FicWad

Notes:
“Text”= Japanese talking
“/Text/”= English talking
“+Text+”= American talking
“#Text#”= Australian talking
Forlorn. Simon sat alone in his room. He had many pictures of him with Casper all over the floor. They looked so happy together before 2009. Two years later had been rather rocky. He hadn’t been the same since he came out of his coma. But yet, Simon had been working hard to get himself back. He could speak Japanese more fluently now. The boy could nearly live on his own. Yet, he still had so much to work with. In his mind, Casper was on the top of the list. He was determined to get her back. Simon sat back and closed his eyes.
Casper… I want you back…
Subject: Simon
The phone rang and brought Simon back to reality. But, he didn’t budge. His mind and his heart worked for him. Every time the phone rang, the boy hoped that it was her calling. He closed his mouth and listened. His mum went on and on downstairs. Simon felt his heart die a little on the inside with each passing second.
It’s not her, he thought. It never is her. Why would it be? What if… she moved on by now? Simon tightly shut his eyes.
No!, he pleaded in his mind. She’s not like that! Simon closed his eyes harder. Was she?
“/Simon!/” he heard someone call out to him. “/Casper’s at the door for you!/” Simon’s heart went into hyper double-time as he jerked his ears open. Casper?, he thought. The boy stood up and raced down the stairs.
Casper shuffled her feet as she looked around. She felt like a stranger in a strange land. Two long years. The hippie walked by the house every day since his accident. Not once did she think about going inside. But today seemed different for some reason. She didn’t really understand why. Casper tried to look anywhere other than inside the house. Part of her wanted to turn and walk away. But, her heart wouldn’t really let her do so. The hippie’s eyes trailed up to the dim sky above. Simon’s mum didn’t make things better today. It might have been Casper’s imagination, but the woman seemed to be giving her a cold look. Not hard to understand why…
“/Casper?/” a boy’s voice drew her back into reality. The woman drew her head forward. Hopeful brown eyes met her own. Simon had the face of an excited puppy.
“/You’re here…/” he said. His bird nodded once.
“/Yeah,/” she mumbled. Simon blinked at her.
“/But why?/” he asked.
“/Why what?/” Casper asked. Simon shrugged at her.
“/Why are you here after so?/” he asked. Casper looked away silently.
“/Well…/” she said. “/I figured you would want to get out today./” her boyfriend blinked.
“/Okay,/” he said. Casper looked at him.
“/So what do you say?/” she asked. Silence for a moment. Simon only shrugged at her.
“/Alright,/” he said. Casper gave him a little smile. She gently took his hand.
“/Thank you,/” she murmured. The hippie kissed him on the cheek. Simon smiled a little bit. Maybe she still loved him? He had to see.
“/So where are we going?/” Simon asked on the road. Casper gave him a little smile.
“/Oh, just anywhere,/” she said.
Simon blinked at her. “/Anywhere?/”
“/Anywhere./”
Simon mouthed “wow” at her. Casper giggled at him.
“/Oh, such an innocent mind still,/” she said. Simon blinked at her.
“/Is that… a bad thing?/” he asked. She smiled as she shook her head.
“/If you think so,/” she said. Simon lowered his eyes.
“/I don’t think so,/” he said. Casper gave him an odd look.
“/What do you mean?/”
Simon paused in the street. “/I just want me back!/” The frustration started to build up and burn again.
“/I take being useless and stupid!/”
Casper lightly put her hand on his shoulder. Simon looked up at her in silence. She gave him a gentle smile.
“/Shhh, just enjoy the day./”
“/But…/”
The hippie shook her head. “/Shhh…/” She smiled at him. Simon slowly went quiet. Casper held out her hand to him. Simon said nothing at first, but then he took her hand. They walked along the path.
Simon looked around at the browning trees. “/It’s funny./”
Casper looked on at him. “/What is?/”
“/I can remember certain things./”
“/Like what?/”
Simon shrugged. “/Just little things./” He paused before going on. “/Going to the park, hanging around the city,/” He turned to his girlfriend.
“/When I met you./”
Casper looked deep into his eyes. “How did we meet?/”
Simon paused for a long moment. He frowned at her. “/I can’t remember./”
Casper gently put her hand on his shoulder. “/Take your time with it. It’ll come to you./”
“/You think so?/”
Casper didn’t say a word. Further into the city and park they go. They came to a big cherry tree. Casper paused in her tracks. Simon looked around.
“/Why did we stop?/” he asked.
“/Just to rest,/” the hippie replied. It took Simon a long second to get it. He smiled when he finally did.
“/Oh, right./”
He and Casper sat under the tree. As they lied there in silence, Simon let his mind wander off into the locked corners of his mind. Two whole years and he still couldn’t get himself back. What’s wrong with me?, he thought. Simon didn’t want to be the jerk he used to be. No, no, no. He wanted himself back, but only a better version of himself. But in order to do that, he had to get it all back. Simon felt himself trembling as he screamed in frustration in his mind.
Suddenly, he felt someone touching him on the hand. Simon looked over and saw Casper’s fit face.
“/It’s okay,/” she whispered. “/I am here for you./” He looked at her with silent, big eyes. A sudden flash entered his mind.
Why do I remind the color yellow?, the boy thought. Casper rose to sitting.
“/Time to go,/” she said. Simon looked at her like a little lost dog.
“/Huh?/” he asked. The girl giggled at him.
“/We still have to walk,/” she said. “/Let’s get moving./” The hippie dragged him further into the city before he could say another word.
Afternoon traffic had just begun to pick up by three o’clock. Simon looked at all of the cars passing by.
“/Damn, how many cars are there?/” he asked. His girlfriend gave him a little smile.
“/I’ll help you cross if you want to,/” she offered in a flirty way. Simon made a face at her.
“/Ha-ha,/” he said. “/Very funny!/” Casper only laughed. When the traffic lessened under a red light, the couple began to cross the street. As they walked the crosswalk, more sparks of memory flared up in Simon’s mind. This time, it was both yellow and her laughter. He paused as he tried to put it all together. Casper glanced behind her.
“/Something wrong?/” she asked. Simon didn’t look up at her.
“/Yellow and laughing…/” he mumbled to himself. The boy dug in his mind deeper. A loud horn honking made the man jump. An angry driver kept honking at them.
“Hey!” he yelled. “Move it! Do you want to get hit?” That question made Simon’s spine go stiff. His eyes widened and went white. Casper tugged his arm to move him along.
“/Come on, Si,/” she whispered. “/Let’s go./ The man wouldn’t move at first. His girlfriend kept pulling and pulling.
“/Simon? Simon? Simon?/” she kept asking over and over. He broke down in a loud mental scream and took off running. The cars pulled to a stop in order not to hit him. The driver that yelled at him looked at Casper. She only bowed and ran after her boyfriend.
It had become close to dinnertime now. Casper had gone in one huge circle to find her boyfriend. No success as she had imagined. She stopped in the park to catch her breath. Where is he?, she thought. The hippie looked around the darkened surroundings. She paused and closed her eyes for a moment. Come on, idiot!, she thought. Think! Where would Simon go when he’s upset? Casper dug deeper into her mind for the slightest clue. She jerked her eyes open.
“/The tree!/” she gasped. The hippie raced over to the tree that she and Simon had spent a few moments ago under. She found him sitting under a tree trembling and screaming to himself.
“/No, no, no, no, no!/” he yelled over and over again. His fists hit the grass with each shout. Casper stood there, unsure what to do. Should I go over to him or not?, she asked herself over and over. It looked pretty bad…
Casper clenched her fists at her sides. F**k it, he needs me!, she thought. The woman marched over to him and took him into her arms.
“/Shhh,/” she whispered. “/It’s okay. It’s okay./” He only cried on her chest. Casper looked up at the sky.
It took a moment for her boyfriend to calm down again. The hippie decided that it would be enough for today. Casper walked Simon all the way home. They didn’t talk for most of the time. She looked over at her boyfriend.
“/You okay?/” she asked.
“/Yeah,/” Simon murmured. The hippie led him all the way home. Just a few blocks into his neighborhood, pieces clicked in the man’s brain. He quickly jerked his head upwards.
“/I remember!/” he gasped. Casper paused and turned to him.
“/Remember what?/” she asked. Simon gave her a huge smile.
“/You were wearing a bright yellow dress when we met/” he said. “/You were trying to cross the street and I said, ‘I’ll help you cross if you want to.’ Then you said, ‘Ha-ha, very funny.’ Then, you laughed at me./” Casper smiled at him, sweetly.
“/Very good,/” she said. “/Here is your reward./” She kissed lightly on the cheek. Simon felt his cheeks heat up light pink. Casper lightly pulled back to his ear.
“/You can find your way back home,/” she whispered. His girlfriend took a few more steps back.
“/Good night,/” she said. Casper turned and walked away. Simon watched her with a little smile on his face. Then, a thought smacked him in the head.
“/Were we just on a…date?/” Simon asked himself aloud.