Your promise

The wind blows.

I feel it... it feels like a caress.

Does It push the clouds forward or is it simply the world turning? Turns, turns. It doesn't stop.

And the sky is so blue… if only I were a bird… I could take flight and touch his smile.

I reach out, but no matter how much I reach out and try, I can't free myself from my limit. If I had tears, then I would cry; if I had words, I would shout; if I had strength, I would run; if I had a mouth, I would smile.

If I were alive… I wouldn't be here.

The tiles that cover the flooring of what appears to be a terrace are shiny, flat and smooth, overlooking a vast, infinite horizon of milky cirrus clouds drowned in a turquoise sea.

It's a vortex of light and Nanami almost doesn't distinguish the shapes and contours of its surroundings.

Perhaps, in front of him, there is a metal railing. That too is white, it mixes with the clouds and it seems to join their movement to the right, dragged by an invisible hand.

Nanami can't move. Confused, he remains motionless with his eyes fixed on such an unreal spectacle.

However, there is something that pushes him to turn back: he feels a presence behind him.

I'm not alone.

Like me… he's a boy.

He's getting closer. Why is he smiling?

He has a familiar face, glowing as he moves forward.

It walks, it proceeds, it stops. Only five meters of sky separates them.

The light breeze turns into a furious gust. He lifts Nanami's hair and lets it flutter in the air. It shakes his clothes.

From the ground, many light shreds rise. They are paper airplanes.

They swirl in the wind.

Nanami tries to protect himself from that bombardment of planes which, despite his worry, never overwhelms him or touches him.

-I am waiting for you… -

Immediately, he looks up at the boy.

He's talking to him.

– Remember to keep your promise… –

He would like to answer something, but when he tries to speak, his voice doesn't come out. 

The boy smiles.

He raises one arm and shows the light blue scarf tied around his wrist.

His face is illuminated by a ray of sunlight.

A stronger gust floods him with a thousand airplanes, taking him away from Nanami's sight who, when he reopens his eyes, finds himself alone on the terrace.

Surrounded by a boundless ocean of clouds and glimpses of sky.

***

The ceiling of the hospital room was a pale yellow, without imperfections, perfectly flat, divided only by a row of LED lights, turned off, since it must have been late in the morning, and the bright glare came in from a large window, slightly ajar.

Lowering his head towards the bed, Nanami immediately noticed the infusion tube extending towards his arm; as he wondered why he was in such a place and what time of day it was, he  noticed the blue scarf, tied around his right wrist.

He felt a very strange sensation in recognizing it as belonging to the "boy from the terrace" and for some minutes he remained eyeing it, surprised, as if it were not linked to a part of his body, which he could feel in contact with his pale skin.

Then, tired, he sighed and sank back onto the pillow, closing his eyes, waiting for something or someone.

***

Taki looked with little interest at the small groups of people who, from time to time, passed in the hospital corridor. More than anything, it was the only distraction he could resort to and it was better than nothing, after all.

However, he found himself noticing that one of the doors to the rooms on the wall opposite to where he was standing was opening.

It took some time to focus on the situation also because it seemed quite impossible for it to happen, at least until a few moments before. In the end, however, he had to accept reality as it was, however surprising and incredible.

- Nanami? – he murmured in a low voice as he moved away from the wall where he was leaning and headed towards the boy who was coming out of the room.

- Nanami?! – he started running. He reached him in a flash.

Nanami gave him a lost expression; Taki, on the other hand, didn't know how to express all his wonder and joy. He had finally regained consciousness!

- Nanami! Did you recover! – he exclaimed at the end, with a gigantic smile. But then he realized what his friend had just done. – What are you doing out here? –

He saw a trickle of blood dripping down Nanami's arm.

- Whaaat?! Did you remove the IV yourself? –

***

- Nanami has returned to consciousness – reported Taki as he walked alongside a doctor. – I didn't believe it either... it's been a long time... and he seemed to be ok –

He took his friend back to the room and had him put back in bed while waiting for the doctor.

The doctor looked surprised, but finally replied: - Very good. I'll verify his physical state –

They stopped in front of door 134, with the name Hayashi Nanami written on it. Taki slid it to the side.

- Here – he said and entered together with the doctor.

However, there was absolutely no one in the room. A pleasant breeze came in through the slightly open window.

- And where did he go now?!!!!!! – the boy exploded.

***

From the hospital terrace you could observe the sea in the distance, and see the houses of the town, the tram that passed on the only line and the people moving along the road.

Raising his head, Nanami saw an immense expanse of sky. He lingered looking at it until a plane traced a white line, crossing the blue.

He picked up a crumpled piece of paper that was rolling on the ground in the wind and unfolded it. A rectangular sheet emerged, scribbled here and there with some writing.

He bent down and used his knees as a support surface to first fold it in half lengthwise, reopened it, moved the upper corners towards the center. He pressed with his finger, to fix the movements. He folded the sides, again towards the middle and then closed the sheet, now pointed at the top, similar to the shape of a mountain. He lowered the sides diagonally again, forming wings. He lifted them slightly, delicately.

He opened his creation, an airplane, slightly.

He turned it over in his hands, analyzing it carefully. It turned out quite well, considering that he hadn't done it for a while now, and also that the format of the paper wasn't perfect.

As he approached the grate, he looked for a hole large enough for the airplane to pass through. Not finding it, however, he took a few steps back, holding the base of the origami tightly.

The door leading to the terrace opened at that moment and Taki leaned out, followed by the doctor.

Panting, he was happy to see that Nanami was there.

– Nanami! – he exclaimed and was about to reach him, when he noticed the paper airplane that the boy was holding in one hand, in the act of making it fly at any moment. He stopped immediately.

Taking aim and making the appropriate calculations, Nanami adjusted the angle of the plane, the extremiti pointing towards the sky.

The wind began to blow stronger. Just what was needed, the strength that would make up for Nanami's missing strength in the throw.

They would have been the arms that would have transported the plane, allowing it to fly over the sea, the village, the people to reach unexplored horizons.

Nanami let go of his arm and, at the right moment, released the airplane which was welcomed by the current. It passed the grate and began its flight, away from the hospital.

Taki stared at him with his mouth wide open and his eyes shining as he glided against a blue sky.

The plane flew over some houses, then flew over a street. There Himawari walked, looking down at his feet moving forward and the music pounding in his head, coming through his earphones. He didn't even notice that little white fragment of paper.

Sen saw it instead, at a moment in which he raised his head towards the horizon, to make sure that no cars were passing when he was about to cross. “What could it be?” he wondered curiously, forgetting all the things he had planned to do to chase him. He gradually separated from his position, moving along the sidewalk. A small dog, a chubby and clumsy Shiba Inu, emerged from the crossroads of a road and started running after him, wagging its tail, as if it had found its owner again and Sen did not notice it until, once he had lost sight of the airplane, he started to go back, retracing his steps, and almost tripped over that ball of orange and white fur.

- Look at that bird! Fly very low! – Shinobu exclaimed, pointing to something in the sky. Terao looked in that direction and then objected: - It's not a bird –

- So what should it be? What else flies besides birds? –

- It looks like a paper airplane, you know the kind kids make – Terao replied, crossing his arms.

- You're wrong – Shinobu shook his head convinced. – It absolutely can't be – then he laughed: - Planes don't fly that much! –

- Because you don't know how to do them -

- Hey, that's not true! –

The origami also passed over Emil who observed its flight for a few moments, but then he concentrated on not missing the bus which arrived at that moment. He also passed Ray and Toru, while they were talking together, leaving the park behind.

He saw Akira leaving, or rather, running away from the house, opening the door and throwing himself into the street.

- Wait, Akira! – his mother tried to stop him, remaining at the entrance.

The son ran away, deaf to his calls.

He only knew that he wanted to get away from there, however he didn't have a specific destination in mind and, not being cautious in his escape, he ended up literally running over Kyujiro, who was distracted on his cell phone.

- Hey! Watch your step! – he immediately blurted out, falling to the ground.

Akira turned away and, as he did so, he saw the paper airplane flying over their heads. Kyujiro also saw it and the two were speechless, in silence, contemplating it.

Angel, however, watched him as he passed in front of the window of his house to reach even the most forgotten corner of the village where Bell, for a very brief moment, had raised his gaze towards the sky.

The plane descended lower and lower. It glided almost close to the ground, entering the countryside where green meadows gave off a strong smell of fresh grass.

Down, down.

He touched a flower, two. He skimmed the earth to let himself die in a field of sunflowers.

Tailor noticed that something had stopped next to him, near his foot and, placing the sunflowers he had just picked aside, he bent down to look at that white spot.

He picked up the airplane. He smiled in the golden color of the flowers and in the blue of the sky.

***

- You made us worry. Do you realize that we have alarmed almost half the hospital? - Taki blurted out. Nanami stared at him, sitting in the chair, with his back straight.

The doctor intervened immediately afterwards: - It doesn't matter. Now the worst is over –

He approached the boy and stood at his eye level, so that he was forced to look at him. - But tell me, why did you run out onto the terrace? –

Nanami turned away his eyes. - I want to leave here - he murmured after a few very long seconds.

- But you know that this is not possible -

Taki gazed at his friend, to see his reaction.

It was then that Nanami suddenly raised his head and, turning to the doctor, said with determination: - I want to leave -