LOST IN THE RAIN
Paris, France
TK opened his eyes to the sound of pouring rain behind the window. Heavy led drops
were sliping down the glass, so many of them they were making the Eifel tower, half-
hidden in thick haze almost invisible. It was rainy morning in Paris. TK hated rainy
mornings. He hated Paris, too.
"It's just temporary, hon," - mom told him after informing TK they'd be moving to
France. - "For a few months only. You know your grandfather's ill, him and grandma
will need our help for a while. Once he gets better we return home. Besides, you'll like
Paris, it's a very beautiful city."
Yeah, right.
Those "few months" lasted a little longer than he expected. Grandfather soon
recovered, but Mrs.Takaishi wasn't hurrying to return to Japan. And one day he realized
they live in a little nice flat in the center of Paris, mom found herself a pretty nice job, a
boyfriend, who just happened to be her boss came along, and TK himself was going to
school in the neighbourhood. All of a sudden it came to him, "HELLO, WISE GUY!
YOU'RE STAYING HERE! YOU LIVE HERE! MOM'S NOT GOING TO RETURN
TO JAPAN, NOT TOMORROW, NOT IN A FEW MONTHS, NOT IN IN A FEW
YEARS! WAKE UP TO THE REAL WORLD,KIDDO!"
They had a talk then. Mrs.Takaishi looked guilty and upset.
"Yes, I'd like to stay, sweetheart. But I thought you like being here... I understand," -
she sighed - " You're missing your father and Matt and your friends..."
He sure did. He missed them all, and most of them all, even more than Matt, he missed
Kari. Then, in the airport, when he was leaving, Kari hugged him and whispered in his
ear, "Come back soon, I'll be waiting for you". Three years have passed since then, but
TK knew she was still waiting for his return. She herself wrote him so in one of her e -
mails. That was the only thing that kept TK on track all this time - the fact that
somewhere on the other side of the world there is a girl who loves him and waits
passionately for him. In three years he'll be 18. Then he'll return to Odaiba,with mom,
TK hoped, and finaly embrace Kari. And then he'll make sure they'll never be apart
again. Just in three short years...
On second thought, make it two years.
"Gee, it's my Birthday today" - TK mumbled, getting out of bed. - "There realy must be
something wrong with me if I forget my own Birthday. Baka..."
He walked out of the room and into salon. His mother had already left for office,
leaving him a note on the table.
"Happy 16th Birthday, ma petite," - it said - " Sorry I left without wishing you that in
person, but here's the present, I hope you like it. Tonight grandpa and grandma will
come over to our place and we'll celebrate. You won't believe what they have for you...
Ok, I won't spoil the surprise, but wait till you see it. Love you, hon."
Lying beside the note was some sort of flat square object wrapped in multi-colored
paper and decorated with tiny paper flower. Smiling, TK unwrapped the present, which
turned out to be Westlife's "Coast to Coast" CD. He shrugged his shoulders. Where
mom got the idea he likes Westlife from? Anyways, a gift is a gift... TK brushed his
teeth, prepeared himself a breakfest ( a toast and a glass of orange juice ), got dressed
quickly and hurried to school.
Ah yes, he didn't like the school too, not that he was a bad student or didn't get along with
staff or other pupils. To them he was rather pleasent, quiet youngster, a little too shy
and introvert maybe, but still very kind and obedient; and if TK could get Kari out of
his mind for a day and look around he would notice the glances his female classmates
were giving him. Handsome looks, an exotic combination of blond hair and blue, yet
narrow, Asian eyes and his entire "Mr. Mysterious Orient" image have made him quite
popular with the girls, while the guys were highly impressed with his preformance in
basketball games. "Slam Dunk", they've nicknamed him, Takeru "Slam Dunk" Takaishi.
Still, he had no close friends, sort of friends he could hang with, sort of friends he could
relie on, sort of friends whom he could trust enough to tell how bitter he feels inside.
While sitting in the class TK couldn't help but going back in time and remembering his
old school in Odaiba, missing it, longing to return. And anytime the classroom's door
opened he was rising his eyes, hoping against all odds Kari would come in. Or Matt.
Heck, even Davis would be welcomed.
That was the situation.
"Mom, d'you need to make call anytime soon?" - TK shouted to the other room. He was
sitting in front of his PC, finishing off the remainings of yesterday's B-day cake.
"No, dear" - came Mrs.Takaishi respond.
"Allright, I'm going online then!" - with this, he clicked the mouse and, bang, he was in
the web. After quickly checking the e-mail ( a "Happy Birthday" letters from dad and
his older brother, Kari and the rest of the crew) he opened the ICQ programm. Yes!
Davis was online as well. Though they never were the best of friends ( because of Kari,
of course ), TK and Davis still managed to get along. And Davis was the only one with
a PC camera. Well, not the only one anymore. Resting on top of TK's computer was a
brand new Philips cam, that very same "surprise" from his grandparents mom was
talking about and now he was going to try it.
Another click of the mouse, the request was sent. TK held his breath, then "YOUR
REQUEST HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED" sign flashed, and a window appeared in the
middle of the screen.
"Hi Jun," - he waved.
"TK!" - Davis's younger sister squealed, half-surprised, half-happily. - "What's been up?
Since when do you have a cam?"
He replied,"Since yesterday. How are you?"
"TK," - she started in angry voice. - "You've gotta tell to your brother. He keeps ducking
me. Tell him it's not OK. How can he know we don't fit each other if he never took me
out for a date? I mean, if I'd get a chance I'd prove him I'm the girl he needs, but he
won't give it to me, and that's not fair, is it? Is it?"
"Well... er... I-a..." - TK said, barely holding himself back from brusting into laugher
thinking, please shut up Jun, before it's too late, please...
"Of course it it's not fair! So tell him I..."
"Fine, allright, I'll talk to him," - he interupted, smiling. - "Is Davis there?"
"Yeah," - Jun answered, looking annoyed. - "Returned from some party half an hour
ago, with that girlfriend of his, locked themselves in our room, Lord knows for what,
turned the boombox on so loud my head's going to explode any second now..."
"Poor clueless Jun," - TK thought. - "And you're wondering why Matt doesnt want to go
out with you."
"It's almost midnight now and tomorrow it's Sunday, gotta get up early to go to school"
- she continued. - " Mom and dad are visiting aunt Aya in Osaka, so while they're absent
Davis does whatever he wants and gets away with it. But as soon as they return you can
bet your socks I'll tell them everything and I..."
"What were you saying here, sis?," - Davis appeared behind her back, dressed in black
silk boxers, beads of swear slippning down his forehead, his face slightly red. - "Did
you just say...?"
"Er, I said I... well nothing, never mind... here, why don't you say hi to TK?"
"TJ!" - Davis shouted happily, spotting him and leaning close to the screen. "Heyas,
whass been up, mon garson?"
"Hi," - he chuckled. - "I see you're having fun here..."
"Well, sorta," - Davis said with his adorable French acsent and winked. - " Big Sexy
Motomiya is living large and in charge, dude-o."
"How's Kari?"
"Kari... well..." - all of a sudden Davis got confused.
"What? Anything wrong with her?"
Davis looked aside.
"No, she's quite OK... you see..."
" Who are you talking to?" - came the girl's voice.
" Hey, don't..." - panic-stroken Davis said, but that moment Kari stepped in, dressed in
knee-long T shirt.
TK froze on his seat.
Next second Kari spotted him and paled, stepping back.
"TK?" - she only whispered, looking confused.
'Hey, TK, listen..." - Davis started, but then came another click and the connection was
broken.
For a few minutes he sat still. Then he got up, staring blinklessy in front of him,
grabbed his schoolbag and walked out of the room.
"Mom?" - TK called in quiet, strangely calm voice. - "I'm going for a lil' walk, allright?"
"Now? But it's raining outside!" - Mrs. Takaishi protested. - "You're gonna catch cold
for God's sake! TK!"
But he was already running down the stares and after a few seconds stepped into cold
pouring rain.
Tokyo, Japan
"C'mon, Kari, chill!" - Davis was trying to calm the girl down, as she, fully dressed now,
was walking back and forth his room. - "What's so horrible about this situation? TK has
been away for years now, and you don't know when and if he's going to return. Besides,
what's his problem? You're not his property, and he can't forbid you to have fun. And
he'll never be in my class anyway..."
"Will you shut up?" - Kari snapped, cutting him off. Then, after thinking for a minute,
she pulled a cell phone out of her jeans pocket.
"Hey you're not calling him, are you?" -asked Davis, puzzled. But she was doing just
that.
"Gotta talk to him," - she mumbled, - "Gotta apologize... He'll understand... Hello? Mrs.
Takaishi, hi, it's Kari. Yes, I'm fine, and you? Is TK home? Gone? Well, where to?
Ah... Ah, ok... Thanks. Goodbye..."
"Well what are you going to do now?" - Davis asked sarcasticly. - "They have flights to
Paris every few hours, you know."
Kari hesitated.
"Give me your D3," - she asked suddenly. Her boyfriend's eyes buggled.
"C'mon, give me your D3" - Kari repeated.
"But what for? It won't work, it hadn't been working since we beat Mala Myotismon!"
"Just give it to me!" - she screamed angrily. - "I want to try and get into Digital world.
There's gotta be a way to get to Paris from there."
Davis put his hand on her shoulder.
"Honey, relax, will you? If you're so intend to talk to TK you can try calling him later,
you shouldn't..."
"Didn't you hear me?" - she hissed, pushing his hand off.
Davis smirked, took the D3 out of his table and handed it to Kari.
"Oh, allright then, let's see you try..."
She pointed the device at the computer's screen, inhailed deep and shouted,
"Digital gate, open!"
Nothing.
"See?" - Davis said. - "Told you so. Kari, really, why don't you calm do..."
"DIGITAL GATE, OPEN!!!"
Wham! Kari disappeared in a flash of white light.
Paris, France
TK was walking down almost empty streets, hands in his jeans pockets, looking down
at his sneakers that were crushing brown, red and yellow leaves on the ground. It was
still raining, so it was hard to tell if he was crying silently or were it just drops of rain
slipping down his cheeks. He also had phones on ( the discman was in the schoolbag
TK was carrying on his shoulder ), and soft and sad melody was flowing into his ears:
If only you could see the tears
In the world you left behind
If only you could heal my heart
Just one more time
Even when I close my eyes
There's an image of your face
And once again I come to realize
You're a loss I can't replace
TK stopped, looked around, and picked up a stone, which he put in his pocket. Then
another one. And another one... With every stone he picked he was whispering Kari's
name.
Soledad, it's a keeping for a lonely
Since the day that you were gone
Soledad, in my heart you were the only
And your memory lives on
Why did you leave me, Soledad?
Limping a bit because his jeans's pockets were full of stones, TK continued his walk
down the street.
BANG! Kari took a step and exited The Digital world, finding herself in some empty
street under pouring rain. She looked around, not knowing where to go and what to do.
She wasn't even sure where did she land, for that matter. If it is Paris, she thought, I
should go to TK's home and wait for him there. But wait a minute... I don't even know
where he lives! What to do, what do do?
Her thoughts were interrupted by tall, fat man who appeared from behind the corner. He
had thick, bushy mustache, dressed in brown three-piece suit and had a case in one hand
and umbrella in another. Staring at Kari in amazement, he boomed something in a
language she didn't know. Seeing confusement on the girl's face, he said in deep,
acsented voice, "Do you speak English?"
Kari nodded.
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, what city is it? I'm... I'm a tourist, you see, and..."
"You're in Paris, young lady," - fat man said, lookind down at her. - "And I wonder in
which country it's a custom to walk under such a strong rain in jeans and T shirt. And
SLIPPERS, for crying out loud! I don't care who you are and which weird place you
came from, but get under umbrella now before you catch pneumonia."
Kari obeyed. She was already soaking wet and shaking. It was realy cold.
"I think I saw someone from your tribe not a while ago," - her saviour was saying
meanwhile. - " A kid from the Whacko land. Like you dressed only in jeans and T, and
looked Asian, too, only what, he was blond..."
"B-blond?" - Kari babbled, staring at him.
"Yeah, and it didn't look like he dyed his hair to me. And you know what the strangest
thing about him was? He was picking up stones from the ground and stuffing them into
his bag!"
" When? Where did he went?" - Kari whispered. She suddenly felt her feet were holding
her no more.
"I met him about five minutes ago, he was heading down to Sena quay I believe..." - he
stopped, spotting the look of terror on the girl's face. - "Hey you don't think he was
going to... OH MERDE!!" - the fat man roared and rushed back to the direction he
came from. - "Quickly, girl, we can still save him!!!"
Kari ran after him, but being younger and faster she reached the quay first. A tall, thin
figure standing near the guard rail was barely visible through the rain. But it took Kari
just a few seconds to recognize...
"TK!" - she cried. - "TK, I'm here! I'm sorry! Don't... don't jump, please! TK!"
Why is he not responding? Is he ignoring me? Or he can't hear me?
There was nothing but haze. Haze everywhere. Grey haze, so kosy and probably warm,
TK thought he could wrap it around himself, hide inside it. The haze would eraze all the
memories. It would take away all his pain, all his tears, all his love. The haze would
give him rest... Make him forget her.
Only that haze and a song that was still flowing from the phones and into his ears.
TK climbed over the guard rail.
"Walking down the streets of Nothingville
Where our love was young and free
Can't believe just what an empty space
It has came to be
I could give my love away
If it would only be the same
'Cause I can't still the voice inside of me
That is calling out your name"
Kari was running through the rain and mist, crying. She lost her slippers, and collapsed,
rolling a few feet on the ground, bloodying her elbow and tearing the jeans on her
knees, then got up and kept running, screaming for the figure that seemed so close now
but stil wasnt responding to her begs and cries, standing with his back turned. But that's
it, just a few more steps and she'll stop him, apologize befor him, make him
understand...
Now, TK though. Stepping forward into the haze he yelled, "Goodbye, Kari, I LOVE
YOU!!!", never realizing she was right behind his back.
Kari spotted TK making a step forward, she reached her hand in desperation, nearly
grabbing him by the T shirt but
"TK NO PLEASE NO I'M HERE I LOVE YOU TOO TK JUST DONT DO IT DON'T
JUMP TK TK TEEEEEEEEE KAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!......"
missing.
After a second she heard a loud splash somewhere down there.
When the fat man finaly came running to the quay, he found Kari sitting on the wet
asphalt hugging her knees and staring blinklessly into the water, whispering "TK" over
and over again. The rain stopped, but drops of salty water were still slipping down her
face.
Soledad, it's a keeping for a lonely
Since the day that you were gone
Soledad, in my heart you were the only
And your memory lives on
Why did you leave me, Soledad?
THE END
Paris, France
TK opened his eyes to the sound of pouring rain behind the window. Heavy led drops
were sliping down the glass, so many of them they were making the Eifel tower, half-
hidden in thick haze almost invisible. It was rainy morning in Paris. TK hated rainy
mornings. He hated Paris, too.
"It's just temporary, hon," - mom told him after informing TK they'd be moving to
France. - "For a few months only. You know your grandfather's ill, him and grandma
will need our help for a while. Once he gets better we return home. Besides, you'll like
Paris, it's a very beautiful city."
Yeah, right.
Those "few months" lasted a little longer than he expected. Grandfather soon
recovered, but Mrs.Takaishi wasn't hurrying to return to Japan. And one day he realized
they live in a little nice flat in the center of Paris, mom found herself a pretty nice job, a
boyfriend, who just happened to be her boss came along, and TK himself was going to
school in the neighbourhood. All of a sudden it came to him, "HELLO, WISE GUY!
YOU'RE STAYING HERE! YOU LIVE HERE! MOM'S NOT GOING TO RETURN
TO JAPAN, NOT TOMORROW, NOT IN A FEW MONTHS, NOT IN IN A FEW
YEARS! WAKE UP TO THE REAL WORLD,KIDDO!"
They had a talk then. Mrs.Takaishi looked guilty and upset.
"Yes, I'd like to stay, sweetheart. But I thought you like being here... I understand," -
she sighed - " You're missing your father and Matt and your friends..."
He sure did. He missed them all, and most of them all, even more than Matt, he missed
Kari. Then, in the airport, when he was leaving, Kari hugged him and whispered in his
ear, "Come back soon, I'll be waiting for you". Three years have passed since then, but
TK knew she was still waiting for his return. She herself wrote him so in one of her e -
mails. That was the only thing that kept TK on track all this time - the fact that
somewhere on the other side of the world there is a girl who loves him and waits
passionately for him. In three years he'll be 18. Then he'll return to Odaiba,with mom,
TK hoped, and finaly embrace Kari. And then he'll make sure they'll never be apart
again. Just in three short years...
On second thought, make it two years.
"Gee, it's my Birthday today" - TK mumbled, getting out of bed. - "There realy must be
something wrong with me if I forget my own Birthday. Baka..."
He walked out of the room and into salon. His mother had already left for office,
leaving him a note on the table.
"Happy 16th Birthday, ma petite," - it said - " Sorry I left without wishing you that in
person, but here's the present, I hope you like it. Tonight grandpa and grandma will
come over to our place and we'll celebrate. You won't believe what they have for you...
Ok, I won't spoil the surprise, but wait till you see it. Love you, hon."
Lying beside the note was some sort of flat square object wrapped in multi-colored
paper and decorated with tiny paper flower. Smiling, TK unwrapped the present, which
turned out to be Westlife's "Coast to Coast" CD. He shrugged his shoulders. Where
mom got the idea he likes Westlife from? Anyways, a gift is a gift... TK brushed his
teeth, prepeared himself a breakfest ( a toast and a glass of orange juice ), got dressed
quickly and hurried to school.
Ah yes, he didn't like the school too, not that he was a bad student or didn't get along with
staff or other pupils. To them he was rather pleasent, quiet youngster, a little too shy
and introvert maybe, but still very kind and obedient; and if TK could get Kari out of
his mind for a day and look around he would notice the glances his female classmates
were giving him. Handsome looks, an exotic combination of blond hair and blue, yet
narrow, Asian eyes and his entire "Mr. Mysterious Orient" image have made him quite
popular with the girls, while the guys were highly impressed with his preformance in
basketball games. "Slam Dunk", they've nicknamed him, Takeru "Slam Dunk" Takaishi.
Still, he had no close friends, sort of friends he could hang with, sort of friends he could
relie on, sort of friends whom he could trust enough to tell how bitter he feels inside.
While sitting in the class TK couldn't help but going back in time and remembering his
old school in Odaiba, missing it, longing to return. And anytime the classroom's door
opened he was rising his eyes, hoping against all odds Kari would come in. Or Matt.
Heck, even Davis would be welcomed.
That was the situation.
"Mom, d'you need to make call anytime soon?" - TK shouted to the other room. He was
sitting in front of his PC, finishing off the remainings of yesterday's B-day cake.
"No, dear" - came Mrs.Takaishi respond.
"Allright, I'm going online then!" - with this, he clicked the mouse and, bang, he was in
the web. After quickly checking the e-mail ( a "Happy Birthday" letters from dad and
his older brother, Kari and the rest of the crew) he opened the ICQ programm. Yes!
Davis was online as well. Though they never were the best of friends ( because of Kari,
of course ), TK and Davis still managed to get along. And Davis was the only one with
a PC camera. Well, not the only one anymore. Resting on top of TK's computer was a
brand new Philips cam, that very same "surprise" from his grandparents mom was
talking about and now he was going to try it.
Another click of the mouse, the request was sent. TK held his breath, then "YOUR
REQUEST HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED" sign flashed, and a window appeared in the
middle of the screen.
"Hi Jun," - he waved.
"TK!" - Davis's younger sister squealed, half-surprised, half-happily. - "What's been up?
Since when do you have a cam?"
He replied,"Since yesterday. How are you?"
"TK," - she started in angry voice. - "You've gotta tell to your brother. He keeps ducking
me. Tell him it's not OK. How can he know we don't fit each other if he never took me
out for a date? I mean, if I'd get a chance I'd prove him I'm the girl he needs, but he
won't give it to me, and that's not fair, is it? Is it?"
"Well... er... I-a..." - TK said, barely holding himself back from brusting into laugher
thinking, please shut up Jun, before it's too late, please...
"Of course it it's not fair! So tell him I..."
"Fine, allright, I'll talk to him," - he interupted, smiling. - "Is Davis there?"
"Yeah," - Jun answered, looking annoyed. - "Returned from some party half an hour
ago, with that girlfriend of his, locked themselves in our room, Lord knows for what,
turned the boombox on so loud my head's going to explode any second now..."
"Poor clueless Jun," - TK thought. - "And you're wondering why Matt doesnt want to go
out with you."
"It's almost midnight now and tomorrow it's Sunday, gotta get up early to go to school"
- she continued. - " Mom and dad are visiting aunt Aya in Osaka, so while they're absent
Davis does whatever he wants and gets away with it. But as soon as they return you can
bet your socks I'll tell them everything and I..."
"What were you saying here, sis?," - Davis appeared behind her back, dressed in black
silk boxers, beads of swear slippning down his forehead, his face slightly red. - "Did
you just say...?"
"Er, I said I... well nothing, never mind... here, why don't you say hi to TK?"
"TJ!" - Davis shouted happily, spotting him and leaning close to the screen. "Heyas,
whass been up, mon garson?"
"Hi," - he chuckled. - "I see you're having fun here..."
"Well, sorta," - Davis said with his adorable French acsent and winked. - " Big Sexy
Motomiya is living large and in charge, dude-o."
"How's Kari?"
"Kari... well..." - all of a sudden Davis got confused.
"What? Anything wrong with her?"
Davis looked aside.
"No, she's quite OK... you see..."
" Who are you talking to?" - came the girl's voice.
" Hey, don't..." - panic-stroken Davis said, but that moment Kari stepped in, dressed in
knee-long T shirt.
TK froze on his seat.
Next second Kari spotted him and paled, stepping back.
"TK?" - she only whispered, looking confused.
'Hey, TK, listen..." - Davis started, but then came another click and the connection was
broken.
For a few minutes he sat still. Then he got up, staring blinklessy in front of him,
grabbed his schoolbag and walked out of the room.
"Mom?" - TK called in quiet, strangely calm voice. - "I'm going for a lil' walk, allright?"
"Now? But it's raining outside!" - Mrs. Takaishi protested. - "You're gonna catch cold
for God's sake! TK!"
But he was already running down the stares and after a few seconds stepped into cold
pouring rain.
Tokyo, Japan
"C'mon, Kari, chill!" - Davis was trying to calm the girl down, as she, fully dressed now,
was walking back and forth his room. - "What's so horrible about this situation? TK has
been away for years now, and you don't know when and if he's going to return. Besides,
what's his problem? You're not his property, and he can't forbid you to have fun. And
he'll never be in my class anyway..."
"Will you shut up?" - Kari snapped, cutting him off. Then, after thinking for a minute,
she pulled a cell phone out of her jeans pocket.
"Hey you're not calling him, are you?" -asked Davis, puzzled. But she was doing just
that.
"Gotta talk to him," - she mumbled, - "Gotta apologize... He'll understand... Hello? Mrs.
Takaishi, hi, it's Kari. Yes, I'm fine, and you? Is TK home? Gone? Well, where to?
Ah... Ah, ok... Thanks. Goodbye..."
"Well what are you going to do now?" - Davis asked sarcasticly. - "They have flights to
Paris every few hours, you know."
Kari hesitated.
"Give me your D3," - she asked suddenly. Her boyfriend's eyes buggled.
"C'mon, give me your D3" - Kari repeated.
"But what for? It won't work, it hadn't been working since we beat Mala Myotismon!"
"Just give it to me!" - she screamed angrily. - "I want to try and get into Digital world.
There's gotta be a way to get to Paris from there."
Davis put his hand on her shoulder.
"Honey, relax, will you? If you're so intend to talk to TK you can try calling him later,
you shouldn't..."
"Didn't you hear me?" - she hissed, pushing his hand off.
Davis smirked, took the D3 out of his table and handed it to Kari.
"Oh, allright then, let's see you try..."
She pointed the device at the computer's screen, inhailed deep and shouted,
"Digital gate, open!"
Nothing.
"See?" - Davis said. - "Told you so. Kari, really, why don't you calm do..."
"DIGITAL GATE, OPEN!!!"
Wham! Kari disappeared in a flash of white light.
Paris, France
TK was walking down almost empty streets, hands in his jeans pockets, looking down
at his sneakers that were crushing brown, red and yellow leaves on the ground. It was
still raining, so it was hard to tell if he was crying silently or were it just drops of rain
slipping down his cheeks. He also had phones on ( the discman was in the schoolbag
TK was carrying on his shoulder ), and soft and sad melody was flowing into his ears:
If only you could see the tears
In the world you left behind
If only you could heal my heart
Just one more time
Even when I close my eyes
There's an image of your face
And once again I come to realize
You're a loss I can't replace
TK stopped, looked around, and picked up a stone, which he put in his pocket. Then
another one. And another one... With every stone he picked he was whispering Kari's
name.
Soledad, it's a keeping for a lonely
Since the day that you were gone
Soledad, in my heart you were the only
And your memory lives on
Why did you leave me, Soledad?
Limping a bit because his jeans's pockets were full of stones, TK continued his walk
down the street.
BANG! Kari took a step and exited The Digital world, finding herself in some empty
street under pouring rain. She looked around, not knowing where to go and what to do.
She wasn't even sure where did she land, for that matter. If it is Paris, she thought, I
should go to TK's home and wait for him there. But wait a minute... I don't even know
where he lives! What to do, what do do?
Her thoughts were interrupted by tall, fat man who appeared from behind the corner. He
had thick, bushy mustache, dressed in brown three-piece suit and had a case in one hand
and umbrella in another. Staring at Kari in amazement, he boomed something in a
language she didn't know. Seeing confusement on the girl's face, he said in deep,
acsented voice, "Do you speak English?"
Kari nodded.
"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, what city is it? I'm... I'm a tourist, you see, and..."
"You're in Paris, young lady," - fat man said, lookind down at her. - "And I wonder in
which country it's a custom to walk under such a strong rain in jeans and T shirt. And
SLIPPERS, for crying out loud! I don't care who you are and which weird place you
came from, but get under umbrella now before you catch pneumonia."
Kari obeyed. She was already soaking wet and shaking. It was realy cold.
"I think I saw someone from your tribe not a while ago," - her saviour was saying
meanwhile. - " A kid from the Whacko land. Like you dressed only in jeans and T, and
looked Asian, too, only what, he was blond..."
"B-blond?" - Kari babbled, staring at him.
"Yeah, and it didn't look like he dyed his hair to me. And you know what the strangest
thing about him was? He was picking up stones from the ground and stuffing them into
his bag!"
" When? Where did he went?" - Kari whispered. She suddenly felt her feet were holding
her no more.
"I met him about five minutes ago, he was heading down to Sena quay I believe..." - he
stopped, spotting the look of terror on the girl's face. - "Hey you don't think he was
going to... OH MERDE!!" - the fat man roared and rushed back to the direction he
came from. - "Quickly, girl, we can still save him!!!"
Kari ran after him, but being younger and faster she reached the quay first. A tall, thin
figure standing near the guard rail was barely visible through the rain. But it took Kari
just a few seconds to recognize...
"TK!" - she cried. - "TK, I'm here! I'm sorry! Don't... don't jump, please! TK!"
Why is he not responding? Is he ignoring me? Or he can't hear me?
There was nothing but haze. Haze everywhere. Grey haze, so kosy and probably warm,
TK thought he could wrap it around himself, hide inside it. The haze would eraze all the
memories. It would take away all his pain, all his tears, all his love. The haze would
give him rest... Make him forget her.
Only that haze and a song that was still flowing from the phones and into his ears.
TK climbed over the guard rail.
"Walking down the streets of Nothingville
Where our love was young and free
Can't believe just what an empty space
It has came to be
I could give my love away
If it would only be the same
'Cause I can't still the voice inside of me
That is calling out your name"
Kari was running through the rain and mist, crying. She lost her slippers, and collapsed,
rolling a few feet on the ground, bloodying her elbow and tearing the jeans on her
knees, then got up and kept running, screaming for the figure that seemed so close now
but stil wasnt responding to her begs and cries, standing with his back turned. But that's
it, just a few more steps and she'll stop him, apologize befor him, make him
understand...
Now, TK though. Stepping forward into the haze he yelled, "Goodbye, Kari, I LOVE
YOU!!!", never realizing she was right behind his back.
Kari spotted TK making a step forward, she reached her hand in desperation, nearly
grabbing him by the T shirt but
"TK NO PLEASE NO I'M HERE I LOVE YOU TOO TK JUST DONT DO IT DON'T
JUMP TK TK TEEEEEEEEE KAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!......"
missing.
After a second she heard a loud splash somewhere down there.
When the fat man finaly came running to the quay, he found Kari sitting on the wet
asphalt hugging her knees and staring blinklessly into the water, whispering "TK" over
and over again. The rain stopped, but drops of salty water were still slipping down her
face.
Soledad, it's a keeping for a lonely
Since the day that you were gone
Soledad, in my heart you were the only
And your memory lives on
Why did you leave me, Soledad?
THE END