The cool breeze whipped around her hair as she trudged up the leaf-laden hill. Her frail hands clutching a small picnic basket, she seemed to waltz up the autumn incline. Anyone near her might have heard a sort of sing-song, though whether it was a lullaby or a dirge was unclear.
As she plopped down onto the crunchy grass, she heard a rustle of branches from above. Too fierce to be the wind, she thought. Her blonde curls bounced as she swiveled to gaze into the dense branches. "I'll eat you, you know. You better not be spying on me."
A teenager with wild, spiky hair dropped down and landed behind the petite girl, accompanied by a loud grunt. As he straightened up, the girl noticed he had a nervous energy about him; a child with cookie crumbs on his face.
He glanced at her nervously. "H-how'd you notice I was up there?"
"You're loud." She shrugged, and patted the space next to her. "Come. Sit."
"I don't know, didn't you say something about eating people?"
"Oh, I don't do that here. Don't worry about it."
Still nervous, the boy sat down next to the girl. She smiled tightly and opened her basket, pulling two pieces of bread with what looked like frankfurters between the slices. It was dripping red. "Sandwich?"
A bead of sweat fell from the boy's forehead. "Uhh… I'll pass."
The girl shrugged, and took a large bite.
The two sat for a while in silence, gazing across the tranquil landscape. The wind ebbed and flowed around them, seeming to not touch the two beings on the hill. Life seemed to stand still as the girl ate one sandwich, then another, then another.
The boy broke the silence. "You ever feel exhausted?"
He was met with a raised eyebrow as he turned to meet the eyes of the girl. "I mean, sure..."
"No, no, not tired. Exhausted. Like you sit down and you think about life and what's happened and what's going to happen until it's like you've pulled your brain muscle and so you just stop thinking and stare off into the distance but you aren't really looking and-"
The girl giggled, causing the boy to blush and abruptly stop talking. "Sorry. Your way of explaining is… soothing."
"No, uh… that's it. Kinda just making small talk." He fidgeted and turned out to the landscape once more.
The girl regarded him for a bit, then took a slight breath. "Do you know why I come to this hill?"
The boy frowned. "No...Is that where you get the, uh, red stuff in your sandwiches?"
She ignored him. "Sometimes I feel like I'm expected to do a certain thing. I show up, and people want me to be who I've been. Do what I've done. And don't tell me that 'be yourself' bullshit. It's not that simple."
The boy said nothing.
"But the weird thing is that I like being the person they want me to be. It's fun. Until it's not, and then I have to change up the ante. Add a little personal flair, but oh, not too much or they'll get disappointed. It's like… It's like a giant seesaw." She sighed, and put down her sandwich. "So I come here. Where I can be quiet." A chuckle. "And eat my sandwiches."
The boy nodded slightly. "I understand that. Probably not as much as you, but I've been there once."
He scrunched up his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around it. "I've been so… exhausted recently. One thing to the next to the next and I want to do things but I never have time to do them because I have actual stuff to do and it just sucks like-" He took a deep breath. "Like I want to do this, that, and the other thing but then a mixture of actual life and general nonsense just… exhausts me."
The girl giggled, and the boy realized that he was waving his arms around frantically. He laughed a bit to himself and set them down to rest at his sides. "Anyway, I come to the hill because it's so peaceful. I don't have to feel guilty about doing nothing."
The girl nodded. "Yeah."
They sat in silence once more, until the girl spoke up again.
"You know, maybe you just have to face the real world, you know? Take charge of your life."
"Never heard that one before." The boy rolled his eyes. "I'm like a cobweb; I'm fragile. I can't go and just stand up for… something."
She stared at him as he slumped his head down. "But it sounds like you want to do better, right? Get everything done and shit."
His eyes widened. "Uhhh..."
"Oh, fuck off. Girls can swear too."
He chuckled nervously. "Right, well… I don't know. I don't really have a plan."
The girl nodded, and reached for a sandwich, grimacing upon realizing there weren't any left. Closing the basket, she shifted to face him. Her eyes gleamed a brilliant blue as she regarded his frail body. "You should've eaten a sandwich."
"Um-"
She shook her head. "I've had to kill many people in my life. I've also had to die a lot. I've seen the best and the worst throughout all of my… tales. But what's chilled me to the bone, what's changed me forever, is letting someone die." She tilted her head. "Can you imagine that? Picture your best friend. A parent. A lover. And some genie or wizard or God himself comes to you and tells them that you can drink some potion and they'll live forever."
"Well I mean, I just drink the potion. I don't want them to die."
The girl chuckled. "There's your issue. You can't move on. You won't let things die."
The boy frowned. "I'm sorry. I don't understand."
"You wouldn't be here if you did." She glanced at him again, scowling in disapproval.
He opened his mouth as though to speak, then closed it immediately.
Her gaze softened. "I've had to look myself in the eyes, and wonder if I wanted to live forever. I thought about it. I truly did. Can you imagine that? Living forever?" She laughed, and it resonated all around, the wind seeming to shape into an echo chamber for her and her alone. "A rock by the side of the road, an invincible insignificance? Or become the chicken that dares to cross, because the other side is much more goddamn interesting."
She sighed. "I never chose, to be honest. I'm still wondering. Still thinking."
The boy spoke softly, hesitantly. "Well, to me it sounds like you've already chosen."
The girl sat up, surprised. Then she smiled. "Maybe you aren't as much of an idiot as I thought."
He blushed.
She stood up and picked up her basket. "Well I'm off to the real world. Maybe we can meet on the hill again?"
The boy smiled. "Perhaps with fewer blood sandwiches, hm?"
Her eyes twinkled. "You don't want to see the rest of the ingredients."
"Or be them, I'm sure. Alright, then. See you around."
"Goodbye."
And in opposite directions, as though they had planned it, they walked down opposite sides of the autumn hill.