Shortly after, the lesson continued and the class forgot her outburst. Her thoughts had been seized and her connection with her memories, suspended. She allocated all of her energy to the lesson and tried to avoid thinking about her dreams.
The remainder of class time disappeared in a blink of an eye until the sound of the bell rang ushering in the hallowed lunch break. The trio quickly left the classroom with their lunch boxes and sat outside, under the shade of a tree, on the football field.
“Kaori, are you feeling okay?” Nora asked with her eyes low.
“Ugh… that was so embarrassing!” Kaori exclaimed, hiding behind her hands.
“She was totally thinking about her one true love!” Mei teased.
“I was not!” countered Kaori.
“Mm—hmm,” Mei murmured with half-lidded eyes as she enjoyed her juice box.
“Why didn’t you guys say anything?” asked Kaori.
“We did,” Nora noted, while continuing to eat.
“She was just too busy imagining her kindred soul to hear us,” Mei persisted with a smirk on her face.
“No I wasn’t. Shut up!” Kaori declared.
“Fine—heart’s desire,” Mei said.
“That doesn’t make it better,” Kaori muttered.
“Lover?”
“That doesn’t make it better!”
“Okay, okay,” Mei said, seemingly surrendering, until, “Soulmate!”
“Oh god…” Kaori uttered, caving in.
They sat and ate from their lunch boxes that housed similar foods with minor differences.
“Kaori?” Nora began.
“Yes?”
“You should be more forward with this boy,” Nora suggested.
“Really?” Kaori asked.
“Yep,” Mei nodded gently in agreement.
After a short pause, Nora said, “Hey, what do you guys want to do tomorrow?”
“I don’t know,” replied Kaori.
“Have any bright ideas?” said Mei.
“I thought we could go to Trine for the day,” Nora said, adopting a grand voice as she leaned forward, as though she was announcing something secretive and amazing.
“Trine?” Mei repeated, leaning in.
“Really?” Kaori followed suit with her eyes twinkling.
“We should go!” they chanted in unison.
ChapteR 7
Huge bamboo trees stood like thin skyscrapers. Small crystal leaves sprouted from the towering evergreen structures, forming a nearly transparent ceiling in the forest. The small glassy petals were impeccable and clear, with a tinge of white on the silhouettes of the leaves. The colour of the sky and the neighbouring greenery filled its hollow emptiness.
The faraway cloudland was grey and motionless, but the roof of crystals gave it an interesting edge that made it seem like a glassy painting covered the sky. The idyllic monarchs of the heavens were nowhere to be found. Their impressive glows and glares vanished behind the blanket of grey clouds.
However, the thin rays shone through the small gaps of knitted mist. The small embers lit up the forest and kept the gloom at bay as it welcomed its visitors.
Am I—Ren thought, taking a step, realising the rippling waves escaping his feet. He glanced down and saw the mirror reflection of the ceiling hanging above him. His eyes drew themselves from the flawless surface to confirm what they had just seen, and without fail, they captured the subtle glow of the sun, the crystal leaves that formed an etched ethereal roof, and the towers of bamboo reaching for the sky.
“I’m dreaming,” Kaori whispered, looking down at her feet which stood perfectly atop the liquid surface that mirrored everything it saw. She glanced at herself, confirming her existence in the dream world. She looked up from her reflection and took in the scene’s duality and wonder. A double-sided world was formed by the liquid mirror that coated the ground. The bamboo trees sprouted from this surface, both in the realm of reality and as an echo in the domain of reflection. Around the evergreen towers, grew small, pale crystal flowers, decorating the base of the trees.
“Am I dreaming?” Ren asked himself, taking a cautious step forward, disturbing the stillness beneath him and forcing the flawless mirror image to blur and distort as small waves formed and escaped his foot. He took another step and watched as he upset the liquid and its ability to capture the world. The mirroring waves intersected and collided, compelling new waves to form, branching out from the initial tides. After a moment of admiring the cause-and-effect relationship of the crashing waves and their daughters, he drew his eyes up from the mirror and gazed beyond the trees. His sight ventured far beyond the initial surface of the forest in search of something or someone. An alien sensation that tugged on his heartstrings compelled him to reach out to try and touch the invisible thread that connected him to another.
“I’m dreaming,” Kaori said, withdrawing her reaching hand to clutch her chest. The faint thumps of her heart beat quietly in her ribcage and pulsed in her muscles. She gently bit her lip as a soft smile grew on her face. She allowed the fluttering feeling of being linked-to-another settle within her. She looked down, glancing once more at the mirror image. In that moment, it finally hit her. The words that she’d repeated, finally meant something. They finally sparked a reaction.
“I’m dreaming!” Ren exclaimed, realising the meaning of those words. He took a few decisive steps in search of the girl in his dreams. Will I find her? he stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists. Finding her in a crystal forest that seemed to have no end would surely be impossible. However, just as his doubt took root, his clothes fluttered with the breeze. In that moment, when he felt the faintest of tugs on his finger as though it was being pulled by a tiny string, he knew.
I need to know… Kaori thought, scrambling into a dash, leaving behind millions of ripples on the splashing mirror. She raced through the forest, stopping only to frantically look around as though the bamboo towers had road signs.
Is she real? Ren thought, running among the trees and following the crystal leaves as though they were guiding him to her. His feet carried him forward until he was forced to stop. She disappeared. The delicate string that had tugged his fingers vanished, leaving behind only a bitter wonder.
Is he real? Kaori thought, trying to follow the snapped string. Her feet carried her blindly across the liquid surface, in hopes of meeting the boy again. However, something inside told her that it was simply just a wild chase bound for failure. Her feet stopped and her shoulder sunk. She looked down at her reflection.
Will I ever see her again? Ren thought, desperately looking around, until he saw something, among the evergreen trees. Completely frozen in his tracks, he noticed the girl he was searching for. The girl who was searching for him.
Kaori stood paralysed, returning his gaze. A sense of wonder flourished in her chest. She wanted to talk to him, to find out his name, to know if he was real.
After taking a few deep breaths, relaxing his muscles and loosening his posture, Ren began walking towards her. His calm, slow steps created small ripples that drifted outward, slowly disturbing the reflective surface.
Kaori, did the same. Her feet carried her forward as she helped close the gap between herself and him. She controlled her gait, keeping her eyes low, pretending not to see him, the same way he did.
The gap between them was soon bridged and for a moment they met shoulder to shoulder. However, the pace of their moving feet remained and neither one of them stopped, successfully fronting their ignorance of the other. The short moment quickly passed as they crossed one another. She pressed her lips together, and frowned with her head weighing down on her shoulders. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as his head dropped and his eyes closed.
Realising how stupid it was, he stopped. He took a deep breath, before turning around and uttering, “Hey!” the sound of his voice shocked her, forcing her feet to stop. “Are we dreaming?”
She slowly turned around and met his wondering gaze. “I think so
,” she replied, smiling at him.
“What are you?” he murmured, squinting at her.
“That’s rude!” she muttered, narrowing her brows.
“Oh, sorry, sorry,” he quickly apologised, realising the words that had escaped his lips. “I mean, who are you?”
“Kaori,” she whispered, introducing herself.
“I’m Ren,” he said.
Their conversation reached a stalemate as they looked away from one another for a second.
Is he—
Is she—
My soulmate?
ChapteR 8
Her name—Ren sat up on his bed. While sitting at the curb of his memories, he relived his dream; but he couldn’t get a clear picture. The impeccable scenery was captured and unlost, but the girl, she remained a mystery. The only thing about her, he recalled from his dream, were her soft hazel eyes and the fact that she spoke her name. However, that name had disappeared and vanished from his mental records as well.
Her name, what was it? The warm feeling that he had woken up with was slowly corrupted and blighted as his frustration seeped in and claimed the sweet feeling. His fear and worry took the place of his joy and excitement. He sat staring at the unnatural void in his thoughts, knowing naught how it got there or how to fill it.
The sensation of losing something important lingered, until the notification sound on his phone rang. The high pitched ring vibrated against his eardrums and pulled him out of his own head. After realising that it was morning and the sun had come to greet him, he adjusted himself and hung his feet over the edge of his bed. He reached for his phone that was blinking on the floor.
‘Is twelve fine with everyone?’ Maves wrote in their group chat. The phone vibrated again, notifying him that another message had come in.
‘Sounds good.’ A small circular picture next to the message, made it undoubtable that it was Tanford’s text.
‘Ren?’ The next one came flying in.
‘Yeah, twelve is fine.’ He answered. After that, the messages stopped, but he remained seated on his bed scratching his temple, until he glanced back down on his phone and noticed the time.
I should get ready. He abandoned the strange, bitter emotion he felt. The one that fluttered in his stomach, the one that questioned his lack of memory. He got dressed and went to the kitchen.
“Good morning,” Ren said, arriving at the table.
“Good morning,” the replies came.
“So what’s on the agenda today?” Hima asked, while enjoying breakfast.
“I’m working today, but before that I’ll be meeting Maves and Tanford at a café,” Ren explained, starting to eat.
“Sounds like fun,” she replied.
“How long are you working today?” Gin said.
“I start at two and end at ten,” Ren explained.
“Okay, that’s not too bad,” Gin uttered. “Be sure to come home when you finish.”
“I always do, Dad,” Ren replied.
The small breakfast gathering slowly lost its members as Gin, Hima and Kena left at different times, leaving Ren alone at the table. He finished his breakfast and noticed he had some extra time to spare. After clearing his dishes, he went to his room and drew his notebook from his bag.
He opened it at the page after his latest drawing. The pale, grey-lined page housed nothing but a void, unlike the preceding pages, which depicted his dreamy scenes along with his wonder and hope. For a moment, before retrieving his sketch pencils, he stared at the emptiness. He stared at the blank page, mentally inscribing the dream that he wished to illustrate.
After his planning, he fetched the tools of which would harbour his skills and vision, and engrave the pale fabric and every fiber comprising it. With his sharpened pencil in hand, and his ears plugged, he began.
With a light, steady grip the graphite-tipped tool exercised his vision and gave shape to the emptiness. His smooth strokes shaded and enclosed the white page, outlining the picture he was about to imbue with every ounce of his wonder as he illustrated it to the best of his ability, hoping that it wouldn’t be flawed in the same manner as his previous attempts.
His drawing was composed of two parts. In the first, he captured the liquid ground, along with its towering bamboo trees and the crystal flowers decorating the reflective surface, and all of its ripples. The realm of reflection that captured everything it saw was perfectly recreated along with the crystallised ceiling of clear petals. Yet, at the heart of the impeccable illustration was the crux of his interest and wonder. In the second part of his drawing, he captured the frozen image of the girl in his dream, amidst the ambience, as she looked over her shoulder, with her hair gently fluttering with the breeze.
However, it was her facial features that he struggled to recreate where he focused on the one thing about her that he remembered from this dream. Her gentle, hazel eyes.
Despite his eagerness to challenge himself and capture the wonder that tickled his heart and pulled on its strings, he was interrupted by his phone’s notification sound that rang and vibrated on the desk. He turned it over and lost all his zeal and passion. The digits displayed on the screen told him he had run out of time.
‘I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,’ texted Maves.
‘Cool, I’m right behind you,’ Tanford quickly replied. However, instead of giving up and leaving his work, Ren decided to take his notebook. ‘Yeah, I’m on my way now,’ he wrote in the chat and prepared himself to leave. After taking a moment to review his drawing, he noticed that it carried the same imperfection as its predecessors. He slammed the notebook closed and threw it into his bag. He was still hopeful that his depiction of her eyes would give life to the still and motionless. Maybe it would finally move him, like she did, in his dream.
With that in mind, Ren, left the apartment. He began his short journey to the café where he was to meet his friends. It didn’t take long for him to get there, and sure enough, when he arrived they were already there. They found a nice comfortable spot, somewhere in the middle of the café with a series of occupied tables around them.
“Hey,” Ren said, approaching them.
“Oh hey,” Maves replied, sounding a little bit shocked.
“Why do you sound surprised?” Ren asked, raising his eyebrows.
“He was expecting you to come late,” Tanford replied, grinning at him.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Ren said, sitting down next to them at the circular table.
“My pleasure,” Maves replied with a wide smile.
The café housed a series of simple rattan chairs and wooden tables to occupy them. The placement of the furniture allowed small roads and walkways for the customers and waiters on the wooden, auburn flooring, with a faint finish to catch the light. The ceiling was bare, showing off the intricate timberwood design, where retro light bulbs hung like droplets from the roof. At the back of the café was the wooden counter, where the barista stood. A series of shelves held up a myriad of labelled, glass bottles with different liquids hiding within, ingredients, differently sized cups, plates, and everything a café could possibly need to run.
“So, Ren, have you decided yet?” Maves asked.
“Yeah, here you go,” Ren said, handing the menu to him.
“I think I’ll settle for—” Maves uttered. After a moment of waiting, their orders appeared one after another on the table in front of them along with three cups of coffee. Tanford was given a chocolate chip brownie, decorated with a carved strawberry and whipped cream on a simple white plate. In front of Maves, stood an identical plate with a couple of fluffy pancakes topped off with sweet maple syrup and garnished with a mint leaf and a few blueberries and slices of strawberry. Finally, Ren ordered a slice of caramel apple pie which sat perfectly along with a scoop of ice cream.
He reached down and drew his notebook along with his pencil as his friends enjoyed their desserts. He opened it to the page where his unfinished drawing stood frozen on the lined paper.
“You’re starting to take that with you everywhere you go, man,” Tanford said, noticing the notebook in his hand.
“Did you finally get a good idea?” Maves asked. “Or did something happen?”
“I’ve been having these really vivid dreams lately,” Ren revealed, slowly detailing the pair of eyes that had remained as a still shape, until he returned to give them life and dimension.
“Really? That’s cool,” Tanford replied.
“So, what happens in these dreams?” Maves asked, leaning in, interested in how they gave the young artist so much zeal and passion to further his art with every passing moment of every day.
“I always find myself in some really amazing place, some almost impossible in reality, but still amazing,” Ren explained, lifting his eyes up from his drawing. “However, even with the changes that happen, there’s always this one girl.”
“Mmm,” Tanford uttered, slightly more interested.
“And?” Maves said, refusing to allow Ren to end his story on that note.
“Here’s the problem,” Ren began, turning his picture around. “I remember everything in my dreams, but I can’t seem to remember her,” he explained. “I know that we’ve spoken, but I don’t know about what, I can’t remember what she looks like, the sound of her voice or what her name is. Everything about her is just a blur,” he added. “It's weird that… it’s only her I can’t remember.”
“Wow, that sucks,” Maves gave an understanding nod.
“Is this her?” Tanford asked, looking at Ren’s drawing. The illustration was well done, but unfinished. The pair of eyes that belonged to the girl from his dream remained undone, but the hazel irises had been granted a shade by its illustrator. The overall shape and outline of the sweet pair of lenses had been completed, but they stood frozen enduring their lack of depth as they waited patiently for their artist to clothe them in shades and textures.
“Yeah,” Ren replied, handing his notebook to them.
“So you’ve been drawing her all this time,” Maves uttered, looking up from the picture.
String Theory Page 4