Tranquil Waters

Home

A small, soft hand shook me awake. I felt a cool breeze blowing on my shivering body. Drowsy, I opened my eyes a crack. The dark sky was speckled with bright shades of blue and gold, the stars twinkling, the moon's light shining on me. I sat up and stretched my arms, opening my eyes gradually. I saw a girl leaning over in front of me, holding the sleeve of my shirt.

"You'll catch a cold."

The words that came from the girl sounded otherworldly, one could say angelic. Yet it was only the voice of a friend I've known ever since I was young - Alice.

We've been living in the same old village for years when I moved here. She reached out to me and my family and have been on good terms since then. We are pretty close, and my parents tease me about her marrying into the family to help a useless guy like me. Little did they know I've mastered the art of cooking and laundry just recently.

I stood up, dusting my pants from the dirt accumulated during my nap. I noticed Alice staring at something in my hand. The object glittered as the moon's light struck it.

"Hey, what's that?" She asked curiously.

To be honest, I didn't even know what it was. I looked more closely, and noticed it looked like a ring. It was thick in width, with a dark purple gem in the middle around the size of my eye.

"Seems like some sort of ring."

"It looks pretty..." Alice responded with jealousy.

I handed the ring to her, complying with her indirect pleas.

"Here, take it."

"Really...? I'm happy..."

Her face looked happy enough to remove all doubts of my decision.

"Think of it as payment for breaking your stuffed animal."

Quite recently, I happened to witness our horse in the barn chew the stuffed animal, and in a battle of tug of war, Alice's favorite companion was beheaded. I was scolded thoroughly then ignored for a week, but I was forgiven shortly after.

"We should get going -- you're supposed to be departing tomorrow morning!" Alice said, remembering her purpose here.

We began to leave the hill I was resting on. The hill was said to have reached the heavens in the past, because a famous legend of romance had occurred here before. The villager was a poor man of virtue, who fell in love with a beautiful goddess, only to be separated by the boundaries of humanity. The goddess then stretched heaven down onto this hill, so they could reach out and hold each others' hands. This geographical structure was given the name "The Hill that Touches Heaven." Quite accurate.

Guided by the moonlight, Alice and I made our way back to Tilk, the name of our village.

We arrived at the gate of the village to encounter an angry voice.

"Oi! You're supposed to know better! Don't stay out so late! People like you are why I'm losing so much sleep!"

Since the village is quite small and we've been through this conversation countless times, I was able to tell who the voice belonged to.

"Sorry 'bout that, Digo. I just fell asleep on accident. The breeze is real nice out there." I responded meticulously.

I didn't want to anger him any further, so I chose my words carefully.

"... Alright. We've been through this over and over... when are you gonna learn..." Digo sighed. "Well I'll be glad I won't be seeing your sorry face anymore once you leave the village."

"Well then, have a good night." I said as I walked past the gates.

Alice poked me in the shoulder.

"Digo is pretty dishonest with himself... He's gonna come crying tomorrow morning begging you to stay. You're the only one he talks to during the night shift, after all."

We arrived at our homes. Sitting right beside each other, the homes looked identical to each other and the entire block. Yet the interior is so full of differences, one might be overwhelmed by confusion.

We entered my house to be greeted by the warm, dim light and the smell of cookies. The backs of a couple were visible from behind the kitchen counter. My parents.

"Hey son, making Alice have to search for you, you better give her your thanks!"

My father can bit a tad bit noisy, but he is charismatic and what one would call the life of the party. On the other hand, my mother was a different story.

"Welcome home, you two. Spending the night under the moon alone together, how romantic!"

My mother happened to be a romantic and loved Alice dearly, as if she were her own child. She treats her better than me.

"Yeah, she brought me home." I indifferently replied.

I directed my statement to Alice. "Let's go upstairs."

"'Kay!"

The stairs were quite old, as they creaked every step of the way up.

We arrived at my room, which was bare. The empty brown walls and spacious clear floor. There was a pile of my belongings near the far right corner of the room, clothes and books piled up.

"It's been 10 years, huh." I moved here when I was 6, when I met Alice who was a day younger than me.

"I'm gonna miss you." Alice hugged me tightly, and inserted an object into my hand.

"Me too."

Alice opened a secret door behind the luggage, and looked back. She didn't say anything. She went through the door, which lead to her living room. Back then, we used to play together a lot, and found a secret doorway that connected our homes. It was probably built as an escape route in case of a fire. 

After she left, I opened my palm to see what Alice had given me. It was a key chain. It was the key chain of a very popular mascot, the same one her stuffed animal was based on. The mascot was really hard to find in this village, but in the city it was a sensation that could be found everywhere. I was surprised she would give me something so valuable.

I clipped it on the zipper of my suitcase. Usually we wouldn't even have suitcases in the village, but a traveling merchant sold it to my father who gave it to me as a gift.

To explain more clearly, the city was a different world from here. Tons of high tech gadgets, like phones, video games, arcades, as well as trains, cars, and planes. However, the city was very secluded from the rest of the world. Only the select were allowed to enter the boundaries of the city. They are chosen by the presence of a certain ability that lies in the person's conscience.

I was lucky enough to have tested positive, not surprisingly being the only one in the village to have that ability.

I turned off the lights and lay on the fuzzy, warm carpet. My head was still clear from the nap I took earlier, and I began to think of my future life in the city I've heard so much about. After a few minutes, I began to feel drowsy, and fell into a deep sleep.