Miyu's Wish (18 page)

I awoke to a sunny, blue sky, a gentle breeze caressing me serenely. I squirmed and yawned and stretched, my limbs surging with energy, my heart pounding hard and fast. My breasts quaked under each triumphant beat, and I smiled.

A figure pranced toward me from the distance, and like a gilded bunny, I hid beneath my golden hair.

The damsel hopped forward and knelt beside me, her eyes gleaming as her tiny lips puckered like a blossoming rose. “I want to be you,” she whispered softly, snatching my hair and casting it to the wind like confetti. It drifted back down like dandelion seeds across both our faces. She smelled of strawberries and cream.

The sky seemed to rattle above, and I felt myself slink to the ground. I was now lying in a bed of flowers, my head on the girl’s lap, and she was stroking my hair with sleepy caresses.

“One can be the other,” she continued to sing, her long, midnight hair tickling my cheeks. “And we will be linked until the end of time.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but the angel was now kissing me softy across the forehead. They felt like warm, falling drops of dew, and my lips could only release a long, needful sigh.

“We fulfill each other,” she sang, smiling her radiant smile. “So let’s exchange. You know it’s time.”

She looked at me meaningfully, and my chest grew heavy and warm. I bit my lip.

“It’s time, it’s time,” she chirped again, her face drawing close to mine. My eyes began to close, my face tilting upward, helpless against the pull of her magnificent gaze. I knew I had to decide.

Please God, someone, show me what to do…

My eyes shot open; I was choking on air. I sat up and took a deep breath.
What just happened?
I felt Kimberly stir by my side, still snuggled by my right arm. Her face remained covered under that wondrous mane of hair, but I could still see her smiling, her breaths deep and content. I pulled a lock of the sunny thread away from her lips and rolled it between my fingers. I had never felt anything so soft, so beautiful, and a tear inadvertently rolled down my face and disappeared into the covers.

I lay back down and moaned softly; my chest felt raw and sore, my bra stretched to the point of breaking. Incredulous, I undid the clasp and threw the whole thing aside, watching my bosoms pop outward like tightly wound springs. My body relaxed as I beheld the two massive weights in wonder.

They had grown again.

Chapter Twenty-Four

M
orning came at last, and I nudged my companion gently awake. She stirred like an infant and gurgled something, but then dug her face under my arm and went back to sleep. Stroking her cheek, I carefully slid off the bed and crept to her oversized mirror. My suspicions were immediately confirmed; the enlarged “muffins” jutting out from beneath my top were unmistakable. My mouth twitched as I admired them.

I quietly rummaged through Kimberly’s dresser drawers, eyeing a variety of frilly, multicolored bras. I glanced up at the mirror; she was still snoozing away behind me. Hoping she wouldn’t mind— or at least wouldn’t notice—I snatched a brassiere and held it up before me, marveling at its sizable wingspan. I lifted up my top and placed it on, smiling at the comfortable fit, and then performed a few twirls in the mirror.

I finally slipped back onto the bed. Kimberly immediately smiled as I began playing with her hair.

“What time is it?” she murmured, her eyes still closed as she turned to face me on her pillow.

“About nine o’clock.”

“I should call downstairs and have them start breakfast.”

I continued stroking her hair playfully. “No hurry.”

She remained silent for a while, but then her eyelids lifted slowly. “I had the strangest dream last night. I didn’t want it to end.”

“What about?”

A look of regret—maybe disappointment—spread across her face, and she turned onto her backside with a thoughtful gaze. “It was…well, it’s too weird to explain. But it was heavenly.” She glanced at me and sighed wistfully, and I pulled out a strand of hair that had caught in her mouth.

“You think you might come over again?” she asked with just a touch of shyness. “Next time, I’ll force my parents to take us out somewhere fun.”

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I would love to, but there’s something we really should talk about first.”

Kimberly suddenly curled up next to me, her face taut with concern. “It’s about Thad, isn’t it? But I’ve already decided; if you still have eyes for him, I’ll stay out of your way. I promise.”

I smiled. “No, it’s not that. Thad and I, we kinda had a fight and…oh, I don’t care who dates him now.”

Kimberly continued gazing at me, as if she understood. “He came to see me at the hospital you know, the day after the accident. He was acting really weird; kept saying you had changed, transformed—I don’t know. He wasn’t making any sense. But then my mom came in, and he left.”

I sat up, studying her peculiarly. “Changed?”

She grimaced unhappily. “I don’t know. He had me kind of spooked, and I’ve forgotten most of it. I wasn’t really myself that day, as you know. I haven’t said much to him since.”

I fell silent, finding myself thinking of Keil and his enigmatic words. But there were more important things to consider at the moment. I peered deeply into her face. “We need to talk about Marlene.”

Her eyes flashed as the name left my mouth. “Oh,” she said simply.

“What happened to you two?”

“There’s not much to say, really,” she replied. Her face drooped guiltily. “We were once best friends, but then I fell into another crowd. We drifted apart. I guess I did leave her behind.”

Her downcast expression sought forgiveness, but that wasn’t mine to give. “I can’t force you to be friends, but you should at least try to talk with her. Try to make peace.”

She fidgeted uneasily. “I guess I can try.”

“And that way when I have my own party, I can include
you
,” I said coyly, rolling off the bed and onto my feet. I then stretched
confidently, my arms raised triumphantly into the air; everything would surely work out.

Kimberly’s eyes widened. “Miyu, your ch—” She cut herself short, as if thinking better of something.

“Yes?” I asked innocently.

“It’s nothing,” she said, gazing at me sheepishly. “Let’s just go get something to eat.”

Breakfast was a smorgasbord of everything from French toast and crepes to pastries and deviled ham, served by Graves, the butler, in the dining room.

“Does the menu meet your approval, Miss Moon?” Graves asked with a small bow.

“Oh, yesh,” I said with a mouthful of blueberry muffin.

Kimberly laughed.

We were soon joined by her parents, who apologized profusely for their absence the night before.

“But we’re both very grateful for what you’ve done for our daughter, of course,” Mr. Sutton said as he cut daintily into a fried egg. “You’re welcome here anytime. We consider you to be family now.”

Mrs. Sutton nodded with a smile, and Kimberly simply blushed. They were all very cute together, and I wondered what my own parents had been like.

As we were finishing, Graves informed us that my aunt had arrived. The Suttons quickly set out to greet her while I scampered upstairs to collect my things.

“Thanks for a wonderful time,” I told Kimberly as I hopped back down with my suitcase.

She smiled halfheartedly. “I wish you didn’t have to leave so soon.”

“They’ll be other times,” I said sweetly, placing the suitcase down and giving her a hug. She released a soft, tender murmur and hugged me back, and I sensed something different about her. She was a little more like me.
And perhaps I was a little more like her.

My aunt took my things, and I followed her out to the car, waving good-bye after every few steps. Graves placed Kimberly’s painting in the backseat, and I looked away uneasily as Aunt Mari’s eyes twitched wryly in my direction. And then we were off, driving out the gate.

“That’s some picture,” she said as we pulled out onto the main road.

“Yeah,” I replied offhandedly. “It’s beautiful, but…I guess I can’t really hang it anywhere.”

She stared forward, looking perturbed as she weaved through the sparse, Sunday traffic. “Sweetie, I’m sorry about last night. Your question…I just wasn’t prepared.”

I remained silent and continued looking out my window as if she hadn’t said anything.

She sighed resignedly. “It’s probably a little early, but if it’s an explanation you want, then I suppose the time has come.”

“What?” I murmured, studying her.

“You’ve been right all along. I have been hiding something from you.”

And with that utterance she pulled us quickly onto a side street, and we proceeded to the opposite side of town.

“This is where it happened, or so I’m told,” Aunt Mari explained somberly, gesturing to a small bench. “Or where it
will
happen. Quantum theory is not my thing.”

We had walked into a small park on the cusp of a burgeoning neighborhood. The day was still young; we stood alone, gazing reverently at the perfectly mundane slab of aluminum before us. I walked over and sat down on it, feeling its cold touch penetrate my slacks.

“I don’t understand,” I said, looking up at her. “
What
happened here?”

Her eyes wandered over me aimlessly, as if trying to focus on something that wasn’t there. “This is where you—or rather, your other self—prayed for another life.”

“And my prayer was answered? Does the other me live near here?”

My aunt nodded listlessly, her lips pressed thin like a hand-drawn line across her face. “Your prayer was indeed answered, but I’m unclear where your other form resides, or will reside exactly. Could be anywhere.”

I stood up to confront her more directly, my voice growing angry. “And you’ve never told me any of this?”

She regarded me sadly. “I wasn’t allowed to.”

I glared at her. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Honey please, come here. Sit down with me.” She walked to the bench and took a seat, and I joined her grudgingly.

“I’ve never been able to have children,” she began, her voice morose. “It was heartbreaking. I always wanted a daughter— someone like you—and I prayed a very long time for a miracle. Instead my husband passed away, and I was still left childless.”

My eyes bulged, and my mouth fell open.
She was actually opening up to me.

She continued undaunted. “I was angry and upset. At God, at everyone. But then, under the glamour of the full moon, I was visited by someone. A special stranger. He said I would be able to have the daughter I always wanted. That I was to adopt and raise her to be the perfect young lady, for she had a special destiny.”

My bottom lip trembled, and I scooted up close to her. “Who was the stranger, Auntie? Who answered your prayer?”

Aunt Mari looked apologetic. “There are some things I still cannot tell you, other things I simply don’t know myself. But I ended up with an adorable little girl, and you’ve made the last
thirteen years of my life a true heaven.” She sighed and caressed my cheek, and I gazed at her tenderly.

“But there was a cruel catch—you are what some call a ‘parallel incarnate,’ an awkward term that means you lead an alternate life roughly concurrent with this one. You will eventually leave me to resume that other life, and I was told to take note of any peculiar changes in behavior or personality you might one day show. These would be possible signs of your imminent return.”

I shuddered and turned away, my eyes becoming moist.

“These changes would reveal themselves in either subtle or obvious ways. Apparently, it varies by case. But you might start seeing things, experience temporary lapses in memory, suffer crises of identity, remember impossible things, even begin questioning your very existence.”

I wiped my nose. “The first day of school…”

Aunt Mari cleared her throat, her own eyes growing moist. “Yes, that’s when I first noticed something was wrong. But I didn’t want to believe I was losing you. I convinced myself it was only a fluke, the product of having just moved to a new town. But the signs became undeniable. Your unexpected behavior when I first forbade you from going on that sleepover; when you asked about your parents, whom could only exist in your alternate life; and especially when you painted that boy, whom I suspected…well, he’s really an old acquaintance of
yours
. I’ll leave it at that. But I couldn’t deny the signs any longer. You were beginning to rejoin.”