It was not a very special day; it was your average Monday with the drowsy surroundings. Ava had a pretty bumpy morning, nearly missing her bus and not finishing an assignment for which she had been threatened—to submit by the following day or else… (be prepared to face dire consequences). She was a beautiful chocolate-eyed girl with curly bangs that gently fell on her soft face. She was in a rush and glided past the battalion of students with a sincere determination to clear her name in front of her professor. It was a smooth charge until the mountainous obstacle of the stairs blocked her path.
She persevered and pulled through only to bump into a new student of the school and BOOM! She rolled down half a dozen stairs and had a concussion. Ava, always a curious girl, used to wonder what a concussion felt like. Now, she got to experience it. She drifted off and transcended into the realm of memories. One would think it was a serene experience, but it was not quite what one would presume. It was like falling into a sea of people; it was all overwhelming like the calm before a storm.
There she was, sitting on a branch with butterflies in her stomach. She was six, with a companion on the old tree overlooking the sea. It was the venue for their weekly tea chats. They would sit there chatting away filled with admiration, for the setting sun and the serene sea or maybe for each other, or both. They were lost amidst something but not quite sure what. The companion’s name was Liam.
Their mums were close friends, and they met every Sunday and thus these two young minds met. The two were of the same age and class but were in different schools. They were so similar but so different at the same time. They longed for the time they spent with each other. The innocent children did not know what was to come.
This particular conversation by the seaside was one of their last ones. The news was broken to Ava that Liam and his family were leaving Toronto and moving to India for eight years. Soft at heart, Ava couldn’t take it; she burst into tears at the prospect of having no one who completed her, to whom she could fearlessly confess her problems and most importantly, whom she loved. But she didn’t realise or recognise this feeling at the time, being a young girl. They finally came to terms with the situation and promised to meet again at their special spot when he returned and watch the sea—growing old together upon that very cherry tree branch overlooking the sea. With trembling hands, she etched their initials onto the tree branch and got down safely, unaware of the oncoming gradual drift between the two.
With this instance fresh in her mind, she woke up with a jolt to the present. She got up on a stretcher in the medical room. She saw the time and it hit her that her science class was going on. She urged and convinced the nurse to let her go. As she walked to her class, the events of the peculiar dream swirled around in her mind.
Why had she dreamt of this out of the blue? Despite not having any connection with him since he left, what had triggered this memory to resurface? Had this been in her subconscious mind this whole while? And then it struck her—it had been eight years since Liam left!
She had forgotten but her conscience could not let go of that certain entity who was part of her life eons ago. So many things had changed. She wondered if he had returned, if he would keep his promise and contact her. How much had he changed? Where was he? How did he look? How was he? She was also amazed at herself for remembering such a minute but impactful part of her early childhood.
She entered the classroom, dazed by what had just happened. She managed to mutter a soft apology and gave an excuse for not being able to submit her assignment. The professor may as well have been scolding her, but she couldn’t bring herself back to reality as much as she tried. She silently moved to her seat and started zoning out like how a sane student of grade 8 would in a boring chemistry lesson.
The thoughts began flooding her mind again. “Was he in her school? Was he the new student who gave me a concussion this morning?” she guessed. She started becoming hopeful and optimistic. Then suddenly her phone rang with an unknown number. She immediately cut the call. Then she received a text from that number saying, “Hey, Liam here. Meet me at the cherry tree by the seaside at 4pm. Thanks bye.”
REFLECTION: Complete the Story
What do you think happens when Ava meets Liam?
