands will collapse into the surface and everything will be destroyed, something like that."

"Something like that? Aren't you scared?" Sachi bewildered at how this girl could take such heavy worlds and not seem to care.

"Why would I be scared about something that I don't even know will happen?"

"It's a prophecy. It's going to happen. It's a part of fate. My very being here proves that the end is near for your world. Aren't you worried?" Sachi's breath became uneven.

"Hmmm... I guess I can see where you're coming from, but I don't believe in things such as fate so the prophecy is just silly to me."

"How could you think that...?"

"I mean even if something is written in stone you could still destroy that stone and make a new one. I think life is forever changing and fate is how we make it out to be." 

Sachi stood up. Her chest tightened. "You don't understand. I'm part of the prophecy. They think I'll ruin everything. That I'll destroy the balance of this world. That's not something you can simply just change."

"But what do you think?"

Sachi paused. "What...?"

"If that is the fate you were given then do you like it?"

Sachi's voice wavering, "Of course I don't like it. Who wants to be given such a depressing fate?" 

"No one chooses the life they've been given, but regardless of what it is, you don't have to just simply let it be." the girl said calmly. "If you don't like it then why not change it?"

Sachi's head lowered. A feeling of hopelessness befell her. "Nothing will change even if I try..."

"Well if you also don't try to begin with then things are bound to never change."

Sachi's ears began to ring. Her breath unsteady. "It doesn't matter if I try it won't make any difference! It never did and it never will!"

It wasn't just about the prophecy anymore. 

Memories of her pain were surfacing.

Frustrations. 

Anger. 

Regret. 

No matter how much she studied for exams she failed. No matter how many part time jobs she got she always got fired. No matter how much medication she took she wasn't getting better. No matter how much therapy she went to she didn't feel relieved. No matter how she handled the bullies they followed her. No matter what she said to her parents they turned their back on her. And no matter how many letters she wrote, her sister wouldn't come back. 

The forest fell silent as Sachi's tears started to fall. She clutched her arms tight around herself as if trying to protect herself from feeling the pain. The weight of everything - this new world, her old one, the words she could never say, the people she could never reach, all came crashing into her from all sides. 

"I'm tired..." her voice barely a whisper" "I'm tired of trying..."

Silence.

"I'm sure you are. It's okay to be tired. It's okay to fall. I know what that's like too."

Sachi looked up. 

"You do?"

The girl nodded. "Maybe not to the same extent as you after all I don't know you or anything about your life. But I know life isn't easy. But when I'm tired I always try to rest and when I fall I always try to get up. Because I have things I want to do and if I let myself quit then I'd never forgive myself for it." 

She paused.

"There was one time I jumped into a river. At first it was simply for the fun of it. But once I was in the water the thought crossed my mind. What if this were it? And for a moment that thought seemed comforting."

"Then what?"

"Then I realized the water was freezing, and I hate being cold" the girl chuckled. "So, I got out and decided to walk until I found something warmer."

Sachi swallowed hard. Her throat felt dry. "Did you find it?" she asked desperate for the answer.

"Nope. Maybe I won't... But there's also the chance that maybe I will and that thought alone is exciting enough for me" her smile reaching her eyes. 

The girl turned to Sachi "Maybe you won't find it either but there's also always the chance you will. If you give up now then you'll never know what could've been for you. Maybe this moment right here is a start of something for you!"

Sachi stared at her for a long time. Interest mixed with fear and doubt filled her thoughts. She always longed for a miracle, for hope, for a reason to go on. Maybe this was her sign. 

"I..." Sachi started.

But the fear and doubt took over quickly. The prophecy came back to her.

"But the prophecy says..."

The girl stood up "Well maybe it's time to stop listening to the prophecy and fate and everything else for that matter and just start listening to what's inside you. Who do you want to be?"

"Who do I want to be...?" Sachi paused. "I don't know I never thought about it..."

"Then start thinking about it." the girl started to walk.

"But my life is already set in stone it doesn't matter what I want." Sachi called out to the girl.

The girl turned to Sachi. "Then let's destroy that stone and make a new one!"

The girl's smile was bright and full of hope. 

Sachi stood there as the wind brushed her face and as conflict stirred in her heart. 

The girl reached out her hand. "I'm Himari."

Sachi looked at it for some time, not sure what to do.

Then, cautiously, Sachi took the girl's hand. "Sachi."

Himari held Sachi's hand in hers and started to pull her along. "Now, let's go find that lake!"

The two girls ran hand in hand through the trees anticipating what was next for them, leaving behind the knife in the empty dark field.