"If you find yourself troubled by something mysterious or a problem that's hard to solve, there's a place you can go where you can always find help. You just need to look for it"
Words once set in stone which cemented the original score in motion. A tale of fantasy and intrigue ensued the dominant character of our story some years before. A set of events that set ablaze a fire of imagination and thoughtful meaning. For Haru Yoshioka this would be a defining event in her life which would shape the course of her life forever. Haru was only 16 year's old when she had first encountered the Baron, a cat statue that resided in a miniature shop window, looking out at the courtyard in front of his home. You see, the Baron was special. Standing at around a foot and a half in length, his feline features etched and shaped into stone and clay. Each hair had been meticulously sculpted into the very chosen material selected by its creator. Colours of gold and orange were painted along the lined area's to give the illusion of fur. Soft supple fur, rich in detail and dynamic feeling that every ounce of love and care was flawlessly added to the much loved creation. Not many would know of this, and I ask for your open mindedness, but to all creations who were truly loved and created from that love were given the magic of life. Only a few creations were bestowed with the honour, A large winged black bird named toto was given the gift of life. It's silky black feathers and majestic beak outshone all similar handiworks from the same artist. One other was a beautifully, dapper cat with an equally impressive name. Baron Humbert von Gikkingen. Each strand of silky orange fur glistened in the light of the setting sun in the small miniature village hidden deep in the outskirts of town, but what really set apart these works of art from the run of the mill factory set stone work was the amount of love and passion that had gone into making them. Blood, sweat and tears filtered through the pair, giving them personalities and traits all of their own, but to their creator, they were as alive as you and me.
To believe that humans were the only intelligent beings on earth would be ignorant, all around us, both animals, plants have adapted and flourished in the light of adversity. Changing and altering their own ways of life to fit in and surpass the stigma's they are dealt at birth. Take a flower, innocent and fragile, struggling to live in an ever changing world. Tarmac and stone have taken their natural way of life away, yet some, will force their way through the dirt and decay of the world to blossom and thrive in strange territories. It's delicate petals reaching up towards the light, grabbing each spec of sunlight and rain water it can grasp. Like myself, and Haru, we believe there's more to life than meets the eye. And this is where our story begins.
16 year's old, a student from Okinowa comprehensive school, Haru Yoshiokia was your typical teenager. Every morning Haru would stir to the sounds of the annoying metallic moo's of her cow themed alarm clock, It's blue and white dotted tail clicking and moving up and down with its tired mechanism squeaked and ached with ware and tare, but it worked. That was the main thing. Reaching over she would attempt to swat the slightly raised tab situated at the top of the clock to shut the alarm clock off for another five minutes. "Just five more minutes" she would reply over and over until five minutes turned into twenty minutes. Be honest, we've all done it! A slightly red mark had began to surface on the palm of her hand, stinging slightly from the amount of times she had beaten the poor cows back, but all too soon the realisation of her reluctancy to get up had changed from an extra five minutes in bed to a mad rush like a hurricane to get to school on time. Jumping from her bed, Haru threw off her covers, immediately regretting moving so quickly in such a short space of time. A dizzying spin enveloped the room as she steadied herself on the bedside table, but not before crushing the soft plush teddies under foot. One stuffed toy gave out a shriek of sound, it's old worn squeakier had seen better days, and the bare heavy foot to the back had completely killed off what was left of the small sound device. In a blur, the suddenly wide awake young girl was moving at a speed which could never usually be attained within gym class. Nothing get's you moving quicker than when you know you've over slept.
No time for breakfast, a hasty brush of the teeth and a quick once over with the comb, Haru was pulling her hair up into a pony tail before rushing out of the front door, mid way through putting on her shoes. Tap tap, when the fronts of the leather shoes on the cold hard pavement before a speedy sprint was set into motion. In the hours that were to pass, Haru felt far too rushed as she flitted from classroom to classroom, each lesson seemingly as boring as the last, but at the stroke of 4pm school was over and a winding down walk home was on the cards. The same journey was taken to and from school, always along the same paths, the same roads and along the same store fronts too. On many occasions teenage banter was the much needed distraction from the daunting day of school Haru and her friends had, had. Gossip, boys and what was on tv that evening were the choices of conversation today, anything but homework and classwork was spoken between the friends. Heading out of the school's stone walls, freedom and light filled the girls with energy as the laughed and giggled about the day they had both had.
On a busy street, near the crossroads and stores of the main shopping precinct the girls were completely absorbed in their conversation, but not to absorbed to behold the strange sight that was happening right before their eyes. At the time, there were many people littering the streets, lorries halted at the traffic lights, children dragging their mothers into a sweet store or toy store, but no one else seemed to notice the events that were to follow. From the right, a grocery store was situated. It's steps leading up to the front door were worn and dusty from the many visitors that had entered the establishment that day. The sign above the door, faded and discoloured from the many hours out in the sun, wind and rain yet still read true to it's original painted letters. "Grocery store" The name was still viewable to the naked eye, even though it could have done with a lick of paint and a new lease of life. At the top of the stairs stood a cat, It's fur was immaculately brushed into the same direction, giving the cat it's flawlessly beautiful coat. So Agile and graceful like most cats were, yet what was strange about this cat was two things. In between it's lips was a small yellow box, it's lid firmly closed and encased with a red ribbon around it. It's white teeth dug into the red ribbon that held the box together shimmered softly in the sunlight as the cat began to descend down each stair in turn. It's movements were fluid, each muscle working in time with one another, so elegant. Haru and her friend were dumbfounded as they watched the beautifully strange feline climb down each step before heading towards a gap in the sidewalk to cross safely. It's head turned from right to left, assessing the danger's from people, car's, lorries and bicycles before attempting to cross the street. A Little ways away from the opening, a line of packed traffic was halted by the bright red light telling them that by law they must stop.
Now for most, this scene would seem, out of the ordinary, but there was nothing too strange about it, apart from the lack of knowledge that what comes after the red light is first the amber light and then finally the green. Go. Haru and her friend began to watch the cat, their hearts racing at the thought of the stupidness of the cat just walking across the street in it's own manner, but as they looked a little carefully, the distant sound's of the lorries horns, honking and polluting the air, the pair witnessed the cat start to fumble and drop the box. Alarmed, the pair screamed towards the cat, hoping that it would come to it's senses and get out of the way before it was killed, however the loud rumbling's of the engines and the stern muffles coming from the exhaust drowned out any attempt on the cat hearing their plights of concern. Now, there was no telling what prompted Haru to do what she was about to do, but her concern and love for this beautiful creature outweighed the dangers of the speeding vehicle hastily heading their way. Without warning, Haru reached over and proceeded to snatch her friends Lacrosse stick from her hand before racing towards the cat. Every drop of energy was ploughed into her tired feet and hands as she raced to the aid of the cat. Every closer the lorries and cars raced towards the pair but in one swift motion the young girl had scooped up the cat in the orange threaded lacrosse stick before crashing to a halt in the bushes at the opposite side of the road. Safe, Sore and out of danger, both Haru and the cat were a little stunned by the sudden and hard landing
Through the haze of distorted voices and loud beeping sounds came what appeared to be a soft and polite male toned voice in front of the young girl. Still slightly giddy from the halted stop haru looked up from the ground in amazement to see that cat she had just saved to be standing up on it's hind legs, like a human. Shock ensued the young girls face, it's expression frozen in time as the deep brown hues watched as the cat effortlessly began to brush the dust and dirt from his immaculate fur.