Tree of Wishes

Heart and Steel: A ??? Perspective

The sun's bright rays seeped into my eyes.

The ocean's gentle waves flowed in and out of the shoreline.

The seagulls in the sky circled above me as they cried out to one another.

The crispy, salty air stung my nostrils as I used the hard, black surface under me to sit up straight.

This is a beach, I realized, and I was laying on a rock bed. Large, jagged rocks surrounded me despite how close I was to the safer, sandier side of the beach a few yards away. I couldn't recall how I wound up here, or how it was even possible. In fact, I couldn't even remember my own name.

Not long after I regained my senses, I spotted a woman heading towards me. Her long, black dreads bounced with her as she carried a red toolbox in tow, and combined with her leather gloves, orange bandana and shirt, and blue overalls, her appearance gave the impression of a factory worker. What was someone like that doing out in the middle of the beach?

"Oh, good! You're aware!" she said once she reached me, then kneeled down to my level with her eyes focused on the lower half of my body. "I was worried I'd have to carry all this weight back to the hut. You think you can stand?"

I glanced down at my legs to see what she was referring to. Rather than have normal, human legs, I possessed a pair of silver, metallic legs with blue wires running across like veins. When I imagined wiggling my toes, the toes on the legs did exactly that, as naturally as any other pair of legs.

"I... think so," I replied, my voice too dry and hoarse to say much else.

Summoning what little strength I had, I slowly began to stand up, lifting myself one leg at a time. The legs were able to support my body without any issues. I didn't know how I obtained these legs, but I was grateful for how useful they were.

Still kneeling down to closely examine my legs, the woman said, "Hm... okay. Good. Looks like everything is functioning just fine. Might have to scrape off some sand in the gears, but otherwise they're in top condition."

"Do you... know who I am?" I asked while pointing to myself.

She sat up and shook her head. "I was hoping you'd tell me."

"That's the issue. I don't... remember anything."

"Damn, really?" She sighed and scratched the back of her head. "That ain't good. But maybe it'll come back to you after you've gotten some rest. Name's Mason by the way. Mason Smith."

"It's nice to meet you, Mason," I said as a polite gesture, feeling no strong emotions one way or the other.

"Likewise." She then gestured towards a path of rocks further down the beach. "My hut's over this way. I'll get you a tune-up, some grub, and even a new pair of pants. We'll worry 'bout the bill after you've got your memory back."

It took me a moment to figure out what she meant. In terms of clothing, all I had on was a ripped pair of gray, elastic shorts. A heat of embarrassment rose up to my cheeks when I realized I was nearly naked in front of a woman, yet she seemed entirely unfazed by this. Then again, this was a beach, so living nearby must have gotten her used to seeing such things. I nodded and agreed to follow her down the path, carefully avoiding any gaps that might grab at my legs.

Her hut was a wooden shack up by the cliffside of the beach. Inside was various tools ranging from hammers to sawblades to torches all nearly organized on the desk and walls. They all shined like they were bought fresh from the store, which was a stark contract to the one bed shoved in the corner. It was littered with empty ramen cups and beer cans while the brown, tattered sheets were messily bunched into a ball.