Yumekami

He didn't know what happened.

At one moment, she was smiling at him and the next, that smile was frozen, she had grabbed his wrist and he had ended up in pitch black darkness.

He didn't like it one bit.

It made him uneasy, because he felt like he had ended up somewhere, where he didn't belong.

Somewhere, where he was not welcome.

A place that had been hidden from him until now.

A place where setting his foot in could be considered taboo.

A place he feared.

"Coward," her voice was quiet, but filled with disgust and resentment. He felt taken aback, because he hadn't said anything and yet she seemed to know what was going on in his mind.

"This is my inner world. You're an intruder. How could I not know what you are thinking?" Her voice answered coldly. He could feel drops of liquid falling on to his face and with surprise he discovered that he had closed his eyes.

When he opened them, he could only see grey.

He was in the middle of an ocean, sitting on the ruins of a pillar. She was right next to him, dressed in a formal way, wearing a top hat. Seeing that he finally opened his eyes, she did a mock bow to him, officially welcoming him to her world.

"It's not much but I hope you will enjoy your stay," she added sarcastically. And after that, she didn't say anything. They were sitting in silence whilst the rain became heavier, making him shiver in the cold. She barely seemed to notice it, only smiled slightly in satisfaction when his teeth began to chatter.

Only when he really seemed to get desperate did she finally open her mouth again.

"Enjoying it?" She asked while smiling sweetly. He ignored her question and asked the question that had been lingering on his mind instead.

"Why did you bring me here?" He questioned and she shrugged in response.

"No idea." She said in a carefree manner.

"Maybe I wanted to show you what you are dealing with. Maybe I couldn't keep my emotions in anymore. Maybe I wanted to see you suffer. The possibilities are endless." She smiled dreamily into the distance.

"But what I really might have been after is for an answer. Look." She pointed at the sea directly in front of them. When taking a closer look, he could distinct bright pathways beneath the surface of the sea.

"What are those?"

"Choices on what to do with my life. Now turn around." He did as told and saw that there were pathways as well. Except one of them was different than the others. It was covered in what seemed like glass shards, with a red thread adorning the beautiful, yet sad picture.

"This is...?"

"The path I took to get to this spot." She suddenly seemed amused. "The red thread of Fate is indeed a curious thing. It gives me Choice, yet I end up in the same point anyway, no matter what I do. But perhaps it has allowed me to take the quickest road down to the sadness I was meant to reach one day anyway."

He didn't say anything. He had a lot of questions to ask, but none of them seemed to form themselves as a completed one in his head.

"These pathways are truly curious." She started again. "Can you see those shards? They're pieces from my dreams, my expectations. Yet Fate lies them down on every path I take, so that I could crush them myself."

She laughed, though he had no idea what could have made her find this situation funny. Perhaps she was going mad.

The rain cleared for a second to let in a small ray of sunshine. But it was gone as quickly as it had come and he found himself yet again shivering in the rain. He wondered whether the weather was somehow influenced by her as well but did not voice the question. He could see her nod absentmindedly to him, but her thoughts were occupied with taking a look at the roads she hadn't walked on yet.

"You said you were looking for an answer?" He did his best to make his voice sound light and carefree, but he had a nagging feeling that he did not succeed. She glanced at him briefly and nodded.

"As you can see, there are three paths." She pointed at each of them. "I have to choose one, to get to that point over there." she pointed at a point on the horizon and when he squinted his eyes to see better, he could make out a bright light.

"What is that?" He asked and she shook her head. "My only hope that things will get better from now on."

"I've been sitting here for weeks, trying to make up my mind. I know that the longer I stay in this point, the worse will the decision making get, but I just don't seem to have the guts to do it. I'm not even sure what I want anymore. But I definitely don't want to take this road." She waved her hand towards the one on the right, which was slowly being covered in grass and underwater plants.

"But I'm not sure about the other two either. Nothing seems to be like a good option." The rain got heavier with every word.

"Just choose either one. I'm sure it'll work out no matter which road you pick." He heard himself say. She smiled weakly, amused by his ignorance.

"It's true that I'll end up at that point anyways. But I'm afraid of which road to take. I'm afraid that I'll end up choosing the one where I end up alone. I don't want to be alone." Her voice was trembling. Not even thinking, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down to the roads. The water was shallower than he had expected, barely reaching his knee. Before she could even protest, he started walking down the road on the left, carefully watching his step so that he wouldn't step on the glass figurines.'

"What are you doing?" She asked, protest in her voice.

"Helping you choose." He answered simply. For a moment, it seemed like she wanted to say something. But then she turned her head away and let herself be dragged away by him.

The rain stopped and for once in a long time, the sky cleared up and the sun shone down onto the sea, turning it into a sparkling mess of colours.