PERFECT
"Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to actually meet your prince charming, the one special person who is destined to change your life forever? And have you ever wondered what he would look like? And what would you say on your very first meeting? Would you say a simple hello or introduce yourself right away? Would everything be perfect once I meet my special someone? I know what I am asking might sound silly in a way, but these are the things that have stayed in my mind, day after day. I always tell myself that I just have to wait. The right time will come..."
"Wake up princess," a voice slowly whispered. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," the voice repeated again, this time with a certain tone like he just laughed.
"Stop pestering her Michael," another voice said as a warning.
"Aahhh, I was just playing around. She's been like that… like forever. She's been sleeping since the very first time I saw her and that was six years ago. I am twelve now and she's still asleep. You said that she would eventually wake up when the right time comes. But when is the right time exactly?" the young boy asked the man standing just a few feet away from him.
The older man laughed and walked up to the boy. He then pinched the boy's cheeks and laughed again. "My little boy is so inquisitive nowadays. What's the rush in waking her up?"
The boy slowly looked at the young girl's direction. "I am just curious Dad. And I kinda feel sorry for her. She's missing a lot of things, all because she wouldn't wake up."
The older man also gave the young girl a closer look and sighed. "I do feel the same way. But there's nothing we can do. We have already done all the tests and there's nothing wrong with her. We have also tried everything to wake her up. But somehow, it's like she doesn't want to open her eyes."
"Oh Dad, can't you do something else? She's way too pretty to stay asleep forever," the young boy suddenly interrupted his father's words.
The older man shook his head. "Sorry, we have already tried everything. She's in a deep coma right now and her condition is quite rare. Well look at the bright side, at least she's much safer here compared to the place where she was found. Who knows how long she's been staying in that dark and god-forsaken cave."
The boy's expression suddenly changed and he became more confused. "Well, if she's in a coma, isn't she supposed to be in a hospital? Why is she here in our laboratory? And aside from you, why are the other scientists also taking care of her? Is there anything special about her?" the boy asked again.
The older man laughed. "Now that is classified information young man. Sorry I can't give you any more detail regarding that matter," he answered with a chuckle.
"Oh Dad, not that line again! Everything is classified in this place," the boy protested.
The older man laughed. "Well you know this is my work place and we're working for the government. So everything here is classified," he answered with a laugh.
The boy pouted his lips. He didn't like being treated like a little kid. "I'm going out," he suddenly announced.
The older man nodded his head. "Just make sure to come home by lunch time okay. I need to go and check up on something else okay. See you later," he uttered before disappearing into another room.
The boy shook his head in disbelief. His father was always so busy with work that he always forgot a lot of things. Just like today…
"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me…. happy birthday, happy birthday… happy birthday to me," Michael sang in a very low voice.
He then moved closer to the sleeping girl again. She was lying down in a bed with different machines and wires attached to her body. She looked like she was just about 15 or 16 and she was truly very beautiful. She had such clear white skin, black silky hair, long eyelashes and very red lips that looked like she had lipstick on. "For the last 6 years, you have always been the one who is always beside me when I am down. And you're the only one who listens to me when I need to voice out my feelings. I know that you may not hear me, but I just want to say thank you. At least I still have you. Ever since my mother died five years ago, my father has buried himself in his work. And he spends more time here in the laboratory than in our own house, so I am always left alone. But because I always see you and I always talk to you, I don't feel lonely at all. I wish you can wake up now so I can finally talk to you face to face. I want to hear your voice and I want to see how beautiful your eyes are. I want to show you all the places that I have told you about…"
The young boy moved much closer to the girl. "I have tried very hard to find out who you are. But all I could come up was a fake name they used. In the computer file I found, they only referred to you as Sleeping Beauty. Sorry I couldn't come up with anything else. I think their data is screwed up or something. Imagine, they placed 3,000 years old as your age," then he laughed. "3,000 years old? I think one of the scientists might have been on a coffee overdose again when he wrote that. Maybe they took your so-called name from the fairy tale since you're asleep and won't wake up."
The young boy then slowly took out something from his pocket. "Look, I brought you a beautiful flower. It's just a replica, of course. But I hope that you will still like it," he then carefully placed it in the girl's hand. "Do you remember the very first time we met? It was my 6th birthday. My father and mother were both very busy in arranging for my birthday party, but they suddenly had to cancel everything since they received an important call. They were suddenly called to work and since it was my birthday, my mother decided to bring me here to the laboratory. That's when I first saw you. You were immediately brought here after a group of military personnel found you hidden away in a cave in an unknown country. All your personal data were kept hidden, I don't know why. But since I don't know your exact birthday, I have decided to share my birthday with you. In that way, we can have a special day that we can both share with each other."
Michael suddenly thought of something. "I know the perfect gift," he suddenly said out loud. He moved closer to the sleeping girl and lovingly gave her a quick kiss on the lips.
"Happy birthday! In the fairy tale, the prince woke up Sleeping Beauty with a kiss. Maybe now you can wake up too," he cheerfully uttered. "And I hope that we can share our birthday forever and ever…."
It was then that Michael's father showed up. "Michael, can you help me with something?"
"Sure Dad," he quickly replied. He then lovingly touched the girl's hand before finally leaving the room.
Minutes passed…
An alarm suddenly went off… Something was wrong.
Michael and his father rushed into the lab…
"Dad, she's awake. She's awake," Michael shouted in joy.
The young girl looked at the boy standing in front of her, and then her gaze fell on the older man. "Where am I?" she tried to utter. She felt so confused and somehow her mind was blank.
"My God, you're really awake. The others must know about this," Michael's father said as he quickly pressed a button near the door. "I need additional staff and inform the other scientists that our subject is finally awake," he uttered with a quivering voice. He was very excited and his mind was already filling up with so many questions that he wanted to ask the girl.
Michael smiled at the young girl. "Hi, I'm Michael," he introduced himself right away. He was so happy that his wish had finally come true.
"Michael…" the girl repeated. Somehow the name sounded familiar. And his voice also gave her the feeling of familiarity that she can't explain. She continued to look at Michael with a blank expression.
Michael approached the girl. "You know I have been waiting for you to wake up for so many years now. And now that you're finally awake, somehow I don't know where to start. Ah, can I know your name?"
"Name?" the girl repeated. "I…I don't know," she answered.
Michael smiled. "I guess you're still confused huh? Why don't you take a rest first and maybe everything will come back to you in a little bit. Come on, I know the perfect place to sit down and rest."
The girl just nodded and allowed Michael to guide her out of the room. Michael knew that his father would never allow him to take her out of the facility, but since he wanted to show her his special place, he was willing to take the chance. He knew that after the other scientists arrived, he would no longer have the chance to be with her.
Michael knew the different paths to take so that they would be able to avoid the other laboratory personnel and guards. He then made a quick stop at the personnel's room to take some clothes and shoes for his friend. It didn't take long before they were finally able to go out of the laboratory.
The girl looked up at the sky. It was quite different from what was in her mind. She started to look around. The place where Michael brought her was like an open field. There was no building or any of kind structure as far as she could see.
"This is my special place. I know that you might find it weird but I really love this place. This is the only place in the city where there is peace and quiet. No sound of machines, no sounds of clicking, no sounds of buzzing," he then placed a mat on the ground and sat down.
The young girl also sat beside him. She was feeling very much confused with everything she was seeing. Memories started to flash back into her mind. She was beginning to remember things. "Why is this place like this? It seems so empty and cold," she suddenly uttered. "Why is the sky so dark? And why is there no sun? Is it night time?" she continued to ask.
The boy sighed. "I guess you're really sick or something. Don't you know that there are no animals now?… There hasn't been one live animal for the last millennium. As I recall, there was a virus that totally wiped out all the animals 1000 years ago. It also wiped out half of the human population and destroyed all life form on land. And about the sun, it is still in its usual spot, it's just permanently blocked by another planet now. They call it a permanent eclipse, It happened about 1300 years ago. And so this is the reason why everything is like this, dry land and dark sky. You won't be able to see any animal or plant around."
"Nothing? Not even grass?" the girl asked in horror.
The boy shook his head. "Only humans exist now. We basically live on foods that are manufactured in laboratories and facilities, just like the one where we came from. Everything we take is in capsule form. Usually we just take in three or four a day, that's all we need to survive. As for the energy or electricity, we have found a way to create electricity using certain crystals and man-made molecules and particles."
The girl was horrified at what she heard. She then started to cry. "What about my family? Where's my family?"
"Family? I… I don't have any idea where your family is. I don't even know where you came from or what's your name," Michael replied. He felt very uncomfortable seeing a girl cry.
"My name is Aurora. And my father and mother are the king and queen of the land," she answered.
Michael felt a shiver of fear. "King? Queen? You're not crazy or anything, are you? It's already 2330. Those things are just in books now. There is no king or queen nowadays. Every country now in the world is run by a single controller. As you can see, everything is running by a computer, transportation vehicles, robots, buildings, even doors and switches are run by computer."
"Controller? Compu-ter?" Aurora asked, quite bewildered.
Michael nodded his head. "Yes, the controller is the one who made the most powerful computer in the world and he's also the one who takes control of all the other computers and machines all over the planet."
"I am so confused. They said that once I wake up everything will be back to normal. They said that I would see my prince charming. They said that everything will be perfect. How can this place be perfect?" Aurora started to cry again.
"They? Who are you pertaining to?" Michael asked in curiosity.
Aurora looked at Michael. "My fairy godmothers said that a prince will come and give me a kiss that will awaken me from my sleep. But why didn't my prince come sooner? Why did time have to pass by so quickly and leave me behind? I don't belong here. Where's my prince charming? Why didn't he wake me up?" she uttered in between sobs. She felt scared that she was all alone in this strange place. And she pitied herself for being in such a cruel situation.
Michael tried to comfort Aurora. "You know, I don't know anything about you or your past. But I just want you to know that whatever happens, I am here. I have been with you for the last 6 years and I will continue to be with you, for as long as you'll let me. We're friends right?"
"Friends?" Aurora repeated.
Michael smiled. "Yes, we're friends. You don't know how much you helped me during my difficult times, and now it's my turn to help you out."
Aurora stared deep into Michael's eyes. Her heart quickly calmed down. She saw love and sincerity in his eyes. Right then, she knew that she had someone to lean on.
Michael suddenly stood up and gave his hand to Aurora. "Come on. It's time to go back. You don't have to be afraid. No matter what happens, I will always take care of you."
Aurora stared at the hand in front of her. Even though she was full of questions and fear, her heart immediately told her to take his hand and hold on to it tightly. And as they started to walk back to the path where they first came from, she again looked at the dry and barren land behind her. She then gave a quick gaze at the sky. Even though her heart felt heavy, she quickly turned to face the younger boy before her and tried to smile.
"Don't worry. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll teach you everything you need to know," he assured her.
Aurora nodded and just held on to Michael's hand tightly. She knew that not everything was dark in her path, a certain spark of light was still guiding her. And somehow that spark of light was getting stronger and stronger.
"Sometimes we rely too much on what we think is right or perfect for us that we often make the mistake of seeing all things in a negative perspective. There is always a positive side to every negative situation. You just have to learn how to adapt and accept changes. Because it is only after you have accepted the changes that you will find your true happiness."
"I, for one, can attest to that. 10 years have passed… and here I am now."
"Mommy," a little girl's voice called out.
I quickly looked down on the cute little girl tugging on my dress and lovingly picked her up straight into my arms.
Unexpectedly, a soft kiss landed on my cheek. "Hello my queen," Michael greeted. He then lovingly planted a kiss on our daughter's cheek as well. "How is my little princess?" he asked.
"Fine, Daddy," the little girl answered with a beautiful smile. "Let's play, please," she begged in her adorable way.
Michael laughed and took our daughter into his arms and lovingly tickled her continuously. Our little angel laughed and laughed, while Michael laughed with her as well. It was the most beautiful sound that I could ever hear.
"This is my life now. A life I chose despite all the imperfections. But I am happy, truly happy… and that is all that matters…."