DifferentReflection

She was a cheerful dreamer who thought the reality she was living in was still a dream that she never wanted to wake up from.
She was lost deeper in intricacy when she saw a reflection that she thought she recognised.
A faithful map tried to get her back on the path but she was too drawn to the false image that was very dear to her.
Which road will she have to choose between two tracks that will lead her in two different worlds as she was sitting so close to grieve to even realise that no matter which road she took, the painful truth will still stab her heart.
 

            It was already midnight and a young couple was lying on a single bed under the moonlight that shone through the window. It was another peaceful night for them like usual and the girl was in the boy’s arm just like how they loved it. The girl loved to hear his heartbeat where her ear could listen to as if it was the only melody in this world to be enjoyed while the boy loved to have her in his embrace as if it was the last thing he would ever let go in this world. There was no word that they had to say because they simply knew what it meant.

            “Why are you hugging me so tightly tonight?” The girl asked even though she liked it. She raised her chin to look at the most beautiful face she ever saw with her eyes. He had a pair of small eyes that will form crescent shape when he smiled, a puppy-like nose that made his face looks cute and a pair of lips that will form rectangular shape when he laughed. He had a soft and fair skin and also short brown hair with fridge. It was his natural hair colour though. The boy looked at the girl straight to her eyes upon the question.

            “Can’t I?” The boy asked with a mischievous smile that she loved the most. It was also the same smile that made her fall for him. The girl beamed a smile and shook her head. She buried her face in his chest as she hugged him tighter as he did.

            “No, just keep hugging me like this.” The girl mumbled but still can be heard by the boy. The boy nodded and kiss the girl’s hair.

            “You know, you have to stop being naughty. You can’t be like this forever.” The boy said and the girl could only chuckle at him. She remembered their date that evening. The boy had done enough to stop her naughty and childish acts but she never stopped. Instead she laughed at him and ran off. People were looking at them weirdly and it embarrassed him but she enjoyed it so much. She was a troublemaker for him but he would never get bored or angry with her. That was why she loved him so much that she could die if he was gone. No one aside from her family had been treating her like how he did. They would only blame her and stay away from her to avoid trouble but this boy in front of her was the one who would stay with her. They started as neighbors, classmates, best friends and now ended up as a couple. Those years they had been through, he never left her.

            “Yah, why are you laughing?” The boy asked with a frown but still, their position did not change.

            “Can’t I?” The girl replied mischievously and this time, it was the boy who chuckled. He, himself did not know why he could not get angry at the girl in front of him. She irritated him when the first time he saw her but he did not feel annoyed. He was attracted to her instead. She was stubborn and he was short-tempered but he could not do anything to her when what she did could anger him. It was like she had put a spell on him and he would never escape from her. But he knew, such spell did not exist except for the feeling called love. He loved her so much that he thought he should die if he made her cry. He saw her hardships and that was when he decided to never leave her side. And he was proud of himself that he never failed to be by her side every time she needed him but in the future, he knew he was going to break her heart once in her lifetime.

            “Listen, you have to stop eating too much chocolates, cakes, ice creams, instant noodles and all those unhealthy food. Stop drinking too much carbonated drinks too. It’s not good for your health. You have to be on your bed when night time. You have to sleep even though you can’t. Just stay on the bed. Wear the socks that I bought for you. It’s good for your sleep. Are you wearing it now?” The boy could feel the girl nodded her head but he knew it too that she was pouting. He knew how much she hated it when people blabbered her but he had to.

            “Why are you telling me this? Let’s just sleep.” That was her usual reply when people were advising her.

            “You know I will never get tired of telling you all of this, right?” He asked but received no answer from her. He heaved a heavy sigh. He knew she was not asleep. She just did not want to listen to his words. The boy tighten his hug and caressed her back and he could feel that she scooted closer to him.

            “I love you and I just want the best for you.”

            “I know. I love you too.” She mumbled as she was feeling sleepy already.

            “Will you promise me that you will not cry in your sleep anymore? Will you promise me that you will always look at the moon every time you’re missing me, Moonlight?” He asked with a shaky voice but it could not be detected by the girl who was ready to sleep. She heard his questions but could not think of any other thing so she just promised. And she smiled lightly when she heard him calling her with her pet name. He called her with so many pet names before but the one she loved the most was Moonlight because it was the only thing that always accompanied her when she was tearing up in the middle of the night. She shared her pain with the moon and moonlight was the thing that gave her strength to live her life.

            “I love you.” That was the last thing she heard from the boy before she completely drove off to her sleep. After a few moments, when the boy was sure that she slept already, he pushed her lightly from his arm and sat up on the bed. He placed her head nicely on her pillow and pulled the blanket over her body. He looked at her feature that he loved to look at the most and traced it. He caressed her hair and realized that his eyes were teary. He did not know what will happen in the future but one thing for sure, he had to leave her. He could not be with her when she needed him, he could not accompany her to sleep and he could not say ‘I love you’ to her anymore. He just hoped that she could live her life well and have all the best things in the world.

            “I love you, Moonlight.” He said before he kissed her on the lips, without knowing that it was the last chance he had.

Character