First Morning Sky

It's amazing how the air feels this close to the new year. I felt weirdly energized, as if the promises and possibilities of a new year were already in arm's reach. The last few weeks had flown by, and on this night already, the year would come to an end. Arisu must have sensed my good mood, as she tilted her head.

"Why are you happy?"

"Tomorrow is the new year," I explained to her, humming a tune.

"And that is of cultural significance to you."

"Exactly," I nodded, "We'll count down the last few seconds of the year tonight, before we welcome the new year with fireworks. Or do we expel evil spirits with that?"

I wasn't so sure, but Arisu nodded along with my explanation.

"Ooooh."

Her eyes sparkled, and I had to chuckle. She will love the fireworks. But she wasn't quite finished yet.

"We'll meet the others, right?"

"Of course."

That wasn't a real question, of course. It was a plan we had all made together months ago. And I was glad for that, too. Because without my friends, I would have spent this New Year's Eve like so many others before it: either alone, or worse, with my parents.

"So we'll watch the fireworks together."

PURIRIN beeped with excitement at Arisu's words. She looked outside. While the sky was gray and the air was surely freezing, there was not a single snowflake in sight. The whole day seemed great, like life itself faded from the year. But the people, my friends, glowed with an energy that I admired.

"I wonder what Maria will prepare for us."

Arisu picked up Lulu, while she used her hair to float through the room. Lulu didn't mind, as she had grown accustomed to the girl. Lazily, the cat pawed at PURIRIN, who took cover on Arisu's shoulder. She laughed while running her fingers through Lulu's fluffy pelt.

But suddenly, it seemed like the grayness of today weighed me down, and I had to stifle a yawn. While I could just lay down and sleep until the evening, that wasn't the way I wanted to leave this wonderful year behind. Instead, I turned to Arisu.

"Let's get some snacks, okay?"

"Yes! I was waiting for you to say that."

She laughed, and gently lowered Lulu to the floor, where she promptly loafed down. I smiled softly at my giant kitty. What a cute floof. Then, Arisu smoothed her hair as best as possible and grabbed her pink jacket.

"So, where are we going?"

I shrugged.

"Just to the supermarket."

Outside, most of the remaining snow had turned into mush, gray like everything else: the streets, the sky, the cars driving by. It felt truly lifeless, even though this particular energy flowed through me. Arisu seemed a bit more lively than usual as well, looking around with a big grin on her face.

"I'm hungry," she said.

Or maybe it was just that.

"Just wait a little longer."

The stuffy air of the shop greeted us, and we went straight to the snack aisle. I tried not to buy too much as we would have a proper dinner later with the others. But it was nice going outside and doing something today. There weren't many people around, and the supermarket felt empty in a surreal kind of way. Like we were in a parallel world of sorts. We only saw one other customer, and he looked like our teacher. Quickly, I shoved Arisu down the next aisle, and headed straight to the cashiers.

"Let's go," I mumbled.

Outside, the fresh air cleared my mind.

"That was weird."

"Yup."

"Does this day warp time and space?"

"It sure feels like it, doesn't it?"

While we chatted, I didn't look back until we were back inside. The house was quiet, but that was somewhat expected. I didn't announce myself or Arisu. My parents were probably resting, and didn't want to be disturbed. Just like every New Year's.

"Let's go up to our room."

Arisu nodded, floating behind me, as usual when my parents weren't around. But she didn't stop when we encountered Mom, standing close to her bedroom.

"H-huh? Sara, what...?"

I hastily looked between her and Arisu. I would have thought my mom would freak out more to see someone floating in our house, but she simply yawned.

"Ahahah, I think you're still asleep! Sleepwalking! Dreaming! Hahah, go back to bed... it's too early..."

I gently put my hands forward.

"Too early? We already had lunch..." Arisu mumbled behind me. Slowly, she floated down the floor to our room. I just tried to keep her out of mom's view by getting close to her face, patting her shoulders.

"Sleepy, so sleepy..."

With my singsong, I guided mom back to the bedroom, all while trying to signal with my eyes that Arisu should return to our room.

"Thanks, honey... I'm really sleepy," she yawned, "It's just so nice..."

"Yeeees, very nice," I repeated, "and have a good night, rest well..."

"Mmmm..."

She fell face first into the bed. Dad was snoring, still buried under the blankets. As quickly as possible, I tiptoed out of their room, slowly closing the door behind me.

"Whew."

Crisis averted. Now, it was time to get back to my room. Through the last crack between the door and the frame, I saw mom lazily waving at me.

"Have a good day... and your friend, too..."

I smiled at her.

"Thanks, mom."

But she didn't hear me. She was already asleep.

That night, we passed the time with good food and lots of laughter. As the last few minutes of the year were coming close, we went outside in the cold and dark of the night. Everything had a sheen of white on it: frost, not snow, which glowed in the few lights outside. Our breath danced in the air as we lit the first sparkler, our smiles illuminated by the tiny lights.

"This is great!"

Arisu had taken two sparklers, dancing and drawing circles in the air, with PURIRIN beeping on her shoulder. I couldn't help but smile. She was really cute when she got excited over these things.

And yet...

"It's weird that this year is ending so soon," I mused.

Pudding stood next to me and nodded, her gaze fixed on her sparkler.

"Yeah. I feel the same."

I could see the sparks reflect in her eyes.

"This year just flew by. And soon..."

"Mhmm."

We both fell silent How could we bring this to a positive conclusion? It was Pudding's last year at our school, after all.

"The stars are beautiful, as always."

Pudding snorted.

"Well, with all the firework smoke, soon we won't see them."

"True," I laughed.

Suddenly, Maria joined Arisu in her dance, as excited as our alien friend.

"Only a few seconds left! Come on, girls!"

She took out her phone, loudly counting down as we all joined her. Then, as it hit zero, the first fireworks exploded, and our laughter and well wishes were almost drowned out by the spectacle over our heads. We were covered in color and darkness, quickly changing, as I hugged my friends.

There was only one wish I had for the new year: that we all stay together. That's not much to ask for, right?

With my burnt-out sparkler in hand, my head tilted back, I watched the fireworks bloom across the sky, together with my friends. One beautiful fire flower bloomed after the next, and the air smelled like smoke. We didn't talk, just watched, as they burst into sparkles, again and again. Slowly, they died out, and the darkness took over, with only a few fireworks still burning bright in the sky.

"This was awesome."

Arisu was breathless. Apparently, this was even better for her than the fireworks we saw in the summer. Here, close to the city with many other people standing and watching, it was a different kind of impressive.

With the last fireworks vanishing into the air, my world fell into a winterly slumber again.

I just wish for us all to stay together.