LOVE. No other name.

Black and White 1

                 It was a typical Friday. Everything was the same as yesterday.

                The green hills were still green with grass. The tall trees were still tall and seemingly touching the sky. The birds still chirped lively melodies.

                I was still living in an ordinary country, and stuck in the middle of the 20th century. And I was still a 10-year old boy, still growing up in this countryside. Oh, and I was a tired schoolboy walking home, too.

                I kept looking straight ahead until my favourite tree was in sight. It’s not the tallest tree here, not even the one with the greenest leaves, but it’s the tree that always told me, “Hey Ishac! You’re almost there.” which was quite a relief considering that our house was located at the next village.  Since I already covered half the distance to home, I decided to sit under the shade of my beloved tree for a while.

Plok!

PLEASE DON’T BE BIRD POOP.

I touched my cheek, and whatever fell on my face was a liquid, it was non-sticky, water-like… rain? I gotta check if the clouds---

                      “Please don’t look up!”, I traced hesitation and one other emotion in her young voice. The moment I realized that the other feeling was pain, I knew it was a teardrop…it was her teardrop that landed on my cheek. But why would she ask me not to--- “I’m wearing a skirt, you know. S-sorry, I didn’t notice you were there.”, she said, as if responding to the unsaid question in my head. I waited for some time before looking up, so she could fix her skirt and all.

                         I struggled to catch a glimpse of her face, and she looked really familiar even if I could only make out some of her features because of the brightness and her distance to me. She was perched on a branch that was kinda high, she quickly wiped her cheeks but the sadness in her aura lingered even after her tears were dried.

                       “What are you doing up there? Kaytin?” saying that name made me feel different. Could it be, the pretty girl from school… climbing my favourite tree to cry secretly? Why was she crying? I sort of expected our first conversation to be happier, of course I didn’t want her to be talking to me in that tiny pained voice, but maybe it was okay, at least I got the chance to talk to her, which was way better than just watching her moving about in the hallway or walking home---WAIT, I’ve already thought of so many stuff, why wasn’t she responding? I cleared my throat.

“My name is not Kaytin. That’s my elder sister.” she answered the question I had asked in my mind again. So that explains the resemblance, “What’s your name then?”

                I watched her lips move; I heard her but didn’t understand what she said, “What?”

                She said something longer, in a softer voice this time, and I decided to just climb up because I was starting to think she suddenly turned mute though she was shouting things just moments ago.

                Arriving at a spot close to her, I figured she was only about 7 years old, and I told Kaytin’s strange little sister, “There. What were you saying?”

                She replied loudly, in a somewhat annoyed tone, as if she was talking to someone below but she was looking at me, “I saaaaid I’d tell you when I got down.”

Oookay, am I the one suddenly turning blind and deaf? I climbed down as swiftly as I came up, and noticed she was watching me before going down the same way I did. Afterwards, SHE LAUGHED. Forget strange, CRAZY is the adjective that suits her better, “What’s the matter with you? One moment you’re crying, and then you’re laughing like that?!”

                She shrugs it off and smiles, I look into her still-a-little-wet eyes, eyes exactly like her sister’s, as she offers her small hand, “That’s just how I am. My name’s Xieca.”

                I still take her hand for formality’s sake and say, “I’m Ishac.”

                Oh boy, I am now friends with my crush’s sister.

--NOTE: This story was written originally as a script for a musical play using songs from the 70's and earlier..(excuse my wild imagination for not being in close touch with reality), but my classmates and friends commented that the plot was OK enough to be actually made into a novel. So there. :))

 THANK YOU for checking this story out.  PLEASE read until the end, give it a shot. I'd be happy to read your comments and suggestions.