A Hidden Reality
Lenka sat next to the window in her classroom. It was noon, and they had some free time before lunch. She sighed, twirling her blonde hair with one finger, staring out of the window. Staring back at her was her reflection, with her own crystal blue eyes. There was a small longing to go outside, but she couldn't. She looked over at her brother, Rinto, who was cheerfully drawing. Even though he was only a little younger than her but still 14, she didn't understand how he was always so happy all of the time. It was probably because of his imagination.
There was a big difference between Lenka and Rinto – he believed in fantasy. He believed in angels, faeries, demons and all the rest of it – and she didn't understand why. But he always told stories that did sound fascinating, in a way. He told stories about how elements were people, and how angels and demons fought. He told stories about Elysium and the Underworld, Olympus and Tartarus. He told her about Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, you name it. He knew it all.
Lenka, on the other hand, was very realistic. She was very serious and collected, she planned everything out to the exact last detail. She knew well that none of that existed – that reality was the truth. She knew well that none of those creatures existed, and they never did. But she liked seeing her brother happy, so she didn't try to convince him. As long as he was okay, she was happy too.
It was on this particular day and the next that Lenka's belief would change. For she had been pondering that strange dream she had last night. It was such an odd dream. She went over it, once again, in her mind.
She stood in the middle of the stone tomb, looking at the old woman, who wore a dark cloak, hiding her features. The wind whipped her hair across her face, but she didn't care. The woman rose a bony hand and pointed straight at her.
"You!" She almost screeched with delight. "Yes, you! You're the one!"
Lenka stared back at her in confusion. Had she gone mad?
Lenka knew that some people had strange dreams too, like nightmares of people chasing them, dying, or flying and falling. Strange dreams were common. But it was what that woman had said that intrigued her.
"Listen well, my dear, Lenka Natashuna!" The woman spoke with a surprisingly strong voice that echoed around the tomb. Lenka stiffened. How did she know her name?
"How… How do you know who I am?" Lenka stuttered. But her voice was barely heard.
As she watched, the woman brought out an object from her cloak. It was a golden treble note, with a diamond encrusted center. It looked beautiful, despite the darkness around her.
"Listen well," The woman repeated. "When this shows itself to you in the light of the aftermath, take it! Take it and run, run my dear, to there,"
Lenka, once again, stared in confusion. "W-Where is there?!" She cried.
"The Garden of Eden! Take it to the Garden of Eden, and place it on the stone tablet. Only then, and only then, will things be set right! Only then will the cogs turn, the clocks start to tick, the tapestry of Fate unwinds! Take it!"
Lenka sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere with this. She knew well that there was one problem with what the woman had said – the Garden of Eden was (supposedly) up there in the clouds, and she was down here. However would she have been able to get up there without dying first? Eventually, she gave up entirely on the interpretation. Even still, it definitely confused her. She had heard that every person you saw in your dreams was someone you had seen in real life, but she was positive that she had never seen that woman before in her entire life of 14 years. The bell rang. Sighing, Lenka gathered her stuff and went out of the classroom with the others to the lunch hall.
"Hey, Lenka! Wait up!" Lenka turned to see her brother running towards her, his short, scruffy blonde hair not bothering him at all. His white hair clips kept them from covering his face completely.
"Hey, Rinto," Lenka said, turning and walking again as he strolled next to her. "What's up?"
"Well, I was reading earlier, and guess what? You know the Balancers?" Lenka thought for a moment. She knew he had told her before (plus, they had done a lesson on it in Philosophy), but she had completely forgotten. She shook her head. Rinto sighed.
"Well, you know… Balancers are the people who keep the world in check and make sure that it doesn't fall apart. There are only two, the Yin and the Yang, or the Good and the Evil. Remember?" He explained to her. Lenka nodded, her memory coming back. Yes, they had learnt about Balancers. Rinto had found the subject particularly interesting.
"Well, the book said that they can live forever, and the oldest one was thought to be over 300,000 years old! And they always looked young," He said excitedly. Lenka whistled. "That's old,"
The two walked over to sit at one of the lunch tables. All around, children chatted in big groups. Lenka and Rinto were alone. This was, or what Lenka had narrowed it down too, because of how geeky Rinto was and how serious Lenka was. All the other children were into bands and sports and social media – Rinto and Lenka kept to themselves.
Rinto started to eat some oranges, whilst Lenka simply ate a banana whilst looking around. She didn't really care about what others thought – it was a common sexist thing that girls shouldn't be eating bananas, especially in front of boys.
Once the two had eaten, they headed separate ways to spend the rest of lunch. Rinto headed to the library, whilst Lenka went outside. She had a special place which nobody else could find.
After they said their temporary goodbyes, Lenka walked down the corridors of the school, keeping a steady pace. Walking all the way across the grounds, she finally reached a small hill. It wasn't out of bounds, but ever since there had been rumours going around of the place being haunted, no one went there. Lenka, being herself, didn't believe these rumours one bit. She casually walked up the hill and down, where a large lake was. She sat near the edge, looking out. It seemed to stretch out for miles, and the Sun's rays hit it perfectly, making the water shimmer in golden light. It was beautiful. And it was real. Lenka reached down and gently touched the water, watching it ripple in response. She paused, and thought. Just for a moment, she wondered – Where they real? Faeries, angels, demons, gods, goddesses? She even pondered it for a bit before dropping the subject, and telling herself that there was not such things as them. They didn't exist. Simple as.
The day dragged on. Last period came and went, just like that. Nothing interesting happened, it was just the usual. However, Lenka swore that she did see a green light, out of the corner of her eye. But she simply dismissed it as her own imagination playing tricks on her.
It was time to go home. As per usual, Rinto and Lenka walked home together. They went down the streets, coming down to Cedarwood Road. Their road was a quiet one. It wasn't known well, so nothing serious ever happened. Lenka liked her road. Lining the pavement were lots of cherry blossom trees, and their petals danced in the wind onto the roads and houses. Their tree roots wound their way into the concrete pavements.
Lenka stopped at hers and Rinto's house. It was a small one, but they still loved it. Lenka and Rinto had no parents – they had been orphans for as long as they could remember. The government had given them this house and their education, rather than sending them to an orphanage. She was grateful for that - she had the feeling neither her nor her brother would survive even a mere week in an orphanage.
She locked the door once they went in, taking off her shoes with a sigh of relief. Another school day done and dusted. Tomorrow was Friday, so she was looking forward to that. After getting changed into pyjamas, Lenka began cooking supper. She was only making omelettes today, they needed to go out shopping. Lenka did have a part time job at a café, but it was only on weekends. Rinto, meanwhile, worked as a junior librarian in both the school and at their local library (but only on weekends, of course).
"Hey, Rinto! Dinner's ready!" Lenka called out from downstairs, and set out the plates.
"Coming!" Rinto's voice rang back. Soon after he came down, and sat at the table. They began digging in.
"It tastes wonderful, onni~!" Rinto said cheerfully to Lenka. She smiled. As they were Japanese, Lenka and Rinto were used to this – to call elder siblings 'onni'.
Once dinner was finished, it was time for bed. Rinto was a quick sleeper, he went to bed and not another sound was heard from him. Lenka, on the other hand, tended to stay up thinking until her eyes slowly shut themselves. She did the exact same thing tonight. Except, as she closed the curtains, she swore she saw that green light again. Lenka shook her head and closed them, dismissing the light once again. Maybe she had been working too hard today. Or she was just tired. She read once that the mind tended to create things when life got boring, and so she decided that that must be what was happening now. Still, it was really strange… Lenka had the strangest feeling that tonight would be different, somehow.