If I could have wings to fly

Ch. 6 The Cliffs

"Here we are."

Tine was amazed by what he saw.  How come he never knew about this place?

They were at an isolated edge of town, on a stone bridge above the ocean. On the right side of them were huge, rocky cliffs that extended around town.  

All Tine could see was the endless blue sky.  Dark, violent waves swirled and crashed against the rocks with a resonating roar. The wind blew restlessly, blowing against their hair and shirts.  Tine didn't feel like he was in university anymore.  He felt like the wind and waves were carrying him far, far away.

"I like coming out here" Sarawat yelled over the crashing waves. "The view from the cliffs are even better".  He pointed towards the tall cliffs on his right.  "You feel like you're on top of the whole world".

Tine took in the fresh air before noticing something. "Isn't that a No Entry sign?"  There was a very low, short fence with a No Entry sign on one part of the cliffs.  Looking at it, Tine doubted that it prevented anyone from climbing up there.

"Yeah, but it wasn't there before".  Sarawat leaned against the bridge, staring into the endlessness. "A couple years ago, a guy jumped and the waves took him. That's why they put that thing up".

"Damn...I'm sorry to hear that" Tine looked down. The waves looked like they could swallow him up within seconds.

"I knew him, actually. I  grew up here before my family moved away".  Sarawat continued. "My friends - the three of us -  used to play there all the time.  Now that I'm back, I don't go up to the cliffs that much anymore".

Tine looked over to Sarawat.  He knew Sarawat wasn't one for small talk, but this was deep.  Tine just shook his head.  Sarawat was so unpredictable.  Sometimes he was closed off, barely uttering a word.  Other times, he was raw and open, voicing all of his inner thoughts.

"Wait, did you know that P'Pha also grew up here? His parents are professors" Tine remembered.

"Yeah, I know Pha" Sarawat muttered gingerly. Huh, that odd.  Pha always complained about Sarawat, but he never once told them that he knew Sarawat before college.

Suddenly, a flock of white birds flew above them, circling around before spreading into the sky.

If only I could have wings to fly, far, far away.

"I used to want to just fly away.  Get away from here."  Sarawat said, looking up at the birds.  Tine was shocked.  Did we seriously just think the same thing?  

 Sarawat slowly reached out to Tine's hand on the bridge, holding it softly.  It was so gentle and so unlike Sarawat that Tine forgot to flinch away.   

"But I don't want to anymore. Tine, they say that if you live your whole life for other people, you won't have lived at all." 

Tine just looked into Sarawat's dark eyes, not sure what he was trying to convey to him.  He felt like Sarawat had confessed something important; yet he also felt like Sarawat was a complete mystery.

Sarawat put his hands back in his pockets.  "Let's get going" he said abruptly. Tine followed him out, his head full of lingering questions. 

"Oh, one thing Tine".

"Huh?"

"Remember to come see me play on Friday".

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Remember to come see me play on Friday. Remember to come see me play on Friday.

"Ahhhhhhh!"  Tine gripped his hair and screamed out in frustration.  "Shhhh!!" Some girl sitting at a another table shushed him.  "Sorry, sorry!" Shit, he completely forgot that he was in the library.