A Quiet Walk Through Time

Liv Palubeckis

Water dripped down the vines as Mei softly brushed past them, leaving swirls of mist and green vapor in the air behind her. Reko was waiting outside the shop across from the vines, and Mei slowly walked around the corner to get to him. She smiled. He was so surprised at the emotion emitting from her that he could only manage a half-hearted grin back.

“Hi Mei, you wanna stop for ice cream on the way back?” He wasn’t sure what her answer was going to be, but he remembered her saying the only thing she liked to eat was ice cream, so he figured it would be a “yes”.

“Sure,” she nodded, grabbing his elbow with her hand. They started walking down the side of the street, the route she normally took to get to the Red Lily, her favorite café.

“When’s your next shift?” Reko asked, wondering how much time he had to spend with her before work. He always enjoyed spending time with her, but she never talked about her schedule much, and he felt strange, almost, when he asked about it.

“Sometime tomorrow, probably sunrise.” She looked around, taking note of every small detail on the street around them: the small water droplets desperately hugging the vines on the buildings, the small cracks in the stone around them, the squeaks of vehicles as they drove, everything. She was always so alert, so observative, nothing ever got past her. Reko admired this about her, how much focus she put into every small action, how thoughtful she was of everything she said or did, how much care she showed even though she tried to hide it.

Mei’s eyes suddenly locked onto a small motion in the alley a few steps ahead of them. He looked towards the same spot and saw a fluffy orange cat carrying a dead alley mouse in its jaws. He looked at Mei; she was completely focused on the cat, as if it were the only thing that mattered. The cat felt Mei’s gaze; it dropped the mouse and looked over its shoulder back at the two of them, both Mei and Reko, and then its eyes glowed a deep dark blue. The lights around them flickered in shades of blue and green. Mei looked around while Reko started mildly panicking.

“Don’t worry, we’re just getting put into its domain.” He stared wildly at her, heart starting to race madly.

“What if it’s a killer cat or something?” Mei snickered. He whipped his head at her, with as angry a look as he could muster. She just laughed even more.

“It’s a water cat.”

“I’m a fire element!” She looked over at him with a sarcastic look on her face, at least he thought it was a sarcastic look. He realized she’d keep him safe, but as most people knew, water and fire didn’t mix, something that was also strange about the two of them.

As the lights finally stopped flickering, pink petals and soft golden lanterns floated through the air. Reko looked down to see he was standing on a teal green lilypad, a really big lily pad. He tugged at Mei’s jacket sleeve, latching on for protection. He looked around more, digging into the details of the domain the cat had moved them into. In the center of each lilypad was a glowing pink flower releasing an endless stream of soft petals. The lanterns floated up from beneath the lily pads. He looked down to see where they were coming from, walking to the edge of the lily pad while still holding on to Mei. He nearly screamed, his voice caught deep in his throat refusing to come out. There was a deep, reflective, endless ocean holding the lily pads afloat; the lanterns were starting off as soft flickers of light floating up from the bottom of the ocean, if there was a bottom.

The water seemed to glow a thousand colors as the lanterns lit up the black sky with golden light. Reko was suddenly pulled backwards as Mei started moving towards the other end of the lily pad. His heart was racing madly, beating to the tune of his fear and terror and angst and every negative emotion he could think of. She seemed so calm though, pulling him to follow her footsteps without stopping, without resting for him to clear his head.

“Ohh, no no no. Not water.” He pulled his hand back, stopping her from jumping off the lilypad with him in tow.

“You have to trust me. We’re not going to be hurt in here. I won’t let you get hurt in here, I promise.” Her deep blue eyes stared into his, lighting his soul on fire. For the first time in a long time, he trusted someone that wasn’t himself; he didn’t have to be alone in the life that had been pushed on him.

“Come on.” She stepped off and started walking on top of the glowing water, leaving ripples cutting through the water and growing into huge waves that kept moving outwards. She took another step forward, leaving Reko with no choice but to follow. She grabbed his hand, comforting him the best she knew how and gently tugged him onto the water behind her. And he followed, placing his trust in her hands, hoping she wouldn’t betray it. But knowing Mei, she wouldn’t, and he felt he’d placed his trust in the right person.

It was a strange feeling, walking on water, but he trusted Mei and figured she’d probably done it a million times before. He followed her as they started on their walk, but a deep part of him wished she’d just stop for even a millisecond so he could catch his breath and calm his beating heart.

“Where are we going?” He asked, voice rising slightly. He didn’t know too much about domains, but Mei was the opposite; she’d covered a whole planet with her domain and eventually completely erased the planet from existence, leaving only her heart and home behind. He needed to trust that she’d get them out, safely. And he did feel safer knowing she was next to him.

“To find the core. Then maybe we’ll be able to get out.” He shivered, not keen on the thought of being trapped in a watery doom for the rest of his life. But after the first few steps, his heartbeat calmed down and slowed, and his hand relaxed around Mei’s wrist. Still he continued gripping on to her, glancing at her face every time she turned her head to look back at him, searching her eyes for that familiar glow that ensured him he’d be okay, and he found it every time.

She gripped his hand tighter, yet again offering the comfort she knew how to give. She stopped walking, leaving them to stand on a lilypad. Pink petals rose from the flower in the center, highlighting the gold lantern lights that floated forever upwards, without an end. His mind filled with dread at the thought of being like those soft golden lights, moving forward without an end.

“Listen, Reko. I’ll protect you. Especially in here. Don’t be afraid.” Mei gave his hand a small squeeze. “Come on. We’re almost there.” Walking turned into running as he saw what she had seen, a glowing golden light on the horizon. Pink petals started to swirl into the core in lines that revealed themselves as they grew closer to the core, twirling around it in circles of dances. The water below their feet grew lighter and lighter as the gold streams of color began floating towards the core instead of up into the endless, black, starless sky. Colors and dreams and emotions all gathered in the core of this dark, beautiful place, leaving nothing behind and everything out in the open.

Mei stopped and stared. Reko did the same, looking at her instead of the core. She felt his blinding gaze and looked over her shoulder at him, still gripping his hand tightly. 

“I told you I’d get us out.” She smiled a bit, leaving him with a small smirk.

“I thought you said you’d protect me?” She gripped his hand a little too tight and rolled her eyes; actually, it was more like a sarcastic look to the side.

“Look.” She said, pointing at the core. The same fluffy orange cat was sitting on a swirling storm of petals, watching them with color shifting eyes. It jumped off its throne and meandered towards them, taking its time, although there was no such thing as time in this domain, Reko somehow realized.

The cat brushed its tail around their legs and the gold lantern lights started flickering again, and suddenly they were back to their reality. It was like no time had passed; Mei’s eyes jumped from detail to detail, determining that nothing was a threat, determining that each person was exactly where they were when they’d been portaled to a different place in time. He knew he’d placed his entire heart and soul with the right person.

“You still up for ice cream?” Reko asked, with a small grin on his face, meeting her now slightly warm eyes.

“Sure.”