Noik and the city on the other side

Every night, she comes back late from college, and takes the same bus, at the same time, in the same place. Most of the time, darkness flows between the buildings, turning at every corner. The bus is always almost empty, and she’s allowed to sprawl over a couple of seats, sometimes she’s completely alone. She’s sleepy, and not in the mood for the half an hour daily journey through a deserted road. Sometimes the bouncing awakes her, and she forces herself to sing something to stop herself from falling asleep against the window. As she hums, she stares absently through the glass.

It hasn’t been long since she discovered the city. It isn’t that it hadn’t been there before. It was a particularly uncomfortable night, when the raindrops raced each other across the window, on the other side. Each one held a tiny point of reflected light inside, one could see many colours, like a flashing mosaic. Behind the rain curtain, reflected on the window’s surface, she could see the cars speeding past the bus, proudly showing their coloured lights. And much further, another mess of light dots, the flashes and shadows of the city. She had never done it before, but that precise night, for some reason, she looked on the other side and, in her drowsiness, noticed that the bus was crossing a deserted area. There was no city there, nowhere around the bus.

However, the reflection was there, still on the window, as if painted with watercolours and diluted light. Where was the reflected city?

It was doubtlessly a city, and the bus marched beside it as if it were perfectly solid. Straining her eyes, she could see the nearest buildings; most of them were houses with no illumination, dark shapes of unknown materials. There was nobody around.

She had the chance to watch this show many times. Every night, when the bus left the light and the streets of the city behind to enter the dark road, the city was there in the distance, reflected on the window. You only had to be aware of it. There, and only there, because she checked many times, and was sure, that there was no real town near the area. She never got tired of looking at it, with its unreal lights and its translucent appearance. In time, she knew the buildings by heart. The tall one with red lights, next to the bridge, was her favourite for some weeks; but soon was supplanted by the strange vault with no lights at all, which was only visible because of the contrast with the net of white lights that spread over the buildings behind it. Sometimes, she enjoyed naming them, but no name satisfied her, and deep inside her she didn’t wish to lock them in words.

She never showed the city to anyone, but watched it for many nights.

One day a kid disturbed the contemplation. He appeared out of nowhere and running directly towards the bus. He screamed desperately. She knew he was screaming because of the movement of his mouth, and the way his face grimaced. As soon as she noticed him, she opened the top part of the window to hear what he was saying, but she only heard the bus’ engine. Soon the kid was left behind, though he kept on running.

The most shocking thing was that, from that night on, every night in the same spot, the kid approached running and screaming, and the bus left him behind. She had the nagging feeling that he was calling her, and watched the scene uneasily, night after night. Neither the other passengers nor the driver ever reacted to those events.

On the first day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running.

On the second day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running.

On the third day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running.

On the fourth day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running.

On the fifth day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running, and after him, in the distance, melting with the shadows, she could see another silhouette moving.

On the sixth day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running, and the shadow after him got a bit closer. It was a big, diffuse shadow, and for some reason it made her shiver.

On the seventh day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running, his follower was closer and she could see him better. It left her breathless to see that it was a seemingly strong man, armed with something she couldn’t tell.

On the eighth day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running, the man was right behind him. Now she could percieve his shining eyes and his dark skin. She could sense the rage dyeing his attitude. She could see the hatchet he held in one hand. She understood the kid’s horror, his screaming. She felt a strong claw grasping her stomach and couldn’t sleep.

Next day, she was afraid to watch.

On the ninth day, a kid dressed in weird clothes approached running, the man stepped forward and grabbed his clothes with a powerful hand. The kid cried, screamed and struggled frantically, horrified. She also screamed in fear, frightening the few passengers in the bus and the driver. All of them looked at her, but she didn’t answer. She only had eyes for the struggle taking place right beside the bus. The kid had weakened in the man’s embrace. The only thing he could do was to glance up, his eyes drowning in tears, directly into her eyes.

Only then she understood what he wanted. She couldn’t explain why, but she knew that his name was Noik and the man he was fleeing from was his father. She launched herself, reaching for the bus’ emergency hammer and forcibly pulled it out of its hook. She hit the window repeatedly, strongly, enraged, until the glass broke. The city trembled and shattered, showering everything with sparks. A blow of chilly wind hit her face, and she felt relieved.

During the following months she paid the fine, listened to people reprimanding her and kept on going to class by bus. Never again she saw more reflection than that of the street lamps on the other side of the road. Nevertheless, now she checks every reflection she sees, in a showcase, in a glass of water… She hopes to find a kid she knows somewhere. She hopes he’ll approach her and smile. So she’ll be totally relieved.