In lands far off; in a place cut off from time; was a quaint and peaceful town which sat by the sea. And quite a few ways off from its outskirts, was a paradise, fields of beautiful greeneries dotted with flowers in colorful hues. A fantasy dreamland where the sun never sets, but never rises either. Where one would be energized by the warmth of the day, and would be compelled into the enigmatic beauty of the night. A place where one knows how it feels to dream, and to breathe simply because he can. Where one would wake up under the canopy of the trees in a fine spring day, take in the sweet perfume of summer, watch the golden brown leaves dance along with the warm autumn air, and run around the white snow in the winter seasons. It was where the purifying rain falls down upon one, and stops. Fresh. New. Reborn. And a colorful rainbow would appear, where a pot of gold awaits at the other end.
It was a place of wondrous mysteries, where everything is not as they seem to be—where new adventures await at every corner.
The nearby sea, was just as majestic. The fine grains of sand shift along ones fingers, along with the cool refreshing water. Where one would watch the tide come in, tickling his toes with its crystal waters. And at every sunset, the golden sun would paint the vast heavens in hues of orange, and one could only gape in awe as he stares in the horizon. The night was just as wonderful. The moon would gaze down, shining her silver light upon paradise, and the stars would twinkle brightly—shimmers of hope in the azure sky.
It was a place, simply paradise indeed.
And in the midst of it all, was a beautiful sakura tree, which bloomed in the brightest of pink.
“Tag! Hahaha! You’re it!” a boy happily declared as he went around the tree’s wide trunk, peering over his shoulder as a girl tailed closely behind him.
“Aw…no fair!” she whined, nearly tripping on a root as she ran.
It was at that very same sakura tree, where two young children loved to play, both in the naïve, innocent age of seven.
“Slowpoke!”
“Am not!”
“Am to!”
“Augh! Get back here!”
Laughter then followed.
The two had been playmates ever since they could remember, and this paradise was their world. They would run around the fields all day, their laughter piercing right through the crisp air of a fine sunny day; they would play all sorts of games and hum all sorts songs together, lying upon the fresh green grass, basking in the energizing warmth of the morning sun; and if they were already tired, they would cool off under the shade of the trees in a nearby woods, letting the warm breeze wrap around them, along with the scent of nature and the relaxing sounds of the wilderness.
They too, were classmates, and during weekdays, they would wait for each other in their meeting place, at the sakura tree, and then would walk to school together, hand in hand, their feet treading along paths of rocky gravel lined with magnificent rose bushes, flowers shimmering with their bright red color. Both were popular in their school, loved by all, classmates and teachers alike.
They would stroll around the town square, enjoying the festive atmosphere the late afternoon brought. They would watch puppet plays, they would eat snacks. They would skip down the town’s main street and would play hide-and-seek at its maze-like alleys. Afterwards they would walk by the sea and watch the sunset together. They would say each others’ “Goodnight’s,” and would go to sleep, whisked away into the land of dreams, before the sun shines once again, and another beautiful day yet repeats itself.
Both lived perfect lives, in a perfect place simply paradise indeed, a wonderland, a realm which, in all its’ beauty and splendor, seemed like one from a dream. And the young boy and girl, with their childish innocence to the harsh world still intact, never saw the nightmares which lay ahead.
And here they were again, enjoying each other’s company like how they usually do, on a snowy day—that time of the year which they loved the most. That day, they had a snowball fight. They had built a snowman. They had made snow angels and now, they sat by the sakura tree’s braches, still as summery pink as ever despite the cool season. Every once in a while, their eyes would meet, and would automatically exchange smiles with no particular reason. Maybe it was because of the different emotions which whirled inside them whenever they were together. They never knew what it was—a strange emotion which had probably developed over time, perhaps by accident, perhaps not.
They never knew.
“Do you hear that?”
The girl raised a fine brow. “Hear what?”
“The beating in my chest,” he replied. “Do you hear it?”
“Let me hear it,” the girl said as she brought an ear closer to his chest. Her eyes then widened upon hearing the faint thumping inside it. “Yeah, I do!” she pulled away. “I wonder what it means…”
The boy shrugged. “Hmmm. I don’t know…”
Yes, life was just one happy game for them—the young boy and the young girl. That was the magic of their wonderland.
But sometimes, magic can only be an illusion.
And illusions, no matter how real they seem, fade.
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Ephemeral Paradise
FanfictionA tale as old as time, a song as old as rhyme, about two lovers, worlds apart yet heavily intertwined by the strings of love. A deep red in color, as beautiful as that of a rose, yet too, held the same nauseating shade as that of blood. A story of l...
