Aihan and I sat in silence, pondering over this whole mess. I was still thinking about us being trapped here, and which role does this clock play? Moreover, which role do we play?
Aihan broke the silence. "I'm so confused. We are just two office workers, trying to not die with each passing day. Why on God's green Earth would the clock want us to be trapped here?"
I let his words wash over me, listening to the ticking of the clock and letting my mind run rampant. Perhaps there's more to this than meets the eye.
I bring the clock up to face level, staring at it head-on. When you first look at it, it's just a clock, ticking away. But when you touch it, it's slightly warm, has a faint glow to it — and that frantic moving brightness from earlier was not normal either. The whole reason why we fell off the cliff anyway.
"Honestly, Aihan? I truly don't know, and I'm just kind of tired at this point. Can't have a single damn day of relaxation, man," I say, as tiredness and exasperation wash over me.
Aihan groans and rubs his eyes, letting his hand drag down his face. "Whatever this is, I have a feeling that we won't be able to leave until we have solved it."
I hum in reply, placing my chin over my right palm, mentally wandering away. A weird clock that is totally not giving off supernatural vibes, being trapped in a ditch, and both me and Aihan being included in this mess — what could it possibly mean?
I lift my head and look at Aihan directly, in a way to convey myself. "Since this clock is weird anyway, let's be even weirder with our theories and solutions to this whole mess."
Aihan lifts an eyebrow and smirks. "I like where this is going. Okay, first theory — we died tragically, and this clock is trying to get us to solve some otherworldly problem that cannot be solved by the hands of mere mortals."
My right eye twitched in disbelief and anger. "The first thing you think of is us dying. Isn't that lovely? That's all we need as the cherry on top."
Aihan shrugged and laughed, leaning back. "I mean, come on — a clock? There's so much symbolism behind that. It could mean anything! Time travelling, reincarnation, cyclic nature of life — you see where I'm getting at?"
I absorb those words and lean back, mirroring him. "I see. Well, I think this could be a case of one thing or the other. Reincarnation though, huh..."
✦✦✦
"Haha, Finnian, want to come play with me?"
✦✦✦
I suddenly snap out of it and look around me, wondering where that voice came from and why it addressed me with such familiarity. My mind goes back to those weird dreams, and whispers of a familiar voice — a face I know, but don't know at the same time.
I shake my head to get a hang of myself and stare at Aihan, who was staring at me with veiled amusement and confusion. "Listen, Aihan, even if we go with this whole reincarnation thing, then where do we go from there?"
He shuffled close to me, and both of us reflected off the other, sitting in a crisscross position. He went to say, "Maybe we can tell each other about some weird dreams? Childhood memories? Someone else that may be a part of this whole situation? Maybe it's not us but another person — or other people — and we have been assigned to solve this matter?"
I stare at my foot, listening to what Aihan had to say. "And hey, maybe this could be another way for us to relax? Let's try and look at this in a brighter light!"
I lift my head at that and stare at him with my most dead look ever. "Yeah, almost dying by falling off a cliff is definitely a way to relax. Way to go, Aihan — love your optimism there!"
He groans at me and flails his arms, finally taking ahold of my shoulders. "I'm just trying to not go insane and you're NOT helping."
Shrugging his hands off, I roll my eyes at him. "I know, I know. Okay, look. Let's do this. Let's do as you said — lay out our dreams, whatever we remember, any weird occurrences — and then go from there, okay?"
Aihan nods and thinks for a moment. "Before I go to sleep, I sometimes hear a voice, reprimanding me. And no, it's not you, but it kind of sounds like you? The accent is different — a bit higher-pitched, kind of like a young boy who's halfway through his teenage years."
Now that caught my attention. "What do you mean? Like certain moments of different people, or is it the same person continuously?"
His eyebrows furrow in concentration, and then unfurl as his expression takes up a wistful look. "It's the same voice. Sometimes the voice sounds older, and sometimes it sounds quite young. But it's the same person — I can feel it. It's like moments of days that I remember, but at the same time, they aren't memories of the present."
I stare at him and unveil my thoughts. "I know what you mean. Sometimes I get glimpses of these memories and different moments — filled with this voice that sometimes sounds lively and sometimes it's almost… forlorn. Sometimes I feel like I'm grieving within my own mind, and it ends up reflecting upon my daily life."
I leave out the part where I sometimes get literal flashbacks that I don't even remember going through.
Me and Aihan both meet each other's eye and nod, as if coming to a decision.
"Okay, yeah, something's weird and it's related to both of us."
"Aihan, let's just call it a night for now and think about this tomorrow. Please tell me you have a lighter on you, or that you know how to make a fire?"
Aihan smiled widely and took out a lighter from his shirt pocket. "Me and no lighter? Impossible, my friend."
I sigh in relief and smile at him — at least something's going right. No matter how small it may be.
We take the material we gathered to make a rope — thankfully, most of it can be used to make a small fire — and pile it up properly.
With that, Aihan takes a small roll of grass, lights it on fire, and quickly throws it into the pile. And voilà! We have our very own fire to keep us comfortable while we sleep away.
Me and Aihan sit by the opposite sides of the fire, staring at it, while basking in the silence surrounding us. So much to absorb, so much to think over.
I stare at the fire, drifting away with my thoughts, and shiver as a wisp of air brushes my neck. A minute in, and I feel Aihan come over to my side and sit beside me. Side-hugging me.
I turn my head sideways to my left and stare at him with a raised eyebrow. "Are you tweaking?"
He merely rolls his eyes at me while staring at the fire and shrugs. "No — just making sure that both of us are warm enough to have a decent rest. Saying we both had a 'long day' would be an understatement. And well..I kind of feel guilty for dragging you along with me on this trip."
My jaw drops a bit in disbelief, and I use my right hand to turn his head to face me and flick his forehead. Before he could protest, I interrupt, "We are both adults — no one dragged anyone anywhere. I agreed to come, and none of us are at fault. You can't predict stuff like this, now can you?"
Aihan rubs the spot where I flicked him and stares at me with a sideways smile. "I guess not. Thank you, Fintan. This situation has me stressed, so I suppose it's getting to me at this point."
I shake my head and stare at him, smiling a bit. "It's fine. Now let's try and get some rest. We should probably move towards the cliffside area — would be better to support our backs that way."
Aihan nods, and we move towards the cliffside, while still being close enough to the fire. Aihan rests his head on my shoulder, and I rest mine on his head. With our legs being straightened and relaxed, this is the most comfort we can get.
"Goodnight, Finny."
I roll my eyes and smile. "Goodnight, Aihan."
✦✦✦
"Belle, are you sure we are headed the right way?"
"Please, Gisèle — have I ever walked a wrong path in my life?"
Belle sighs and prays to the lords above to let them live another day, because her friend's antics will never vanish — while Gisèle snickers at her friend's exasperation toward her.
Gisèle and Belle were both trying to find some pretty flowers to make a couple flower crowns for their mothers. Before they left, Belle was pondering over where she could get the prettiest flowers from — that's when Gisèle said that there was an abandoned cottage deep in the forest. Apparently, the most beautiful flowers surrounded such a place.
But Belle had her reservations about this. They had been walking since half-past now — did this cottage somehow grow legs and sprint away?
Before Belle could continue that train of thought, Gisèle suddenly stopped, which caused Belle to bump against her back. Now upset, before she could say anything, Gisèle turned towards her excitedly. "Look, Belle — we are here!"
Belle raised an eyebrow at her and took a look behind her — and oh heavens, what a sight to behold! Belle and Gisèle quickly ran to the patches of flowers — violet, rose, sapphire — so many colours!
They spend some time plucking flowers and gathering small piles, both humming and dancing along, sometimes meeting each other's eyes and laughing.
A bit of time passes, and as Belle is leaning down and adding some last flowers to her pile, she feels something light being placed on her head. In question, she looks up and sees Gisèle looking at her with a serene smile.
"Thank you, Belle, for coming along with me," Gisèle says while chuckling sheepishly.
Belle smiles and gets up, looking at Gisèle with the most gentle expression gracing her face.
"Gisèle, thank you for bringing me here. This is beautiful," Belle says, and leans down to pick up something she made earlier.
A crown of orchids and pink lilies, that she places over Gisèle's head.
Gisèle smiles softly while blinking slowly, happy about the outcome of her decision to bring her friend here.
As they leave with their baskets full of flowers, with Gisèle leading the way again, Belle brings her hand up and takes off the flower crown to look at it.
Hyacinths and peonies, intertwined with no end in sight.