Dream - Part 3
It was as sunny a day as any, with white cotton clouds kissing the sky. He ran over the hill with eager anticipation. As he stopped at top, he found himself in slight surprise. He saw a sight that had become a distant memory...until today.
Standing there, facing the sea, she had become so beautiful since the day he met her. He could feel the tears colliding against the ground. It reminded him of the first day he met her, and yet the feeling was entirely different. An uneasiness settled deep inside of him. He couldn't explain why he felt a strange sadness tug at him from seeing her tears this time. It was as though these tears, were ones he couldn't chase away. It felt like he was going to lose something important to him. But he didn't have any reason to believe it to be the case.
"What's wrong?" he said.
She turned around and looked up to find him, standing there. Once small and boyish, and now he's become tall, dark, and handsome. How they'd grown over the years. She didn't bother wiping her tears before turning around this time. That heavy feeling only sunk deeper as he saw the tears begin to well up in her eyes again before taking a deep breath and wiping them away, leaving a smile, a mask.
"Do you think we'll ever forget this place?" she asked.
He paused a moment, before replying, "Is this a dream?"
She had a slight look of disbelief on her face before laughing, "I suppose it is. It feels like a dream!"
"Then you can hold onto it forever if you like, no one can take it away."
She paused a moment before smiling, "I suppose that's true."
She looked up at the sky with a longing sadness, "Do you think birds can fly?" she asked.
"As long as they are free." he said.
She looked to the ground with a distant sadness peering out from behind her eyes, she said, "What if it's wings are broken?"
He stood there in silence as the shock penetrated the look on his face. That question left him wondering what she meant by it. His heart began to sink, and he didn't know why. Something felt different, he'd never felt that kind of apprehension from her before. It was as though the dream was about to be torn away from him.
She shook her head and then laughed her usual laugh, "I think I got you this time Dreamer!"
She walked up beside him, softly put her hand on his shoulder, and said "Iroiro to arigatou, Musouka.”
He didn't understand what she had said, he didn't even know that she could speak another language. She always seemed to surprise him without even trying. As he turned around, she smiled back at him. "If you can catch me today, we should run away together! But if you can't, the wind might carry me off!"
"Wai--" She disappeared into the grass before he could finish.
No matter how closely he watched, no matter how fast he ran, the wind carried her off that day.
"How could I forget?" he asked.
She smiled, "did you ever figure out what I'd whispered to you that day?"
""Iroiro to arigatou, Musouka." Thanks for everything, Dreamer." he whispered.
A look of surprise settled on her eyes.
"Why did you leave? What happened?" he asked.
She looked at the grass tossing about across the field, "You opened your eyes. You had already caught me. I knew that it was only a matter of time before the dream came to an end. This was the only way I could keep it alive."
"I didn't catch you. I couldn't catch you, that day, or any other day..." he paused a moment before continuing, ""If you can catch me today, we should run away together!" You said that because you knew I couldn't catch you, didn't you."
She sat down, continuing her gaze across the field as a sullen look overtook her smile, "I didn't know, I was afraid you might catch me that day. I said that because I couldn't let that happen, let you catch me...that day of all days. I had to say goodbye, and I didn't want to."
A confusion overwhelmed his mind, "Then why? Why didn't we just run away together."
She watched the sun touch the top of the trees a moment before telling him a story, "There were two bluebirds that flew about, as happy as could be. But one day, one of the bluebirds, she learned a secret, that broke her wings. She tried so hard to figure out how to fly again, but she knew that this reality, she couldn't deny. She knew she had to say goodbye...
I wish I could tell you the reason I left that day, but I can't explain it to you. You weren't supposed to catch my heart..." suddenly tears began to well in her eyes,"...it was supposed to be locked away safely, from everyone..."as she paused a moment to recollect herself, a tear streamed down her cheek, "...and I never expected to fly away with your's. I began falling in love with you the day we met, and I didn't even know it. I left you trapped because I didn't want to be in this gilded caged alone. If there was one thing we shared, it was the longing for this dream, the incarceration of our hopes."
His heart leaped with joy to learn that she'd loved him, but cried out in pain at the same time, "Why can't we be together?"
She looked at him with the gentle smile that makes it difficult to realize you're being given bad news, "If only I had met you first, instead of her." she let out a sigh as she looked back up at the trees, "Sometimes, things just don't seem to be fair. Life can be so full of painful discoveries at times."
He became puzzled by that statment, "Who found me first, who is "her"?!" he wondered in silence.
She turned back around with a bright smile, those smiling eyes hiding so many secrets of pain and tears, and bent over with her hands behind her to look him in the eye "I suppose it's time for another goodbye."
It felt as though she were taking his heart with her, leaving this aching feeling of emptiness.
"Please don't go, please. I love you and I hope that you still love me. Why do you have to take my heart with you?" he asked with regret in his voice.
She paused a moment as she straightened her stance once again, "Sometimes, we have to sacrifice what we want most for the sake of others, right? I'll tell you what. Seems how you've already got it, I'll let you keep my heart, since I'm taking yours."
As she started to walk away, she stopped for a moment, "Please do me a favor. Don't let this cage stop you from flying. There are senseless memories, ugly memories, and painful memories in life. Don't let it kill you, control you, or let it dictate your life. If you don't keep flying, and growing, if you don't keep loving in spite of it, you will lose more of the precious moments with each passing day...It's not worth it.
Please, Treasure the memories worth holding onto, let go of the ones that aren't."
She looked back with a smile that sunk deep into his heart, one that brought about a serene sadness he couldn't explain, "Don't let the pain consume what makes you so beautiful."
She continued walking. This time she didn't run, she just walked at a pace that eased the distance between them, ever so painfully...as the wind carried her, across the field, into the trees, and out of sight...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I was going to end it (the story) here, but decided to place the starred addition (noted by **) below this paragraph as potential for a continuation, AND A CLIFFHANGER!!! Hahahahahahaha!!!
To be honest, I was contemplating this to be a farewell post...maybe I'll give you the rest of the story (from off the top of my head...that's something special *not seriously*) and leave it with a happy ending...but that wouldn't be very fun...I want to see my readers cry like little girls (...oops. Wrong blog.)
I kind of like the mystery to the story, the bittersweet ending. But I'm also a little curious to see where it could go too. It's all up to my readers. Have you gotten tired of it yet?
**He sat there, as the sun continued setting upon the trees. He couldn't shake the question, "Who is "she"?!". Was there someone he knew that had a connection with the girl in his dreams, the girl with no name? All these years, if there were, why didn't they mention anything, why didn't he ever see dream girl with them? How could he make his dreams come true? How could he keep the beautiful dream from slipping through his fingers?
