Sometimes Falling isn't Down

Chapter 3

It was so small- much smaller than when you first saw it. In the forest, the statue was almost the same size as you--and that was only as much as you could see, who knows how much more was hidden under the ground--but now it was maybe half your size at most. It was also a bright, sunny yellow, as opposed to the grey of stone. Other than those few differences, it was unmistakably the same statue, exactly the same as you remembered it.

Well, other than the fact it was now alive and floating five feet off the ground.

Within the time it took you to blink, the statue disappeared, a human coming to stand in its place. His hair was that same shade of sunny yellow, his clothes various shades of yellow to match.

You guys locked gazes. Now that you had more to work with than a huge eye in the middle of a triangle, it was much easier to make out his expression- though why he looked so shocked, you couldn't say. He stood unsteady, leaning forward like he wanted to do something, but wasn't sure what it was yet.

Then, all at once--like one of those little wind-up cars shooting forward as soon as they left your hands--he sprung forward.

You jumped as he came barreling at you, crashing right into you and squishing you into his arms, nearly throwing you both to the ground, just barely steadying himself before you could have a wonderful meeting with the dirt- though you had a sneaking suspicion the ground around here was kinder than most and wouldn't have hurt much anyway.

"(R/C)...?"

Your name entered the air again, his voice coming out breathless like he was testing to see if it would work. You squeaked out a, "yep, that's me," throwing up finger guns at no one in particular considering he couldn't see behind his head, not sure what else he expected from you.

He pulled back, cupping your face and pushing your hair from your eyes, looking at you with a look you could only describe as awe.

You twisted your face into the best smile you could muster, your voice coming out crooked and mousy.

"Hi."

You could feel his every breath and sigh on your face, acutely aware of how close this strange man was- and acutely aware of how much you didn't appreciate it.

"It's really you- you're here- you're really here!" He let out an amazed almost half-laugh, a flash of a smile crossing his face before dropping off back to that looking-at-a-phantom-of-your-dead-friend look.

You almost let out your own awkward laugh in response, but stifled the urge, clamping your mouth shut and swallowing the laugh back down into your belly where it belonged.

"A-And, you can see me?" You quickly nodded, bobbing your head much longer than you needed to, only stopping when he leaned closer and you instinctively leaned away, your hands flying up between the two of you as the instinct to shove him away bubbled in your chest, but you held back.

He paid your offensive hands no mind. "You can hear me?" You nodded your head again, just one sharp nod, this time. That giddy smile from before came to his face, but this time settling in as he let out an amazed laugh. His hands fell away from your face but didn't stay away long, scooping up your hands instead, squeezing them as he looked you up and down. "I can't believe it- you're really here- and you've grown so much! You couldn't have been more than..." he trailed off, looking up into the sky before pulling one of his hands away and gesturing right below his hip, "you must have been to about here at most!" He reached up and measured your current height with his free hand and then brought the hand still clutching yours back to his hip, pulling his hands out in front of him and marveling at the space between them like it was an unbelievable amount.