Friday, January 1, 2010

There's no such place

She climbed up the hill, standing on its top and looked up to the vast blue sky...

Six years ago, he left. Without a word. She woke up quite early that morning, prepared a huge breakfast for two, humming a song whose name she didn't even know. He'd asked her to wait for him on that green hill, the place which had witnessed all the children in this town grow up, one by one, generation after generation. There they first met when she was playing hide and seek with her classmates, and he happened to rescue her out of a bush where she was being frozen seeing a snake approaching her so near. He yanked her out of danger in silence, and left her stunned in silence. For the very first time of her life, she knew what it was to be scared to death.

Covered with the deep green of grass, the hill standing there alone, far at the south end of the town. From its top looking far way down, you could see a small village surrounded by paddle fields which seemed to change colors every season. That village was a mystery to all the children because they never knew its name nor where it was. With their vivid imagination, the children made up all sorts of stories about the mysterious place which was hidden behind the thick curtain of fog from time to time. Unlike those paddle fields, their hill's color almost never changed. It just faded a little in winter, from dark to gray-green. "Why do you like this place so much?" - she once asked him. "Because of its green" - he replied. "You like green?" - she continued. "Not really. Because the hill never changes its green, like you never change your transparent eyes." - he answered, ignoring her blushes.

He said he had something to tell her that morning, something very important. That made her wonder a lot because he was utterly not the expressive type with words. He would prefer actions. After being rescued in those younger days, she met him more often at the hill. Actually he'd come there lots of times before the incident but never been noticed by her or her friends. They'd been mere strangers. She noticed that he always came to the hill alone, with neither friends nor pet, sitting hidden from view behind a bush and looking down to the small village far away. He could sit like that for hours. One day, summoning up all of her courage, she came sit beside him without saying a words. He just gave her a glance before turning back to where he was looking, and that was how they became friends. Because there were very few sounds and words exchanged in their friendship over years, she had no idea what could be so important that he had to bring himself to tell her. However strange it felt, she could just hold back all of her curiosity and wait for the time to come.

- Do you know what they have over there, that village? - asked he.
- I've got no idea. People say it's impossible to reach there.
- Why? Have they tried?
- I don't know. They just told me some stories.
- I heard all of them. But I wonder if they were true. I just want to see them with my own eyes.
- How come? You've never been out of this town.
- Who knows? Maybe I'll be the first to reach that place. Will you go with me then?

She shrugged. It was the longest conversation they ever had. She thought he was only joking because nobody in town even knew the way to that village. Some said it was just as mediocre as any other villages in the world. Others supposed it was a blessed place with the finest land on earth. Actually, she didn't really mind any of them. She'd been born in this town and she'd been always pretty sure that this was also where her grave was built. And during that period, she had no plan to go any further than the hill's end. During that period, her major and only plan was staying by his side.

That morning, she packed all the sandwiches and milk in a small basket, put on her favorite sky-blue hat and in her simple yet lovely flower-patterned dress, she began her way up the hill. He hadn't come yet. She sat on the silk-soft green grass, gently put down the basket, stretching out a little, she enjoyed herself the beautiful sky as well as the soft morning breezes while waiting for him. She looked like a lovely bunch of wild flowers arising upon the green of the hill, waving their little petals under the clear blue sky where several white cloudlets hanging here and there, all of which could be painted into a heartbreakingly beautiful picture. In that picture, our little girl remained waiting hour after hour. She didn't know that from that day, there would be only her left in the picture of the hill. Without him.

- Please come. I'll be waiting. - he said in earnestness.

His words kept playing in her mind and they retained her on the hill until the sun hid itself behind the mysterious village. He'd never broken his promises and hence, she kept assuring herself that he must have been late for some unexpected reasons. But that time, he was late for the rest of her life.

She got home when night spread out its black curtain over the little town. Her basket remained untouched but she didn't feel a tiny bit hungry. That he didn't show up left behind hundreds of theories as well as unanswered questions in her mind and they also filled up her stomach. What was he doing? Where was he now? What had happened to him? Why didn't he come? Why didn't he keep his promise? She felt a little bit angry. Who else wouldn't get mad when she was stood up? But more than that, she felt anxious. She knew he would never break a single promise once he'd made it. "There must be something bad happening" - her premonition whispered. It was too late for her to run out to his home and so she  managed to get through the rest of the night with tons of questions and no sleep.

Next morning, the old postman brought her a letter with his name on the envelope. She tried her best to stay even when receiving the letter from the postman's hand,  but it couldn't shove away the bad feelings strongly growing up in her heart. When the postman walked away, she slowly opened the little green envelope in tremble.

"Dear my little Sarah,
Please forgive me.
I couldn't bring myself to say goodbye to you as I had planned to.
I must go to that village because it's where I'm from, or so my adopting father told me years ago. I want to see the place I was born, no matter it is a cursed or blessed land on earth.
Goodbye, Sarah.
P/S: Yesterday you were as beautiful as the finest painting I ever saw. I was so afraid of seeing you cry in that picture. Your eyes, their beauty, can I ever see them again when I'm back?"

And so he left. In silence.

"Can I ever see them again when I'm back?" - Did that mean she would meet him again? That he wasn't leaving forever? That they could climb up the hill together again? That she could sit by his side in silence again? She found herself again lost in a mess of questions.

It's been years and the hill was still as green as ever. She looked out to the line where her sky met up with the land far way, wondering where he could be now. The village was still as silent as a sleeping fairy covered in smoke. Its surrounding paddle fields are changing their color into pale yellow this season. Nothing had changed in the mysterious stories about the far village, but she had no idea if he could possibly become a tiny dot somewhere in the middle of that sight. However, at least she knew that still they were sharing the same sky and the village as well as the hill would never disappear from this world like he did.

Under the immense blue sky, she found herself murmuring a foolish question: "Down there does he ever look up to this hill to find where I am?"



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"There's no such place" - a song by Augie March of which I owed a friend for her brilliant recommendation.

1 comment:

  1. Beautifully written! I like the story a lot. You should write more.

    This reminds of a song that I love. It is called "There is no such place" by Augie March. The last part of the lyrics fit with your story really well..

    I will send you the mp3 if you like. Just PM me on soompi :).

    ReplyDelete