Myosotis

Nine Point Eight

'Swirling wind sings for our reunion

And nine point eight is my acceleration

Take me to where our souls may live in peace

Our brand new commencement'

-Mili, 'Nine Point Eight'

---

Alice peered out the window.

Beneath her, the traffic sounded as cars drove past and pedestrians walked. It was a busy sound and sight, but it was a symbol of life.

The wind gently caressed her face in a loving embrace (a reminisce of her brother's hugs) and brushed her hair away from her face (just like her brother once did).

The hospital staff had given up on her. Or so that was what Alice believed. It sure seemed like it. They no longer urged her to eat her food as they did before and they no longer came rushing when she detached all the wires linked to her body, simply retrieving the tray with pursed lips and reattaching the wires to her being when they came to do so. They were probably frustrated and tired of her actions, understandable as this had been happening for the past week.

Alice wondered where all those people were going. She was not allowed to go anywhere and was confined to her room. She wondered what their lives were like. Were they happy? Sad? Did they belong to a loving family or were they distant from them? Were they well off or barely making enough to come by? She was once one of them. A happy girl who belonged to a loving family who spoiled her. She would go to school everyday under the loving gaze of her brother and return home under that same gaze. She was a sheltered girl who understood nothing of the real world. But that was no longer the case. After witnessing death, Alice doubted anybody would ever be sheltered like that again. People would tell her lies like 'Hans is in a better place' and 'Everything will be okay', which obviously weren't true. Because everything was not okay and the best place for her brother was by her side.

'Everything was so far down,' Alice noted, estimating the distance to the ground. 'How long would it take to reach the ground from here?'

Nine point eight.

Alice remembered reading that in one of her brother's books - Hans' physics book when he was still in high school, two years back. Nine point eight was the acceleration of gravity on a falling object.

It was the acceleration of gravity on the rate at which she would fall if she were to jump out from this window.

Alice froze, entertaining that idea. To most it would not be a pleasant idea, but to Alice, it was close to music to her ears. This way she could be with her brother and she would no longer have to deal with all those looks of pity from those around her. It was the solution to everything.

Before she could lose her courage, Alice heaved herself up to sit on the window sill. Her heart stuttered as the familiar feeling of having no solid ground below her feet settled in and she started to lose her nerve.

The ground was so far, far away.

(But she could do this, would do this, for the sake of her brother.)

Alice took a deep breath and prepared to let go.

Crash.

The sudden sound caused Alice to break her concentration and look up in unadulterated surprise.

"GET DOWN FROM THERE!"

(Although Alice felt dejected from losing this opportunity to join her brother, she couldn't help but feel relief, and she hated herself for feeling that and leaving her brother all alone in the afterlife.)