"I really don't care what you do, but there are a few things that have to be said. I do not want to come find you, I do not want to arrange anything for you, and, above all, I do not want to apologize for you. If you can live within those boundaries, you can do what you like."
Mother may have said that, but does that mean I'm allowed to go outside?
She dragged her low table through the glass doors, and set it against the edge of the balcony railing. At that very moment, another fantastic marvel rolled by on the street perpendicular to the one her balcony overlooked, and if she craned her neck she could see everything from the top point to the people walking with it on the ground.
It was red, this marvel, and it almost looked like a house, but houses weren't on wheels, were they? And all the houses she had ever seen didn't have people hanging from the rooftops. Slowly, the marvel moved beyond her field of vision, and she tilted and turned her body, trying to get another look at it. She had only ever heard of such things in books, legends and stories, and though she had dreamt about wonders, she never thought she would see one with her own eyes. And now that these wonders were parading themselves before her, she could only think that this was all some fantastic dream.
"Miss Marina?" she asked, wanting to share this moment with her babysitter. Hearing nothing, she raised her voice a little and called louder, "Miss Marina?"
She heard bustling from the other room, and, snatching one more look at the spectacle on the next street over, she jumped down from her perch and ran to the other room, where she saw the woman in question fidgeting on the couch, the clock the absolute center of her attention.
"Miss Marina?" she asked again.
"Hmm?" she asked, tearing her eyes away from the clock to look at her charge, "Oh, I'm sorry, Alexandra. What were you saying?"
"What's Mr. Clock telling you, Miss Marina?" she asked, hoisting herself up on the couch and sitting next to her.
Marina smiled, but it wasn't the smile that Alexandra was used to seeing, and it worried her four-year-old mind. To her, it looked like Marina would rather be crying than smiling. It was most certainly not a real smile.
"Mr. Clock is telling me that I am going to be very late," she replied, a sing-song cadence rippling underneath her words, the tone she always used to talk to Alexandra in.
Alexandra was baffled. No one was ever late in her world. Even her mother, who would often stay at the office longer than she would be at home, was never late. Late was a concept that existed for people who had a reason to be someplace.
"Why would you be late, Miss Marina?" she asked, trying to puzzle out this mysterious lateness.
Marina fidgeted, unsure how much truth she should tell this girl.
"Because I told someone that I would meet him someplace, but if your mother isn't home soon, I won't be able to meet him there."
"Why not? Mother wouldn't care if you left a little early, you know that."
Another smile-that-was-not-a-smile crossed Marina's face, this time even less of a smile.
"But it's my job to stay and watch you while your mother is gone, Alexandra. I can't just leave in the middle."
"Oh." Alexandra was silent for a while, still feeling like this late mystery was not solved, but she couldn't think of any solution to it. "But it's not fair if you're late just because Mother isn't home right now."
Marina shrugged, then forcibly brightened. "But, you know, if your mama comes home soon, then I won't be late at all."
"But you never know when Mother's coming home," Alexandra said, a pout-frown appearing on her face. The more she thought of it, the more she didn't like this late concept. It wasn't Miss Marina's fault if she couldn't make it on time if she had to wait for Mother to come home, was it?
A loud shout sounded outside, and a chorus of cheers echoed. Alexandra looked up, thinking of her marvel, and, late slipping out of her mind, dashed into her bedroom, hoisted herself back up on her table-perch, and watched as another wonder rolled through the next street over. I wonder if one day I'll be able to see one of these things up close, like everyone else.
"Alexandra?" Marina called, turning away from the clock only to find herself suddenly abandoned in the living room. Amused, she followed her charge into the other room, and smiled when she saw the delight on her face. She was absolutely absorbed in the spectacle on the streets, and would probably die for a chance to see it all.
Wait a moment...
Hesitantly, Marina asked, "Alexandra?" The child looked around, obedient to her guardian's request but also impatient to turn back to her marvels. "Would you want to come with me?"
"Come with you?" Her head fell to one side; she didn't quite understand Marina's question.
"We decided that we would meet a few blocks away, so it's not that far. All I'll say to him is that I can't be with him now and to meet up again in a few hours. As long as you stay in my sight the whole time, you can come with me. And your mama can't say anything about me not doing my job, can she?" She winked.
And that was how Alexandra Palone stood outside of her apartment for the first time in her memory (which, at four years old, wasn't much, admittedly.)
Perhaps it was for the best that Alexandra had been so reluctant to go outside, since it was only a few moments before she spotted something from the corner of her eye and was waylaid. Marina, believing her charge to be dancing a few feet out of sight, but always within earshot, didn't notice her absence until it was just a moment too late.
Another roar from the crowd brought Alexandra's attention away from the trinket in the window shop to the street, and she saw the third marvel of the evening, and it was bigger and better than both of its predecessors. Her mouth fell open at the sight, and she unwittingly took a step closer. It's so pretty.
Totally enthralled with the object of her utter delight, she didn't take any note of her surroundings until it turned the corner, and was lost from her sight. Then, in that first clear-headed moment, was when she noticed that Miss Marina was nowhere to be seen.
She frowned at the problem, and fingered the key to the apartment in her pocket, the one that Miss Marina had given to her before they left in the exact scenario that they might be separated, and was suddenly aware of the fact that she was alone in a crowd of people she didn't know at all. But the fear that any other child would have felt was absent in her, the girl who had never been told that strangers were suspicious or that familiar things were comforting. And though she may have felt anxious, it was only because Miss Marina was probably very upset right now.
Suddenly, something fast-moving collided with her back, and sent her sprawling against the pavement. She felt her lip split when it struck against a raised edge in the concrete, and the key in her front pocket burned an impression in her thigh. Tears threatened, but she sniffled, and suppressed them. Deeply buried intuition told her that she must be happy to be outside, or she may not have the opportunity again soon. Then she noticed his voice.
It was a boy's, she knew that much. And he seemed to be apologizing for something. But though her mind could fill in a few gaps, she couldn't understand his words. It all sounded like the mumbo-jumbo incantation of a sorcerer to her.
She put her hands underneath her, and attempted to right herself, but flinched when her skinned palms grated against the pavement. In the distance, she heard a woman call out, another spell in the magical language. The boy behind her jumped, mumbled something, another spell, and grabbed her hand, yanking her upright. He said something else, addressing her, the words spilling like water and collecting at her feet. She smiled at the sound of the words, of the magic in them, but winced when the gesture brought to attention her lips. The boy brightened, nodded, and, still holding her hand, ran into the nearest side street.
He ducked behind a dumpster, taking her with him. A heartbeat later, a woman came by, still shouting, but she sounded more annoyed than fearful to Alexandra. She passed by, and the boy next to her breathed a sigh of seeming relief, then he turned to her and talked again.
"I'm sorry," she said, smiling nervously, "I don't understand the magic-language."
His face froze for a second, as he took in the words, and then he understood what she had known since the beginning.
Neither one of us can understand each other.
He frowned, his mind whirling around the problem of communication. She was also thinking of that too, how to talk to this little wizard-boy, but he came to the solution first.
He brought a hand up, waving it around to indicate everything around them.
"Nihon."
"What?" she asked, confused. Nihon? What was Nihon?
He saw her confusion, and frowned. Then he brought his hand up and pointed upward.
"Sora."
She looked up, searching for what he was pointing too, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Only buildings and windows and walls and glass and...
"The sky?" she asked, pointing her finger to the sky too.
He smiled, a bright curve that she would grow to adore, and brought his hand down to the ground. She mirrored his movements.
"Tsuchi."
"Ground."
He pointed to the crowd a few feet away. She raised her arm to follow his.
"Hitori."
"People."
She fished the apartment key out of her pocket, and showed it to him.
"Kage."
"Key."
He turned his finger to himself, and gave his name.
"Shotaro."
Leaning forward, he put that same hand on her chest, and looked straight into her eyes.
"Alexandra," she said, and smiled, delighted to have a new playmate, a new game to play.