Abyssal Light Part 3: Wake

By Drishti Dattatreya Rao

Outside the ward, the hospital continued its quiet chaos – unaware that, inside one of its rooms, something had begun to change. 

The nurse ran towards the front desk, narrowly avoiding a trolley of syringes and medicine.

The receptionist looked up at the breathless nurse. “What seems to be the problem Linda? Do you need to call someone?” she asked, clueless about the scene that had taken place just before.

“Call… Mrs. Rivera…” the nurse, Linda, said between her breaths.

“Do you mean Ms. Simone?” the receptionist asked, with a smirk.

“Whatever, just call her! It’s regarding her daughter – the adopted one in the coma – just call her!”

“Okay, gimme a sec.”

A few seconds passed. The young nurse couldn’t help but count the number of rings that went off before the call was answered. It was her nervous habit. The only question now was: was she nervous about the reaction, or nervous because of the excitement that the coma girl’s loyal sister wouldn’t have to be in so much pain anymore?

“Hello Ms. Simone? This is the Sunshine Hospital. It’s regarding your comatose child. The nurse has to say something,” the receptionist said, and then handed the phone to the nurse.

“Ms. Simone, she’s responsive! No, she’s not awake, but she’s responsive! This could lead to her waking up! We can’t pull the plug on her, since she’s responsive. Hospital policy, ma’am,” Linda said.

The other end went silent. Linda almost cut the call when the answer came back.

“Oh, okay. When do you think she’ll wake up?” Ms. Simone asked, her voice not showing happiness, but sadness mixed with fear.

“Uh, well, that’s hard to say, because she just started exhibiting consciousness, so I would say probably a few more weeks. We’ll try our best to get her back on her feet as soon as possible! We – Ms? Ma’am? Hello?” Linda said. She wondered why Ms. Simone had cut the call so abruptly.

Nurse Linda handed the phone back. With nothing else to do, she returned to the comatose girl’s room. Her sister was still there, which was not surprising. The little girl usually never left her sister’s side.

“Sarah, honey, it’s time to go! Don’t worry; since we know she’s responsive, we won’t pull the plug on her. Come on now, your mom must be worried,” Nurse Linda said. She liked reassuring people, especially little children. Seeing their tiny faces light up made her happy.

Sarah – or as you may know her, Scarletta – walked toward the door. She looked back at her sister lying in the bed, smiled, and left, knowing that she was going to be safe, and she would awaken with people who love her beside her, and she wouldn’t have to face a funeral wake.

Scarletta walked slowly back to her home. She really wasn’t looking forward to anything now. Her heart yearned to be back in the hospital with her sister, but her mind knew that her mom cares about her now – if not forever. Also, she hated her mom’s new boyfriend. His son was fine, but him? Insufferable!

She tried opening the door. It was locked. She blinked. Her mom never locked it this early in the evening. She rang the bell. She could hear the shuffling of feet and the fumbling of keys. At last, the door clicked open, and there stood her mom’s boyfriend, Elijah.

“Scarletta! Where were you? We were worried!” he said, opening the door wider so she could enter the house. Sighing, Scarletta felt the need to talk. “I was at the hospital,” she said, removing her shoes and placing them on the stand, only for them to fall down because she had kept them wrong.

“Why were you at the hospital?” Elijah asked. It was quite bewildering how oblivious he was to the fact that there was a family member in the hospital. Of course, he didn’t like to pry, but he still should have some curiosity on why a seven-year-old was visiting a hospital – and why his girlfriend seemed to have a lot of medical bills with her. It could just be that he was blind to it, just as love makes one blind.

Scarletta bit the side of her mouth. She wondered if it was time to tell him about Nina, her adoptive sister. Yet, before she could get a word out of her mouth, her mom yelled out, fear seemingly seeping through her well maintained façade. 

“Scarletta always has these weird obsessions. Her latest is visiting the hospital and watching all the work that goes on there. If she continues with this obsession for more than a month, then she’s most probably going to be a doctor.”

“Oh, okay.”

Scarletta walked into her room, dropped Nina’s diary on the bed and sat down across from it. She stared at the black and faded gold book, wondering how her sister woke – or at least responded – to the words that once marked her end.

But, of course, all will make sense in time.

Scarletta sighed. She didn’t know what to do, and so, she decided to clean her room. It was not messy to begin with, but cleaning a room gives her ideas on what to do. She saw her paintbrushes and paints lying on her table. 

She picked a few brushes up, grabbed a pencil and paper and doodled. Once she was happy, she taped the paper down and water-coloured the doodle. She never seemed to realize a person entered and left. After a few minutes (or hours, it was kind of hard to tell), she let her painting dry.

Scarletta looked around, and a figure ran out the room. Scarletta followed, obviously. Curiosity is one thing humans can’t control.

Alas, it was nothing strange, just Elijah’s son, Aiden, running to his father and Ms. Nora Simone, aka, her mother. Aiden started yelling “She’s painting again! She’s painting again!” The mother appeared to be crying and happy at the same time, something Scarletta didn’t understand why.

“Why are you crying?” she asked flatly to her mother. She just shook her head. Scarletta sighed and said “Fine, keep your secrets.” She walked back to her room just as her mom was about to speak.

Scarletta lay staring at the ceiling, her most favourite thing to do while waiting for time to pass. She sat up and looked at her painting. To a normal person, it would look like abstract art with a human figure lying down and smiling through closed eyes, but to Scarletta? It was her sister, peering into the world above while trapped in the world below. Poetic, isn’t it?

She lay back down. There’s not much she can do during vacations, anyway. It’s not like she had friends other than Nina. Living and waking were a nightmare, so she slept with her eyes open, aka, daydreaming. She dreamt of a perfect world, where her sister was still completely there.

…That brought a few questions into Scarletta’s mind. Was Nina all there? Physically, yes – but was she there mentally or emotionally? Did her smile ever reach her eyes, or did she ever cry to anyone? Everything seemed so blurry.

Scarletta was thrown out of her thoughts by a yell. It was just a call for dinner, but of course it scared her because of its abruptness.

She joined her ‘family’ for dinner. She ate silently, avoiding any talk. As silent as she arrived, silently she left – something like the Russian Ghost Walk.

As the clock struck ten, Scarletta knew it was time to sleep. She lay awake, unsure whether this night would be a nightmare or dream knowing her sister would stay alive. She closed her eyes, ready to slip into the dreamworld, where she prepared herself for anything.

…And by anything, she didn’t mean a bathroom with fern-green wall tiles and Eton-blue floor tiles, a sink that was messy with pills, and a foggy mirror.

Scarletta looked around. There seemed to be no one in the bathroom. How embarrassing would it have been if there had been a person!

She stepped out of the bathroom, and entered a bedroom. The bed was broken, clothes lay unfolded on a chair and the wardrobe looked unused. Such a strange place, Scarletta thought. She walked up to the closed door and pulled it open. 

She saw a figure standing and observing a painting on the wall. It took her a while to realize that this was the painting she made just that day. Scarletta took quick, short and soundless steps towards the figure, but she got distracted by a drawing on the table. It was a drawing of her.

She must’ve made a sound, because the figure turned to look at her. Both of them gasped.

“Scarletta?”

“Nina!”

“What- I’m not Nina. Well, I am, but not the one you’re searching for.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Long story.”

“I need to know.”

“Fine,” said Nina-not-Nina, and pointed to a figure on the couch who seemed to mouth words while being somewhat asleep.

“Who’s that?” Scarletta asked. 

“The Nina you’re searching for,” said Nina-not-Nina.

“No, she’s not.”

“Yes, she is.”

“How so?”

“Well, since she’s in a coma, her subconscious mind took and simulated a world it thought she would see if she didn’t try to kill herself. I’m here – a part of her subconscious mind who knows the truth – to make sure she knows the truth and to help her get out of the coma.”

“Does she know the truth? And you also said you were a ‘part of her subconscious mind’. Are there other ‘parts’ that are humanized too?”

“Yes, she knows the truth. And yes, there are other parts that are turned into humans – but not all. Her memories are paintings or pictures or drawings; her emotions are a maze; her habits are people; intuition and creativity are the world around us.”

“That doesn’t explain why she’s an adult.”

“Basically, she’s in the future.”

“Oh okay.”

Scarletta sat down on the floor, trying to process the information she just received. “So wait, if her memories are paintings, then why is my painting here? I just made it.”

“That’s what I’m wondering.”

“Okay.”

“My bet is that it is how you got here.”

“That could be a reasonable answer but how on earth did she know I made a painting?”

Nina-not-Nina sat down next to Scarletta and thought for a while. “Well, there’s no way we can prove this, but a few people who’ve been comas say that ‘they could see everything going on around them like their soul had detached from their bodies’? I’m pretty sure that doesn’t happen, but who knows. Probably the detached-soul version of Nina saw you paint it? I dunno,” she said.

Scarletta just looked at her. After a while she shrugged, as if what she was thinking about wasn’t worth speaking.

A few minutes passed. “Hey when do you think she’ll wake up?” Scarletta asked Nina-not-Nina. 

“I dunno, she’s drunk.”

“She’s drunk?!”

“She was dragged along to a party at a bar where they made her drink shots. Of course she’s drunk.”

“Oh.”

A few more minutes passed. Scarletta had been staring at the floor while Nina-not-Nina stared at Nina.

“Hey, what should I call you? I’ve been calling you Nina-not-Nina this whole time.”

“Call me anything you want.”

“No, tell me.”

“I’m a ‘hallucination’ of sorts to Nina, so create a nickname for me”

“Halu, Cyn, Nation, H, HN, Ni, Na… I’m lost.”

“Call me Chimera, then.”

“Isn’t that something in Greek mythology?”

“It’s something that’s impossible. I’m impossible to deal with, and I can take many forms, so… yeah.”

“Okay, Chimera.”

A few moments later, Chimera got up and went into the cockroach-infested kitchen, took a glass and filled it with water.

“Chimera, what are you doing?” Scarletta asked.

“Going to splash Nina’s face with water because she’s taking too long to wake up.”

“Wait–”

Too late. Chimera had already dunked the whole glass – a tumbler to be exact – on Nina’s head. Surprisingly, she did not wake.

“Before you do anything irrational, tell me.”

“I’m gonna slap her.”

“What? No, no, NO DON’T DO THAT CHIMERA WAIT–”

Chimera already slapped Nina, causing her to jump up and sit up straight. Wide eyed, she stared at Chimera.

“Why did you do that?” she asked in a flat monotone voice. Scarletta could almost mistake Nina’s voice as another person’s, but the colours don’t lie. It was her.

“You’ve got a visitor.” Chimera replied. Nina looked behind Chimera and her eyes landed on Scarletta. “Scarletta?!” she shrieked, quickly standing up and running to hug her. Scarletta didn’t even have time to stand up – that’s how fast Nina was.

Scarletta hugged back, choking on her tears. Unlike Chimera, Nina’s voice showed emotion. 

“I missed you…” Scarletta whispered. 

Nina quickly pulled away and held Scarletta’s hands. “Just how long has it been?” she asked, a worried expression clearly seen on her face. 

“About two to three weeks. They were planning on pulling the plug on you. Dad and Mom are getting a divorce and Mom already has a boyfriend who has a son my age. I don’t think he knows about you, and that’s why Mom was in such a rush to pull the plug. I don’t think she likes you very much,” Scarletta said. “Oh also, I gave your bullies a lesson to remember. They won’t bully anyone ever again,” she added.

Nina blinked. Then she chuckled a bit. “Well, it seems I have a lot to catch up on,” she said, smiling. Her smile faltered. 

“Wait. How are you here? Don’t tell me you attempted–”

“I didn’t. I just went to sleep and woke up here.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Um, guys?” Chimera said. “Oh right. What should I call you? Because calling you by my name is confusing.” Nina said. 

“She told me to call her Chimera because she’s ‘impossible’... yeah,” Scarletta said. 

“Oh okay. Chimera, how in the world am I supposed to get out of here?”

“I think that’s why Scarletta is here.”

“What?”

“Yeah.”

“Explain in words, please.”

“Well, she’s the one who wanted you back the most, so it’s befitting for her to be here.”

“Okay… But how do I get out?”

“The only way I know of is going through the maze of pictures.”

“And how do we get there?”

“We walk. But I’m not allowed in the maze.”

“Why?”“Because there’s another Chimera there to guide you.”

“That does not explain why you aren’t allowed there.”

“We’re not allowed to step into another Chimera’s area.”

“Your area is?”

“Until the city ends, then from the city there is a meadow that isn’t owned by any Chimera, so I’m allowed there. Then from the meadow is the maze.”

“Oh okay.”

“Did you guys forget I was here?” Scarletta said, blinking. 

“Kinda.” Nina replied. She stood up. 

“Well then, let’s head towards the maze of whatevevers!” she said. 

“You already forgot the name?” Chimera asked. 

“Yeah,” Nina replied. 

“The maze of pictures, Nina,” Scarletta said laughing.

Suddenly a sharp noise pierced her ears. Strange enough, she was the only one able to hear it. She covered her ears. She knew the others were worried (Chimera was practically unfazed), but she could not hear them. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, she was back in her bed and her alarm clock was ringing. She slapped the alarm, turning it off, and rolled over to bury her face in her pillow. It was a school day once again, and Scarletta was not at all ready. She had to quickly pack her bag and get ready for school.

She dragged her backpack outside her room and left it in front of the couch. She then trudged towards the dining table, where breakfast was ready. She sat on her chair at the dining table. She remembered their old seating arrangement: Nina and her would sit on one side and the parents on the other. Her father sat across Nina while her mother sat across her. The other two chairs were for guests, or decoration. 

Her father’s seat got a nice replacement since he’s not coming back. Scarletta always thought that Nina was going to come back someday, so she never allowed Aiden to sit next to her in Nina’s seat. Every day was the same, Aiden trying to sit next to her, and her staring angrily back. The only difference between today and every day was that she just stared blankly at him until he moved. He was unsure if her staring at him with hate was worse than that blank stare.

Her schedule was the same every day: eat breakfast, go to school, come back, drop her stuff at home, visit the hospital, come back, eat dinner, do nothing, sleep… you get it. Minor alterations may occur from day to day. Today was different yet similar by all means.

On her visit to the hospital, Aiden followed. She knew, but did nothing because what was the point? He’d find out eventually.

Scarletta entered the all-too-familiar hospital, and sure enough, Aiden followed. Scarletta thought of him as an itch that needn’t be itched until necessary.

“Oh Sarah, you’re here! Nina’s stable, don’t you worry! She can actually make expressions now! That’s progress!” One of the nurses said. 

Aiden ran up to Scarletta, confused.

“Oh is that one of your friends?” The nurse asked.

“Scarletta? Why are they calling you Sarah? And who is Nina?” Aiden asked.

Now it was the nurse’s turn to be confused. Actually, all the nurses in the room were confused.

“Your name’s not Sarah?” One of them asked.

“Are you even Nina’s sister?” Another asked.

“I don’t think we should allow her near Nina. Who knows what she’ll do!”

And soon came the flood of questions. Those people surely did love gossip. Scarletta couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. She lowered her head and clenched her fists. Her face burned. She couldn’t think straight. Her senses had been bombarded with different colours, smells, tastes and feelings.

Aiden tugged her shirt sleeve. “Scarletta? Are you–?”

As quick as a ninja, Scarletta twisted her hand to get her sleeve out of Aiden’s grasp and held his wrist.

“Why did you come here?” She said, staring at him with nothing but rage.

“I was just making sure my to-be sister was okay–”

“Just because our parents might get married doesn’t mean that you have the right to follow me. And I will never think of you as my brother because you’re just a replacement for Nina.”

“But–”

“And now I might not be able to see her because they now doubt me.”

“...”Scarletta’s face turned from angry to blank.

“You want to know why they call me Sarah? Because people told me my name was weird and called me Sarah instead. I chose to embrace it and call myself Sarah too. I don’t even know who I am anymore, but still, forgetting myself is one thing I’m willing to risk if it means she’s alive.”

The whole room was silent, watching two kids, practically tiny humans who should be thinking what three times seven is – talk to each other, with one talking like an adult, or a depressed teenager.

“You can visit her, Scarletta. You can take him too,” The first nurse said, walking away to collect herself.Scarletta let go of Aiden and walked towards Nina’s room. He followed. He was a pest, in a way – but a pest that cared, nonetheless.

He saw the teen girl lying on the bed, hooked up to IVs and heart monitors, lying still on the bed like she was dead.

…No she wasn’t dead. Being dead was better than this. She was alive, but asleep, her life hanging on a thread. A God’s game of “they love me, they love me not” on a rose, but instead of love, it was “they will live, they will not live.”

“Who is she?” He asked.

“Nina, my sister,” Scarletta replied, sitting on the chair next to the bed.

“But your mom never said anything about having another child?”

“That’s because she isn’t biologically her child.”

“Biologically?”

“Basically, Mom didn’t give birth to Nina.”

“So she’s adopted?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. How long have you known her?”

“Ever since I was born...”

“What?”

“She was there before me, but I guess they turned their attention to me because I was their biological child.”

“They?”

“My parents... You really do ask questions with obvious answers, don’t you?” Scarletta said, staring at Aiden with an emotion he couldn’t quite describe.

“Oh, okay. Sorry, one more question. How did she fall ill?”

“Fall ill?” Her expression softened to more of a curious or a questioning one.

“You fall ill and then you end up in the hospital, that’s what happened, right?”

Scarletta stared at him for a while. He was unsure if she thought he was stupid or just oblivious.

A weak smile crept onto Scarletta’s face. She lifted her head and stared out the window, laughing in a way no child should’ve.

“Oh sweet summer child, you’re too innocent for your own well-being.”

Aiden tilted his head. “What do you mean by that?” he said, dragging a stool from across the room to sit next to Scarletta.

“Have you heard of people dying because of themselves?”

“Like killing themselves?”

“Yes.”

“Then yeah, I’ve heard about it.”

“Well, something like that happened here.”

“Oh.”“Then she fell into a coma, and that’s why she’s here and not with us.”

“Oh okay.”

Silence befell the two children as they stared at the body on the bed, stirring as if waking up but never being able to do so.

“Why did your mom never mention her? If she’s cared for, why was she never talked about?” Aiden suddenly asked.

Scarletta looked at him – really looked at him. He seemed to care about a girl that he didn’t even know. It could just be that he was naive, or that he just had a big heart.

Every child is born with a big heart. It’s just the way that they were brought up that shrinks it. Scarletta could tell that despite being a single father, Elijah was raising his son alright.

She looked back at Nina, who seemed to be frowning at whatever was in her mind.

“I don’t know why,” she replied, blinking out tears from her eyes. She never saw a stranger care about others. Sure, the nurses and doctors do care, but that’s in their job.

The two returned home safely, but there was a quiet tension between them. Aiden thought that Scarletta was still angry at him, while she was just waiting for him to initiate a conversation. By the time they reached home (Elijah and Aiden moved into Scarletta’s home since it’s big enough for at least six people) they could hear the adults searching for them. Scarletta grabbed Aiden’s hand – gently of course. 

“What’s the matter?” He asked, nearly sounding like a cowboy. Or a British person. A British cowboy.

“Don’t tell your father about her just yet,” She said, giving that intense stare that she perfected over the few days.

“Why?”“My Mom will tell him when she’s ready.”

“But he deserves to know!”

“I know, but for the sake of peace, please don’t tell him anything yet.”

“...Okay.”

“Good.”

Scarletta opened the door. Of course it was locked. That’s how every door seemed to be since the past few days. She was about to ring the doorbell when the door opened. “Where have you both been?! We were worried!” Elijah said, stepping aside so they could enter.

Scarletta was worried Aiden would tell his father about Nina right now, despite her obvious distaste for that outcome. Aiden surprised her by running and hugging his father – but what he said almost gave her a heart attack.

“We were at the hospital, Papa. We were visiting one of Scarletta’s friends who got cancer. Her name was Violet, and she was really fun to be around! Too bad she’s stuck in that hospital room.”

“Oh well then, that makes time put to good use, right?”

“Yep!”

“That’s great! Now step inside, I heard it was going to rain soon. Don’t want you two soaking wet!”

And so they headed in. Scarletta could see her mother giving her dirty looks from the kitchen. She would have to deal with that later. For now, she decided to draw something. Colouring it would be hectic, so she decided to leave it as a sketch.

The painting showcased a scene where a girl was behind a hospital room door, holding the door behind her shut while a flood of words that no longer made sense tried to open it from the other side. You can say that Scarletta has an abstract way of describing her emotions and moments in drawings.

Her mother entered the room, angry as ever. Scarletta turned around to face her.

“What’s the matter, Mama?”

“Don’t play dumb, you know what you did to make me angry.”

“What do you mean?”

“You showed Aiden your ‘sister,’ didn’t you?”

“Well, yes. But the only reason I did that is because he followed me.”

“You should’ve been sneakier.”

“Well, I’m a fairly recognizable figure to Aiden because he knows limited people.”

“Give me that attitude, and you won’t be able to see her anymore.”

“I don’t see a reason why you aren’t telling Elijah about her. It’s not like it’s an affair.”

“First of all, you have to call Elijah ‘Dad’ or ‘Papa’ from now on. Second of all, it’s my choice if I don’t want to tell him. You’re not a marriage counselor.”

“First of all, he’s not my father, neither will I recognise him as one. Second of all, what if she comes back, what will you tell him then?”

Her mother stayed silent for a while. She knew Scarletta was right, but was not ready to accept it. “You better watch your tongue, young lady. You don’t want your visiting rights to be revoked, do you?” she said, and with that she got up to leave.

“You never really loved her, did you?” Scarletta said.

Playing with fire has bad repercussions, as Scarletta noted later on. She was slapped – what a parent would do when they were angry, or they know they’ve been beaten at their own game. 

Scarletta got up and closed her bedroom door after her mother, and sat back down at her chair.

“Does she even know that she’s a manipulator?” she muttered, along with more mutterings as she worked on another piece of art.

The scene was similar. A hospital room. A girl in the bed, and two children beside her. One of them was a girl and the other was a boy. The girl seemed to be removing a veil from the boy’s face, while there were two shadows in the background. One was a silhouette of a man, who seemed to be blissfully unaware. You could see him out the window, plucking red roses. The other was the silhouette of a woman crossing her arms. It looked as if she was yelling at the girl lifting the veil.

You would know what such a scene meant. You already got past it. Scarletta’s mother would know what it meant. Aiden would know what it meant. The only person who wouldn’t know would be Elijah. How long until his veil also has been lifted? Would he leave or would he remain? No one knows.

Dinner arrived without a thought. Just as the day before, it was as quiet as being in an engineered anechoic chamber. While she seemed calm on the surface, Scarletta’s thoughts had gone haywire, like trains off their tracks. Would she be able to see Nina today too? Was it just a dream? Or was it true? If it was, will whoever she drew appear in the dream? That would be dreadful.

It seemed that being consumed in thoughts does not allow her to consume her food. Elijah could see that she was a bit distracted. He took note of it, like a caring parent does. After she finished her dinner and headed to her room to sleep, he knocked on her door. 

“May I come in?”

“...Okay.”

He entered, leaving the door slightly open behind him. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Scarletta.

“How are you doing, kiddo?”

“…Good.”

“It doesn’t seem like it.”

“…!”

“Is there anything on your mind that has been bothering you?”

“No. Why do you ask?”

“Because you seemed to be deep in thought at dinner.”

“I was just thinking. That’s all.”

“Yes, I know that. But I want to know what you were thinking. Whatever it was, it made you concerned.”

“How do you know?”

“It was shown on your face.”

“Oh.”

Elijah sighed and sat back a bit.

“Well you don’t have to tell me if you’re not sure.”

“...”

“But if it’s something deeply concerning, you can tell me about it.”

“Okay.”

He sat back straight and ruffled her hair.

“You’re a good girl, you know that? You can rely on me for anything, okay?”

“...Okay.”

He got up and was about to leave the room when he turned his head around.

“Good night, Scarletta.”

And with a smile, he left.

Scarletta wondered if he should really be trusted or not. She shook off her thoughts and went to sleep. She didn’t know if she’d see Nina again.

She awoke on the couch with Nina standing over her and watching her while Chimera admired Scarletta’s new works of art. 

“Oh, welcome back!” Nina said with a smile as Chimera turned around to look at her. 

“Oh hi Scarletta.” she said flatly.

“While you were gone we decided that we should head out as soon as you arrive! So are you ready to head over to the maze?” Nina asked.

“Yeah, just give me a moment.” Scarletta replied.

“Okay.”

After a few seconds, Scarletta got up. 

“Okay, let’s head out!” she said and headed to the front door. She pulled it open and looked outside. 

“I’m pretty surprised. Despite the way things look inside, you managed to get a house in a good neighbourhood. And also it’s night? The same time as in the real world. So I know when it’s time to wake up,” she said, leaving the house.

“Haha, I guess so,” Nina said regarding what Scarletta said at the end. 

“The only reason why the interior looks so different from the outside is because I spent most of my money on the house and had little for the interior,” she said.

“Well, the maze is to the north side, and the meadow is too, so we ought to head north,” Chimera said. 

“Okay.” Scarletta said.

While they walked north, Nina and Scarletta talked about life.

“So, what do you do in this world anyway?” Scarletta asked.

“I have a job here, but since I’m in a coma, it’s not required that I go there. I miss being a teen.”

“Oh? What is your job?”

“You know those people who get paid to code games for other people who thought about the story and stuff?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah, that’s my job.”

“Oooh, interesting!”

“So tell me, who is Mom dating? And you said that he has a kid that’s your age?”

“Oh… yeah. Mom’s dating this dude called Elijah—”

“Sounds like a person who likes going to church.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought when Mom started talking about him a lot. Anyways, he seems to be a good person, but you never know his true intentions. His son’s name is Aiden and he’s my age and in my class, but he’s got a kind heart. He followed me to your hospital room and cared about you despite knowing nothing about you.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, did Mom tell Elijah about me yet?”

“…No, in fact, she slapped me because Aiden saw you.”

“What—are you okay?”

“Yeah, it just stings a little.”

“The pain will go away soon, don’t worry.”

“Okay.”

“Hey Chimera, how far are we from the meadow?”

Chimera, who was silent the whole time, said, “Probably forty minutes maximum. Why?”

“Just asking,” Nina replied, keeping her hands in her pant pockets.

“I know we’re in a dream and this shouldn’t affect me, but I was not prepared for walking. My legs already hurt,” Scarletta said.

“Well, get used to it. We need to walk for another forty minutes or so,” Chimera said.

“I know, I know,” Scarletta replied.

They walked for a while in silence, either unsure of what to say or admiring the cityscapes. Scarletta gazed at a tall building and then looked in front of her, staring at the seemingly endless road, when a question popped up in her head.

“Chimera.”

“Yes?”

“You said that the meadow is forty minutes away, right?”

“Well, now it’s about twenty-five minutes, but get on with your question.”

“How much farther is the maze?”

“About one and a half hours away from the start of the meadow. And that’s if we continue at this pace.”

“Wow, that’s a big meadow.”

“Yes, it’s quite big. Usually, people who are trying to wake up from their comas get lost there. They get so attracted by the beauty of the place that they decide to stay, eventually dying in the real world and fading from existence here.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Think of it as becoming a ghost — they haunt the meadow.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Did they have another person from the outside world helping them?” Nina asked, holding Scarletta’s hand.

“It’s unlikely. It’s also unlikely that a part of their subconscious mind was helping them too. Most of them want to keep you here,” Chimera said.

“Oh. Did you meet the others?”

“…Once. We all met in the meadow. Just be wary of the maze, Nina. She’ll act as your guide, but she has compelling points to make when she’s begging you to stay.”

“How?”

“We share one collective consciousness. Whatever information you receive, all of us will receive it too.”

“So does that mean she knows we’re coming?”

“…Sadly, yes. She’ll take note of every bad thing in the outside world that Scarletta tells us, and she’ll twist it in a way that makes you want to stay. But don’t give in, Nina. Please don’t.”

“Okay.”

In a few minutes, they reached the edge of the meadow. Too bad for them, because it was about time Scarletta had to wake up. Her alarm had already pierced through the dream and into her ears. After a quick-paced “see you later,” she woke up.

She got up more energetically than the other days — probably because of how close they were to helping Nina wake back up. She wanted the day to get over quickly so that she could cut to the chase.

She got ready fast and went for breakfast. Aiden surprised her by sitting next to her, but not in Nina’s place. It seemed like he sympathized with her. She practically inhaled her pancakes.

“Whoa, kiddo, no one’s going to steal your food!” Elijah joked. She didn’t care.

She got on the bus. Aiden was joining the bus too. Many people on the bus wanted to be his friend, but when he sat next to Scarletta — who still saved a seat for someone who wasn’t there — they lost interest quickly.

“Why are they keeping their distance from us?” he whispered.

“Well, probably because I keep on saving a seat for a person who’s not even here,” Scarletta replied, looking out the window.

Aiden, if you didn’t know, was the chatty type. He talked to himself all the time, and he also talked in his sleep. Him being unusually quiet meant that something had happened.

The whole bus ride, he was silent — which Scarletta obviously thought was strange, but not out of character for him because of all that had happened the day before. She thought he was still processing the information. He was, in fact, waiting for her attention to turn from the window to him so that he could talk. He wanted a person’s full attention before starting to speak.

They reached school, and the day went as normally as it should’ve. The only exception was that Aiden was following Scarletta everywhere. Sure, it got annoying, but he probably wanted to tell her something.

On the bus back home, Aiden finally opened his mouth.

“Can I come with you to the hospital?”

Scarletta looked at him. “Sure. But tell your father that you went to the park to play with your friends. I got in trouble yesterday because you said you came to the hospital,” she said.

He nodded, and she went back to looking out the window.

Aiden told his father the excuse and followed Scarletta to the hospital. They entered the room, and Aiden sat down on the floor.

“Why are you sitting down there?” Scarletta asked, tilting her head.

“Well, I made her a bouquet out of the flowers we were allowed to pick from school. I didn’t know what her favourite flower was, so I got one of each kind! I just need to get it out of the bag,” he said, taking out the bouquet.

The flowers were carefully wrapped in blue decorative paper. Scarletta made a mental note that he was good at arranging flowers in pretty ways. She carefully took the bouquet out of his hands and placed it beside Nina.

“You really shouldn’t have,” she said.

“Well, I wanted to bring something for her. I got something quite easy to clean up. I wanted to ask you something, though — what’s her favourite flower, and what’s yours?” Aiden asked, sitting on the stool next to Scarletta.

“Hers is the red spider lily, and I like alstroemerias,” she said, wondering if he was genuinely asking or just asking for fun.

“Oooh, what’s that?”

“Red spider lilies are those red flowers in the bouquet. She liked them because they were the first flowers she ever grew — never mind the fact that they’re usually planted on graves. And I like alstroemerias. They’re not in the bouquet, but they’re mostly yellow, and they kinda look like orchids. Kinda. I like them because they have almost no scent at all, and they don’t activate my synesthesia much.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Do you have a favourite flower?”

“Yeah, but promise you won’t laugh at the reason why?”

“I promise.”

“Pinky promise?”

“Yes, pinky promise.”

“Okay, I like lilies because my mom was named Lily, and she planted lilies everywhere in our garden.”

“…Why would anyone laugh at that?”

“Some other kids did.”

“Well, don’t listen to them. They’re just jealous that you have a reasonable reason for liking flowers.”

“…Thanks.”

“Welcome.”

The two children sat there. Aiden introduced himself to Nina, despite not knowing if she could hear him or not. They then took turns talking about their days while the other listened. Nina smiled — whether reacting to their stories or to what she was seeing in the coma world was unclear.

Before it got late, they decided to go back home. On their way, they decided to construct an elaborate story about the park. It was something along the lines of playing with friends, then playing with a white dog, then sitting under a tree and trying to climb it safely. Sadly, that much planning was not needed, as Elijah trusted the children.

Scarletta went into her room to paint another picture so that she could meet Nina again that day. This time, she drew the bouquet, but the red spider lily was replaced with Nina and Chimera standing back-to-back, looking at the “camera.” Chimera displayed an emotion of indifference, while Nina showed one of desperation — or was she happy because of the gift? Scarletta left it up to people’s imagination.

Dinner came and went, mostly because Scarletta wasn’t paying attention to whatever was happening. She wanted to get everything over with so that she could finally reach the maze.

Thankfully, no after-dinner talks happened that day, so Scarletta immediately went to sleep.

When she awoke, she was being carried piggyback on Nina’s back, and they were in the meadow — perhaps in the middle. “Oh, you’re awake!” Nina said with a smile. Scarletta smiled back.

“Yes, I am. And you guys started without me?” Scarletta said in a fake hurt tone.

“We had to because we were getting bored there,” Chimera replied.

“Wow, you get bored?” Scarletta asked her.

“…Sort of,” Chimera said. Her voice slightly faltered, but she hoped that nobody noticed.

“Could you put me down?” Scarletta asked Nina.

“Hmmm, okay. But don’t run!” Nina joked and placed Scarletta down. She immediately stood next to Nina and held her hand. Whether she was afraid Nina would go away or she was just happy that she was with her again was a bit muddled.

“What’s that thing over there?” Nina asked Chimera.

“Those are the ghosts of other people who tried to escape. As long as you don’t look them in the eye, you’ll be fine,” Chimera replied, her head already facing down.

“What happens if you look them in the eyes?”

“Did you?”

“No, just curious.”

“They’ll entice you to join them in the field, which will make sure you never return to the real world.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t touch the plants — they’re part of the field. As long as we stay on the clean path, you’ll be able to escape.”

“Will it have any effect on Scarletta? The plants, I mean?”

“…I don’t know. Just to be safe, Scarletta, don’t touch the plants.”

“Okay!” Scarletta said, a bit happy that they were so close to waking Nina up.

A few minutes of awkward silence passed when Scarletta remembered something.

“Nina!”

“What?”

“Aiden came to meet you again.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah, and he even made a bouquet for you!”

“That’s sweet of him.”

“It included your favourite flowers!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“That’s nice. My only question — where did he get the flowers from?”

“The school garden.”

“So basically, he took the red spider lilies that I planted in the school garden and made me a bouquet out of them.”

“Yes.”

“Hm, good to know.”

“Are you angry?”

“No. As long as the flowers are put to good use, I won’t be angry.”

“Okay.”

Chimera suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Scarletta asked.

“We’re at the maze,” Chimera replied.

“I can’t see it.”

“We’ll have to wait for the other ‘Chimera’ to arrive.”

“How is that related to the maze being invisible?”

“I guess that if one of the ‘Chimeras’ steps out of their area, their area turns invisible.”

“Still didn’t understand, but okay. How long do we wait?”

“Not too long, Scarletta, my dear!” a voice yelled out from behind them.

The three turned around. Another Chimera was walking towards them, mostly skipping up and down. “And please, dear, don’t call me ‘Chimera.’ That’s an insufferable name,” she said.

“What should we call you then?” Nina asked.

“Nina,” the other Chimera said.

“That’s going to be confusing since I’m the actual Nina and you’re just a subconscious that’s been personified.”

“Hm, okay then. What about Nora?”

“That’s Mom’s name — no!”

“Oh, okay. Then Mayu? Or Lily?”

“Lily was my cat’s name, so no. Mayu is okay.”

“Great! Call me Mayu then!”

“Okay.”

“Oh, Chimera! I never noticed you!” Mayu said in a taunting tone.

“Good to see you again too, Mayu,” Chimera said through gritted teeth.

“So respectful of you to stay out of my land. You are quite nice like that.”

“Uh-huh. Okay. I’ve got to go.”

“Huh, really?”

“Help Nina get out, okay?”

“That’s all I’m good for, aren’t I? I’ll help her, of course! Don’t tell me how to do my job.”

“Okay. Sheesh.”

Mayu entered the maze area, and it seemed to appear out of thin air. Nina followed and looked back at Chimera, smiling. Scarletta entered the area last. She turned around to look at Chimera.

“It was fun talking to you, but I hope I never see you again. That would mean something bad happened, right? Haha… I’ll miss you. But I look forward to seeing Nina back on her feet. I know her subconscious will be safe in your hands. Good luck, and… I’ll see you in Nina if I can.”

She waved and walked away, following Nina and Mayu. Chimera stood there, staring at the empty spot where Scarletta had been. For once, she smiled, laughed, and walked away toward the grey city they left behind. No doubt it would be colourful when Chimera arrived back there — with a smile on her face.

“Done with your goodbyes?” Mayu asked.

“…Yup!” Scarletta replied.

“Then let’s get a move on! This maze won’t resolve itself!”

“Resolve?” Nina asked.

“You have to rewatch your traumatic moments, Nina! How fun does that sound?”

“Not fun at all!”

“Well, you have no choice.”

“Ugh, I guess so.”

“Also, you’re supposed to face them alone.”

“What?!”

“Yeah!”

“Oh God, if I knew this would’ve happened, I wouldn’t have killed myself.”

“Don’t worry, some good things are there too, to balance everything out!”

“Oh, that’s good.”

They walked for a while.

“For a maze, this path is surprisingly straight,” Scarletta said.

“That’s because the actual maze is the memories!”

“Oh.”

“Speaking of the maze, we’ve arrived at the first memory!”

“It’s a blank canvas that’s framed on the wall?”

“Yeah!”

“Why is it blank?”

“So that we don’t know if it’s traumatic or not! You could easily skip it if you knew it was traumatic!”

“Okay.”

Nina walked toward the canvas. She stopped and looked at Scarletta. “Don’t be surprised if I step out of this wide-eyed and paranoid,” she said and walked toward the canvas once more. She touched the surface of it with her hand — it went right through. She stepped into the canvas completely.

Her eyes were burned by light. When they focused, she was able to see a younger version of herself standing in front of Nora, who was holding a two-year-old Scarletta.

“Mom, why don’t you believe me?”

“That’s just absurd! Blaming your father for something like that! Sure, you might’ve done it, but out of your own free will!”

Ah, Nina remembered what this was about.

Her father had manipulated her into bringing an innocent man into the alleyway. The man had a kind heart, so it was very sad to see him get shot in the head. Why had her father done this? Well, because he wanted to entertain himself, of course!

This was the time she told her mother, who didn’t believe that her angel of a husband could do such a thing.

Look at what happened now, Mom. You’re hurt because of him. If you had only listened to me… Nina thought.

She didn’t listen to the conversation, but she knew what was happening.

Nina sighed. It was painful watching her younger self get hurt by such a thing. She looked up and closed her eyes.

“I forgive you, Mom. You didn’t know better. You were in love,” she said.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back with Scarletta and Mayu.

“You’re back!” Scarletta yelled and hugged Nina. Nina laughed a bit and hugged her back. “I was silly to get hurt by that. Well, I was young. No use beating myself up over it now.”

And so went their journey through the maze. She would either return laughing about how dumb she was, or how much the memory made her happy.

“Well, there’s two more left, but…” Mayu started.

“But what?” Nina asked.

“Well, the canvases merged.”

“Oh, that’s not a problem. At least this will get over fast.”

“Hm…” Mayu hummed sadly.

It seemed out of character for her, since she was always joyous and skippy.

Nina entered the canvas.

She immediately regretted it.

There was a house burning down in front of her, and only she knew it was her fault they all died.

She didn’t even have the confidence to tell the firefighters how the fire started. Honestly, she deserved to be berated over it. When the fire broke out, she didn’t even try to wake her parents. She didn’t try carrying her little brother out, nor did she try saving the cat.

She was selfish. Greedy. She didn’t deserve Scarletta’s love. After all, who knows if she’d do it again? She could easily kill others again. She could even hurt them.

All these thoughts swirled in her head. It made her dizzy. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to cry. She wanted to hide away in a hole.

She fell to her knees, clutching her mouth as if she were about to throw up.

She didn’t know how long it had been since she’d been like that, but when she looked up, the scene was different.

It was a starry blue night sky — not a single cloud, the moon nowhere to be seen. Two young girls lay on the grass, staring at the sky and talking.

“…I have a question,” young Nina said.

“What is it?” an even younger Scarletta asked.

“Why do you love me like a sister? I’m adopted — that means I’m not your real sister.”

Scarletta sat up. “That’s absurd!” she yelled.

Nina sat up too. “How is it absurd?”

“You are my sister, whether you’re adopted or not!”

“…Why are you so kind? Shouldn’t you hate me? I’m just taking up space.”

“I’d never hate you.”

“Blood is thicker than water.”

Scarletta sighed.

“Blood is thicker than water, yes.”

“See? You agree with that!”

“But love, Nina… oh, love is thicker than blood.”

“…”

“And I’ll always love you. Now and forever.”

“…I’ll always love you too.”

Nina — the older one — stood in the background, staring at the scene in front of her.

It was true she had a photographic memory, but how could she have left these words behind? Was it too childish? No. Not at all. Scarletta, though years younger than Nina, was much smarter than her. When it came to heartfelt moments, her words could touch anybody’s heart.

Nina smiled. The both of them did — in fact, all three did.

The older Nina closed her eyes, smiling. And when she awoke, she knew she was free.

“Nina! Come over here!” Scarletta yelled from a room ahead.

Nina followed her voice, where she was led to a room with a mirror in the center. Mayu and Scarletta were already there.

“All we have to do here is step through the mirror. Isn’t that amazing?” Scarletta said, smiling ear to ear.

“Yeah, pretty amazing,” Nina said, stretching. “Man, I can’t wait until I see the real world again!” she added and walked toward the mirror.

Mayu grabbed Nina’s arm.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Nina asked.

“Stay here, with me.”

“What? Why? After all the things I did to get here?”

“Do you want to be forgotten again?! Or bullied?! Or never understood?! Huh?! This place is better than the real world, and you know it! Stay here! You’ll be happier!”

Scarletta grabbed Nina’s other arm. “Let go of her!” she yelled at Mayu.

An intense game of tug-of-war followed — each throwing out reasons why she should stay or not. It managed to get in Nina’s head. Was leaving really worth it?

Nina pulled her arms free from their grasp. She was unsure.

“You’ll never fit in over there, Nina. This is where you should stay,” Mayu said.

Nina looked at Scarletta, waiting for her comeback.

Scarletta breathed in and out. “Nina, if you come with me, I’ll try my best to make you feel at home. Sure, you might be overwhelmed, but I’ll be there for you. Don’t worry.”

She raised a hand for Nina to hold.

Nina stepped forward and took Scarletta’s hand. Scarletta smiled, and they walked through the mirror.

Scarletta awoke in her room, the morning light over her eyes. It was a first — being awake before her alarm. She turned it off and headed outside.

It was a Sunday.

After breakfast, she went to visit Nina, with Aiden following behind her. Little did they know their parents were too — Nora trying to stop Elijah, and Elijah wanting to find out where the two were going so early in the morning.

Scarletta stood outside the door. She wasn’t ready to open it yet, but she wanted to.

She took a deep breath in — and out.

She opened the door and entered with Aiden.

She gasped. Aiden was visibly shocked. Nina was sitting up, observing the bouquet as the morning light fell on her face.

She looked at them — and smiled.

A few minutes later, Elijah and Nora arrived. Elijah froze at the door. He thought he’d be seeing his son interact with a young patient who had cancer — but instead, he was interacting with a (now awake) comatose teen patient.

“Dad! This is Nina! She’s, uh…” Aiden started.

“She’s my sister — and your daughter now,” Scarletta said.

“I’m not biologically related as a sister,” Nina added, her hands slightly raised to show she was completely honest.

“Wait, wait, wait. What? Nora, you never mentioned having another child?” Elijah said.

“She’s adopted,” Nora said.

“Still, she’s your child! Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

“…I… I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“Scared that you’d leave me too.”

Elijah sighed in disbelief, but he didn’t want to escalate things further.

He walked toward Nina.

“Nina, your name was, right?”

“…Yeah.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirteen.”

“Oh wow, you’re a teenager?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, Nina, I’m Elijah. If you want to, you can accept me as your father.”

Nina gasped. Nora did too.

“Really?” Nina asked, just to make sure he wasn’t joking.

“Really,” he replied.

“I thought… you would leave me as soon as you found out I had another kid…” Nora said.

Elijah laughed. “Nora, you keep forgetting — I love kids! I don’t mind if she’s here. I’ll consider her family and treat her like my daughter. Same goes for Scarletta.”

Nora smiled. She didn’t want to say anything to ruin the moment.

A few days passed, and Nina was out of the hospital. A few months passed, and it was time for a birthday party — Nina’s birthday party.

There she was, standing in the backyard where her party was set up. She was now surrounded by family members and people who loved her. She was ready to blow out the candles.

“Feliz año, aun sin novedad,” she whispered.

“Feliz año nuevo a una vida aburrida.”

Laughing, she blew out the candles.

By Drishti Dattatreya Rao