Overture
An October breeze rushed across his body, moving among the gently twisted branches of an ancient European beech tree. As he laid on an idle branch, the sunlight pierced through verdant leaves into his face. Yet, the sun’s warm embrace didn’t phase him; he shut his eyes, making a tranquil world out of the chaos that surrounded him.
“Fade away…” he whispered lightly. “I wish I could fade away, and no one would notice…the tragedy that is cellophane…not even a memory…”
A crumpled piece of paper slipped out of his hand and spiraled towards the ground below. He didn’t care. The boy tried to lull himself off into a slumber, away from the grunge and the beauty of the campus around him. He was worthless and meaningless to reality, and everything he tried to escape from had ensnared him once again.
“Perhaps this is all a dream,” he mused to himself. “And when I wake up, I’ll be free from this limbo, and I’ll find what I’ve been searching for all these years…” The thought was immediately dismissed, marked as a foolish ideal.
A chilled wind caressed his face. The boy opened his eyes, but saw nothing. When he sat up and gazed below, a shrouded figure stood below him. A face revealed a set of hazy, malicious gray eyes, yet his presence did not evoke the cruelty that one would imply.
“Well, I guess it’s not a dream after all.” A familiar called out with a sly smile.
“It’s…it’s you…” the boy whispered under his breath.
The figure placed a cigarette between his right index and middle fingers and lit it with the flame that materialized out of the air. After taking a puff, he allowed the smoke to slowly waft out of his mouth. “What a splendid greeting for an old comrade.”
The boy was awestruck yet scared, unsure of whether his jade eyes were tricking him again.
“Surprised? You did not keep in touch as you said you would. Naturally I was worried about you…silence is your virtue, but not between us, my friend.”
As the cloaked figure glided on top of the leaves, he spotted the crumpled piece of paper. Grasping it, he said “My, what is this written here?”
“Please, don’t read that.” The boy muttered in a stressed desperation.
“Ah, but it’s addressed to those two girls who are meeting you here.” Before the boy could say a word, the figure was reading the paper carefully. When he finished, he let out a long sigh. “A suicide note, very eloquently written.” As the paper combusted, he added “How pathetic.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Honestly, boy, haven’t we done this enough? Those poor girls, what if they actually read that?”
“I don’t think they would care. Nobody here would care if I died. Life would continue without me.”
“Being overtly wistful as usual, I see. Even if you did die, you wouldn’t be keeping your promises, would you?”
“I wasn’t really going to try anything. Don’t worry; I’m too much of a coward.”
“As I thought.” The figure vanished then reappeared beside the boy in the tree. “You’re so socially withdrawn and aloof it’s no wonder that humanity shuns you. Well, that’s why I decided to pay you a little visit. Have you ever considered that all the escalated emotions and suffering are just all in your head?”
“Like I thought you were?”
“Ah, but therein lies the barrier between our worlds.” The figure replied.
As his words parted from his mouth, a light mist gathered all around them. The sky darkened to a mystical indigo, the sun faded as a hazed crescent moon took its place. The ancient tree contorted into frozen hues, allowing orbs of faded light and sparkling dust to be revealed. A watery abyss emerged below them, shimmering in the moonlight, swirling in solitude. This was a world that the boy had created in his mind, one that he had known and yearned for…
“This is what you’ve been wishing for, to just fade away from the suffering you’ve endured, to be somewhere you belong...now, you know me, boy. I care about you as if you were my kin. We’ve known each other for aeons, and you have always told me that you were meant to be alone for your entire life, but I want you to see that you’re just fooling yourself…” A small orb of light twirled around his fingertips, showing faint images in the faded reflection. “You said you’d die for the people you care about…too bad you never had the confidence and courage to tell them. No one deserves to be miserable, not even a brooding artist like yourself…”
“Oh my God!” a sweet voice pierced the taciturn. “You’re amazing and I couldn’t ask for a better best friend!”
The second voice laughed lightly. “You know I think of you the same way.”
“Sounds like your company has arrived, boy.” The cloaked figure smiled as the orb dispersed into particles of light. “Now I’ll take my leave…and if you’re ever feeling lonely, come back home, ok? Everyone was really worried when you started causing havoc on our world…just, don’t try anything stupid again, or I’ll search you out again and stop you.”
“Don’t cry…it’s going to be ok…” The figure whispered, wiping away a sole tear on the boy’s face.
The figure dispersed as the area slowly returned to normal. As the two girls entered, they both were immediately puzzled and frightened by the strange sight before for them.
“Am I seeing things, or are we still in Newport?” the sugary-voiced girl asked frighteningly.
The boy jumped off his branch and landed above the fading lake. He gave a wistful glance at the people in the distance, and then allowed himself to be encased by a whirlpool until he vanished. The girls backed away from the blow, and when they reopened their eyes, they saw the same ancient tree that had always been being the library.
“I must be high on life or something, because I have no clue what just happened.” the first girl stated.
“It was just a faded illusion…” the second girl mumbled, and the two proceeded onwards as if nothing ever happened.