Memories (Of Dreams and Demons)

Chasing Waterfalls

Our fingers intertwined, Naoko looks up at me intently.

The wind outside our cubby house howls, collapsing the cavern ever further. Its cold touch reaches us even huddled inside. Shadows ooze between tufts of grass and shrub, stretching over the scene to engulf everything in a final darkness.

Alia pounces up and down on the table, jostling pieces of Naoko's puzzle about, her tail flicking violently as she peeks outside. Thunderous roars shake the ground as the storm intensifies.

"We have to believe we can make it out," Naoko says, "that we can do this."

Her eyes hold the promise of a lifetime: that no matter what happens it will happen to both of us, together.

"I believe," I say, a shy smile mustering strength, "we can make it out of here."

She studies me intently for a moment, searching for something. Her face scrunches up in one of her signature smiles, holding all the light of the world.

"Promise?" She asks.

"I promise," I say.

My mind is racing. I need to think, to understand. I believe we can and will, but how? How do we escape the shadow? How do we get out of here? How do we do this?

"Seriously?" Naoko asks as if reading my mind, squeezing my hand lovingly, "what's beaten the shadow, hmm? Love's light: we just need more of it."

"How?" I ask instinctively, the questions still tumbling through my head.

Naoko tilts her head sideways to study me, narrowing her eyes as she tries to figure out if I am joking or not.

"Silly," she mumbles, "haven't you been paying any attention?"

My eyes widen as red spots burst on my cheeks, "oooh."

"How?" She teases anyway, "I'll give you a nice big hint how."

Batting her eyelids playfully, she grabs my ears to pull herself up close to my face, twisting them just enough to get a reaction. Just as I open my mouth to protest, she presses her lips to mine.

Any thought of protest vanishes as she leans in closer against me. I close my eyes as her scent fills me, a mix of daisy perfume, rain and sweat. I breathe it all in as deep as I can.

The kiss deepens, getting long and passionate beyond our years. Any sense of fatigue or pain leaves me completely, replaced only by the sense of oneness with her. Lost in the touch of her lips, nothing else matters.

But just like that, it's over, leaving me breathless, pleading for more.

I clear my throat, "I'm still not sure how, can I have another hint?"

Her narrowed eyes barely distract from the smile she tries to hide. A second later she sniffs disapprovingly at me and stomps sharply on my foot.

"Some pieces of you will never grow up," she says, "you better remember that, or I'll make you regret ever meeting me."

"Look," Alia purrs, pouncing around on the table excitedly.

Outside, a flash of light blasts away the chilling wind and fills the cavern with silence. A path clear as day glows from the foot of the door and winds down towards the base of the waterfall.

It runs up the flowing water and shoots off like sparks into the Realm above. Light radiates from our cubby house, reinforcing swirls still tumbling about the cavern. The shadows retreat, unable to match the golden hue now reinvigorated within our sanctuary. An escape path sits welcoming before us.