Shila
"I think I'll call you Shila."
We must have been sitting like this for an eternity. Completely rigid, in chairs facing each other not more than a couple feet apart. Her soft eyes never left my face, but my own gaze remained fixed on the white tiles of the floor between my feet. I felt certain we'd been having a very important conversation, only as far as I could remember, neither of us had said a word.
"You're holding yourself back," she spoke at last. It wasn't an accusation; the words fell much too softly. I could almost see her voice, a delicate wave of a beautiful blue that probably matched some shade in her gentle eyes.
"I know." I swallowed.
"Why?"
I couldn't quite respond. I knew the answer, but it seemed to dangle awkwardly in the air between us at an odd angle where I couldn't quite grasp it well enough to explain.
I couldn't grasp it, but I could see it, and I was sure she could too.
I found myself suddenly very restless. Immediately I rose to my feet and walked, very briskly, around the empty circular room, running my fingers along the walls and taking in the texture as I let myself lose count of how many laps I'd made. All the while, she kept her eyes on the empty space above my chair, as if I'd never left it.
Eventually I stopped and let my arm fall limp at my side.
A defeated sigh. "I think I'm just afraid."
"You 'think'?"
Her gaze still did not waver; her eyes stayed locked on empty space. I studied her carefully from where I stood. Her face gave only the slightest hint of an unidentifiable emotion; sympathy, maybe?
"Perhaps thinking is half your problem."
Then, slowly, gracefully, she rose and drifted over glassy tiles. She came to a pause by the blank wall only briefly before it disintegrated before her. I couldn't bother to wonder how she had made it happen until she was gone, leaving behind a newly stabilized and perfectly sturdy white wall.
My fingertips returned to the textured surface and I made my way around the room to where she had vanished. When my hand reached the spot where she'd disappeared, the wall remained perfectly intact, but I could see... It was summer.
"I think I'll call you Shila," I whispered to no one.
The now empty wooden chairs caught my eye. We must have been sitting like that for an eternity. But we couldn't have; there had been, and would be, so many others...
"You're holding yourself back," she spoke at last. It wasn't an accusation; the words fell much too softly. I could almost see her voice, a delicate wave of a beautiful blue that probably matched some shade in her gentle eyes.
"I know." I swallowed.
"Why?"
I couldn't quite respond. I knew the answer, but it seemed to dangle awkwardly in the air between us at an odd angle where I couldn't quite grasp it well enough to explain.
I couldn't grasp it, but I could see it, and I was sure she could too.
I found myself suddenly very restless. Immediately I rose to my feet and walked, very briskly, around the empty circular room, running my fingers along the walls and taking in the texture as I let myself lose count of how many laps I'd made. All the while, she kept her eyes on the empty space above my chair, as if I'd never left it.
Eventually I stopped and let my arm fall limp at my side.
A defeated sigh. "I think I'm just afraid."
"You 'think'?"
Her gaze still did not waver; her eyes stayed locked on empty space. I studied her carefully from where I stood. Her face gave only the slightest hint of an unidentifiable emotion; sympathy, maybe?
"Perhaps thinking is half your problem."
Then, slowly, gracefully, she rose and drifted over glassy tiles. She came to a pause by the blank wall only briefly before it disintegrated before her. I couldn't bother to wonder how she had made it happen until she was gone, leaving behind a newly stabilized and perfectly sturdy white wall.
My fingertips returned to the textured surface and I made my way around the room to where she had vanished. When my hand reached the spot where she'd disappeared, the wall remained perfectly intact, but I could see... It was summer.
"I think I'll call you Shila," I whispered to no one.
The now empty wooden chairs caught my eye. We must have been sitting like that for an eternity. But we couldn't have; there had been, and would be, so many others...