Chapter 5: Him

VAZAR

My body tingled. It was waking up. Thousands of tiny pinpricks were working their way up and down my spine and legs. Just let me be! I begged. I wasn’t in the mood to get up and experience the wretched world around me. I stretched my lean legs out and curled them back in again. Nothing could make me get up and peer outside.

Then, it hit me. The sweet odor that wafted past the tip of my nose. I inhaled deeply. My grey eyes grew wider in the dark interior that I slept in. What on Earth was that? I asked myself. Like, literally, in all my time on Earth, I had never smelled something so… so… fresh, comforting… something so safe. If that was even a suitable adjective to describe the emotion that gripped my soul.

Summoning the last of my energy, I rose and glided towards the mouth of my prison. It opened into a bright space. Hmm, I was still in the same room as I was a few days ago. Nothing new to see, I guess, but wait, where was the smell coming from? I poked my head outside to get a good look around. People milled around the displays but nothing else was out of place. And then I saw her, all five-foot-five of her. Dressed in a black rain jacket and a pale pink hijab wrapped around her head. The fragrance that radiated from her was more potent than when I was asleep.

Floating out of my slumber, I settled on top of the glass cabinet that imprisoned my home and watched with interest. She was beautiful. Pale peach skin, smooth and clear. Eyes that were wide as the ocean and lips that were plump as a ripe mango. I inhaled sharply as she turned around and squinted at me. Did she see me? Impossible. No-one had seen me for years.

I had spent many decades surrounded by women, but never had I had the pleasure of experiencing such an immediate connection with anyone, let alone anyone I had just laid eyes upon. The vision before me wasn’t like the female species from my kind. She was softer, more delicate. The sunlight seemed to bounce off her eyes, and almost made them the same shade as mine.

The beauty began a slow walk towards me, her liquid eyes focused on mine. My heart began to thud erratically – she could see me! A pain exploded in my chest as I realized she was coming over to me. I slid off the cabinet ready to greet her.

“Hello,” I croaked trying my best to sound confident.

She stepped past me and peered into the cabinet I had been perching on. Reading the inscription on the glass, she took the time to study the vase inside. The vase that was my home. She was so close I could have touched her. The thought excited me, and I willed myself to calm down.

“Hi,” With the scent of her skin making me dizzy, I tried again, forcing my voice to come out stronger. The fact that I hadn’t used my voice in years made it difficult for me. “Miss…?”

She ignored me. She couldn’t see me. I felt as if a balloon had popped inside my chest. She was so close, but she couldn’t see me. She couldn’t hear me. I groaned silently. I was so out of practice. The years incarcerated had taken away my ability to act normal. I had forgotten how to interact with others. I let out a heavy sigh, it came out of my body with such force that it blew into her hijab. The fabric rippled with energy and the girl gasped, grabbing her scarf and turning around.

I watched as she searched behind her for the culprit. The poor girl looked frightened and stepped away. She was leaving! I had to make myself known. I couldn’t let her leave just like that. I couldn’t let this relationship end before it had even begun. All I knew is that I had to get to know her. Summoning my inner energy, I willed my body to be visible. The only problem with that was I wasn’t sure if it worked. I hadn’t done this for a while now.

“Miss?” I attempted to make contact.

Still nothing. She took another step and another. She was heading over the next display case.

Panic rose inside me and I shouted, “Wait!”

There air stood still. She stopped. She had heard. I let out a whoop of joy. She had heard me! There was a chance after all!

The girl’s eyes darted around her searching the source. She still couldn’t see me. I tried again, “Please wait. Give me a chance…”

“Who’s there?” Her voice wobbled as her lower lip trembled.

“Can you see me?” I asked stepped forward fighting the urge to taste her lips.

“Are you crazy? Am I crazy? What’s going on?” She whispered clutching her coat around her. Her eyes may as well have been following a live tennis game.

“I can explain…” Who was I kidding? How could I explain all this?

A moment of silence passed between us. Her hunched shoulders began to relax as she thought she must have imagined it and I fumbled for the words to explain.

“I must be crazy!” She composed herself and straightened out her jacket.

“No, no… you’re not crazy,” Stammering, I stepped sideways to block her way, but she walked right through me. How I wished I could have held her. I was desperate to feel her small frame against me.

Her pace was brisk as she headed for the door. In another ten seconds, she would have left the room completely and there was nothing I could do to get her to stay.

“Stop! Please! Just stop,” I begged chasing her.

“Leave me alone. You’re not real!”

“I am real. Please just stop, I’ll show you I’m real,” desperation was seeping out of my body and I summoned the will to turn my body into matter. Reaching out, I aimed to grab her shoulder, but I must have miscalculated and instead, I pushed her away.

Her body propelled forward as she stumbled.

“What the…” she shrieked as she stopped herself from hitting the ground.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that! I meant to…”

“To what? You meant to break my face on the floor?” she whipped around to look through me.

“Please. I’m nervous. I’m out of practice. You’re the first person I’ve spoken to in years.”

“In years? Why? Were you in prison?” She half joked.

The silence between us was deafening.

“I wasn’t in prison. I am in prison.”