Memories (Of Dreams and Demons)

A Wall

Without hesitation I zip my backpack up enough for Alia. She can now sit snugly within while slung over my shoulders and point me in the right direction. Scrambling up, I dust myself off, my feet full of enthusiasm. I start running as soon as Alia points off down one of the little dirt roads to our right.

"Let's get out of here," I say to her. I've never run faster in my life.

Over the space of an hour I run across half the town. I skip my post-lunch classes completely to run off chasing a girl within a dream with a talking kitten. The butterflies follow us along, dancing the chase alongside us playfully.

It is only early in the evening, so we have plenty of time before it gets too dark. I still cannot decide if I'm actually asleep or if I have indeed gone crazy. What's it matter? I'm on an adventure, daring to find someone important.

Alia bobs up and down on my back as I run. She twitches her nose, slightly shifts the direction she is pointing towards.

"Hurry up," she says.

"I'm going as fast as I can," I reply, and turn around a small bend in the road. Alia lowers her paw, and starts purring.

In front of me rests an ageing wall, nearly nine feet high. Faded grey bricks sit comfortably in the sun, covered by a chaotic green pattern of lush leaves and vines. The wall stretches off in both directions for at least half a mile.

"We're here," Alia smiles.

"This is it?" I ask, "what is this place?"

Alia looks at me as if I'm an idiot and says, "it's her school, silly."

The school is very old and foreboding. The wall is obviously there to keep those inside from getting out. However, the occasional oak tree on this side would allow the adventurous type access in. Or, at the very least, a good vantage point over the school yard. The best tree for the job is obvious, and right beside us. Alia stares up at the large branches, and I know she is thinking the same thing.

"That one looks like the best," I say, pointing to the huge oak on our right that seems to lean into the wall invitingly.

It sits close enough to the wall that its overhanging branches would allow me to drop into the school yard on the other side. The trunk is thick and rugged, full of footholds and places to grab as I slowly climb up. My hands reach into crevasses between thick bark to grip and pull myself methodically higher. I reach the first branch with no issues, and can now clamber along a maze of wooden pathways.

"Careful," Alia whispers, clinging tightly.

"That branch just up there," I point again, "gives a clear view of everything."

Alia nods. I just need to make my way up a bit further, so that I can see over the other side of the wall. Taking my time, and treating each footstep as if it could be my last, I pull myself higher. A minute later and I reach my destination: a sturdy branch a good way up the tree.

Grinning, I bask in my little victory; an adventurous ranger exploring nature. I imagine myself holding a bow, scanning the vast horizon before me. From our vantage point we have full view over the wall.

The school yard is large and very well kept. There are many young and well-dressed girls running and playing and laughing. Their uniforms are quite formal in comparison to my own, far more proper than anything I'm used to. Alia sits on top of my head, eyes narrowed and darting around the school yard, looking for Naoko. She has to be here somewhere. I did not come all this way for nothing. I will not give up trying to find her.