Connected

It's hopeless.

Day after day her life never changes. Invisible to the world. A speck of dust, a grain of sand. Nothing, nothing. Nothing but nothing. Nothing comes of nothing. That's why she had given up hope.

That is to say, she had not given up entirely. She still tried her best to attract attention, to get someone to notice her, to be heard. What she had given up on was the hope that her voice would ever be heard.

Or so she had thought. That day, when she called out, she never expected that her cries would reach him. After all, they were farther away than she normally was from a person she was calling out to. To make things worse, he was partially distracted. There was no way that he would hear her. But at that moment, when she had gathered all of her courage, she had yelled it out. It was only one single word. One word, four letters. Almost more of a yelp than a call. But after it had been uttered, he turned. He turned, searching for the source of that voice. He had heard her!

If this was a movie, she was sure that a single tear would have fallen from her cheek. The set would have been blank, time would have stopped. All that would remain would be herself and the one person who could recognize her existence. The space between them would seem like an endless black hole. The black hole that would suck away all her hopes along with her voice. But even so, her voice would be carried along in that black hole and straight to his ear on the other side of the universe.

She watched him continue to search for the sound of the voice, unable to locate its source. Maybe I should call out again, she thought. But she was afraid. Afraid that it was nothing but a fluke. Afraid that never again would her voice reach. She couldn't do it. All she could do was wait and watch. She watched as he continued to scan the crowd, searching for her face. At last his eyes flickered in her direction and then connected. She watched a reassured smile take over his face as he increased his pace up the stairs, along the corridor and up to where she stood waiting.

He never knew. He probably never would know the degree of happiness his one simple action had just meant to her. He had made her day, her week even, with the turn of his head! She stole a quick glance at him happily. It was for these moments that she knew they were such close friends. Only he would recognize her existence, even if everyone else refused to. Only he would listen to her thoughts when she figured no one else would.

The bond connecting them was strong, and yet she hoped she would be able to find the one who would form the strongest possible bond with her soon. But for now, as she continued on the path towards the light, she felt reassured that, no matter how hectic her life would become, she would always be connected to the one standing beside her.