a dance?

Twenty-Five - Renee

Twenty-Five - Renee

"The stars look so pretty aren't they Renee?" Nadia asked me, but I left no response. "Renee?" She said my name again, "Yeah, they are," I say, coming out of the awe-struck look on my face. "I just can't wait to see what kind of magic the stars would bring Nads," I say, still staring at the beauty the stars come with. She looks back at the sky, "Trust me, you won't even know it came," She says, making me look at her with awe. "In a world where the darkness comes with light, we have to live life right?" All of a sudden she stands up, with her fist flying straight to the air. I am still seated among the flowers, looking up at her and applauding "Wise words from a wise woman," I say, smiling from the ear.

At that moment, something small had tickled my skin. I slightly jumped at the contact of the object and Nadia had burst out laughing. "You good? It felt like something scared you," She speaks, her laughter making me laugh along with her. I pause, just to say "I wasn't scared, it's just that something came at me, and it left a tickle on my skin. It was so sudden that I didn't even see it coming." I say, feeling embarrassed. "For real?" She sarcastically grins, I hit her playfully as she pulls on her serious face and she tells me "Alright, what was it?" "I don't know," I say with disbelief.

The lanterns from the cottage do give us light, but not enough. The stars and the moon are helping but Nadia's flashlight does the trick. She takes it out from the pocket in her dress and flashes it towards the ground. I was so focused on finding the object that it took me a while to realize that the light was off. "Nadia, I need the light back on," I say, flapping the air but still looking on the ground.

"Nads," I say, still looking at the ground and flapping the air. She pats my back and I slowly look up and she's flashing the light 90 degrees clockwise from us. "Someone is coming," She says. She's right, there's a shadow that follows the light. I blink twice and the shadow is closer. I change my focal point to the ground and Nadia's flashlight slowly comes within my sight. "Renee, is it just me, or are you seeing this too?" She whispers, "I saw it too, but my focus has changed a few seconds ago," I whisper back. "Look who's scared now," She says trying to convince herself more than speaking to me. I can't help but chuckle softly.

The flashlight sparks something. I squint my eyes, while Nads comes closer and whispers "Mate, should I let go of the light?" "I think we found something," I say, changing her view. I can feel her eyes following me as a voice disrupts my search. "Can you please flash the light where you did before? I am trying to find a paper plane." We both freeze. It's a male voice, and I can't believe I am saying this but he sounds good. His voice sounds deep and you wouldn't mind listening to this voice all night, probably with songs or just to wake me up.

Among all that, my mind catches the words 'paper plane.' Oh! That makes so much more sense, it's small so that should be the object that tickled me. Nadia's still trying to process the voice while I grab the flashlight from her hand and she gets startled. I listen to where the voice came from and flash the light to where Nadia had pointed it before.

"Thank you, keep it still okay?" The voice comes out again, and I can't help but smile. "Renee, you're brave- I didn't see this coming!" Nads pats my back, making my smile bigger. "Keep following the light," I say, hoping the voice had heard me. The shadow gets closer and Nads and I can see the shape of the figure. He looks tall with broad shoulders, then I see the hair, followed by the faint clarity of the face. "Oh," Nadia whispers, as we both move closer with the light.

The light hits the face, and he covers his eyes with his hand. That sudden movement made me flinch and Nadia's eyes widened. Then I realize it's the flashlight and switch it off. Now we're looking at darkness but we do have an idea of the person. "Okay, so I am just here to get a paper plane that we were playing with," The male speaks, and it sounds like the darkness is speaking. Nadia brings herself together. "Who's 'we'?" She asks, "My friends and I." He says, and there's silence. "Look, there's nothing to be afraid of, trust me." He continues. I trust him.

"Do you know where our paper plane flew?" He asks us, and I speak. "It tickled my skin for a second and fell somewhere, we were trying to look for it, then you're already here." My voice trying not to hint at the fact that I am squinting my eyes to find out who it was. "Oh, could you please flash the light at where you think it might have fallen and I shall come there?" He says as Nadia whispers in my ear "That sounds like a bright idea (no pun intended)" I chuckle.

Nadia could be my comic relief. So I flash the light at where I felt like I saw the paper plane, and we hear footsteps coming closer. When the footsteps have stopped and we could feel his presence around us. "I have to be honest here, I believe I followed your chuckle rather than the light- it's cute." He admits, making me blush and Nadia patting my back harder. "Can I see your face?" I ask, then realizing it came out loud. I can hear Nadia smiling like crazy. I can hear her saying the next line in my head "Daring woman, that's my girl!" I know her too well for this.

His response makes me even more curious. "Someone's curious I see, but I am afraid that should be the least of your worries, besides even if you do see me, you would only see the light on my face, and I am pretty sure you wouldn't like to see light right at my eyes." His voice sends chills down my spine, and I can't help but smile even more. There's just something about him that makes me feel good. My eyes almost overlook a small object, I point the light at it and ask "Is that the paper plane?" I can see him nodding. We both run to get it, our hands reach down in sync.

There, I feel the sudden spark rushing down my veins. Our hands just slightly touched and my hand decided to back away immediately. The light is still flashing at the empty spot, which had the paper plane. I look down because I don't want him to think that I am eager to know who's behind this charming voice and honesty. "Thanks," He says, and I nod, still looking down.

I try to reach for Nadia, but she's a little farther away from me. Slowly the sky changes, it's a new day. The sunrise gives me hope that I can find out who this person is. We were standing between a flower field, where the flowers are our audience and each petal is looking forward to what could happen next. The wind breezing through my hair. "Ladies, what are you doing up at this hour of the day?" A female voice had come in. I turn to see Nadia, but her face is looking in the same direction. It was Master Jen, and we all had dispersed. I couldn't get to see who it was, because I didn't want to deceive him.