Thursday 14 February 2013

Valentine's Day

The bridge comes into view ahead of me. My heart starts to pound in my chest. Will he be there today? Or will he not?
Silly, a voice says inside my head. Of course he will be. He's an NPC. Where else would he be?
Nervousness sets in. My footsteps slow. My fingers turn my letter over and over in my hands. I glance around quickly. Flocks of snipes, more NPC's in the distance. No one else around to see me.
I smooth my raiment, straighten my armour and make sure my pony tails are indeed what I have equipped. Then down the stairs I go. My footsteps soft and light, I sidle onto the bridge without a sound and peek over the railing to the ground below.
A string of emotes go through my mind: /joy, /dance, /cheer, /grin. I dare not state them out loud. Also ones I cannot express: /yearning, /flustered, /dizzy, /nervous.
For he is there, as he always is, and he is unreachable - and unaware of me - and never alone.
Who are his companions? A loyal sidekick who never leaves his side, and multiple other subordinates - I have seen three so far - who constantly bring in reports perhaps, or news, or ask for his approval for something out beyond the Garrison's bounds. 
They keep him constantly busy, and I can only think how hard he must work to manage all this, how admirable to be in charge of so much and so many, how patient to endure those interruptions over and over and over again.
It is a world I can only wonder at from a distance and never enter, for it is a place which I and no others I know yet have access to. I don't know his name. I can't send him a mail. My voice does not reach.
I sit on the bottom step and dream:
A large blue snipe whirls down beside me and perches on the rail near where I stand. He bobs his head at me (he has found me here so often that we are old friends) then he tips his head down to peer at the knight who has so captured my attention.
Blue chirrups enquiringly.
I shake my head with a sigh. It's the fourteenth of February, 2013. Valentine's Day. The letter is starting to look ragged in my hands after playing with it so much. Why did I write it? What was I going to do with it? It all seems so hopeless, I no longer remember. 
Taking one last look, I turn to go with a sigh. 
Only to feel the letter - my letter - snatched from my hands. 
I jerk around. It's Blue... Blue holds my letter in his beak and there's a gleam in his eye. 

I lunge forward but he's too fast for me. He whirls into the air and down, down to the place I can never go, down to where my NPC stands.
My heart leaps into my mouth, but I can only stand at the rail and stare down in wide eyed horror.
My letter - my valentine - is being delivered straight into my NPC's hands.
The flow is interrupted. Everything stops now and changes. With surprise, the letter is accepted and opened. 
A pink blush tinges my aura. My stomach whirls like Blue's wings. Hope and dread: a strange mix of emotions.
Blue whirls back up towards me. My NPC and his companions turn their heads to follow his flight. I gasp and duck down, but too late to not have been seen. 
"Miat?"
I freeze. Is that you calling my name?
"Miat!"
No. I wake from my dream abruptly. My heart aches. I still carry this letter. There is no large blue snipe. A friend approaches from the other side of the bridge. And, my dear NPC, you and your companions continue on with your business, unaware of my existence as you always were.
I sigh deeply.
Maybe one day a path will open. Maybe one day I'll get down there. But for now, my dear unnamed knight, I record my dreams in this letter, a letter that maybe one day I'll be able to pass onto you to let you know how I feel.
Now… now, I must be content just to sit up here on this bridge, watching it all from a distance, feeling at peace knowing you'll always be there, unchanging and familiar as an NPC ought to be. 



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