Not Your Average Children's Tales

Down the Rabbit Hole, Off I Go

Late nights, strolling around the town after a late-night badminton match with the colleagues at work then off to a bar for a drink or two. My work buddy – at least the one I was closest to – stumbled on his long legs and straight into me. His last words to me were "hey, have you seen this" before collapsing both of us onto the grounds – now blacked out.

My head was heavy as I awaken, even harder as I tried to open my eyes. Groggy as everything came in blurry through my vision, I stood upright and scanned around me. My coworkers had a tendency to force me into a lot of drinks, if I didn't choose to hide away in the bathroom after the third one, but no way was that sending me into a spiral where I had no clue of where I was.

From the faint smell of rusty waters, there was a river between the two neighborhoods. Enveloped by big trees lined up next to it, making it such a good cover for couples who needed to have an argument after a fight – or it worked for two best friends, as well. But only one thing jolted in mind as I caught the sight of a tall, skinny girl whose hair was put up in a ponytail with some curls slipped out on the side – I was long, long way from home.

I'd seen this stuff happen, in the old childhood cartoon where the main character asked his sidekick to take him back in time using a time machine. But to feel it in real time, was like a fever dream.

Through some stranger's window as I strolled past – what I saw astounded me – a small, young figure instead of my former twenty-something one. Now I knew I had to be dreaming. So I continued down the path, walking towards the bridge that separated the two neighborhoods, one I remembered as my own. The bridge that, once upon a time, became the only proof of where my bike left its prints all over the ground.

"Anita."

I called out to the girl who'd been sitting on the bridge all by her lonesome, she only stared blankly through me as I approached.

Hesitant, I chose to sit next to her, leaving a few empty spaces in-between. "What, middle school has taken a toll on you already?" I tried again. Picking up a few pebbles nearby and throwing it into the river below our feet.

A low mutter burst out of her, finally. "Like you'd know." Though she said in a low register voice, I could sense a hint of sharp bitterness in her tone.

This was probably the first that I interacted with her since middle school started. Funny how we used to ride our bikes together to school in elementary days. I didn't know what or how we stopped.

"I'm sorry," I apologized genuinely.

"For what, exactly?"

That was a question I wasn't ready for, I shrugged. "I'm not sure actually." I replied, looking down on the still water.

Anita chuckled dryly. "You're moving again, right?" She raised her brows, glancing at me the first time since I sat down next to her. She pressed further as she saw my dumbfounded look. "My mom ran to yours when she went grocery-shopping." She declared.

"Well, she's a big talker," I sighed. My mother hardly ever talked about her feelings at home, but she'd suddenly become such a yapper around strangers. "But yeah, she's pretty much packed the whole house."

"When are you going to tell me?"

This wasn't my first rodeo, and she knew that. "Soon, I guess. I just thought that... you were mad at me."

"Why would I be mad at you?"

Then I told her about her group of friends who lived around her house. The group that I hung around with once. How one of them was now going to the same school as me. The one that I avoided because I was flirting with her boy once, not knowing that he was her guy.