The sun struggled to climb out of densely packed clouds, wheezing and puffing from its inevitable fall. Admitting defeat, it chose instead to seep through the balls of cotton, staining them an angry red. The wind noticed the temper of the sky and quieted down to barely a whisper as it peeked from behind a forest of flowers at the girl sitting on the wooden bench.

With her arms propped up behind her, ankles crossed carelessly, her dark eyes gazed questioningly at a hazy figure in the distance. That was herself who she saw. Not the same as the girl leaning back on the bench in her favourite black sweatshirt. Or the one whose ebony hair fell to her waist in a mysterious waterfall. It was the girl who was brave enough to attempt all she ever wanted, who would never be in her reach, distanced like a rainbow.

Her dark orbs peered to the side where the sun was drowning. How pathetic, she thought. As the source of all life on this planet, it couldn’t even fight back the threat of the night. Not that she disliked night. Although- she was glad to see someone else being rendered powerless, especially one from a position close to divinity.

The grass under her feet bare feet tickled while the scent of sandalwood drifted around her head, even though she did not feel any hint of a breeze. Suddenly, a peal of laughter rang through the air, caused insects to hiss and buzz and squeak, scolding her for startling them. But she hadn’t laughed because she was ticklish. In fact, she herself didn’t really know why. Maybe it was the stealth of the wind, or the last glimpse of the sun’s forehead over the tip of the trees... She shook her head. She knew it was weird – wrong, even – to laugh abruptly out of nowhere, but she couldn’t help it. It couldn’t ever be wrong to express your emotions, could it?

It was the beginning of twilight, when night threatened to take over but stayed motionless for now. She contemplated returning to her life where she had no control, then something three meters away caught her eyes.

In the shape of a perfect sphere, carefully and tenderly created by Mother Nature, the furry object looked as though it would fit perfectly in one of her palms. It seemed to call out to her underneath the soft white fur, grinning cheekily, come and play with me.

She crouched down and reached out with her pale fingers as if in a trance. Then stopped without warning in mid-air. No, a voice in her head warned, this is not the first time you’ve been tricked by outer appearances. Last time he betrayed you. Don’t repeat history.

The girl’s bottom lip drained of colour as she bit down on it, hard. Regret still lingered on her tongue like bitter coffee; she had made a mistake in the past. She admitted that. But it did not mean she would never trust anyone ever again. Everyone makes mistakes. This time, she would trust herself and obey no one’s orders except for her own.

With a firm resolution in mind she placed a hand on the white ball, instantly triggering a quick inward gasp before she flinched back and fell onto the soft grass. Droplets of scarlet were beginning to appear on her palm, at the end of hundreds of translucent thorns. Cactus thorns.

The pain throbbed in her hand and the cold ground pushed against her back, but a wide grin broke across the girl’s features nevertheless. She had done what she wanted to do, and was responsible for everything that had happened. It felt utterly wonderful.

“Does it hurt?” the wind asked, concerned.

No, it doesn’t. She laughed. No, it doesn’t.

A/N: the theme that I had to write about was that it is better to do something and regret it rather than not do it at all, and I’m sorry for all that mystery about her past lol. Basically, she really trusted someone before, so much that she would let him decide what she would do, and he used that opportunity to betray her and hurt her. Which is why she grew distanced from people and closed up to trust no one and feel depressed at the lack of control she used to have over her life. This short story shows the moment where, at last, she overcomes her fear of accepting unknown things (I’M SO SORRY I MADE JIYEON INTO AN UNINTELLIGENT PERSON WHO CAN’T RECOGNISE A CACTUS BUT TRUST ME, THAT WAS THE PLOT GIVEN TO ME(!)) and feels like a page has been turned from this act of courage and power.

Hope you liked it :)