The words of the past seem to make your skin crawl, they make your stomach drop and your heart feel full. You don't know why but they just seem right.
𝐅𝐈𝐕𝐄.
"Hey, do you wanna go somewhere today in the afternoon?"
"You and me?"
"Yeah, Meli-" I paused. "The lady from before came to tell me about a festival."
"Fes..ti..bal?"
This is gonna drive me insane. It's like talking to a child.
She interrupted my train of thought. "Yes."
"You'd like to go?"
"Yes." She smiled, already half way to the door.
She's kind of cute.
...
"You eat cloud?" She made a sour face.
"Are clouds pink and blue?"
"No."
"It's cotton candy." I held out the stick of fluffy sugar. "Want some?"
Pantry girl frowned, a confused look before proceeding to lean down, biting the candy like an apple.
"I meant.. to grab some with your hand.." I shook my head. "Whatever works for you I guess."
I looked down at the stick, it looked wet around where she had bit it.
"You know what, you can have it." Her eyes sparkled, happily accepting the stick.
She looked up at me. "You smile."
I cleared my throat. "What are you talking about?"
"No. You smile. I saw."
"Whatever." I looked around trying to find something to distract her.
The Wheel of Fortune glimmered in the distance. "Do you want to go on a ride?"
I don't think she knew what it meant but she nodded.
We chose the swings as a safer option, since I had no idea how she'd react to being 50 feet above solid ground.
A row a short heads each accompanied by a single adult.
"Aren't these guys a little.. old.. to be going on this type of ride." The woman behind us snickered to her husband.
She kept her eyes glued to the twirling ride but I could tell she understood what they had said or at least knew it wasn't a positive remark from their tone.
What a jerk.
"That should be the least of your concerns, look at her clothes.. I'm surprised her partner isn't embarrassed to be seen with her." The man muttered.
My hand started shaking.
Why did it make me so angry? It's not like I know her.
"So are you excited to get on?" I pointed at the group of people who were getting swifted through the air in circles. "They seem to be having fun."
"Very scary."
"We don't have to ride if you don't want to." I offered, a bit defeated.
"We will ride."
...
My stomach churned, I didn't think a kids ride would make me ill. I guess I am getting old.
What the? My sleeve had caught something.
Pantry girl's eyes were closed shut, and she was gripping my sleeve like her life depended on it.
Aw.
"It's okay." My hand wrapped around hers. "Open your eyes, it's really pretty."
She slowly relaxed her eyes eventually opening them to meet mine. I offered a smile, turning to look at the buildings panned out in front of us.
"Woah," Her eyes sparkled in the darkness, I never realized how pretty she was.
For a second, time froze. I could feel the warmth of her hand on my wrist, and I couldn't stop staring at her.
The ride slowly descended to the ground, the moment fading away. I'm going insane.
"How was it?"
"Very pretty. Stars."
...
"Nachos?" She muttered the word muffled by a full mouth.
"Yes, they're called nachos. Now stop shoving them in your mouth so fast or you're gonna choke."
I'm kind of dreading the hyposis appointment now. The second she gets it done she'll realize I'm just a bad person, I'm starting to like her comapny..
Like her company? What the hell is wrong with me. Maybe it's better that the appointment is soon, I have to stop thinking weird things.
"Nachos so good. Nachos great." She mumbled still eating, "Eat these everyday." She ended her sentence on a weird low note, whipping her head around to look at a family who was just leaving the nacho stand.
"Hurry up, Kazuha. Let's go claim your prize." The woman held her daughter's hand with a plate of nachos in the other.
Seemed pretty normal to me, I don't know why she was so interested.
"Kazuha.."
"Yeah?" I studied her face, she looked worse than the day I found her. "What's wrong? It's a really common name."
"It's.." She looked back and forth between the family and me, she knew what she wanted to say but didn't have the words to say it. "My name."
My stomach dropped. "What do you mean your name?"
"Don't know. Remember, Kazuha, only." she smiled. "No, not remember Kazuha, feel Kazuha."
Whatever that means, I guess I don't have the time I thought I did.
"Kazuha is a really pretty name" I mumbled.
She smiled but I could tell she wasn't paying attention. She looked like she was racking her brain trying to find something else, anything.
"We should get going, it's getting late."
...
I awoke in the same dream again. I recognized it instantly, the eerie feeling and the same old woman who I couldn't really make out.
"Why do you keep taunting me?"
"Taunting you? This is nothing compared to what your little girlfriend did to me and my people."
"What girlfriend? Melissa? We're just friends, and if anything we're less than that right now. She's been-"
"Kazuha."
Something about how she said it sent chills up my spine. "What do you mean.."
"It was a long time ago.."
Her words started to fade, I started to see light and next thing I knew Kazuha was shaking me awake.