Waiting for a New Day

Prologue: How Quickly They Can All Fade Away

The wind gently blew on a frigid October morning; browned leaves fluttering about in the wake of Autumn, which had arrived a little over a month ago. 

The city, previously overrun by an unbearable heat and equally trying levels of humidity, had now completely transformed to leave way to rain clouds and mist. It was a completely different atmosphere than before.

At least, that's what a peculiar girl felt. Her shoulder-length blonde hair swayed with the occasional breeze, and so would her neatly arranged uniform's vest. It was nothing to be awestruck by; the uniform itself was composed of a simple dress shirt and a purple-stripped tie, tucked neatly under a navy-blue blazer and vest. The pants - infuriatingly more restricting than the skirt of her summer uniform - were also of a complementary navy blue.

Yes, nothing could be said about her appearance; it was average, absurdly common, and she certainly wasn't the type of girl who would make people turn their head around when passing by when dressing on a casual day. Nor was she the "secret beauty" type that would become the epitome of attractiveness once some self-care was injected into her.

It had now been three years since she had arrived in this city despite her family's reluctance to let her live alone so far away from home. She had packed her bags and left stomping on a feisty disagreement between her and her parents and had declared to never come back until they supported her fully.

It was her, admittedly feeble, way of expressing rebellion, a need to discover independence before the weight of it would crush her. Thankfully, the argument only lasted the first month of the school year as they eventually came to realise she seemed to be faring quite well on her own.

At first, she certainly was intimidated. Why, the furthest she had gone away from home was merely her high school, and by God, it was in another district! Scarcely could words describe the apprehension she felt at having thrown away her safety net and pierced the bubble of her comfort zone, in which she had remained for most of her life.

The girl exhaled deeply, cloud escaping her small, trembling lips as she tried her best to conceal her amusement. To her, this childish motion would never grow old; and perhaps, never would she.

This city had become akin to a home to her, perhaps even more than her own family's residence, for it was where she had met the most important people of her life, and where she had finally began to feel like she had found the person she wanted to become. Of course, adolescence and young adult life was all about self-discovery and arming yourself as much as possible for the difficulties that would lay ahead; but she felt like the purpose she had found was much more profound, much more philosophical than that.

How long had it been since she had come to reason that way? 

The girl lost herself in her distant memories as her feet carefully grazed the coldly glazed concrete.

If she had to say... yes, it began a year after she had arrived in this city. On a special date that marked a meeting she prayed would never fade from her memory even in decades' time. 

This time, she uttered a simple sigh that transformed once more into condensation and lifted her head; her feet had completely halted and she now stood in place, amidst other students hurriedly making their way to their faculties. She observed the colourless, cloudy sky as if in trance.

The stars were still there even if you couldn't see them. 

In her lifetime, they would never disappear.

As she pondered the distance that separated this "world", as she knew it, from so many others, a bird flew overhead.

She could not make out any of its distinctive features, yet could not bring herself to tear her eyes away from the sight of the bird, who was flying off in the distance, becoming more and more of an indiscernible dot amidst the sky.

He, too, would never disappear even if she couldn't see him.

Thus, she wondered.

Would they always be by her side if only she could continually observe them?