Howl's Moving Heart
one.
“I know how to help you now! Find me in the future!”
Surprised to hear another voice in his meadow, the boy looked over just as blackness opened up the ground and closed in around a young woman, and he stared, wide-eyed, as the blackness faded away. The only thing he saw now was the field of flowers and shallow ponds that stretched for miles, but there was no one else but him. Convinced that what he’d just experienced was a hallucination, he turned his head, and his gaze fell upon a red ball of fire cupped in his palms. It had eyes that gazed up at him in awe, and it had a mouth that seemed to be smiling.
Then there was a sudden pain in his chest, right where his heart would be, and he pressed his palm over the spot, the ball of fire teetering precariously in the hand that still held it as he dropped to his knees. His head dropped forward, and his eyes screwed shut as he waited for the pain that he was feeling to pass.
“Had to take something, kid,” a voice said, and young Howl lifted his head to see that the fireball was staring at him, unfazed by the fact that it had just spoken. “Your heart was the strongest thing I could get a hold of when you swallowed me.” Howl stared at the fire in his palm, his other hand shakily rising to support it. “You’ve got a lot of questions, haven’t you? Go figure. Jeez, kid, have you gotten yourself into something.”
Howl only continued to stare at the ball of fire in his palm, and then the face of the young woman that he’d seen returned to his thoughts. “Hey…that girl…who was she? She was in trouble, wasn’t she?”
“All kinds, but kid. You gotta wait a few years before you can even think of finding her.” The fireball’s eyes seemed to narrow, and Howl raised both eyebrows at it. The fireball laughed. “Boy, kid, have you got a thing or two to learn.”
Surprised to hear another voice in his meadow, the boy looked over just as blackness opened up the ground and closed in around a young woman, and he stared, wide-eyed, as the blackness faded away. The only thing he saw now was the field of flowers and shallow ponds that stretched for miles, but there was no one else but him. Convinced that what he’d just experienced was a hallucination, he turned his head, and his gaze fell upon a red ball of fire cupped in his palms. It had eyes that gazed up at him in awe, and it had a mouth that seemed to be smiling.
Then there was a sudden pain in his chest, right where his heart would be, and he pressed his palm over the spot, the ball of fire teetering precariously in the hand that still held it as he dropped to his knees. His head dropped forward, and his eyes screwed shut as he waited for the pain that he was feeling to pass.
“Had to take something, kid,” a voice said, and young Howl lifted his head to see that the fireball was staring at him, unfazed by the fact that it had just spoken. “Your heart was the strongest thing I could get a hold of when you swallowed me.” Howl stared at the fire in his palm, his other hand shakily rising to support it. “You’ve got a lot of questions, haven’t you? Go figure. Jeez, kid, have you gotten yourself into something.”
Howl only continued to stare at the ball of fire in his palm, and then the face of the young woman that he’d seen returned to his thoughts. “Hey…that girl…who was she? She was in trouble, wasn’t she?”
“All kinds, but kid. You gotta wait a few years before you can even think of finding her.” The fireball’s eyes seemed to narrow, and Howl raised both eyebrows at it. The fireball laughed. “Boy, kid, have you got a thing or two to learn.”