Twisted Dreams

Kii

"Why do you write, even when nobody reads it?"

You look up from your phone screen, pausing your frantic tapping. She sits on a tree branch above you, propped up on the trunk of it with her arms crossed. Her skin is dark, her fluffy, curly cloud of hair darker. Her eyes are a beautiful, unusual shade blue. She smiles at you: an invitation. You put the phone in your pocket and head towards the tree.

"Who are you?" you ask, finding worn footholds in the trunk that you'd never seen before. You start to climb, careful and slow.

"A friend," she replies, nonchalantly.

You laugh, gripping a branch. Adrenaline pumps through your veins as your breaths become slightly labored. "What should I call you, then?" You hoist yourself up, settling onto a thick branch with a sigh. Looking sideways, you see the girl on a similar branch nearby, thinking hard.

"Kii." She turns and grins at you, uncrossing her arms. "Call me Kii."

You smile back at her, your breath and heartrate slowly steadying. "Alrighty then, Kii. I'm--"

"I know who you are," she says, almost exasperated. She leans back, looking up at the sky. I wonder if there are bugs in her hair. "You still haven't answered my question. Why do you write, even with no readers?"

I distantly wonder how she knows I write, and that nobody reads it. But she knows my name, too -- or at least says she does. I look up as well. "Because I like it. It helps me think. Even if nobody else reads it, at least I can. And that counts for something."

She's quiet, for a moment, as if thinking, or not knowing what to say. I look back over at her. The branch is empty and still. I gaze at it for just a moment, then let out a breath and begin climbing back down.