Memories (Of Dreams and Demons)

Happy Birthday

Four years pass: a blur of school, awkward kisses and childish adventures.

I stand in the middle of a grassy courtyard, taking a deep breath before raising my hand-made bow. I concentrate on a rough straw-man target, my eyes narrowing.

It's the man of shadow, of whom I still have nightmares, patched together from dried grass, and he's coming to take everything I hold dear. I cannot afford to miss. I just need to steady myself; become one with the arrow; just like it describes in the books.

Slowly pulling the hemp string back, I consciously slow and steady my breathing. My aim will be true.

Just as I'm about to let loose, the string snaps and sharply unravels, throwing the arrow into the dirt at my feed. I look down and sigh, a frown darkening my face. Training myself has been a steady stream of trial and error, but I am slowly improving; definitely not having much luck today though.

"I got you," Naoko whispers in my ear, before sticking her thumbs sharply into my sides.

"Hey!" I jerk away in surprise, trying to both wince and laugh at the same time.

Beaming, she holds back small bursts of giggles, "if they were daggers I had you so good!"

"As if you would ever," I smile.

She sticks her tongue out, "I might. Never know, you might be the bad guy one day."

"As if," I say again, "I would die before that ever happened."

Naoko pulls a face, "you're not allowed to die until I say so."

I pick her up and kiss her. The time we've spent together have been good to Naoko. Her hair is longer, still tied up in a neat pony-tail. Her face has a soft beauty to it, but her eyes still hold their hard edge. The freckles under her cheeks are more pronounced; a reminder of the inner-child I met at the library.

Also, her figure is slimming, and starting to show womanly curves. I find myself consciously trying not to be too obvious in my staring, but she often notices me admiring her.

Shaking me off and laughing, Naoko darts away down the little stone path that leads away from where I practice archery. I immediately give chase.

Over the years the cavern we first visited has grown. The trees are larger, and their fallen leaves dance across wild grass.

An ever-growing population of small animals, amphibians and insects have made the cavern a natural sanctuary. Their calls wake us up the mornings we stay here, a chorus of grateful life.

The path leads to a small makeshift cubby house. Built over the course of a few months, it rests against the base of one of the larger trees. Four rugged windows peak out in each direction, and a small fence reaches neatly around an area of kept grass.

Naoko just looked at me slyly the day she demanded it was to be painted white. In return for not objecting, she let me paint the roof green so that it nestled camouflaged among the leaves. She's since placed pots along the fence, growing one of every type of flower she could find down here.

We both jump inside, our youthful footsteps making satisfying thuds on the wooden floorboards.

There's a small cake and pile of sweets sitting on the table inside. Twelve candles form a neat pattern around its chocolate edges. Naoko has placed them with her characteristic precision, so that they sit perfectly symmetrical to form a little heart.

The puzzle we have worked on since that day in the field as children sits nearby. Even though we've only managed to complete a quarter of it, we still work on it occasionally as the years pass. Naoko carefully sticky tapes the finished sections together every afternoon. I only ever want to do this once, her voice reminds me.