After the fall

Chapter 17

As her head started being filled with all these questions Lapisa once again let out a sigh as she let her head fall into her hands that were resting on her knees. Lapisa had no clue how long she sat there in silence, the only thing she could hear was birds chirping in the distance, the wind making its way through the leaves of the trees, the distant sound of people talking and laughing as well as her own breathing. Suddenly the voice of a lady brought Lapisa out of her trance like state "What's troubling you sweetheart?", Lapisa looked up at the source of the voice and was met with the face of an elderly and fragile lady she had never seen before, nothing stood out about her, she looked just like all the other people in the town.

Without answering Lapisa's eyes wandered around the old lady's fragile silhouette until they stopped at her hands. The lady's small, thin and fragile fingers had a tight grip around the handle of a basket seemingly full, maybe even heavy, however the content wasn't visible to Lapisa as a cloth covered the top of the basket. Something about this woman made Lapisa feel like she could trust her, maybe it was the fact that her aura felt secure and somewhat motherly.

After contemplating for a few seconds Lapisa opened her mouth "I'm just wondering-", however she cut herself off, this lady wouldn't understand her even if Lapisa tried to explain it, how could the lady understand? Plus the lady wouldn't believe her, who would believe a random girl that said she came from another world, that she tried to kill herself in that world and somehow ended up here? With her mind having a war on its own, silence was the only answer Lapisa could give this random seemingly kind lady standing in front of her waiting for an answer. "You can talk to me sweetheart, I don't bite you know?" the lady spoke again with a sweet smile on her face breaking the silence. After one last glance at the woman Lapisa gave up on trying to explain her thoughts, the lady would never understand so with a sigh Lapisa finally opened her mouth "it's nothing really, but thank you for the concern". As those words left Lapisa's lips she remembered the favor Matilda had asked of her, with so much going on in her head Lapisa had completely forgotten about it. So she quickly stood up and turned to the lady, "I'm sorry ma'am but I need to hurry, I have a favor I have to fulfill", the words came out kind of mixed together as Lapisa felt a sudden rush of having to hurry not wanting to keep Matilda waiting for too long. Lapisa flashed the lady a soft smile as she walked past her, however from behind Lapisa heard the lady talk again "Remember that everything happens for a reason sweetheart but you have to figure out that reason yourself". Those words caused Lapisa to stop in her tracks, did this lady know something? Could she help her? Help her understand why she ended up in this world? In a hurry Lapisa turned around but to her surprise the lady was gone, confused Lapisa looked around the whole area but the lady was nowhere to be seen, it was like she had disappeared into thin air.

"But she was just here..." Lapisa said out loud in confusion, to no one in general, just to the empty staircase she sat on talking to a lady a few seconds ago. How could anyone just disappear into thin air? Lapisa stood as if she was frozen trying to put the pieces together but it led nowhere, so instead she shook her head trying to bring herself back to where she was now. "I must be tired, maybe I haven't slept enough? Yeah that's it! I haven't slept enough, yeah that's why..." Lapisa said out loud, trying to convince herself that the lady had just been her subconsciousness playing games on her due to exhaustion. As she came to that conclusion Lapisa started walking towards the fabricator again. But she couldn't shake off the lady, she could have sworn she talked to her. But it must be her subconsciousness, that was the only plausible explanation, right? But it had felt so real, maybe even too real for it to just be her subconsciousness playing games on her. Lapisa once again shook her head, trying to clear up mind, as she clenched her fist she could feel the pouch of coins Matilda had given her earlier. "Yeah that's what I should be focusing on, right now", Lapisa decided to focus her mind on completing the favor Matilda had asked of her.