Ride Along

It’s hard not to touch a string. Masayuki didn’t know where he was going. He tried to look for a smaller gap to squeeze through. But then where would he go? Good thing that he wasn’t alone anymore.

Masayuki! Masayuki!

“Girls! Girls, is that you?” A low humming filled the air. For the first time in a while, Masayuki’s head felt clear.

Good, you can hear us. Listen, things are getting really bad at our end. Where are you now?

The boy looked around. “I don’t know honestly. I do see so many strings.” He heard a sigh of relief in his ear.

Oh good. What colors do you see?

“Um… Reds, blues, golds, blacks, pinks, yellows, greens, whites, oranges… and… and…” He heard whispering in his ears.

“Hello?”

Okay, listen to me. We are going to need you to pick a color and follow it.

“Does it matter which one?”

No. We don’t have time to debate. Just pick one and go with it!

“Okay, okay.” Masayuki turned and grabbed onto a blue chord. Something warm bubbled up in his body. Suddenly, he vanished into thin air.

“What happened?”

Hold on tight!

“What?!” He shot up high into the endless sky. He didn’t get a chance to ask what was going on. Despite that, he managed to catch something in his right ear.

You have to try and get everyone back! You don’t have much time left. Make it count or you will be stuck on the other side forever.

The boy didn’t need to respond. He didn’t need to say a word. Masayuki already knew where to go next. He closed his eyes. Already, he could hear another voice. The angels clung to him as he followed the string and the voice.

He wound up into another place in another memories.

“Ah,” Masayuki finally said. He quickly covered his mouth. The boy hadn’t even expected to hear the sound of his own voice again. Masayuki turned around when he heard a low whistle.