Paradise: Birds Fly at Sunrise

Chapter Four: Réale Rise

CHAPTER FOUR: Réale Rise

The day we spent together felt so normal for someone who was so clearly not. We didn’t talk about any of the things we’d ever discussed on the balcony – no mention of flying or sunrise or birds or parents -  just simply anything and everything. I told him about Pharaoh and karate and how I played the guitar. He talked to me about how he like to make things and how he loved to travel.

It all came so easily. Something he’d say would trigger of an old memory or event that I would tell him about and vice versa. We never seemed to stop laughing all day. A couple of hours after midday he bought us some chips that we shared, sitting and chatting on swings in the park.

I’d never met anyone like him. He was kind and smart and funny – all the clichés and more. When I talked he seemed to really listen, like he cared about every syllable that came out of my mouth. It was nearing six o’clock when I remembered how the whole day had even been arranged, and the sun was low in the sky. It seemed to hit us both at the same time. 

“So, have you decided?” I asked him. He knew what I meant, but he took a moment to think first.

“I might tell you,” he said eventually, as though he still didn’t quite know himself. “I want to. A lot. But do you really want to know, Vi? I don’t think you know just how much this could change your life.”

“How do you mean?”

“If I tell you everything about myself and where I’m from...it’ll change your perspective on things, the way you see the world. It’ll make you believe in magic.” But then he looked at me and bit his lip, and what he said next was anything but what I was expecting.  “But I think you already do. The way you talk about everything so passionately and you notice little random things. You’re constantly taking in and admiring the world around you like it’s the most beautiful thing in the entire cosmos. Every little detail fascinates you.”

I smiled. “That’s because the world is a beautiful place, Kaston.”Even as I said it, I saw a small bird shoot past, flying in majestic arcs and followed it with my eyes until it flew out of sight inside an elderberry bush. “It’s a shame a lot of people don’t see it.”

“Hmmm.” He nodded, then looked over at the elderberry bush where I was still staring, but the bird was long gone. He turned back to me. “So yes, I have decided. I will tell you, but only if you want to know.” He held out his hand for me again and I stared at it.

Of course I was going to take it, but something held me back. There was some hint at a real warning in his voice, and it made me wonder if knowing more about this boy could really land me in danger. On the other hand, behind that danger I knew there would be excitement and adventure and magic. Those were what made me place my hand where his lay waiting.

He pulled me through the town, moving swiftly and sticking to the quieter outskirts of Réale, glancing back over his shoulder at me every now and then. He seemed to move so effortlessly, like he was almost flying. He moved at an incredible speed, but was easily daisy fresh by the time I was hot and breathless.

“We’re not going much further, are we?” I panted.

“Just up there,” he said, his voice even and smooth as he pointed to Réale Rise. It was on the complete opposite side of town, but only took us about fifteen minutes to get there at his pace. I stopped for a minute to catch my breath before I attempted to haul myself up, releasing Kaston’s hand to clutch my knees.

            When I looked up Kaston was gone. “Kaston?”

“Up here.” I followed his voice and saw him at the top of the hill. How’d he get up there so quickly? He laughed, I assumed at my expression. I scrambled up the dry grass, re-claiming Kaston’s hand as he offered it near the top. He pushed the hair off my face, his fingertips lingering on the arc of my jaw, holding my head up so that I couldn’t hide away, which was a little embarrassing because I must have been beetroot-red and sweaty.