Invisible String

1

"Let's run, Annie," Michelle murmurs. "C'mon, run!"

"Dee," Rhian's voice came with a gentle nudging on Michelle's shoulder. "Wake up, you're dreaming."

Michelle opens her eyes and looks around disoriented. After calming her racing heart down a little, she takes in her surroundings- the humming sound of an engine, the distinct smell of the inside of an airplane, and the gentle rumbling of the seat she was on- and remembers where she was. She feels for her seatbelt buckle, just to make sure it was fastened as she sits up straight to look at her friend on the pod beside her. "Have we landed?"

"Not yet. Almost though, probably another half hour or so," Rhian looks at her with concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she nods as she places her hand on her nape and massages it gently. She needs a drink or maybe a splash of cool water on her face. She chooses the latter as she unbuckles her seatbelt and heads for the restroom. 

She passes by Sam who was fast asleep in her own pod. They were headed to Phuket to celebrate Sam's graduation from college and homecoming. She and Sam were the same age but Michelle graduated a year earlier since her school years were in trimesters. They were only staying for 3 days since Michelle couldn't take time off from work. Being the daughter of the owner of the company means her mother was actually stricter with her than other employees. 

She's thankful for the 3 days off though, 3 days to enjoy, unwind, relax, and maybe forget that girl in pigtails that's been haunting her in her dreams every so often. 

-

It's their last night in Phuket, their flight was early in the morning so Rhian and Sam have already gone to bed. The 3 days did help her unwind and relax but she didn't want to waste the one last chance to savor the peace and quiet of the beach before she has to return to the hustle and bustle of Metro Manila. So here she was, a good few minutes walk away from their hotel, on the shore just sitting on the sand and gazing out into the calm sea. 

With no one else in sight, she embraces the solitude, savors the peace and quiet that's currently enveloping her. But a few minutes into her moment, a loud thunderous sound shatters the silence and before she can even make sense of what was happening, a sudden outpour of rain barrels down from the skies. 

Reacting swiftly, she springs to her feet, scrambling to find refuge. She sees a solitary beach umbrella propped on the sand to her right and she makes a dash for it, reaching the shelter just in the nick of time to escape being completely soaked through.

She was trying to get rid of the water on her sleeves when she hears the squeal long before the girl the voice belongs to suddenly appears from behind the umbrella, and in her hurry, lightly bumps into Michelle in the process.

"Oh, sorry!" the girl says after a brief glance at Michelle and realizing it was a person she bumped into. "I didn't know someone was here. I can go-"

"No, it's okay, we can share," she almost reaches out to grab the girl's arm but stops herself in time.  

"Thanks," the girl, whose face Michelle can't really see clearly in the dark, starts to swipe off the water that's settle on the sleeves of her striped blue and white polo. "This rain just came from nowhere."

"It did," Michelle agrees with a nod as she looks up again at the sky that was seemingly angry in all the water it was trying to get rid of. 

"I was on my way back to the hotel from a walk," the girl suddenly says as if Michelle was questioning her presence in this hour of the night in the middle of the miles and miles of shoreline, as if Michelle wasn't also just alone at this hour just like her. She was just about to tell the girl that she wasn't questioning her when she surprises Michelle by suddenly plopping down on the sand, exposed legs slightly bent and stretched in front of her. "Think we'll be here for a while, might as well get comfortable." 

Michelle, feeling like she didn't have a choice, sits down next to the girl, mirroring her position. They both sit in silence, the lightning in the clouds rumbles, providing brief moments of illumination.

"Oh my god!" the girl almost shrieks as she points at something moving on the sand a foot from them. "What is that!?"

"I..." she tries to take a better look as much as she can at the hopping thing amidst the rain. "I... think it's a frog."

"I didn't know frogs can live on the beach," the girl comments, as she hugs her legs towards her, as if she's expecting the frog to take one giant leap and land straight on her legs. 

"They shouldn't," she tells her, frogs didn't survive in saltwater, and there was no piece of grassland or freshwater around at all for a frog to be in this area, especially this far out into the beach.

"That's weird," the girl says with awe. "That's weird, right?" 

"As weird as this sudden rain, I guess," she agrees. Nowhere in the forecast was there even a 1% chance of rain today, Michelle knows since she has the weather app on her shortcuts since the start of their trip. She sneaks a glance at the girl beside her but the almost nonexistent light only permits her a glimpse of her profile. "I'm Michelle."

"Ann," the girl says.

I'm Annie. A voice echoes inside Michelle's mind, akin to the the sensation of a headache coming on. She blinks and the voice is gone but the pushing sensation in her head lingers.

"For some reason, I thought you'd say another name," she couldn't help but say.

"What?" 

"Nothing," she shakes her head and she immediately tries to change the subject to save herself from further embarrassment. "Should we just make a run for it?"

"No, you'll get a cold, we should wait for the rain to stop," Ann tells her. "You a tourist?"

"Yes, I'm from the Philippines, last night here though," she shares. "You?"

"First night for me, but I'm just from Bangkok."

"Have you been to the Philippines before?"

"No, haven't been."

"For some reason, I thought you'd answer otherwise," she finds herself saying before she can stop herself.

"You sound like a broken record," Ann comments the obvious, much to Michelle's embarrassment. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry," she apologizes. "Just having a real bad case of déjà vu, I guess."

"Was the frog a part of your déjà vu?" she says in a teasing tone, slightly bumping Michelle's shoulder with hers. All of Michelle's embarrassment instantly leaves as the mood lightens with Ann's teasing words. 

"No," she lets out a little laugh. "A frog on the beach is definitely not something you see everyday to lead to a déjà vu." 

"Well then next time, you can say it's déjà vu already since you've got your first moment."

"Don't think anyone will believe me if I tell anyone about this," she tells her. "I don't think I'd believe me if I tell it to myself later on."

They both burst out laughing at the same time for some reason. 

"Looks like the rain's stopping, think it's kinda safe to make a run for it now," Ann says a little later as the rain did start to lighten. She sees Ann turn to look at her in her periphery and she wonders if Ann can see her face or just a glimpse, like she saw of hers earlier. "I hope you had a great time here in Thailand, Michelle."

She never got to express her feelings about the time spent here as Ann stands up, and with another squeal, runs off in the direction she came from. Michelle keeps her eyes on Ann until she's a good few feet away. When she turns back towards the sky, she wonders how the rain has seemingly stopped just as quickly as it came earlier.

---

A/N: The blessing is almost here!!!