Mori

A frail boy, with trembling thighs and black hair clinging to his brow, climbed up the crooked roots of the vast tree. He was a touch shy of eighteen, tall and broad, but lanky like the stems he gripped onto for balance. His black cat, Luka, who was much less sweaty and did not quite have nearly as much hair, accompanied him on the trek.

The roots of the tree cradled the city below, several of them hollowed out into trainways, traveling from one layer of the clay city to the next. He had managed to catch one to the highest level he could – the royal level. The level that loved to rain money down on the poor to watch them scramble, even tossing in a few green leaves for good measure.

But going to the level above that was not something people usually did willingly. It was dangerous, so to speak, physically and mentally.

The boy never understood why – aside from the sheer height, of course.

Moonlight dripped through the curves and cracks of the roots, light raining on the worn path.

It was a great climb, but one he had made several times, although never with the same intentions. Tucked under his arm, and wrapped tightly in an old, tattered cloth was a jar. It buzzed and tinkered, glowing orange as it heated and cooled.

Luka was having a much easier time on the trail, trotting a few steps ahead of him. He sat down, his yellow eyes reflecting all in his view.

“You look as if you’re about to fall.” He commented.

The boy huffed, but smiled. “You would like it if I fell, wouldn’t you?”

“On the contrary, I would not.” His tail wormed against the bark. “Who else would give me those fish you swoop out of the trench? My paws dare not reach that deep unless I want myself to become the snack.”

“Oh, I don’t think that would happen. You wouldn’t taste particularly good, plus you’re pretty scrawny. Although,” he paused, stroking his chin, “considering you’re hairless, it might be more tempting.”

Luka’s skin rippled, shoulders going stiff. He flicked his tail up and trotted forward. “How many ways do you intend to offend me in one sentence?” The boy opened his mouth, but was cut silent. “Regardless, let us keep moving. Must not keep the others waiting too long for your return.”

“Why are you in a hurry? You have a date or something?”

“With those fish you promised me, yes.”

The boy chuckled as they continued, although the canopy of the tree never came any closer. Red and yellow leaves teetered around them, the wind sweeping them away before they could land. It was getting colder, the jacket over his shoulders not sheltering the heat of his body nearly enough, but the warmth from the jar hugged his side, making it bearable.

Emerging from the small, rusted roof of the city, the boy wrestled to the top of the root, looking up at the wing spread branches. Peeking through them were stars that littered the sky, grouped together in arcs of dust and rainbows.

Luka perched himself beside the boy, swishing his tail anxiously, but keeping an eye on him.

The trek, despite his sweaty arms and sore legs, was always worth it for the view that he would have never received while being stuck down below. “It’s so pretty.” The boy whispered.

“It is.” Luka grinned.

Pulling the jar closer, the boy’s heart fluttered against his chest.

It wasn’t long before a heavier weight pressed itself against him, one that hooked his smile and anchored it. Being up this high, with the sky and city nothing but twinkling lights was always so exhilarating.

But not today.

Today, they looked like tears.

“I don’t want to let them go.” He whispered.

Luka tilted his head. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Everyone came up here at one point or another, and in Luka’s long time of being alive – much longer than most cats – he had seen what happened every time.

The jar clanked uncontrollably under the boy’s arm. He almost lost grip, fumbling as he held it in front of him. The cloth, soiled with the sadness and cries from the night prior, loosened.

Letting the covering fall, the night glistened.

Inside were flames, flickering fireflies that bounced against the glass.

The flames, like many others, showed themselves when he was much younger. He did not know what they meant, only that they were beautiful and pleased him more than his toys or even his mother’s smile. He would chase them, hold them, embrace them, They were his comfort even on the rainiest days. No one said anything then. It was when he grew older that it was viewed as a nuisance.

Holding onto them was not something that made a successful adult. It was dangerous. He had seen what happened when those flames became too big – maybe too brave. Those people who held onto them and let them grow, destroying their society and the ideals held with them. Those people never lasted long. They were always mocked, ridiculed, until they were taken away. To where, he didn’t know, but they were never seen again.

So, he collected these small flames of his own, put them in a jar, and walked up here to where he would let them all go, his family and other random onlookers urging him on with smiles and reassuring words.

“This is so important.”

“You will make us all proud.”

“Think of your future.”

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

His fingers curled around the top of the jar, shaking, and teeth clattering. His cat watched expectantly.

“What are you thinking?” Luka asked.

“…I don’t know.”

He would release them so they could join the stars, among thousands of others that were left to wander.

He hesitated.

Once they were gone, would he ever want to come back up here? Would there be any desire or wonder? Would he be just like everyone else? Wandering the grooves and streets of the city with soulless eyes, devoid of light? Exhausted, tired, but being of use to their home, their people.

There was some happiness in that, right?

The cat’s eyes slowly closed. He could sense the boy’s pain. “It’s never easy for anyone.”

The boy chuckled, but it bled. “So, why do people do it?”

Luka thought for a moment. “I would assume fear.” He said. “Humans are fearful beings and there is no greater fear than the fear of oneself. How we appear to others, how others perceive us, even your own death. Mindlessly chasing dreams, challenging what is already the norm, especially when they may hold no reward is terrifying, especially in such a short life, don’t you think?”

The boy took a breath.

“Are people really that scared?”

“Hm, in my experience, but I am an old cat. You are the first person I have talked to in ages. Things may have changed since days long past.”

“Why? Are people scared of cats, too?”

“Perhaps. More so of talking ones.” Luka smiled, his fangs as bright white as the milk he drank. It quickly fell when the boy didn’t return the same expression. “Do what you believe is best. I will be by your side, always. Even if we no longer have anything to say.”

He wished that eased the tension in his shoulders.

The boy’s head swirled. He couldn’t think about this, he had to get rid of them before something worse happened. Like the girl who made shadows from her fire, telling stories of wicked people. The boy who tried to escape to the outside, to see more than this ugly brown world. The parents who hid their children because their fires burned too bright. He had to. He couldn’t imagine putting that much burden on his family, his friends, the others around him.

He had to.

He had to make them all proud.

Without a second thought, he twisted the lid off, and the fireflies rushed out. Snaking around him, they pecked his body with warm spots that glew and faded into his skin. It was painful, a poison dripping through every layer of his body, eroding it to its core, and turning him inside out. Tears leaked from his eyes, blood staining the ground, and his flesh rippling into a new form. A form that he did not recognize.

He wanted to scream, but even his breath was taken from him. Everything he knew was being singed to a crisp, insides smoking with a smell that he was sure would never leave his nose.

All the flames kissed him one last time before being sucked into the sky, through the colorful leaves, through the clouds, until finally among the stars.

And just as the fire grew farther and farther away, so, too, did the light of his eyes.

And when they were no longer visible, his hands dropped to his side, the jar clattering to the ground and rolling among the many others under the tree roots.

As quickly as the pain came, it vanished, everything shifting back into place, but missing one incredibly important something.

The boy didn’t know what that was.

It wasn’t until now that he knew why people never went up here to gaze upon the tree, Mori.

He was scared, just like the rest.

There was nothing more to do here. He had to return to the others.

Turning towards Luka, his eyes laid heavy. He didn’t say anything. There was nothing to say to a cat.

Luka meowed and mournfully trotted alongside him as they descended into the clay city.