Hello-hello-hello again, fellow slap-happy humans!
Perhaps, you have just staggered back in surprise, at the realization that I have not been hit by a bus (yet) (or maybe a motorcycle sounds more realistic here; there seems to be just more and more of those pummeling through the streets here in Surabaya - gah! Digressing again and again!).
Or perhaps, now that you are aware of the fact that I have not yet been hit by a motorcycle, you are in the mood to squish me flat with a roadroller instead, because I have not yet published the promised story 'As The Gods Say' (*insert sheepish 'haw-haw' here*)... B-b-but I've already typed it in, honest! A-and I'm proof-reading it as fast as I can!
-So for now, my unfortunate, (probably... ?) disappointed readers will just have to make do with a little itsy bit of something I had found during my latest memory dive into the contents of my notebook.
For those of you who have checked out my profile, if memory serves well, I do recall once saying that other than writing stories, I am also sufficiently fond of poetry - either reciting it or writing it.
In this manner, I've decided to present something a little different than what I usually publish up here on ; just a little freeverse I recycled from a very, very old Songfic I'd based off of a certain Vocaloid song (see if you can guess which one as you read this!)
With that said, last but not least and as per usual, a few points to come across before you get started;
(see preface for points)
Aaand... E'yup, that's all! You're all free to go! *fly~*
... I... Seem to be getting very bad at ending my author notes, for some reason.
Paper planes
In which the delicate thread which binds together two partners, in a cruel, dark world, is put to the ultimate test.
Everyday
When father leaves for work
I put on a shawl
And sneak out of the hospital.
•
I stalk the streets,
careful
so as not to be seen.
Jump over the dusty creek
To where the cherry trees don't grow.
•
Run towards the direction of the setting Sun.
•
To where a barbed iron fence stood
Forlornly
In the dry, dead Earth.
•
I carefully take out
A paper plane.
•
On it
Neatly written characters of
Ink.
•
And I toss it gently into the air
Where it defies the fence
And lands into
a pair of dirt-ridden hands
Accepting the letter eagerly.
•
A new
Paper plane
Would appear over the fence
And plummet into
my outstretched hands.
•
On it
Neatly written characters of
Charcoal.
•
We smile at each other.
That was all I needed.
That was all
He
Needed.
•
In this cruel world
Of illness and pain
His love for me was all
I
Needed.
•
It was a forbidden love, but I didn't care.
Everyday.
When the soldiers aren't looking.
I abandon my prison duties
And duck underneath the overgrown hedges.
•
Run towards the direction of the rising Sun.
•
To where a barbed iron fence stood
Keeping me away
From the outside world,
Where the cherry trees grew.
•
To where
He
Is waiting anxiously for me.
•
He takes out a carefully-folded
Paper plane
And throws it over
The fence
To my outstretched hands.
•
I throw him
Mine
And we open ours.
•
We would smile at each other.
That was all I needed.
That was all
He
Needed.
•
In this dark world
Of war and captivity
His love for me was all
I
Needed.
•
It was a painful love, but I didn't give a damn.
"Hey, there's something wrong with Kiku!"
"Someone help him!"
"I don't want to touch him!"
"Gross!"
•
I laid on the ground,
Immobilized in a seizure,
Blood and fluids spurting out of my mouth,
Mixing with the tears,
As I tried desperately to stop myself.
•
Suddenly,
I felt arms
Propping me up,
Wiping the disgusting mixture dribbling down my chin
Without a care in the world.
•
All whom I considered 'friends' jeered.
•
Not at me
But at
Him.
•
"Oh, look who's here."
"It's Shina boy-aru!"
•
"Well, at least I'm doing something about this! If you're all just going to stand there and gape at Kiku, you're better off somewhere else!"
•
That did it.
They all fled the scene,
Never looking back.
•
He held me
Tighter,
Rocking my body back and forth
Like a child.
•
"There, there Kiku. You're safe with me now. See? I'm here now."
•
It was the most soothing voice
In the
Whole wide world.
It made the seizure,
The blood,
The tears,
All stop.
•
"Yao?"
"Yes, Kiku?"
"Th-thank you… Yao."
"Hello everyone! I'm Wang Yao!"
•
Immediately
The whole class burst into laughter.
•
I felt my spirits crumbling.
•
"Shina!"
"Shina!"
"'I'm Wang Yao-aru!' Ha-ha!"
"Look at that ponytail!"
"Only girls grow their hair out like that - "
•
"Please stop that."
•
All eyes fell onto
A quiet
Frail-looking boy
At the back of the classroom.
•
"… What, Kiku?"
•
"Please stop that. Stop teasing Yao."
"Why are you standing up for Shina?"
"His name is not Shina, it's Yao."
•
Despite the whole class
Staring
At him,
Kiku stood up and
Offered
An outstretched hand to
Me.
•
"Come on Yao. Let's go play together."
Five years ago,
I'd been diagnosed
With hemolytic-uremic syndrome.
•
If
Yao
Hadn't been there to soothe me,
I would have died.
One minute
I had been painting flowers with Kiku.
•
The next
I was locked up in a place,
Where the soldiers
Beat me up
And
Called me rude names.
•
If
Kiku
Had never peered through that iron fence
And called out my name,
I would have died
Of loneliness.
After Yao disappeared, my seizures became more frequent.
•
I had to leave
School
And was locked up in a hospital
Where doctors
Stabbed me
With pipes and needles.
•
At first I had thought
That father had locked me up
On purpose
Because I had found out where he'd sent Yao.
•
I was determined to see Yao out ever since then.
•
Even when that ward
Became my new home, I
Never
Left him alone.
•
But it wasn't
Until I had one unfortunate seizure,
And became paralyzed
For hours,
That I found out the
True reason
Why I was in that hospital.
•
And father found out the
True reason
Why I fold my paper planes.
Kiku didn't show to receive my paper planes one day.
•
He had some sort of illness,
A syndrome
If I remember well.
•
I had tried scrambling up
The fence
To find him.
•
I still have the gashes on my body.
•
All that's left to do
Is sit behind
That fence,
The
Paper planes
In my pocket,
Doubling by the day,
In vain hope that Kiku will turn up somehow.
•
It has been five days.
It has been five days and I already have exactly three tubes and a needle.
•
It is
Excruciatingly painful,
That I shan't lie about.
•
But what was
More painful
Than the tubes and needles
Was the fact that I hadn't seen
Yao
For five days.
•
But the
Paper planes
Will surely not fly themselves.
•
With a wince,
I yanked the needles
And untangled the pipes.
•
And off I go.
I glimpsed a familiar silhouette
Come towards the fence.
•
"Kiku! Kiku... !
"…What happened to you?"
His voice trailed away as he saw
My bloodshot eyes,
The gashes on my body
From the pipes and needles.
•
He had gashes all over him as well.
•
"Yao… Read this, please."
•
I passed
A paper plane
To him.
•
It broke my heart
To see him read with
Eyes
Wide in terror.
•
But I had to tell him soon.
"Dear Yao
I'm sorry I couldn't see you so soon.
This might be my last paper plane. I pray not, but I can't stop this uncanny feelings of fear that it might be.
I don't have much time left - "
•
I couldn't bear to read the rest.
He looked up at
Me
Sorrow in his eyes.
•
Why was I the only one smiling?
How could he smile at a time like this!
•
I didn't bother
To hold the tears back.
Before the
Tears
Could fall,
I turned my back on him.
•
Maybe that,
Or I couldn't bear it
Seeing him this way.
"Kiku! No, don't go!"
•
I screamed after him,
The tears
Cascading down my cheeks,
Leaving a clear path in the grime.
•
"Kiku, no, wait! Y-you're my partner for life, remember? Kiku!
"I-I love you! Please!
"I'll wait for you, alright? I'll wait for you, right here, every single day, until you come back.
"… I love you."
"Goodbye Yao."
•
My feet were burning
But
I didn't care.
•
I ran away
Leaving behind me
My love
And my last paper plane.
It was like
A knife through my chest.
•
Did he know I kept every single one?
"Sir! Sir! He's failing!"
"Get his father quick!"
•
It's getting harder to breathe.
It was like
An invisible force,
Squeezing my lungs.
•
… No! It can't be!
… Can't be…
Pant.
•
"How could this have happened!"
•
No…
Pant.
No…
Pant.
No!
No! No! No! No! No! NO!
•
How will he smile now!
•
I-I just…
Pant.
I just n-n-need more time…
Pant.
Wheeze.
Pant.
•
Yao…
Where are you?
I stared at the
Paper plane
In my hands.
•
The tears kept
Surging.
It fell everywhere:
On the ground,
On my clothes.
•
On the paper plane.
•
"That's him! Bring him to me!"
•
I swiveled around,
And screamed.
•
But to no avail.
•
Two soldiers seized me by the arms
And forced me
To face their
Leader.
•
An evil man,
Scowling at me devilishly.
•
He snatched the
Paper plane
Out of my hands.
•
"Hey! Give that back! It's not yours to take!"
•
I know he won't,
But I had to at least try.
•
The demon sighed.
•
"Oh Kiku… You are too innocent for the world…"
•
"K-Kiku? You know Ki-"
•
"I'm his father, you little bastard!"
•
My eyes widened in terror.
•
Kiku…
Is the son of this demon?
•
"P-please… Let me see him again, sir… Please – I-"
•
"You think you can! You think you CAN!"
The demon screamed at me,
"he's dying! My son is dying, and it's all your fault!
"Yours!"
•
At this point
We were both
Crying;
Sobbing hysterically.
•
But then
The unthinkable happened.
•
He held
The paper plane
Just inches from my face…
•
And tore it to shreds.
•
And I didn't even get the chance to finish reading it!
•
"No! How could you!"
•
I didn't care if he was Kiku's father.
•
I thrashed with all my might
And hit him
Right at the face.
•
"How dare you, Chinese bastard!"
•
But he hit me harder.
•
And soon, all three men were hitting me
Harder than I would have ever
Hit them.
•
Then it stopped just as soon as it had started.
•
And I was left
To die,
Splayed in a pool of my own essence,
Sprays of my blood and shreds of paper,
And beautiful characters
In ink
Scattered about me like fallen angels.
•
As if to mock me,
A shred lay just inches
From my broken neck.
•
And written on it,
In Kiku's elegant penmanship,
•
Was a message which sent me to tears all over again.
•
I love you Yao. Remember it always.
Who will soothe me
When my body trembles and quakes?
Who will stand up for me
When the rest of the world spits at my name?
There is no more
Light
For these flowers
To go on.
I just need
One more
Paper crane.
One more would be enough.
If I die,
I want
Him
To continue living for me.
If I don't make it,
I want
Him
To keep smiling for me.
But how will we smile at each other now… ?
•
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-
•
•
•
Since that day
We've always been together.
The deep darkness engulfed us both.
•
But it never took away our happiness.
Since that day
We've always been together.
The deep darkness engulfed us both.
•
But I've never forgotten that smiling face.
Until tomorrow,
At the other side of the fence.
Until tomorrow,
Where cherry trees grow,
And lovers can be together.
Where love was once paper planes.
Yay, poetry~ !
So, the story behind this was: back when I was in the middle of writing 'Your Sun, My Stars', I was listening to a heart-warming Vocaloid song called 'Paper Plane', sung by the awe-inspiring Kagamine twins, and since the song touched me so much, I decided to take a break from my bigger project and write my very first (pathetically soppy) songfic! It was initially just a one-shot I'd abandoned somewhere at the back of my notebook.
But while I was writing the new, secret fan fiction, I managed to stumble across it once more... And I immediately remembered why I didn't even think about publishing the thing in the first place! That one-shot not only contained too much flamboyancy and figurative speech to be taken seriously, but it was also much too rushed. Administering these details immediately, I was stuck with having to make the choice of either putting up a tacky old one-shot up here on fanfiction . net, or trashing what could have been a pretty darn good plot for some cheesy romance fanfic.
So finally, I made the decision to just...
Recycle *grin*.
But - anyways! Since this is the first time I've actually tried posting some poetry, in contrary to the usual one-shot's and mushy saga's, I would really like to know what you, as my valued readers, think! Were there things I should keep up? And are there aspects of the poem that I need to work on and improve for the next time? I don't write poetry as often as I write stories, so some feedback would really be appreciated.
Oh - and as a last statement: once again... I'M PROOFREADING AS FAST AS I CAN!
Have mercy on me... !
-Plumeria hi
