The Boot of Time

January, 2011

“Tomorrow. We will raid the keep and steal the Boot using the laser cutters we found. STEAMPUNKLORD Kaine will have no idea!” Shibu said.

“Tomorrow? Why not today?”

“Because… Liza invited me to hang out today.” Her face beamed.

“Oh…”

“But we will go tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow! So don’t be sad?”

“I’m not, it’s okay.”

“See you then!”

“See you…”

***

The girls sat around the living room TV, watching a young, upbeat pop singer with bowl-like hair holding the microphone with two hands.

“I can’t wait for Never Say Forever to come out! I’ve been listening to him on loop!” Manta said.

“Never Say Forever? What’s that?” Shibu said.

“Eh? Shibu, you don’t know about Never Say Forever?”

“It’s Justin Beeper’s new concert film,” Liza said, “so we can watch his concerts all the time. It’s much better than going to actual concerts anyways, since it's always available!”

“Yeah, much better!” Manta said.

“Oh…”

“How do you not know about it? What do you even do all day?” Manta said.

“She draws, of course. Don’t you know that?” Liza said with her excited flat smile. “Show us some drawings! Won’t you, Shibu?”

“Um… sure…”

She pulled out what she had in her backpack. Her recent drawing with Tantan. Circles around the brick wall, the laser cutters, both of them wearing silly black goggles. A vampire-like creature on the other side, fuming with anger.

“It says… Shibu and… Tantan? What… what the heck is that?” Liza burst out laughing.

“Shibu? You drew this?” Manta joined in laughing with her, and the other girls followed suit.

“What? What’s so funny?” The heat rose in Shibu’s face.

“It’s so weird! What is that? And who is Tantan?” Liza said. “No… Is that Tato? The shut-in?”

“No way! You’re friends with that weirdo? Or… are you more than just friends?”

“Stop it!” Shibu snatched the drawing and put it back in her bag. “It… it was just a favor! It’s the responsibility Teacher Kjell gave me. To visit Tato. He asked for the drawing so… I had to make one, you know?”

“Oh, now it all makes sense,” Liza said. “You’re really not the kind of person to be friends with someone like that. I believe you.”

“But still, it must be really gross to have to go through that. I don’t know how you could keep going,” Manta said. “I feel bad for you.”

“I… I was just going to quit this week actually! As you said, enough is enough.”

“Good for you,” Liza said.

As Shibu headed back home in the dark, she wiped her tears with her forearm. How could she be so stupid? How could she keep being friends with someone so unpopular?

***

“Shibu, where are you?”

She was taking too long, too long. He had to go by himself.

Wall cut. The Boot on a golden pedestal, its clock shiny on its shaft. But out of nowhere, there he was. STEAMPUNKLORD Kaine, in his heavy metal armor; three stripes on the front of his helmet.

“Who is this lone rat trying to steal my treasure?”

Startled, Tantan took out his sword.

“This is all that poor King could send? How embarrassing.”

“I… I’m not alone…”

“Are you not?” Kaine looked around. “I don’t see any more of you. Could it be… your teammates abandoned you?”

Tantan began shaking. “N-no! Of course not! She will come here any moment!”

Kaine laughed. “Aw. So they left. Let me give you a tip, since you’re still so young. Once you grow up you will learn this truth: No one can truly be trusted. That’s why you should only act for yourself, towards your own goals, never relying on anyone else.”

“Is that… is that why you’re fighting the king? For your own goals?”

“Good. You’re a fast learner.” Kaine grabbed the Boot and cleaned it carefully with a cloth, as if taking care of a baby. “In this world there are two kinds of people, those who act for themselves, and those who get used and thrown away.”

“You’re wrong… Shibu wouldn’t do that…”

“Tantan, stop this,” Shibu said.

There she was, standing in the entrance.

“Shibu! Come quickly! The Boot is right here!”

“I SAID STOP!”

The world around them shattered until all that remained was the yard.

“We can’t meet anymore. Don’t talk to me at school.”

“W-what? Why?”

“Liza said you’re weird, and she’s right. We aren’t kids anymore, we aren’t supposed to be doing stuff like… like this!”

Shibu took out a drawing from her bag. The drawing of them that they had made yesterday. She held it out and ripped it in the middle. Ripped it again and again to small pieces. Threw it in the mud and stepped on it.

Tantan looked at her in shock. She turned around and left.

***

April, 2026

Tato handed her the drawing. Taped together where she ripped it, its colors mostly smeared and the paper dirty with mud.

“You… you kept this all these years?”

“My Mom put it together straight after you left. Figured maybe you’d want it one day. I told her to toss it.”

“Oh…”

She held the dirty drawing in a moment of awkward silence. “That’s all? That’s what it was all about?”

“Yep. That’s all. But you know, it really affected me back then. I ended up moving schools.”

“I’m really sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it. As you said, it was really nothing.” Tato glanced at his watch. “It was really nice meeting you, but I have some more preparations before the flight, so I’ll have to go.”

“Yeah, me too. I have a job interview today.”

They walked out of the cafe and stopped.

“I’m going to the bus stop from here,” Shibu said.

“Oh, I’m going the other way. Do you need a lift?”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t want to hold you up.”

She fiddled with her bag as they stood there. He glanced at his watch again.

“Well, I…”

“Do you think we can stay in contact? Like… Not trying to make it like the old days or anything, but…”

“Shibu, I really don’t think that will work, no offense!” Tato laughed. “We really don’t have much in common anymore. Besides, I’m just moving out of the country.”

“Sure, but…” She held her arm behind her back. “We have to finish that adventure.”

He laughed again. “You’re joking, right? I’m way too old for this.”

“I’m… I’m not joking. I… I don’t know why, but there’s something in me that’s been missing since then. Something I want to find again. Do you understand?” She looked up at him, hoping he could understand how she felt, that overwhelming gap inside her chest.

“Then just finish it. You’re the one that made it all up in the first place, weren’t you?”

“But… It’s our adventure! You can’t just…” She caught herself. “We can talk on video calls, it doesn’t have to be the end.”

“Shibu. Stop.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “It’s not going to happen. It’s over.”

“But…”

“See you around.” Tato turned and left.

She stood in the street, not sure what to do with herself. He wouldn’t come around. She ruined it. She ruined it. What could she do to fix it now? There was nothing she could do. Before she knew it she was lying in her bed in her business suit, staring at her chat with Tato. What could she write to convince him now?

After her interview was done, she came back to lie down. She stared at that screen for minutes, for hours. Long enough to notice something strange. Her own name written in the top corner. She dropped the phone on the bed.

“Screw it.”

***

Shibu went out to her yard in her business attire. She picked up the best stick she could find, and started beating up the tree.

“Shibu? What the heck are you doing?” Charlie said, coming out from the house holding a bag of chips.

“Stop calling me that. I have a name, you know,” she said, continuing to beat it.

“Alright, Sarah.” He laughed. “Why are you beating a tree?”

“Why? Don’t you see?” She panted, pointing at it with both hands. “It just deserved a good beating.”