Soña liked this feeling of stillness, of comfort and security. She sat in a blue
chair in the middle of a wide and crowded walkway, much like one outside of a Tokyo
subway station. A rock was at her left, just sitting there on the blue cushion, looking drab
and ugly, but steady, solid, and comforting. A wild rose was in her right hand, reeking o
magic and power, looking beautiful and perfect, but Soña had to be careful to avoid it’s
hidden and dangerous thorns. With these guardians near her, the ceaseless flow of
people, the constant chatter of souls, seemed faraway and unthreatening. With the rose at
her nose, assailing her mind with it’s warm and comforting aroma and covering her
mouth with it’s pulchritudinous perfection, Soña felt free to watch and dream about the
masses as they passed, speculating about their names and lives, their secret thoughts,
without feeling embarrassed, or menaced by their inquisitive glances.
That guy, he’s definetly a Brian. Her mouth widened into a smile as his life and
hobbies unfolded in her mind like a road map. I bet he likes computers. Yep, he spends
all of his time away from school playing video games on the Internet. Oooh, look at her,
a Lisa for sure. I bet she knows how to play just about every musical instrument there is.
She listens to dance techno, and goes to raves on the weekends.
Time tripped by quickly, and soon the face of her watch drooped into a frown,
signaling that it was time to leave. Her eyes scolded the frowning face; it just wriggled
it’s whiskers and frowned more deeply at her, insisting that she depart. Soña sighed
heavily and pushed herself up to her feet with her fists. The thorns of the rose tore into
her right hand, drawing her warm blood and bringing tears into the corners of her eyes.
She dropped the rose onto the seat and plucked the thorns from her hand. No longer
protected by the rose, the stares of passersby began to disturb Soña. She felt self
conscious, and held the rock to hide the blood on her palm. She turned back to the rose,
eyes filling with hurt, hand gripping the rock harder and harder. The rose merely sat
there, dark red blood glistening on it’s stem, accentuating the rich color of it’s petals.
She angrily threw the rock at the rose, missing high, and turned to walk away, out of this
city of false hopes, into a land of rain and ghosts, to search for fulfillment. Behind her, a
girl with long brown hair and dreams in her eyes, stopped at the seat and picked up the
rose. She instantly felt it’s magic and power, and smiled involuntarily as she raised it to
her nose and drank deeply it’s intoxicating aroma. She slid into the seat, and felt
something hard and uncomfortable beneath her. She reached down and pulled out the
rock, glanced at it once, and cast it aside, taking the rose into both hands and bringing it
to her nose again. Soña glanced back at the girl in the seat, and smiled thinly. She licked
her lips, feeling the onset of the cold, metallic taste of ghosts, which inevitably began to
replace the aroma of the rose. She turned away , and walked slowly through the rain,
gently feeling the back of her teeth with the tip of her tongue, as the ghosts closed in,
disembodied visitors from another time or place, filling her mind and her mouth with the
cold, metallic taste.
