Miyu's Wish (12 page)

She was sputtering now, coughing, her eyes flashing as lightning continued to strike overhead. I felt two arms gently pull me away as a couple of men dressed in blue crowded around her. I noticed there was an alarm blaring somewhere, and everything seemed to be red. I felt sick, weak, tired, confused, and then falling over, I saw only darkness.

Chapter Sixteen

I
 
opened my eyes, finding myself seated on an old, wooden chair. I stood up and looked around. I was in a sparse, circular room with a skylight high above. Sunlight filtered lazily through it, making me feel both warm and sleepy.

A door faced me, but before I could even consider opening it, someone stepped through. He regarded me carefully.

“Keil,” I murmured, watching him with astonishment. He looked much like how I had seen him before—an ungainly, awkward creature, but with keen eyes and a gentle composure. A thin smile flitted across his face as he observed me in turn, and I felt the dreariness he held within himself as if it were my own.

“You’re doing well, considering how things are,” he said. “You’ve embraced your form wholeheartedly, a lovely flower born from a wilted weed. But I’ve been influencing you subconsciously, perhaps helping, perhaps hindering.” He paused, his eyebrows
drooping apologetically. “I’m sorry for the hindering.” His voice was surprisingly deep and firm, and resounded with a tone of finality.

“I don’t even understand who you really are, let alone what you mean,” I said accusingly, my doubts, fears, and frustrations all bubbling out at once.

He searched my face, looking both sympathetic and tired. “I know it’s hard, but deep down you already know who I am. Or rather, who you really are. You’ve known since that first morning of school.”

I stepped backward, my face twisted with indignation.
Was he confirming what I had really feared all along?
I sank to my knees and despaired. “Why?”

Keil sat on the floor next to me and stared up at the sunshine raining down from above. “You’ve actually been given a great opportunity,” he said somberly. “The chance to experience life from a different perspective—and to help fix an ugly future.”

I gaped at him, feeling slow and stupid as I tried to process all of his cryptic revelations. “I still don’t think I understand.”

Keil chuckled lightly and turned to me. “I know. And I can hardly expect you to.” He paused for a moment, as if picking his words carefully. “We are expected to rejoin, but there are certain nefarious forces intent on distorting our destiny forever. You will be faced with temptation and have to make a difficult decision or two. For both our sakes, I hope you choose wisely.”

Everything was beginning to dim; I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but he was fading away. “Keil, what’s happening?”

“You’re waking up,” he said dejectedly, looking like a vanishing ghost. He gave me a final, heartfelt look. “Whatever happens, don’t forget me, OK?”

“But how will I know which choices are the right ones? What was I placed here to do?” I shouted, my hand reaching out to touch his face. It passed through him like vapor, but he smiled.

“Go with God,” he said simply. And then, like a shorted light, he was gone. Aunt Mari’s voice called from the distance.

“Miyu!” she said as I awakened. I was lying down with my head on her lap, and she was stroking my hair. She placed a cup to my lips, and I drank a few sips of water.

“What happened?” I murmured, sitting up. Her eyes were moist, and she held me upright with her left arm.

“You don’t remember? One of your schoolmates was struck by lightning. You saved her life.”

I did remember, of course. The memories returned like the night terrors of a terrible dream.

“Is she…going to be alright?” I asked morosely, a tear trickling down my cheek.

“Yes, of course, my brave little girl,” Aunt Mari said proudly, squeezing me tenderly. “I told you—you saved her life.”

I smiled weakly at her, feeling a great sense of relief. I glanced around. We were in a tent, and there was a paramedic watching from the back.

“Where’s Thad?” I asked.

“I think he left shortly after the girl—Kimberly, I think—was escorted into the ambulance. He seemed pretty shaken, but he was the one who called 9–1–1. You’ve been asleep for nearly fifteen minutes.”

Aunt Mari helped me to my feet; thoughts of Keil, Kimberly, and Thad were all fighting for attention in my head. I heaved a yearning, crestfallen sigh.

“Auntie, let’s go home.”

Chapter Seventeen

I
 
didn’t awaken until late the next morning. My phone was humming a song about mistaken identities, and Oogles was lying like a dead fish on the pillow next to me.

I turned onto my side and pondered Keil’s strange admonitions. I was living something of a dual life it seemed, but his talk of destiny and choices—and “rejoining”—was more repugnant than reassuring. How much time did I still have? What was I really supposed to do? If only he had remained with me a little longer.

Nevertheless, my thoughts kept rebounding back to Kimberly, and I soon gave up thinking about anything else. I recalled her lying on the ground—her face cold, wet, and deathly white—and then I watched myself breathe into her lips, imploring her to awaken. And eventually, she had. It was almost like a fairy tale, and I blushed as I replayed the scene again and again.

I meandered over to my computer and perused my social networks. I already had a couple of messages from people congratulating me on my deed, although I hadn’t made any official announcement yet. I paused and considered what sort of blanket message I should leave for everyone, but eventually gave up. Maybe it was best to say nothing at all, at least for now.

I switched tabs to my e-mail, and my jaw instantly dropped. “Rraman” had written me back.

Dear Miyu,

       
How nice of you to write; your name is very cute, full of meaning and subtext. I bet you’re adorable.

I groaned. Was this really the same guy? But I kept reading.

       
You sure have a lot of questions! I would have loved to reply sooner, but my life sees me in a variety of roles. Ever hear of body changing? Body swapping? Body surfing? Ha ha, just joking on that last one.

       
But never mind. You essentially asked about parallel incarnation, which would be most akin to body changing, assuming what you’ve told me is true. Indeed, it’s the phenomenon of living two different lives at once, or at least very close together. As you can imagine, the soul sharing the same time and space with itself is complex business, and usually requires the authority of a supreme immortal or being. It’s a quantum quandary, I guess you could say.

       
That sorta sounds like your situation, but who knows? It’s extremely rare, and history doesn’t seem to support many
cases of it happening. And that would make you a girl who was a guy. That must be interesting! Experiencing any conflicting urges or desires, or having any more quixotic dreams? Have you been granted any mystical powers? Does your cup size overfloweth? Again, just kidding on that last one!

       
Thanks for writing! Let me know what you transform or switch into next!

Ta Ta,

Rra

I stared at the screen as a vein throbbed on the side of my head.
That had been a complete waste of time.
Still…there was just enough intrigue in his message to entice me to write again. Sighing, I kept it simple.

Dear Rra,

       
Thank you for the interesting reply. I hope you can answer just one more question for me. Well, maybe a few more. You mentioned something about supreme immortals or beings. Who are these individuals, and which one do you think might be responsible for my predicament? And why?

Thank you! :-)

Miyu

       
P.S. Were you serious about the “mystical powers” bit?

I had just sent the reply as Aunt Mari knocked on the door.

“Miyu, are you up?” she asked softly.

“Yes Auntie,” I answered, shutting down the browser and jumping up.

She opened the door and peeked in at me. “You look good,” she noted. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, I’m OK,” I said with a shrug and a smile. “Any news on Kimberly?”

She nodded. “Yes, she’s doing well but will remain at the hospital until at least this afternoon. I think you should pay her a visit.”

I hesitated for a moment, imagining what Kimberly’s reaction to me might be.

“You don’t have to, if you’re too embarrassed,” she added, seeing that I was troubled. “But I can only assume she’d be eager to thank you.”

I smiled halfheartedly. “No, you’re right. I’ll go. Just let me get dressed.”

But my mind was racked with doubts.

We reached the hospital around noon and proceeded to Kimberly’s quarters. I trailed several feet behind my aunt, feeling
a growing sense of panic as I fully grasped what I was doing.
Kimberly despised me.

I lunged forward and grabbed my aunt’s wrist. “Maybe we should do this another time,” I said quickly. “I can always see her tomorrow.”

“But child,” Aunt Mari remarked with surprise, pulling her arm gently away. “We’re already here.”

As she spoke, a group of people called to us from down the hall.

“Ms. Moon?” a woman said, stepping away from the others and walking over. “We talked on the phone. I’m Kimberly’s mother, Susan Sutton.”

My aunt nodded and stepped forward to give her a hug. “I’m so sorry about your daughter.” She pulled away slightly and motioned to me. “This is my niece, Miyu.”

Ms. Sutton looked at me tearfully.

“I’m sorry too, about Kimberly,” I said. The mother looked a lot like her daughter, but with shorter hair and a somehow tighter face. She immediately bent down and hugged me—a lot longer than she had hugged Aunt Mari—and then she backed away as if to study me some more. “Thank you for what you did,” she murmured, her voice thick with emotion. “You will always be a friend of the Sutton family.”

My cheeks felt hot as I faced her. “You don’t have to thank me,” I said, gesturing to my aunt. “It was Auntie’s idea for me to take a CPR class in the first place. I would have been useless without that.”

Aunt Mari smiled softly, looking just a tad embarrassed herself.

“Then we’re indebted to you both,” Susan said deeply, wiping her eyes. She glanced back at me. “And you, Miyu, are as sweet and adorable as Kimberly described.”

My eyes bulged forward. “She really said that?”

The mother smiled. “On a number of occasions. Would you like to see her now?”

I nodded tentatively. “Alright.”

She led me over to the group of people, which included a few students I knew in passing. They all smiled graciously as I walked by.

“Just one moment now, Miyu,” Ms. Sutton said, entering a room. To my surprise, Thad emerged a minute later. He looked at me awkwardly and quickly departed down the hallway.

“Your, ah, friend was in quite the hurry,” Aunt Mari observed, frowning after him.

“Yeah,” I muttered, completely mystified. But Kimberly’s mother reappeared before I could ponder the development further.

“You can go in now,” she told me, squeezing my shoulder and giving me a little push.

I suddenly found myself shuttered inside with the door closed behind me. Up ahead was a twin bed with pink sheets. Kimberly’s head was raised slightly off the pillow; she viewed me like a wary animal.

“You came,” she said simply, sounding a little miffed. “I didn’t think you would.”

I walked up to her cautiously; she seemed to sink deeper under her sheets as I approached, like a bat cowering from sunlight. Her lips were pursed and her eyes slightly red. Faint trail marks glistened across her face, the salty remnants of fallen tears.

“Your mother is nice,” I said casually. I reached for a chair and pulled it up to the bed.

Kimberly pushed her lips out at me, as if about to pout. “My mother and father are nice to everyone. They’re crusaders and socialites, so it’s their job to hobnob and schmooze with others. I hadn’t seen them at all this week until…last night.”

I remained silent for a moment, smoothing an invisible wrinkle in my blouse as I groped for something to say. I then gazed back into those watery eyes of hers, and with a tentative finger, caught a sudden tear as it rolled down her cheek. I held it on my finger for a moment and then—like setting a butterfly free—cast it to the air.

“Are you going to be OK?” I asked.

She continued to watch me, her expression unreadable. “Yeah, I think so. I should thank you, of course, for what you did.”

“I did what anyone would do.”

She turned herself onto her back and suddenly sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest with a shimmering sheen in her eyes.

“Miyu, I have something terrible to tell you,” she croaked, a flood of new tears rolling down her face.

Surprised, I yanked a tissue from my purse and eased onto her bed. I cupped her face in one hand and dabbed her tears with the other.