Act I - Awakening
Chapter 4 - Home
"She's not home..."
I stood in front of Mei's locked front door, holding a brown box in my left hand. Sighing heavily, I brought my package close to my face. Maybe with this, I can show my appreciation.
I sat down on her doorstep, intending to wait for her to come. She must have been delayed at work. I looked up at the half-moon, shining bright in the sky. The night had a calming effect on the modern city. The moonlight shone on the stone buildings, sometimes reflecting off them. Lights were on in many homes as people prepared their nightly rituals. Some children were still playing under the night sky.
I became lost in it all; the serenity, the calm. My life, my thoughts, were spent running after my dreams. I never really had the chance to sit down and stare at the stars.
Why did I keep chasing my dreams? Why did I keep living in the future, instead of today? Maybe that's why I'm such a klutz...I keep dreaming. A dream is...simply a dream.
I stood up, eyes still fixed on the beauty of the night.
"Because..." I whisper, a cold feeling washing through me as reality struck. "...dreaming...is all I can do."
I closed my eyes, feeling the breeze waft all around me, holding me in its embrace.
I don't know how long I stood there. It felt like years before I opened my eyes again. I expected Mei to be in front of me, with her usual smile.
She wasn't there.
I started to walk away from the door, dusting off my white dress, and made my way through the empty streets to the Kafra Corporation Headquarters. Having studied the routes of Alde Baran's back streets, I was at the grand building in fifteen minutes. I kinda got lost once or twice though. It's not my fault they made two places look exactly the same.
The door was locked when I tried to open it. I gently knocked a few times, to no avail.
"Maybe the employee entrance is..." I walked over to the right side of the building, making sure nobody saw me. Slowly, I went past the lone tree in the alley, and felt around for the handle, slightly scared. It was a dark alley, after all.
I felt the crack in the wall. Taking a deep breath to ready myself, I pulled. Hard. The stone slowly slid open, revealing a simple brown door. I don't know about you, but going through a door marked "Employees Only" makes me feel sort of important. And I'm still confused why the entrance was there in the first place. They should just have put an ordinary door. Well, I'm sure they have their reasons.
I entered the door leading into a dark hallway. There was light coming from somewhere ahead, and I followed it. I'm a little scared right now. The place has a creepy aura.
After a minute, I finally reached the end of the hall. A small room was at the end, illuminated by a lone lamp on the desk. The flickering light, the lone chair and table, and the darkness combined sent chills down my spine.
At one end of the room was another door. I inched towards it, my ears picking up the sound of my own teeth chattering. I took hold of the handle...
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" I screamed loudly as the door suddenly opened by itself.
"Amelia?"
"Uh...Mei?"
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"Thanks." Mei smiled brightly at me, holding the box in her hands.
"It's nothing at all..." I looked down and twiddled my thumbs in slight embarassment. "It's the least I can do."
We were in Mei's spacious living room, sitting on opposite sides of the sofa. It was warm inside her home compared to the chilly air just beyond the door, thanks to the fireplace.
I looked at Mei, who was opening the box, smiling again. Suddenly, something occured to me. Why didn't she have a boyfriend? Surely someone as beautiful as her had men running after her?
She seemed really happy when I gave her her present...maybe she's lonely. Maybe she has a dark secret that I don't know about. Maybe she's really male. Argh. I don't know now. I just hope she likes the present. She's used to fancy things, so I don't know if she'll like this...
Mei slowly held up the simple bead bracelet from the box. Feeling a bit embarassed, I pretended to study the patterns on the white rug. Suddenly, her eyes stinging with tears, she lunged at me, holding me in a tight embrace. My eyes widened in geniune surprise.
"Thank you..." she sobbed into my shoulder, quietly. "You have no idea how much this means to me..."
All I could do was hug her back.
The two of us sat there, embracing the other for what seemed like an eternity. At that moment, I knew, deep down, that we would be friends forever.
I smiled slightly. It must look awkward. Mei, who was taller than I was, was leaning on me, wearing only her bathrobe.
"This..." Words seemed to have failed her.
She pulled back from the embrace and slipped on the bracelet, now side-by-side with her gold one. Looking at the comparison, I felt almost ashamed. But then I looked at her heart-shaped face, and saw joy. Like she valued my humble little present over the obviously more expensive bracelet.
I don't know how I feel right now. It's like I could tell her all my secrets without worry. That I could tell her my dreams and she would share them. My parents were nice, but they never really got to know me that well. I felt like...like I'm no longer alone.
I never slept more soundly in my life, on a couch in a living room with my friend against me. Away from reality, just for a while.
No nightmare could have touched me.