Fakiru Week 2014- Hands

I remember the first time it happened. It was summer and the rainy season had begun. I was walking back home from the library one afternoon when I saw Ahiru walking in town alone. It was drizzling and like the idiot she is she left her umbrella, so I walked over to her. It wasn’t until she noticed the stop in raindrops on her that she realized I was next to her.

“Oh, hi, Fakir! I thought the rain had magically stopped falling only on me.” She said laughing.

“Moron, what are you doing out here walking around aimlessly and getting all wet?” I asked her.

“I’m not walking aimlessly, I’m on my way to the lake.”

“Why the lake?”

“Pique and Lilie told me that if you go to the lake at midnight during the summer then you can see fairies dancing over the water. And if you catch one it will grant you a wish!”

“That’s ridiculous, don’t be so naïve.”

“Oh, because magical ballerinas, reincarnated knights, and fairy tale princes breaking free from their stories is so believable.” She with a huff, crossing her arms in front of her.  

She did have a point. But I had a feeling that her so-called friends might just be messing with her… again. “I don’t think there are any fairies around here.”

“Then what are the glowing whish makers that Pique and Lilie were talking about?”

At first I didn’t know how to answer her. And then I remembered. “Well, I think there might be something worth seeing at the lake, and we don’t have to wait for midnight either.”

“Really? What is it?”

The drizzling had stopped so I closed my umbrella, “You’ll have to wait until we get there.”

We started making our way to the lake. The sky was beginning to clear up and we could see the sun setting behind the large grey clouds. By the time we reached the lake it was already dusk.

“Fakir, there’s nothing here. Are we going to have to wait long?”
“I hope you’re not complaining, seeing that you were going to wait till midnight to catch fairies.”

“N-no! I’m not, I was just curious.” She said dropping her head and playing with the hem of her skirt.

“Just wait, they should come out soon.”

“They?” she asked. And as if they heard her, they slowly began to rise up from the wet grass around the lake. One by one, glowing brightly. I heard Ahiru gasp in awe. “Fakir, look! Fairies!”

“Idiot,” I said, bopping her on the head with my umbrella, “ they’re not fairies.”

“Then what are they?”

Honestly, I wasn’t all that surprised that she had never seen them before. “They’re fireflies.”

She watched them fly around and glide over the water, mesmerized. “Fireflies…” her voice was airy, as though if she spoke their name too loudly they would disappear. She walked closer to the lake and I followed behind. “Say, Fakir, if we catch one do you think it will grant wishes too?”

I wanted to laugh at her and call her an idiot, but the innocent look on her face and hopefulness in her eyes stopped me. “I don’t know, maybe.”

“Well, let’s give it a try!” she said as she ran to go stalk one down.

“Just don’t squish it.” I told her, remembering my first attempt at catching one when I was a child.

“What do you mean?” she said with a worried look.

“I mean, just be careful.” I said, putting my umbrella on the ground to lightly cup my hands together in front of me, showing her what I meant. She smiled and nodded.

“Join me, Fakir!” She said looking back at me. I was going to protest but the temptation got the better of me.

Trying to catch a firefly was just as hard as I remembered. Every time you thought you had one corned it’s light would fade out and fly away before you realized what happened.

After several failed attempts we found our selves standing back to back and intently watching as two fireflies fluttered around us, teasing us. This time we weren’t going to let them get away.

Faster then they could dodge us; we both clasped our hands around each of the fireflies.

“We did it! We caught them.” Ahiru said with an ecstatic look on her face. She brought her hands close to her face and carefully looked inside, it’s light green glow reflecting onto her face and mixing in with the blue of her eyes. When she looked at me I knew right away what she was thinking.  

I brought my hands over to hers and we carefully opened our hands and clasped them over each other’s to let the two fireflies come together.

“Are you going to make a wish, Fakir?”

I stayed quiet for a moment thinking about what to say. I knew that if I said no then she’d ask me why not and I couldn’t say it was because I didn’t believe in magic. But if I said yes then she’d want to know what I would wish for, even if it went against the rules of wish making. Honestly, I wouldn’t even know what to wish for. I already had Ahiru back, so I didn’t see the need to have anything else in my life. Not that I would ever tell her that. I took my chances anyways. “I don’t need to wish for anything.”  

She pouted, “Fakir, you’re no fun.” She sighed and closed her eyes, I guess to make her wish. “Last chance.”

“I’m fine.” I told her.

“Oh, okay… one… two… three.” We slowly opened our hands and watched as the two fireflies flickered their way back up into the sky, disappearing and reappearing against the now black background and mixing in with the stars.

I looked back down when I felt Ahiru’s hands clasp over mine again, this time tightly. She stepped closer to me, raised herself onto her toes, and tilted her head up. Her face only a few inches from mine, she closed her eyes and waited for me to close the gap between us. I did.  

When I finally pulled away she quickly jumped back a few feet and turned away from me. “Wow, look how late it is!” I couldn’t see her face but I could tell that she was fidgeting with her skirt again. “I really should be going back to school.” She said as she started to walk back into town.

“Hold on, moron, I’ll walk you back.” I said picking up my umbrella. She looked back to me over her shoulder and nodded.

We avoided looking at each other or even saying anything the whole walk back to school. Once we were in front of the girl’s dorm we just stood there. I’m not sure how long we were there for but I felt like forever. I didn’t know what to say to her and I guess she felt the same.

“Well, uhm…. Goodnight… Fakir.” She said first, smiling at me.

I smiled back, “Goodnight… Ahiru.”