Brand New Breeze
after Brand New Breeze
It was late September. Leaves on the trees had yet to change to their true colors, but the time was coming close. A girl sat on a bench under some of those trees, watching the early autumn sky. The sun set as her lips seemed to move silently, subtly.
Life was nothing but a leaf on a tree. It was born, it grew to its fullest potential, showed its colors, and fell, gliding gently to their inevitable rotting death. It all started and ended the same—for everything. It didn't matter who or how special the leaf was. That's just how inevitability works. The only thing different was the promises given after death. Some, for those who have done evil, get a promise of being in the worst state of mind they could have, alone. Those who have lived a righteous life get better promises.
But for this girl, Kahoko, she wouldn't have been surprised if she ended up somewhere in the middle. Or, in some sense, what she was promised would feel like nothing. After all, her most important everything was taken away.
What a blessing in her life, he was. Always smiling, always laughing, ever optimistic, yet forever understanding. A very honest, yet just young man. He was the kind of person everyone wanted to be around; everyone never hated him. He was talented and kind; he cared about everyone, whether it be in secret or not, and gave them some form of hope.
She shouldn't have been so stupid as to love a young man like him, despite the fact she knew him well since childhood, despite the fact his instrumental lullaby's caressed her heart. He was everything a girl could ask for, and yet with him only seeming so perfect in body, mind, and spirit, she felt envy. An envious green leaf for him being so successful in everything he did.
Kahoko loved him, yet felt as if she were just a shadow to be looked down upon by him. Like a powerful, full tree looking down on its last fragile leaf that floated down to that sad death called foreseeable. Such an unreliable leaf, the tree could think. He could think. She couldn't help but wonder if he were thinking such things now. He was gone; taken away from her, because of her envy and whimsicality.
The inevitable really was a cruel thing sometimes.
Despite the fact she wasn't too talented in her vocal instrument, Kahoko sang the song he sang to her once, in a whisper. The song that somehow made her feel special as she let it be carried away with the gentle wind. She sang the background chorus:
"It's never ever gonna end,
'Cause you're my real best friend.
Baby, I can touch the sky
with you..."
Something caught her attention; she heard another voice sing with her, like a harmony. She looked... there he was. That gentle smile on his beautifully handsome face. An air of adornment shot from the two of them. She couldn't help but smile... and cry. Like a silent conversation, she somehow realized he had forgiven her. Kahoko sprang up and ran into his open arms, ready for an embrace...
The lonely floating leaf was saved by a brand new breeze.