#ihavenotags

(If you find typos or anything, please bare with me....they're easy to miss)

I turn around to look behind me.

"Did someone just...?" I could've sworn someone just said my name, but everyone in the market is going about their normal business.

"I guess I imagined it..."

[Of course I did. No one should even know I'm here. Besides, there’s no way I’d be able to able to pick out my name in such a noisy crowd.]

I tug decidedly on the hood of the cloak covering my head and start up again; wordlessly telling myself I was simply hearing things.

"....Kite...."

The assured grip on the fringe of my navy blue hood slackens and the corners of my mouth dip down only to rise back into position so quickly that I almost think I imagined doing that as well. I halt in my tracks and pivot in place to look behind me, but yet again fail to see anyone trying to get my attention. While scanning the horde of patrons, I catch glimpse of a man in what looks like beat up armor coming my way. Thinking he would merely go around me, I don't give it a second thought. That is, until I'm nearly knocked off my feet.

"Excuse you, sir." I expect to hear an apology in return but I instead get a scoff from the man, as if to say, "Yeah, well next time, don't stand in the way."

I try not to dwell on how inexcusably poor I was just treated and move on instead. Still having not completely forgotten about it, I call out, "Did someone say Kite?" I'm really hoping I wasn't hearing things. It's going to be pretty embarrassing if it turns out I was wrong about someone saying my name. Resisting the urge to look down at the top of my boots so I can deny having said anything, I look to see if anyone heard me.

"I did!"

A small voice somehow escapes from the much larger crowd and finds its way to me. A little girl had been the one saying my name. The high pitch of her voice doesn’t leave much room for dispute.

"I need you to speak so I can make myself toward you."  Though it would no doubt be easier for the girl to maneuver through the crowd since she's young and likely to be tiny, I think going to her myself is the more safe option. The girl somehow knew about my presence in the crowd, but that doesn't mean more should become aware as well.

[Although, seeking out little girls does seem like a much more dangerous alternative than attracting little girls.]

God hope there be no misunderstandings.

The girl calls out and, with a mixture of gentle nudges and not so gentle shoves, I manage to reach her. By some miracle, I squat down on the ground so that I can be face to face with her. Her facial expression tells me that she's distraught before her mouth does.

"Right..." I mumble. I hadn't exactly thought about what my next step should be. Though I don’t dislike children, I'm still a tad bit awkward when it comes to dealing with them. I've never been completely comfortable interacting with my juniors, regardless of the age gap. Be it 1 year or 10 years, it hardly makes a difference. I hope to overcome that social barrier in the years to come. It's not so bad now since I'm only 15, but it could prove to be a serious issue should I still have it in my 30's; when my pool of juniors will be much, much deeper

"What'd you say~?" With cupped hands over her ears, she watches me with an uneasy  look on her face. Almost as if she's unsure if she should be speaking with me. I wonder if she's aware that us just simply conversing with one another is a problem. A part of me feels that she does.

The two of us need to sneak off to a less noisy somewhere so we can talk to one another properly. Only problem is,  dragging her away so we can do that is out of the question. That'd be akin to one of those dangerous alternatives I had mentioned before. Bluntly put, it'd be like abduction...

"It's too hectic here. Let's go somewhere else!" I talk at a volume between your typical speaking voice and a yell. Like I remind myself time and time again, I'm trying to not attract attention.

"Huh?!"

Seems it's no good. She can't hear a single thing coming out of my mouth. I'll have to use a different approach.

I mimic the girl by cupping my hands over my own ears. Then I move my index and middle finger like they're a pair of legs walking. Hopefully that's good enough to give her an idea.

The girl puffs her cheeks and then delivers a swift kick to my shin before storming away. Any inappropriate words I might have or might not have said out of either pain or surprise wind up being muffled by the crowd.

Okay, so clearly she didn't get the RIGHT idea.

[Could she have thought I was making fun of her...?] I massage my leg and let loose a muffled groan. I rise from my squat and chase after her. Seems I've wound up chasing little girls regardless. I do have to straighten things out, after all.

It takes me very little time to relocate the girl. After all, she has the smallest feet. She's desperately trying to gain the attention of anyone in the crowd that is kind enough to offer it and it isn't going well, sadly enough.

I walk ahead to get in front and cut her off. Before she can go around me, I squat again and wave hello. She falters a moment, probably surprised by my unexpected reappearance. I offer an open hand to her. She must need help, judging from what she was doing. The girl eyes my out reached hand cautiously. It's probably because of earlier.

[I hope she didn’t hear what I might have or might not have said...]

Eventually, she grabs it, and I lead us out of the crowd to go somewhere less lively.

While I had initially been leading the girl by the hand, she, at some point, took over without me even realizing. Being pulled along as if I was a lost child, the number of surrounding stalls run by their respective vendors and the people buying their wares starts to steadily diminish as we exit the heart of the town's market district. Rows of cement houses with tiled roofs begin to the left and right of me. Every house looks more or less the same, aside from some color differences. Though not very imaginative, these are the most high-class homes in town. More expensive buildings are found near the core of our town. The farther you get from the center, the more "economical" things become. I've barely seen anything past this area with my own eyes so all I know are things I've been told. I hardly feel like a citizen, considering how little I know about the place in which I live.

My eyes are forcibly drawn away from the houses due to an abrupt u-turn. Wait, why are we backtracking? "Did you get turned around?" I ask her. My question is only met with silence. What has her so tight lipped? The girl makes a beeline towards the market district. Unresponsive. Her movements. The urgency. I can only think of one reason for her erratic behavior...

"Hey...do you...?"

[Nope! I can't! I can't do it! I just can't ask her! I'll die from the embarrassment if I try.]

I tug again on my hood, thankful that it's hiding my flushed face. I break out into a nervous coughing fit. The word 'flushed' is more than my mind can handle right now. I trudge along in awkward silence to revisit the market district that we left only a mere seconds ago. Unsurprisingly enough, not much has changed, excluding my anxiety, of which has changed for the worse.

"Here we are...again." And for reasons unknown to me. The little girl's the one running the show. I'm just along for the ride really. I'm honestly fine with not knowing where I'm being dragged off to, at least for the most part. Though it puzzles me why she made it seem like she was taking me somewhere and then took me back to where we were. I also don't why she'd want to do that. After all, the commotion from the crowd seemed to bother her. I'm curious as to just what it was that made her flip. "Look, I don't mean to preach, but it's rude to exclude. Mind maybe filling me in?" It's a bad feeling, being left in the dark. Doubt, uncertainty, unsureness; those are the seeds of paranoia. Not to say that I'm paranoid, but there's definitely something nagging at me.

The sound of an upset stomach grumbling brings my mind to a screeching halt before my train of thought switches back to a different track. I'm probably over-thinking this. The thing nagging at me is probably much simpler, probably--the girl's stomach roars a second time--that...I shake my head, flustered. My thoughts have gone full circle, much like our walking route. Maybe I should just man up and ask....put an end to all this stressful speculation. An embarrassing demise sounds a lot quicker than a mentally taxing one.

"All right, I'm just going to go ahead and ask. Do you need to use the ba--"

"They look so yummy!" My disconnect from reality is severed and, to my surprise, there's a shoddy stall right before my eyes. There's a sweet looking elderly woman hunched over, managing her goods. Baked goods to be specific; Pies to be more specific. They smell wonderful, like they've just come out the oven. The scent of fruits and meat mixed with pie crusts is an awfully tempting one.

One look at the little girl is all I need to realize the reason for her strange change in character. The aroma of the pies coaxed her to come back to the market. She'd been lead by the nose. Now that the pies are right in front of her, she can hardly contain herself. She can't seem to keep her mouth closed, no matter how hard she tries and she's fidgeting restlessly. I'm impressed by the self-control that she's displaying. However, I don't know if she can keep it up for too long. Her chin is rested on the stall and it's syeadily inching toward the pies. I decide to stop her before she ends up burying her head into one. I place a hand on one of her narrow shoulders and move her behind me. The distance from the pies seems to help her regain herself.

"Hello there." The older woman greets me and also waves at the girl poking out behind my back. She tampers with the circular cap balancing atop her head while telling us both hello. It's much too small to fit her. Her body is entirely covered by what looks to be a bed sheet. It's acting as a mantle of sorts. The idea of wearing a plain white bed sheet around so many pies is practically begging for the mantle to be stained.

"Oh, um, hello." I tip my hood to her, much like I would with a hat. I wave my hand behind me, motioning for the girl to say hello as well. I don't check to see if she actually does it or not though. It was just a reminder to be respectful. I'm not going to worry myself over instilling manners in her. "Sorry for this. We don't mean to loiter. It's just that she practically dragged me here and I didn't have the heart to refuse her." I'm tempted to ask her about her wardrobe selection but I can't bring myself to do something so rude.

"Oh, what a caring boy you are. And so impressive, being able to keep up with such an energetic young girl so easily." She chuckles and rubs her chin. "I used to be the same way back in those days. Ah, to be young again..." She sighs. I bet she's reminiscing the golden days.

"Well, she can be a bit of a hassle sometimes, truth be told." When I tell this to the old woman, a small hand strikes me in the core of my back.

[Why is is that my few moments of sarcastic mannerism and quips are seldom met with an amused response...So hard to crack a joke these days...]

"Well, it's still sweet of you to bring your sister around town. Not many brothers do that, I feel."  

[Right...about that.]

Seems we've been mistaken as siblings. I was hoping no one would speak word of our relation to one another. Hoping that others wouldn't pry about our affiliation. I suppose all I can do is play it off now.

"Well, I've been gone from town for a while and so I haven't seen her in quite some time. She said I had to spend the whole day with her. Isn't that right, sis?" I look down at my tiny companion. The old woman can't see it, but I do my best to convey that I want the girl to play along from under my hood. My pseudo sister only offers a nod in response. It'll do to convince the woman, I suppose. She already seems to think me to be the ideal brother so I doubt she's all that suspicious of me.

I can tell the girl is starting to drift toward the stall again. "You want one, don't you?" I address the little girl and, as I thought it would, it snaps her out of her hungry stupor.

"You'd....buy me one?" Her eyes go back and forth, between me and the pies arranged in rows on the stall. I wonder, does she think this is all part of the act? I had intended for it to be a genuine question. I'd be happy to buy her one. After all, I think it would be a shame to walk away from the stall empty-handed.

"Silly, of course. I wouldn't have brought it up to begin with if I wasn't willing to get you one." She looks at me like I'm a knight in shining armor. I really haven't done anything to be regarded as such though. I'm just buying her food. Judging from the way her stomach was grumbling earlier, she must be in desperate need of something to eat.

[That or she really has to go to the bathr--]

"Anyway!" I speak up to interrupt my inner consciousness. "Take your pick. I'll get you any one you like." I look at the old woman who, having watched the whole exchange, is smiling.

"I wanna peach pie!" She points her finger to the sky, proclaiming it to the heavens. I raise my shoulders at the old woman.

"Well, Miss, what do you say? Could that be done?" I hear a song of adoration for the sweet eat from right next to me. Hopefully, one of these pies has peaches in them. Otherwise, that song of bliss is going to end up in the minor key.

"I just might, give me a moment to check." She lifts a pie to her nose and gives it a quick sniff. She sets that pie aside and then does the same for another. She repeats the process over and over until she finally gets to a pie that causes her face to light up. "That's the one. Just peachy." Interesting talent. Or strange, for the type who doesn’t beat around the bush. She's able to identify a pie by the scent alone. She holds the pie out in front of her and I carefully grab it. It's a lot hotter than I expected and I almost end up dropping it. Thankfully, I'm quick to catch it before it ends up a feast for the ants. A little warning would have been helpful.

"Thank you." I reach to pull out my coin sack but my hands are preoccupied. "Sis, you think you can hold this so I can pay?" This is the part where I PRAY that she remembers we're supposed to be related. We've only been family for about a minute now.

[I'm aware that that's not much time, but please, don't forget your dear older brother. And don't ignore him either!]

"Yup!" She already has her hands out to take it from me. She's paying more attention to the pie than she is to me.

"All right, well be careful because it's hot." I still warn her despite knowing that my words will only become worthless syllables with no meaning. I imagine the word 'pie' being played in her head on endless loop. I gently hand it to her and reach into the apron hanging from my waist. I dig around inside, feeling for a tiny bag made of leather. Using the sound of jingling coins to my advantage, I find it and pull it out from the apron. I open it and peek inside. "What do I owe you, ma'am?" I steal a quick glance at the girl. She's enjoying herself by poking the outer layer of pie crust. "Make sure you don't drop it now." She utterly disregards me. She's already bonded with the dessert. I look forward to seeing what happens when she inevitably has to eat her new peachy friend. It should be quite the show.

"1,000 Kyen." The old woman gives me the price while I stir the contents of my bag with my finger.

[Oh boy....]

"I don't have that much on me actually." I give a sheepish grin and furrow my brow under my hood. The girl stares up at me in surprise. She curls her lip and, before she can begin to pout, I assure her. "Don't worry. I said I'd get you a pie and I'm going to get you one." I turn to the old woman. She looks less sweet than she was just a second ago.

[It looks like I'll have to negotiate about the price.]

"Excuse me, but is there any way you'd be willing to budge on that price...?"

"Can't do sonny! It's my price or no price! If you can't pay then skedaddle!" I was right. That sweet old lady from before is dead to the world. She's spoiled and turned sour...

"Tell the kid to stop drooling all over my pie and to return it at once!" She had acted like a kind old granny, but that's really all it was. An act. A tug on my shirt sleeve tells me that the girl is thinking something along the same line as me. Peach pie doesn't sound as appetizing as it once did. I'd rather get away from this stall as fast as I can. However...

"That pie is coming home with us, end of story." I assert myself to the hag. I intend to see this through until the very end. "Now, let me tell you how this is going to work! I'm going to reach into this bag, take my money, and put it on your stall. Then you're to apologize to both me and my sister. After which, we are going to take our pie, you'll take the 100,000 Kyen, and we'll be on our separat-"

"100,000 Kyen...?" The sour old woman erupts into uncontrollable laughter. A laugh that sends a chill down my spine and makes me cringe. Her public disturbance even turns the heads of a few passersby. "How....how much....is that? Ten times as much? One-hundred times as much?!" She attempts to count on her fingers before happily giving up. "Oh, what does it even matter.100,000. Kyen. 100,000.....Kyen!! For a peach pie!" All at once, her celebrations come to a halt. "I get it. This is a joke! A ruse, a scam, a dirty ploy! You're just toying with an old woman for a laugh, isn't that right? Well, find your laughs somewhere else then because I'm not falling for it!"

[Oy vey...]

I pull out a coin from my bag and shove it in front of her face. Wrinkled hands lash out to take my money but grab only the empty air.

"Tsk, Tsk, Miss." I wag my finger at her. "Have you already forgotten the whole shpeal I just gave on how things were going to work?" She doesn't even bother to make it look like she's paying attention. She's rambling about me.

"Why...? Y-you said that...you said that you didn't have enough to....pay." She has her hands on her head.

[Oh, I see. Yet again, I've created a misunderstanding. Guess I'll have to work on not doing that so much. Though this one was more her fault than mine.]

"I didn't say that. Words are incredibly important so don't change them as you see fit. I said, 'I didn't have that much,' not that I didn't have enough. I meant I don't have small incriminates of money like that. The smallest amount I have are 100,000 Kyen coins." I shrug my shoulders. "I'd show you, but if only one of these coins is already enough to cause you to have a conniption, I doubt it'd be all right to show you a bag full of them." I set the single coin down on her stall. The old woman finally hushed up. I reckon she's run out of things to yell about. About time too. "All right sis, now that you've got your peach pie, let's get going." I see no point in lingering in the market district any longer. I turn on my heels and start toward the houses. It's not long before I hear the girl trotting along behind me.

"Thanks! You were kind of cool!" Scurrying ahead, the girl leaves me with her grateful words. 'Cool?' Nah, I just did what anyone would have done. Well, it started off that way. It was a bit more personal at the end, I guess.

I'd almost forgotten what we were doing before the whole ordeal with the pie. I'd forgotten why I was with the little girl, when it hit me right on the head like an apple. She was bringing me somewhere - for something. I run to catch up with her. Looks like I'll be tagging along with her a little longer. If for nothing else, I want a slice of that pie I went through so much to purchase.

It kind of feels like I'm chewing on awkward silence. I roll my tongue inside my mouth to confirm that there is, indeed, still pie in it. It's taken me a considerable amount of effort to not speak with my mouth full just to dissolve the silence. Even if I were to speak, I wouldn't have the slightest clue of what to say. I bite off another piece from the slice of pie I'm holding without even thinking about it. My head is so consumed with the unfavorable atmosphere that it doesn't even allow me the pleasure of knowing how it tastes.

Resembling a brother and sister simply strolling in the housing district, me and the girl, who is little more than a stranger to me, walk side by side together. The girl keeps glancing at me as we do so. I'm not positive, but she seems to be trying to see my face. Whenever I try to make eye contact, her eyes look away from mine. She must not want to be caught in the act for some reason. I grab the top of my hood and draw it back by just a hair. In doing so, I bait the girl back into looking at me. It was so easy to do that it's almost kind of cute, in a way. I swallow and wipe my mouth with my sleeve.

"You've opted to look at me instead of the pie?" I look down at her. My sudden question throws her off and she forgets to turn away. She panics a little before bobbing her head . I'd worried she might've not understood, but she seems to have gotten the gist. "Thanks. I'm flattered." I say to her with utmost sincerity.

"Hey..." and before I can ask why she was looking at me, she crams a much-too-big piece of pie in her mouth. My, she's craftier than I thought. I resign to silence again as the girl struggles to fully close her mouth. The moment to press her about why she kept glancing at me has passed, much to my chagrin. At least, I had thought so. The girl brushes against my side and I look to watch her point at her eyes. Ah, so was that it? Simple enough then. Can’t fault her for wanting to know.

She had wanted to ask about the goggles I’m wearing; though I think it to be more like a mask. Custom-made, these goggles were royal blue like my hood and were fastened to my head with a leather strap. “I have an abnormal eye condition, so I have to wear these. My eyes aren’t able to tolerate light like other people’s do. My head will start pounding, and I’ll get real nauseous. The lens of these goggles are to reduce the amount of light that reaches my eye. Do you understand?” As soon as I ask, the girl nods as if trying to stress that she was paying attention.

“They make everything less bright!” I nod, slightly impressed. “Do you have to keep them on always?”

“Just about. I’ve been told never to take them off unless it’s too dark for me to see. I mostly only take them off when I go to bed. Though I do take them off for other reasons...” I had hated my goggles for the longest time. They’re a constant reminder that something is wrong with me. I realized though, that if I let that bother me for the rest of my life, I’ll forever be pained by it. That’s why I accept them as part of me and make the best of it. That’s why, even if I would rather not be like this, I still don’t hate them anymore. “Anyway, I’d rather not talk about it.” I have no issues with the topic, but I find it to be a mood-killer. I don’t want things to be uncomfortable. “Just promise me you’ll look at me the same way you have been.” The girl nods and I feel more at ease. The two of us walk without any kind of further exchange for a while until I realize something.

"Hey..." The girl looks up at me with pie-bloated cheeks after hearing me speak. She slightly resembles a chipmunk like that. "Are you still taking me somewhere?" The thought occurred to me after walking straight for so long. All the two story houses have been downgraded to one floor now. We must be a good ways away from the city's center. The girl nods in an over-exaggerated way to compensate for her inability to speak. At least, I think that's why. "Are...are you sure this is the way to go?" She nods again and bumps the arm that isn't cradling the pie against her chest. "All right then, as you say, errr, mime." I just hope she isn't merely exhibiting baseless confidence. I rub the back of my head as I watch the pie travel down the girl's throat in a visible knot. The girl's face is a complete mess. Everywhere from the corners of her mouth to her cheeks is covered with the gooey peach filling from the pie. It's as though she was really aiming for her face and any food that got in her mouth was unintentional. "Ha, we'll have to clean you off before we get there. We can do that once you finish eating." There'd be little point in doing it now. With the way she eats, it'll be messy again after just one more piece. She taps her face and then laughs meekly. It makes me think that she's somewhat ashamed by her bad manners. It's strange, but I feel like this girl is more mature than she should be. Like she's forcing herself to grow up, but still can't hide her childish side. Perhaps I've been embarrassing her by treating her like a child. "Just tell me when, and I'll give you whatever you might need to freshen up. Ask for help, if you need to." I was planning to wipe her face for her. How demeaning that would've been.

[Not to mention weird.]

"Thank you," she says to me, and then takes another bite out of her pie with extra care. I can't be sure if that was a positive response or if it was a negative one. Well, regardless, she's now trying extra hard to keep herself from getting any dirtier, even though she's going about it the wrong way. She makes sure that the pie goes directly in her mouth, but still bites off more then she can chew. Peach filling is spilling out from the corners of her mouth. It's funny watching how little kids stuff their faces when eating tasty food. They have a slew of faces and expressions that people who have grown up seem to have lost. I wonder if I could ever make faces like that without the use of a mirror. Probably not.

"What's the matter? S'there something on my face?" She playfully laughs at her joke. She looks so proud of her joke that I'm willing to bet she'd pat herself on the back if her hands weren't all sticky.

"Nah, you're good." I respond back as if I were not lying, and it's so natural that she doesn't hesitate to believe me.

"Huh?! Really?!" She really makes it all too easy. She's so gullible that it's almost worrisome. Either that or she's too trusting. Now that I think of it, she was really compliant in the market district. Aside that one kick, I got her to follow me without much trouble.

[I hope that's the case, because I'd hate to think it's really because I have a knack for abducting children...]

"Actually, looking at you again closely, you've got a tiny bit of pie on your forehead." She rubs her forehead to try to get rid of the pie filling that I fooled her into believing in. Now she really does have some on her forehead.

"How's it now?" I do a thumb-up pose and she copies me. "Wait a sec, that's nowhere near my mouth!" Oh? She noticed?

[Wait...that's not really surprising...]

"You must’ve not been paying attention. How's that?"

"Asking me if I b'lieve you is making me not believe you more!" The more time passes, the sharper she gets. Though she stuttered on the first 'believe' and not on the second one for some reason. Anyway, I'll have to throw her off with a distraction.

"Oh wow, that guy's giving out free pies on his porch!" I point to no building in particular.

"I dunno if I can finish this one..." She holds her pie out in front of her and eyes it with a look of reluctance.

[What happened to all that energy from before?! You were practically shoveling the stuff down your throat! Also, even if I were to ignore that fact, your sudden change in demeanor is still way too unnatural!]

My pointer finger droops as I lose confidence. How childish of me, playing pranks on a girl who's only a tad above my waistline. I mentally thank her for playing with me in my moment of immaturity. However, I also think of way I can show her my gratitude. "If you're done with that pie, would you like me to hold it for you?" She accepts with a nod.

"I need to clean my face." That you do. Especially after I had you spread more peach filling on your forehead.

"All right, give me a bit to get out what you need." I rummage inside the pocket of the apron hanging from my waist. This thing is really pulling through for me today. I pull out a cloth napkin and pocket-sized mirror that fits in the palm of my hand. "Okay, let's trade." She hands the pie off to me and takes both the napkin and the mirror. She starts to frown the second she sees her image in the small mirror. She goes to clean her cheeks but then hesitates in the last moment. She makes several attempts at choosing where to clean first, but each one ends in failure, and now it's escalated to the point that she's so indecisive that all she can do is stare at the napkin.

"There's too much...What do I do first...?" Her nose wrinkles and she starts to sniffle.

[Oh no no no no no! Don't start crying! It's fine, it's fine!]

She motions to wipe her nose with her hand but stops when she realizes doing so would only make matters worse. It causes her to become even more distraught and I can tell now that she really may be on the verge of tears.

"Shhh, shhh, it's okay, it's okay." I bend down and repeat the soothing words that my mother would often say when I was ever upset as a child. I'd been quite the crybaby, admittedly. Often crying at the smallest nuisance or problem. I think it was likely a result of my sheltered upbringing. I was like that until I was about 11, I think. "Now, just calm down and I'll help you." I take the napkin and the mirror and slip the latter back in my apron. I sigh as I note the fact that I've made another mistake. She may be mature but that doesn't necessarily mean she's independent. Though, she was in the market by herself. Hmmm, this girl is more complex than I would've ever thought she would be. Well, no matter, what's important in the moment is that I help her. I smile at the girl and clean the mess that I'm to blame for. I wipe her forehead and, while doing so, whistle a tune that springs to mind. I move down to the bridge of her nose and tidy that area up as well. The girl says something but I don't understand what it was she said. Her voice had been nasally. "Hold onto that thought and let me finish real quick." I scrub away at the sticky peach residue on her cheeks. Seems that's where it was the worst. I resume whistling the simple, albeit catchy, melody from before.

Finished, I give her face another pass over just to check if I missed a spot. Satisfied with the work I'd done, I grin and hold the napkin by the tip while draping it over my shoulder. The dirty side facing up, of course. "Alright, that about does it. You're pie-free now!" I, on the other hand, am not. Literally. I look at the pie in my other hand and purse my lips in thought. There's still a bit left and I'm feeling full. It'd be a waste to just chunk it in a random waste bin though...

"Umm..." I feel a light tug on my cloak and, in immediate response, I hold my hood to make sure it's still hiding my face.

[Right, right...can't take my eyes off you for a second.]

The girl is striking a bashful pose and is avoiding eye contact. "Thanks...and sorry..." I blink my eyes in surprise. An apology? What brought that on? "I almost cried over something silly." Ah, so that's it. If she had cried, I don't think it would have been silly. I'm sure she felt humiliated after realizing she'd walked around town with her face coated in peach filling. I think that would justify some tears. I only wanted her to cheer up, not to make her hold in her feelings. I smile and rest my hand on her head. Screw my public image, I'm already the weirdo wearing a cloak during the warm season so what difference does it make if people think I'm a creeper too? Besides, no one even knows who I am. I'll just be known as the "Cloak Guy." There are worse fates than being branded a freak. The girl doesn't resist or complain, so I assume she doesn't mind. That or she's too polite to say otherwise.

"Silly? Silly how? If something gets to you, it gets to you. Even if it's something only you would personally cry over, that doesn't make it wrong. Don't stop yourself from crying just because you think it's silly." Trying to maintain a lighthearted atmosphere, I ruffle her hair much like my sister would when she was trying put me in a good mood. Her hair is curious. It’s short and instead of individual strands of hair, she has locks where the hair kind of groups together. Her hair isn't at all curly so I find it to be a bit odd. I feel an ominous pressure as I brood over the girl's hair. The pressure feels like a mob of people's combined scorn. Even stranger...when I look around, the few people around us don't seem to be paying us any mind.

[...perhaps it's my conscious, criticizing me for climbing the first rung of the "socially unacceptable" ladder....]

"If it's okay to cry, why did you help me stop?" She asks. I remove my hand from on top her head and the girl looks up at me with inquiring eyes. They're also still a tad bit puffy from when she got upset earlier. I shrug my shoulders as an answer.

"Well, because I didn't want to see you cry, that's all. I think that's just a response people have. Crying is sad, so we try to make it where others don't have to cry. Even if it's not wrong to cry, I think it's better to not." I chuckle, recalling my own experiences with waterworks. "Though, if someone needs to cry bad enough, they'll cry no matter what, and that's not wrong of them. Don't be ashamed to cry, but only cry when there's no way to stop yourself from doing so." I tap her on the back. "Anyway, enough heavy stuff." I fold my arms behind my head. "We keep getting sidetracked. Weren't you bringing me someplace important?" At this rate, we'll never get there. Not today, at least. "If you were to take me to this place and account for how long we'll be there, would you have enough time to be home by the curfew?" Law states that all citizens are required to follow curfew until they have reached adolescence. Breaking that law enough times can result in a sentence of house arrest. I won't pretend to understand why such laws are necessary. Children wouldn't cause trouble, nor would they be in danger if they were outside late in the evening. This city has such a low crime rate that it should be bragged about. Besides a bit of petty problems like thievery, not much goes on here. And even when that happens, the thief is nearly always apprehended. Even if another crime besides theft happened, kids wouldn't be in danger. Guards patrol in the evening for those breaking curfew, so couldn't they just patrol for crime instead? It seems so pointless and I wonder why we even made such a law. When I was little, the law didn't exist. So what happened? What changed?

"YOU ASKED ME A QUESTION!" I'm shaken by the girl as she shouts at me. She's holding me by my arms but I frantically break free and make sure my hood stays on. It doesn't stop her from shaking me by the hips instead.

"I get it, I get it! Now stop rattling me like a broken tambourine!" She lets go and backs away. I sigh and rub my forearms. Jeez, did she have to squeeze them like that? "Sorry, I was...thinking." The little girl is the one to sigh this time. "I missed your answer, didn't I?" As I figured she would, the girl nods.

"I'm taking you where I live."

"......"

"So, I'll be on time."

"Sorry..." I tilt my head and press the palms of my hands against my ears. "I think I may have misheard you....say that again...."

"What? That we're going where I live?"

"Yeah...that part..."

"Uhmm." The girl arches and eyebrow and folds her arms in front of her chest. "That's what I said. I'm bringing you where I live.

"Oh...okay then....guess I was right after all...."

[....What?!]

"Why?!" I wave my hands around like I'm swatting bees. "Never mind, that's not the issue! There's no way you can do that!" If I had known this from the get-go I would have set her straight!

[I don't want to go up the "socially unacceptable" ladder! Not all the way, ay least!]

"Huh? Why, is there some reason?"

[Yes, there is a reason. Several, in fact.]

The girl stares at me almost like she's concerned about me. She's totally clueless! Well, no. It's really that she's too innocent to realize what she's saying...I shake my head, and go back to focusing on the problem at hand.

"What will your mom and dad think about you bringing a stranger to where you all live?!" I leave out some other parts that she wouldn't understand. Like that not only am I a stranger, but I'm also a boy, and I'm older than her. Her parents are sure to think I'm devious...

"Well, they won't be there, so it doesn't matter, does it?" That's not any better, in fact, it's probably worse! That means we'll be alone! No way I can keep calm in a tense environment like that! "Since there won't be anyone there, we can have a ton of fun. We can be loud and do whatever we want." My knees go weak two-thirds of the way through her sentence. Devious...dubious....immoral! Who is this little girl that is suddenly displaying all of these traits?! Where's that little girl that likes peach pie?! I want her back! "We can't play right away though because I need you to help me with something when we get there." I manage to be daring and ask her what she needs my help with. "Well...I need you to climb a tree."

Huh....?

With one small step, I've crossed into another world. A line separates the world that I hail from this strange place. There's no physical border but the change is so jarring and immediate that making one would be as simple as drawing a line in the dirt with a stick. I was yanked across to the other side of that line by that girl; Said girl has still yet to release her iron death grip-like hold on my wrist. With seemingly no fear of breaking her mother's back, the girl treads on the ground littered with cracks. Though, thinking about it, it isn't completely strange for her to be desensitized to the road's unsightly appearance. The same must be true about the state the houses are in because her neck stays straight, and the glint of focus in her eyes is a tell-tell sign that she has tunnel vision. I, on the other hand, can't manage to keep my gaze fixed on the road in front of us. No, I'm much too busy being mystified by these houses. No. That definitely won’t work. They’re not houses. They’re too pathetic to even be considered as such. No metal. No brick. The houses were constructed out of nothing except stones of various shapes and sizes. The stones weren’t all the same color. It wasn’t because they were ‘stylized’ or ‘nontraditional’, they were simply messy. It’s no different from a toddler covering a piece of paper in finger paint with a different color on each finger. Awkwardly shaped and with no roof or windows, I can think of one word that anyone could understand to describe them.

Bad.

"This is Outer." The girl's words seem to ring in my ears, like they don't want to travel any farther. I force them to enter, craving something to distract me from the houses. Outer. I've never heard of it. I've never heard of it, yet it's a place in the city I live in. "This is where I live." The girl rocks back and forth on her heels. "Ugly, isn't it...?" I shake my head, clearing it of negative thoughts. I can't agree, not when it would mean saying something so insensitive as 'Yeah, it's an eyesore'.

"Thank you for kindly for welcoming me to Outer." I take a deep breath through my mouth and exhale through my nose. The air here isn't exactly fresh. It's got a kind of funky smell to it, too. I put it out of my mind and figure that I'll adjust.

[Immediately not feeling so confident...]

"I don't see any trees. Whatsoever." I pull out a pair of binoculars and look through them. Even with magnified vision, I don't notice any trees.

"What are you doing?" The girl jumps and the sight of her enlarged face startles me. If it weren't for the strap around my neck, I might've dropped the binoculars. Considering that these are actually my sister's and not mine, I'd get an earful if I broke them and brought them back as two telescopes.

"Please don't do that when I'm not expecting it..." I put the lens caps back on the binoculars and stow it in my apron. "How far away is this tree you talked about? Hey, wait! Stop! What are you doing?" The girl has her head inside the apron and is struggling to dig around inside. "Seriously, cut it out! What could you possibly need so badly that you have to fetch it yourself?" I pluck the girl from out the apron pocket and attempt to smooth out the creases on it that she had created. "Peh, now it looks sloppy..." Guess I'll have to iron them out later. I look at the girl who has become awfully mischievous all of a sudden. So much for that self-restraint she impressed me with earlier. She has her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth and is trying to flatten the several locks of hair that are now sticking up. I lick my thumb and smooth out a spot she's having trouble with.

"Ewwww! Why would you do that!" She puffs her cheeks and wipes the around the place I fixed. The fact that she didn't wipe in the exact spot tells me it wasn't wet enough for her to even feel it.

"What, I thought I was helping. Now, what do you need?" I reach my arm into the apron pocket and wait for her request. If she requests something outrageous, I can't be blamed for not having it. I only fill my apron with things that could be useful in certain situations. If she’s looking for a snack or some toy to play with, she won’t find any in there.

"I wanted to see those things you had. The things you put up against your goggles." She has her arm stretched out, palm open and ready to receive.

[Why didn't you just say so? If you had, my apron would be crease-less and your head would be spit-less. Well, I digress.]

I pull the binoculars out and hand them to her. She lets out 'ooohs' and an occasional 'aaah' as she examines them. "You used them like this, right? Woah, amazing! You're head's tiny like a peach!" She tilts her head down and exclaims in amazement. "It's not just your head either! These are neat." I scratch my head and put on an awry smile. Her childish mistake along with her excited reactions are entertaining to watch.

"Hate to burst your bubble, but you're using them incorrectly." I squat down and look through the other side of the lens, causing the girl to squeal. I pull my eyes away from the binoculars and see the girl frowning. I laugh and then follow up with a gesture of apology. I point at the end of the binoculars closer to me and speak. "This is where you're supposed to look through." The girl does as I instruct and, flipping them over, she gasps as she puts them to her face.

"Now everything is big! I take it back! These aren't neat, they're super neat!" Her head snaps from place to place as she looks through the binoculars.

"I'm glad you like them, but try to not move too much. You'll hurt your eyes doing that. Now, like I asked earlier, how far away is this tree you mentioned?" Without bothering to tear her eyes away from the binoculars, she answers.

"Pretty far. Walking there will take a while." Ehhh? Seriously...? I was hoping we were close...

"Well, what if we run?" I suggest the idea to her, even though it wouldn't be my first choice. I'm not too fond of running, but I'm willing to do it if it speeds up the process. I'm getting tired, truth be told, and I'd like to be home before it's too dark.

"We might get there pretty fast." The girl, apparently finished with my binoculars, stuffs them back into my apron. Her interest was rather short-lived, wasn't it? Almost as short as the attention span of a gold fish, I would say. "I hate running though." Somehow I knew I'd be getting an inconvenient answer from her.

"Fine, guess there's no helping it. I'll just carry you. My feet will do all the hard work while you give me directions. Sound good?" The girl shrugs her shoulders and smiles. It's vague but I'm going to guess that means I have her consent. I direct my attention toward the thing that I've been holding in my left hand this whole time. The peach pie. I just couldn't find it in my heart, or perhaps my stomach, to throw it away. Although I hardly tasted it, I still know it was delicious. "You're going to have to hold the pie for me though. Huh?"

[She's gone. Wait, that can't be right, where'd she go?]

Suddenly, something lands on my back and almost causes me to topple forward. My hand knows to make sure my hood is still on. It could be called instinct at this point.

"Onward."

"Quit it, before I buck you off." I hear a unsatisfied 'hmph' from the girl as she slips off my back. She would've ended up falling off after just one step regardless. She wasn't even holding on to me. She was just sort of....on top of me. "When I offered to carry you, my offer didn't include piggy back rides." I shoot a serious glare at the girl before she has room to complain.

"How else would you carry me?" With her having said that, I can't think of a more appropriate time to show her. I hand the pie off to her and scoop her up into arms with ease. I flash a charming smile at the girl that I'm cradling like an infant. Hmm? Something's strange though....has her face always been this red? "Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you doing?!" Her stammering leaves me with the impression that I'm doing something wrong. I can't see why that'd be though.

"What do you mean? I'm carrying you, of course." Now, which way to go? Straight or...? I turn to my left and right, readjusting the way I'm holding the girl in my arms. "Hey, which way?" The girl mumbles something under her breath. "You're going to have to speak louder than that. As far I know, you could've told me to go 'up'." If that were the case, I'd have to give up here. The human body isn't equipped with wings; the cruel reality of that fact still claws at my heart to this very day...

"You're holding me like....a Princess..." Ah! How thick of me! No wonder she turned red, she had been blushing to her ears. I can feel blood starting to rush to my own cheeks and it's suddenly harder to form a coherent thought.

[Why am I behaving like this?]

I clear my throat and try to say something. I don't care what, anything will do as long as it makes this atmosphere more bearable.

"I suppose that makes me the brave knight who's sworn to protect you, huh?"

[What am I saying?! I'm trying to diffuse the situation - not add fuel to the fire!]

It's no use; I can't work under these conditions. I wish I really was a knight. I'd hop on my noble steed and ride as far away as possible from here.

"No, you're cool, but not cool enough to be a knight..."

[I call slander...or I would if I weren't relieved to hear that come out your mouth.]

“But....you make a good Prince..."

[How could you say that...? That's far too nice! I demand that you immediately retract your well-intentioned statement on the grounds of it being too nice!]

The two of us avert our gazes and I stand there in silence. "Keep going straight..." She tells me. I nod; I'm not anxious in the least about leaving this place. It's become much too uncomfortable for my taste.  As we keep pressing forward, I heave a heavy sigh and glance over my shoulder. I can see the spires of the castle located in the center of the city. They tower high above every single thing in this city. Despite the distance separating me from those spires, they still feel the same size. It strikes me as menacing - the fact that there are things in this world that remain intimidating no matter how far away from you they are. I turn back to face the road and steady my hold on the curious cargo that also acts as my guide. She squirms in my arms, though only a little; most likely in effort to get comfortable. I think back to the comment she had made about me right before I started walking.

[A good prince, huh?]

I've found another fault of the human body. Aside from it not being equipped with wings (I don't think I'll ever be able to let that go), the skin around the front of your neck isn't very stretchy...so trying to look straight up is a pain. Literally,  I came upon this discovery by trying to spot the highest point of the tree situated on the top of this small hill. It baffles me that I was unable to see this tree earlier. It may even be higher up than the castle spires. So how...?

"Pretty big, huh?" the girl states, looking for the top alongside me. I'll say. I could make a cozy log cabin with this one tree. It's height can only be explained as a freak accident of nature. "I tried climbing it by myself but couldn't." I had hopes that I was wrong but it looks like this really is the tree she expects me to climb.

“Why do you have a tree this big in your back yard?” She had explained everything earlier. When she said we were going to her house, she didn’t mean we were going inside her house, just in the relative area. She had been thorough when clearing up the little miscommunication issue and even patted me on the head once I understood.

[Though I could have done without her praising me in such a demeaning way...]

Truth be told, it had been a small blow to my pride.

“It’s a chestnut tree,” She replies. “We planted it on this hill a long time ago.”

“Can chestnut trees even get this big?” I ask, finding it hard to believe what she’s telling me. She only shrugs her shoulders, unsure.

“I guess?”

[Why are you trying to convince me when you’re not even convinced yourself?]

"You said that you planted this tree?” I ask.

She nods, finally displaying some confidence.

“Me, my sister, and my daddy.”

“So it really is natural. I take it there's no ladders installed then. Perfect." I look to the top again and am met with a dizzy sensation. I’m supposed to scale this giant?

[Is it even possible...?]

I peer at the girl from under my hood. "This tree could kill me, I hope you know. Like....if I were to fall, that would probably do me in.”

[‘Probably?’ What am I saying? If I fall, I’m definitely done for.]

"Yeah, probably."

[Um, excuse me, I don't appreciate the fact that your tone of voice clearly tells me you're unconcerned for my safety. ]

"Don't worry I'm sure you'll be fine....probably."

[There it is again. ‘Probably.’ And the added fact that you tacked it on at the last second there ruined any confidence boost you might've been trying to give me. In fact, I don't know that I don't feel even worse now.]

"Can't we build a nice, soft pile of leaves for a, you know, just-in-case scenario?"

[And to stall for time...?]

"It would have to be giant for it to work." Good point. It won't do me any good unless it's big enough. It'd be impossible without a rake and even then it would take a considerable amount of time.

"No choice then. Seems like I'll just have to throw caution to the wind." I need to be getting home soon anyway. I undo the knot for my apron behind my back and hand it to the girl. It'd only serve as a hindrance. "Don't leave my lifeless body here if I happen to die." Dark as my comment is, it helps to calm my nerves.

"Aye, aye."  She salutes me as though I'm a soldier heading off into battle. Perhaps she's not far off. "I'll drag you if I have too!"

[Is that respectful? I'm not sure...]

I approach the trunk of the tree and chuckle. Might as well. In case a higher power took my joke the wrong way.

"What are you doing?" The girl asks as I rap the tree with my knuckles. Guess she's not familiar with the saying.

"Knock on wood," I tell her. She looks at me like I'm a piece of abstract art. So it seems I was right. "Don't bother thinking about it." She'd probably never guess that it's something from western folklore. The girl doesn't nod but instead crosses her arms with an imaginary question mark floating above her head as if she was thinking, 'Was my intelligence just insulted?'

"Trust me when I say I wasn't making fun of you." The mark above her head turns into one of exclamation.

"How did you-?!"

"I'm psychic."

"Are not!"

"Are too!" I chime back.

"Momma said there's no such thing as psychics or fortune tellers."

"I'm magic." I say, unfazed by her strong ability to distinguish between reality and make-believe.

"Are you for real?!"

[Why have you placed magic in a different spectrum that’s separate from psychic powers and fortune telling?!]

"No, of course not. I figured you would say there’s no such thing as magic." I give a curt reply to the girl.

"But magic is real..." She shows off a pitying look to me while she says as such. What did I do to deserve that?

"I won’t deny the possibility, considering I don’t have any hard proof. Regardless, however, I’m not gifted with any secret mind-reading powers." I reply again, this time in a more matter-of-fact fashion.

"Aw, boring." Piele says with a pouting expression.

[Yes, yes, I'm a bland protagonist in the story I call my life, I'm well aware. Sorry that I was unable to impress.]

"Sorry..." The girls ask for forgiveness in a sullen voice. I still can't tell if she's aware of herself and her surroundings or if she's utterly oblivious to them.

"Forget about it, it's not a big deal."

"Can you start climbing now?"

[I know I told you to forget, but the fact that you did it so easily tells me you weren't as bothered by it as you alluded to being...]

"Right, right, that's the whole reason I'm here, to play errand boy." I say it with a hint of bitterness, but I realize I'm the only one to blame. I signed up for this, after all. Granted, I didn't know what I was signing up for at the time. Despite everything; however, I would have helped her anyway. After seeing her at wits' end, trying to get someone to help her, I couldn't pretend she wasn't there. Not when she was trying her very hardest to be noticed. I sigh, not out of reluctance, but because of how much of a sap I am. "That's just how it, I guess."

[Right, that's just the way I am.]

"All right then, it's do or die time." I jump to grab a low-hanging branch before my brain can process how insane this is. I hoist myself onto the branch with less effort than I had anticipated. "Hm, seems I still remember how to do this." I can accredit that to muscle memory. The experience I have from climbing trees as a child hasn't left me, even after all this time.

"Woah! How'd you do that?!" Even from up here, I can detect the sparkle of admiration in the girl's gaze.

"Please, this is nothing. A mere tree is child's play for someone with climbing skills like me."

[Boy, I sound like a complete fool. Bragging doesn't suit me. Especially when I consider the fact that it's just bluster.]

"I was probably raised by monkey's are something, I don't know..." The girl giggles as I hang from the branch, upside-down; I don't bother stressing about my hood since no one else is around. Knowing that I was able to amuse her is, in itself, much more satisfying than a sad attempt at trying to fatten up my ego. I manage to pull myself back onto the branch without breaking a sweat. Even still, it proved a bit difficult. The temperature is starting to dip much like the sun is. It's only because of that that my face isn’t covered in sweat.

Having goofed off enough, I grab what I think looks to be a good spot to put my right hand. I search for somewhere to put my other hand and find the perfect spot, yet I can't reach it.

[Now I know why my sister complains about being short...]

A bird perches on the branch right above me and tweets as if mocking me.

"You've got it easy, I can see that. Now if you're done showing off, fly off into the sunset like a good little bird." The bird flaps it's wings and, once it's flown up a bit more, rests on another branch. "The altitude is good, now just go away.”

"Are you talking to a bird?" The girl gives me a concerned look that also contains a sliver of hope. She probably thinks I'm a magic prince that can speak to woodland creatures.

[No, no, there's nothing cliche like that here...]

"Yeah, and the snobbish thing didn't even speak back." Even so, I find myself playing along. The girls picks a dandelion from the sea of flowers around the base of the tree. She blows on it, smiling. Does that pass for fun in her world?

"You're weird."

[I appreciate the brutally honest compliment...]

She sits down on her knees picking a variety of flowers, one by one. As I take moment to watch her do so, I speak up. "You know, you forgot to tell me why I'm climbing this thing." Either that or she refrained from telling me on purpose.

"I didn't forget." Huh? "You really are weird." Huh? Huh? Did I miss something here? "Come back down once you get it." Again, huh? "It's yellow so it will be easy to spot." After that, she sits there quietly, making what I now recognize as a flower crown.

[It sounds like I'm supposed to look for something up there. Fine, fine. Better get to it before I get called weird again.]

I jump to another branch, causing it to shake off a few leaves. This is the most efficient way. As long as I'm careful, I'll be up and down the tree in no time. I leap to another branch higher up. Then to another. Then another. And another. I take a moment to taunt the rude bird from earlier. Then I go up another branch.

Then another. Then another... Then--

"Uwah~! What. A. View." I admire the air-view of the city with my goggles removed and hanging from my neck by the strap; now that it's dusk, my eye condition shouldn't be an issue. Seeing the entire city like this is so incredible that it almost made the climb seem worth it. It, however, was nothing compared to what I found on the branch I'm currently sitting on. No doubt, it's what the little girl wanted me to get. It explains so much, but I still have questions to ask yet. "I'll ask about it once I get down." I stand up, only to loose my footing. I fall back and feel myself fall victim to gravity. As I begin to plummet down to the hill covered in countless flowers, I don't scream. No, I can't scream. Instead, I laugh. I laugh so hard that my lungs are filled with not air, but pain. That's right, I laugh. I laugh at just how funny a fate like this is.