Thousand Paper Cuts

Eight : a trail of heartbreaks

Skye :

She hated being a mortal. Wouldn't it be the high point if we lived forever?
But the truth is opposite : everything eventually fades away.

With the fading January, the seasonal flowers were also ceasing to bloom, so all that the shop owned were few bright tulips, jasmines and the rest were roses.
"It's my girlfriend's birthday. Do you have some fresh tulips? She really loves them", a boy was asking Skye, who was behind the counter effortlessly chain smoking.
"Take the blue ones. They are simple yet quite fascinating", Mia responded, on behalf of Skye, while adjusting the sun-drenched flowers.
She finally sold those tulips, and few more customers forged inside. It was a busy day, in busy New York. So many people bought flowers for their loved ones or dead ones, and she had once read that dead people receive more flowers than the living. It was unfair.

After extollable sunset, they closed the shop and walked towards the Blue Citrus in their long coats. Isn't life so pretty? The wind, the slow moving clouds, the sunshine. She thought. And why do people seem to pass them by without ever feeling them? Life. Life. Life. Something that's been mistaken by all.
As they walked to the car, one extremely handsome guy winked at Mia, but she wasn't easy to deal with. She rolled her eyes at him and said,
"I'm taken, sassy pants."
The boy, awashed by embarrassment, trailed away, while Mia and Skye laughed like drunk idiots.
Mia was really pretty, the kind of pretty that'll always be hot boy's object. But none of them stared at Skye, because her red crazy hair, freckles all over her face and stupid fat cheeks explained it all well.
"There are some rules", Mia said while starting the engine, "When boys wink at you : 1. Don't fall off your guard and NEVER wink back. 2. Say something embarrassing so he won't think you can be his next night stand, and 3. Follow these rules in case you are taken, even if boy is extremely hot."
Skye craked another laughter at her observant freind, and replied,
"Yeah, New York is full of shitty people."
"Except for us." Mia responded.
Skye rolled down the window, her red hair being touched by the cold wind, and replied,
"Yeah, except for us. We're invincible."

After they had drank coffee at the Starbucks, Mia dropped her home. The quiet neighbourhood looked very serene; the fallen leaves on ground looking like a confetti.
Before Skye could step out, Mia said,
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Skye asked, confusingly.
Mia nodded, and with a beautiful spark in her eyes, said,
"Tomorrow you're gonna meet my perfect Korean boyfriend."
She looked back at her friend, and for a moment she thought "perfect" didn't really exist, and slowly replied,
"Alright, miss you already."
Mia hugged her and said,
"Miss you already", and with that, she forged ahead, her Blue Citrus ricocheted around.

When she reached on her doorsteps, she was stunned. A beautiful classic yellow bicycle, it's basket full of white roses, was standing peacefully near her hardwood floor. She suspiciously looked around, but found no one. Inside the basket, amid the flawless roses, was a small note, that read,

"Sorry for what I did. Saw you walking all the way towards the city sometimes. Hope it helps."
--your drab neighbour

Her heart skipped a beat, and then she rolled her eyes. Even though she needed it, but she couldn't just accept it. She really didn't fancy depending on others. She was of the fact that she could be free and lively, without really needing anyone. She had a sacred kingdom of her own.
Without further ado, she trailed off with the decorative bicycle, on her way to her drab, morose neighbour.
This time, she found herself at his front door, that had ivy surrounding it. She thought for a while how rich that stupid boy was, and how pathetically poor she was, not even having a television or enough shampoo.
Anyway, the door didn't open even after the third bell, so she forged back, but then saw that once again, that backdoor was ajar.
She quietly opened the fence, and parked the cycle near his door, after knocking his door aggressively.
She thought she should just go home, but then again, like a bitch she was, she was in the middle of his large room, that was really cold.
She walked past the room into a large, dull living room, having a big television, some artworks on the tall clean walls, and a big piano resting near the window. Jesus, rich people with rich interests.
And then...she saw him too, but he was lying on the concrete wooden floor, his back turned upwards.
She rushed towards him and leaned near, and he smelled of alcohol. Maybe he was passed out, and he was utterly freezing. Slowly , she moved her hand and placed it on his head. She stayed there for a moment because he looked so calm--as if the world didn't exist for him.
She felt upset at his miserable state, and she couldn't even lift him up to the couch. So she went in his room and came back with a blanket and soft pillow. She placed the blanket on him, while his head rested on the pillow.
Even though she really didn't want to do this, yet she remembered that her dad always used to say we should be kind, even to those who aren't.
Incidentally, some of the old records were playing on his stereo; the songs she'd never heard of :