cats don't always land on their feet (soraru and mafumafu story)

21

the streets were empty and unfamiliar. tall trees surrounded them. i walked on the sidewalk, it felt like these roads were going right through a forest. i walked slowly. my backpack was digging into my shoulders and my whole body was in pain, but i didn't really care.

thoughts clouded my head again and i walked mindlessly. my mind was fuzzy and i was not paying attention to where i was going. when i snapped back to consciousness i had veered off the sidewalk. i was in the middle of the forest.
i looked around me, "hm, well this is problematic."
there were so many trees surrounding me, and they all looked the same.
"man, i cant tell left from right in this place. how did i end up here...?" i scratched my head.
i just started walking in a random direction, hoping to get somewhere.

i couldn't even tell how long i was walking for, everything looked the exact same, however, it did feel like i was walking for a while.

i eventually saw a little path, so i followed it. it lead to a more open area of the forest, which eventually led to the main street i was on earlier. turns out i was walking in the right direction, not only to find the street but to make my way back home. as i stepped back onto the sidewalk i saw a bus stop. i called the number on it to see when the bus would be coming. 27 minutes. i stood and waited for a bit but got impatient again. i noticed across the street, the other side of the forest had a nice little pathway. i figured i'd explore it and then come back to the bus stop for when the bus comes. i crossed the empty street and went down the path. it felt.. familiar...?

the path opened up to another open area. quite some distance up ahead i saw a bridge. i recognized it right away.
"could it.. be..? yes, it is!!" i said to myself, stopping in my tracks. i looked around, "this is the place mafu and i first met."

***

when i was super young, i somehow found myself lost in this exact forest. i found that bridge and i had walked towards it. it was a fairly short wooden bridge, however, it was very high up and a fall from there would probably be fatal. it connected two higher parts of the forest, that were almost like cliffs. and at the bottom was a lot of rocks and a slight pathway. there were long staircases on both sides of the higher land, so if you wanted you could walk along the rocky pathway under the bridge.

as a kid, when i found this bridge, i saw another kid about my age. hair white as snow, and eyes red as a cherry. he has a barcode under one of his eyes, which i immediately thought was super cool. at the time, my eyes were swollen from crying because i lost my mom. he laughed at that.
"are you lost?" i remember him asking. i just remember nodding, and he continued talking to me about all sorts of stuff. we chased each other and played carelessly on the bridge. we ran down the stairs and started looking at all the cool rocks. although we had only just met, all my worries disappeared instantly.
"haha!! this one looks like a sword!!!" mafumafu said picking up a big pointy rock. to which i grabbed a big flat one, claiming it was a shield. we played pretend, we fought imaginary dragons in our own world together, we'd avenge each other when one of us would get 'killed by the bad guys', we twisted our ankles from trying to run on all the rocks, and our smiles spread across our whole faces never faded.

eventually, my mom found me, and she was with mafu's mom as well. they were both worried sick, but had a sorta bonding experience because of it once it was over. after that, mafu and i would see each other often. until when we got older, we started to do everything together, never leaving each other's side.

***

i smiled thinking back to it all. i didn't realize i was walking towards the bridge still, looking down at the ground the whole time.
"i wonder if mafu remembers this place. i should bring him here sometime- wait..what..?" i said as i looked up to see someone standing on the ledge of the bridge.
i stepped closer, "h-hang on.." my eyes widened. "m-mafu..? what are you.. doing...?" my heart sank to my stomach.
my whole body trembled from the sudden sight and i felt like i was about to collapse. i blinked a few times, not sure if what i was seeing was real or not. i dropped my backpack off my shoulders and continued walking slowly, still trying to process what was in front of me.

mafu shifted his feet slightly more towards the edge of the railing.
"n-no....! mafu..!!! wait!!!" i yelled but he couldn't hear me. i started to run towards him but my shakey knees made it hard for me to run without losing my balance. my heart was racing faster than ever.
"MAFU!!!!!!!!!!" i screamed out as he put his foot over the ledge.
i sprinted and reached out for his hand.

but i was too late.

***