Komorebi

Amelia loved stories. Children stories, fantasy, sci-fi, romance, comedy, thriller, mystery, horror—it didn't matter; she loved them all. When she first woke up in the hospital, she was greeted by the sound and sight of her nurse, Celia, flipping pages of a paperback novel. When asked, the nurse told her that she was reading a fantasy and readily read the story to her. Both knew that they had found a new friend that day.

  "Have you read this book before?" Amelia asked as they walked in the hallways of the hospital. Amelia being a few steps ahead, she walked backwards to face her nurse.

  Celia shook her head. "I'm afraid I haven't. You should pay attention to where you are going. I've been telling you this ever since you've been here," she scolded.

  "I will if you promise that you'll read it to me." Amelia grinned.

  Celia sighed, stopping. "I'm sorry, Amelia, but you know what day it is; I have to go back to the city again for the orphanage. You know how much the orphanage needs help, right?"

  "But can't you stay a little longer and at least read me the first chapter? Please?" Amelia begged, holding the book in front of the nurse with her pleading face peeking from the side.

  Celia let out a sigh once more; being reminded of how stubborn Amelia can be. She knew that the situation would end up with Amelia's demands if she bargained. "I have to go now. I promise I'll read it to you when I get back tonight, okay?" Celia promised, handing Amelia the other two books in a hurry. She turned to head back to the exit. "I promise!"

  "But Celia!" Amelia called, but Celia was already gone, leaving her alone in the hallway with the three hard-bound books in her arms. It was this instant when she noticed two different things that she hadn't been aware of when she entered the building.

  First, black and orange streamers covered the walls along with several pieces of pumpkin and ghost cut-outs. There were cut cotton balls strewn across the ground, imitating a spider's nest. The sight of this somehow made her feel giddy inside for the hallway, which practically screamed: Halloween!

  Second, there was a body on the ground, which she wouldn't have been able to see if she didn't admire the Halloween decorations for it was blending with the cotton balls. It looked like a young man—far older than the kids; maybe around her age. His raven black hair stuck out like he'd just woken up. Since he was faced down, she recognized the hospital's logo on his back. He had a small physique, which attributed to his camouflage under the group of cotton balls.

  Quickly, she put down the books and rushed to the side of the fallen boy. "Hey, are you okay?" She asked, nudging the boy's shoulder.

  There was a low rumble that very much resembled a growling thunder in the midst of an approaching storm.

  "Hey," she said, nudging him a little harder.

  There was that low rumble again, but this time the boy turned his head and mumbled, "Food."

  "Food?" She repeated; worried. It wasn't a kid, alright. If she were to guess, she could've easily figured that he's around her own age or even older. His curly black hair arched across his eyes like tiny thorns, nesting his eyes that were closed tight accompanied with a pained expression that scrunched his whole face up.

  Across the hall, she heard a door slide open, followed by a call, "Taylor? Taylor!" The call was followed with a run towards her.

  "Amelia! Is that Taylor?" It was a nurse. Sweat dripped down from his forehead, his glasses in an awkward position on his nose. His sudden arrival beside her made her jump a little bit, as if he was a falcon that had swooped down from nowhere.

  "I— Well, I don't know who this Taylor is."

  The nurse hastily crouched beside the fallen boy and inspected. He gasped. "Taylor! Please, wake up!" Amelia watched as the nurse continued to tap his shoulder and nudged his body.

  "I heard him say 'food,'" Amelia said.

  The nurse snapped his fingers as if he just solved a great mystery. "Of course! Be right back, Amelia. You keep an eye on him while I go fetch a meal."

  "What, why?"

  "Just do it! Who knows where he might end up next. I'll come back in five minutes!" he yelled as he ran outside the building.

  Amelia curled her lips in confusion. She was alone with the unconscious boy once again. From the distance, the sound of chattering nurses was becoming fainter, a sign that their afternoon break is coming to an end. Soon it will be busy once more in the hallways.

  The nurse didn't come back five minutes later, however, leaving her bored and stiff right next to the unmoving boy. The boy, on the other hand, was still unconscious. He moaned little bits and piece of cafeteria delicacies from time to time, making her wonder if he wasn't being fed properly.

  She sat down by the wall and went through the three books in her possession, figuring out which was the first book and which was the last. When she found the first one, she opened it, skipped the copyright page, the title's page, the author's forenote and started reading. Just like that, she was in another world, with the groaning boy right beside her.

  Reading the first chapter of the book out loud to the boy was easy for Amelia, as if it was second nature for her to do so right next to a semi-conscious boy who's calling for food. She relaxed, settling on the cotton-decorated wall. Finishing the first chapter, she read the second chapter up to the end—the point where she couldn't read more; her own head and stomach longed for food.

  "Sorry it took a while," the male nurse that left her earlier had returned. He carried a tray with two plastic plates with wrapping paper stacked on each other. The sight of it made her stomach growl. "The cafeteria ladies didn't want fixing a meal before lunch. Here, I brought you your own," he said, handing Amelia the other plate. He knelt right next to the boy as Amelia hungrily ripped open her meal. She set her books right beside her as she started to devour the food.

  "I'm sorry. I don't think you know me yet, but I know you," the nurse said. "Name's Prince."

  As she ate, Amelia scanned him from head to toe. He looked like someone Celia would swoon over.

  "You're pretty popular around here," Prince said.

  Amelia gulped down a bite. "It looks like it. I've been here longer than anyone, so I deserve it." She grinned.

  "This is Taylor," he introduced, coaxing the boy. "We got transferred here due to renovation in the hospital down town."

  "Oh so you guys are new?"

  "Mmm," the boy seemed to reply.

  Prince nodded. "Pretty much."

  A growling sound echoed from the boy. Amelia laughed. "I think you should feed him before his stomach devours itself."

  "Good idea," Prince replied. "C'mon, let's get you up." Prince propped the boy on the wall. He opened the boy's meal. "Here."

  "Mmm."

  "You need to eat, come on." Prince put the plate on the boy's lap.

  Taylor's nose scrunched up, eyes still closed. "I smell fish."

  Prince ignored it. "Eat."

  "I smell fish."

  "It's salmon."

  Taylor shook his head. "Tuna."

  "Just eat, please."

  "Mmm," Taylor replied.

  Amelia watched in curiosity as the Prince handed the boy his spoon and fork. Taylor hovered over a few things, sniffing here and there. He tapped the slab of tuna on his plate.

  "This is the tuna?" he asked.

  "Mhm," Prince answered.

  Taylor moved over to the side of the plate where a mush of potato was located. "...And this?"

  "Potato," Amelia said.

  "Mmm."

  He's weird, Prince mouthed at Amelia.

  Is he blind? Amelia mouthed back.

  Prince nodded just as Taylor started digging in. He first went slowly, spearing a part of the tuna and taking a spoonful of mashed potato. Amelia observed the boy as he meticulously ate, each element on his plate being equally eaten and mixed—like he memorized where everything is and how much of each was remaining. Amelia was amazed. This was the blind boy she had heard about.

  "That's it?" Taylor said, a warm glow spreading through his face, revitalizing hi
s body.

  "Still hungry?" Prince asked as he took his plate away.

  Taylor shook his head. "Where are we, by the way? And how did I get here?"

  Prince chuckled. "In the hospital hallway. Ms. Amelia here was keen enough to find you."

  "'Amelia?'" Taylor repeated her name, a dazed tinge in his voice. He frowned, silent.

  "That's me," Amelia said.

  "So that wasn't a dream?"

  "What wasn't?" She asked

  "Earlier, I heard you tell me a story."

  "Oh that...I was just, you know, bored."

  "You read out loud?"

  Amelia fidgeted. "No, not always. I just thought—"

  "You have a beautiful voice," the boy said. A wide teeth-less smile grew across his face. If there was such a thing as the perfect lip-only smile, the boy's smile would fit the bill perfectly.

  Amelia's face grew hot. She had the unusual urge to run away and hide under a rock. It bothered her that she wanted to act this way, but even though it seemed like a foreign, out-of-character idea, a part of her knew what this feeling was.

  "Alright, alright, lover boy, let's get back to the room," Prince said, laughing. "We still have to give you a bath."

  "Mmm," Taylor muttered, his cheeks flushing red. Something told Amelia that it had something to do with her.

  "Oh, I'm sorry," Prince replied as he helped the boy stand up. "Shouldn't have said that in front of the lady, hm?"

  "Let's just go," Taylor said, irritated.

  The two guys started walking down the hall, but before they could get too far, Amelia saw the boy say something to Prince. Prince turned around, cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled in a British accent, "If you would allow, his highness would like to meet you once more after he has bathed in his royal chambers!"

  Taylor grappled with his nurse who was laughing manically. Amelia heard him protest, "You're embarrassing me!" and "You're lucky I'm blind!" In the end, they settled off each other, calling a truce for Taylor couldn't hurt his nurse for he was, as he said, handicapped and Prince couldn't hurt his patient for he was, after all, his patient.

  Prince waved good-bye. Amelia waved back, holding back laughter. The two went around a corner, vanishing from her sight.

  Smiling to herself, she bent over to grab her books on the ground. As she was collecting the books one by one, Amelia discovered an object under the random balls of cotton that had fallen off the wall. She pushed aside the cotton; it was a ring. Kneeling down, she wondered to herself what it was before picking it up and examining it.

  The ring was silver. Its glossy side reflected the light travelling through the hallway windows. The girl wondered what could've happened for this ring to just slip out of a person's finger. Such a thing happened rarely without a person's notice, right?

  ...Amelia...

  She dropped the ring. Amelia looked behind her, but saw no one. She peered through the windows to see if it was just some of the kids playing with her. She found none.

  Amelia went back to the ring. She stared at it for a good while before taking it from the polished floor once more.

  It was like stepping into a storm.

  "Amelia!" she heard a woman yell. "It's all going to be fine, baby! It's all going to be alright!"

  The girl threw the ring across the hallway, but it did not stop the voices from coming.

  "Oh God help us!"

  A crack of thunder ripped through the air, but there was no storm outside the windows.

  "Mom!" she heard a girl cry.

  Another chorus of thunder.

  The girl clutched her head, screaming. Amelia hit the cold floor, her books scattering around her. She felt as if someone was trying to drill a thick shard of glass through her skull. Amelia screamed, kicked and squeezed her head as hard as she can—anything to distract her from the pain and the shattered images that flowed through her mind.

  There was thunder, lightning and rain. She saw a bridge being swallowed by the river underneath it. A car was in pieces. Wind swept across the scene like a flurry of sword strikes. A woman hung on the side of the bridge, a hand on the railing with a young girl who, tried as she might, couldn't pull her up. The woman's lips moved, but no words came out. A tear fell out of her eye.

  She let go. The girl watched in horror as the woman fell into the monstrous river. She vanished, like a beast devouring her in one gulp.

  "Mom!" Amelia cried the same time the little girl did.

  It was then when the nurses came; it was then when the pain subsided. The memory she had been given was stolen once more like a fleeting bird. The girl was left confused, anguished and in shock, as if she was given something she would’ve loved before taking it away shortly after. Gifted and stolen.

  Kissed and stabbed.