Bonus Short Story
One Stormy Day
A roll of thunder rumbled in the distance. The boy who had been reading while sitting on a nearby stool sat up with a grunt of surprise.
“Hey, Koh, it’s gonna rain.”
“Looks like it, yeah.” The storm still sounded far away, but the valley felt even gloomier than it usually did. It was hard to tell from down where we were, but I assumed the sky was overcast.
“Mind if we head home early today?” asked Balrog. “I’m sorta worried about Rei.”
“About Rei? Why, did something happen?”
“Oooh? What, you worried about her or something?” Balrog smirked. That childish expression he always made when he was about to make fun of me sort of got on my nerves.
“You’re the one who said you were worried in the first place,” I snapped back.
“Fair enough. But nah, it’s just that she’s not great at dealing with lightning.”
“So? I’d be more surprised if you told me she could take a hit.”
“Wait, what?”
“I mean, it’s a super powerful bolt of electricity from the sky. Most people would die if they took one of those directly.”
“I didn’t mean getting struck by lightning! That’s just as scary for me as it is for her! You really are a few eggs short of a dozen, aren’t you, Koh?” he added, taking great care to make it clear he was trash-talking me. He was still smirking, but the smirk was twitching a little. “Okay, so maybe I should’ve said ‘thunder.’ Rei’s not scared of being hit by lightning, she’s scared of the sound it makes. It’s really loud and spooky, you know?”
“The sound, huh... I see what you mean.” Being blind, Rei’s sense of hearing was especially sensitive. Sudden, violent noises like thunder would probably be terrifying, especially when they can get loud enough to literally shake the building you’re in.
“They say the thunder gods will eat your belly button if you’re not careful... Not that it’s true in the slightest.”
“Your belly button? What?”
“It’s just a superstition. I think. I don’t really know, myself.”
“You say the weirdest stuff sometimes, Koh.”
“Lay off. The point is that you’re worried about Rei, right? Let’s hurry back.” We quickly packed up and departed from our hut in the valley. It had already started drizzling at that point.
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“Whoa, it’s really coming down! If this was a race, then the storm would’ve crushed us!”
“Only because I was matching your pace.”
I’d heard the sharp crack of thunder several times over the course of our trip back. It was still the middle of the day, but you’d never know it given how dark and gloomy it was outside. There wasn’t a villager around who’d venture out in weather like that.
“Sorry, Koh, but can you head home first? There’s something I want to take care of on my way back.”
“Got it. Say hi to Lyra for me.”
“I-I never said I was going to see her!”
“Guess you didn’t. Must’ve just jumped to conclusions.” In spite of his overblown reaction, Balrog ran straight for Lyra’s house. I waited a moment, watching him go, then headed toward the house he shared with Rei.
“I’m back!” I called as I walked inside.
“Koh!” Rei immediately rushed over and clung to me. Something was obviously wrong.
“Oh, whoa... What’re you doing in the entryway, Rei? And, uh...you know I’m soaking wet, right?” I tried to make light of the situation, but I couldn’t really think of anything to say that would be even remotely funny, and my sarcasm had zero effect because I really was soaking wet.
She just kept clinging to me, shivering, until another clap of thunder rang out. She shrieked. I could tell by the sound that it hadn’t struck anywhere nearby, but that didn’t seem to make it any less scary for her.
“Koh... Umm, I’m...”
“It’s fine; don’t worry about it. Could you let go of me, though?” She was clearly shocked by my request. She practically jumped away from me, stumbling backwards and curling into a ball. I realized too late that I’d been a little too direct with my phrasing.
“I-I’m sorry,” she stammered, “I should’ve said something first, or—”
“No, that’s not it! I just meant you should let go for a moment so I can get changed. I got caught in the rain, so I’m totally soaked, and if I got you wet too, we might both end up getting sick. I’ll get changed, and then you can use me as a teddy bear for however long you want!” I clarified myself as quickly as I could, taking her hand and helping her to her feet.
I needed to move over to Balrog’s room to change, but I couldn’t exactly leave her on her own in the entryway, so I slowly led her by the hand through the dark house. My careless phrasing a moment before must have really bothered her. She didn’t squeeze my hand like she usually would, but instead just quietly followed along after me without saying a word.
“Okay... Guess I can deal with my laundry later.” I left my wet clothes lying on the ground. Balrog—or rather, Lyra, who came over to his house so often she was practically his live-in helper—would probably chew me out for it, but I was in no position to put them away properly. I threw on a dry shirt and pair of pants, then went over to Rei, who was huddled up in a corner of the room.
“Rei?”
“Koh, I...” I could tell from her tone that I really had made her depressed. She’d never had an excess of self-confidence to begin with, and I couldn’t blame her for interpreting my words as rejection.
“I’m sorry, Rei.” I held her close as gently as I could, taking care not to startle her. “It’s all right now. I’m not going anywhere—I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me to.”
“Koh...”
“I was a little happy that you called for me when I walked in, actually. I sort of thought you’d say Balrog’s name.” If Balrog had happened to be the one who walked in instead of me, he probably wouldn’t have taken it well. Imagining the look on his face was oddly satisfying. He was definitely a bad influence on me—I’d started picking up his habit of teasing people, and Rei was suffering the consequences. She was blushing brightly, her lips trembling with embarrassment.
“I-I-I didn’t mean to—it just slipped out!”
“My name just slipped out?”
“Ah, no, I mean...” I questioned her without really thinking about it, and she mumbled incoherently. “It’s just that I’m scared of thunder. It’s so loud, it sounds like a giant’s stomping around right next to me. Part of me’s always worried that someday, that giant will step right on me...”
She’d probably read something along those lines in one of her books. It wasn’t an unreasonable fear to have, though, considering she’d never seen actual lightning for herself.
“The thunder woke me up today, and nobody else was around, and I got so scared... I wanted to go out and find you.”
“Wait—you weren’t trying to go outside when I got back, were you?”
She paused for a moment, then practically whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay...” I was really glad I got home when I did, in retrospect. Part of me regretted not leaving that slowpoke Balrog behind and rushing back as fast as I could. “Everything’s all right now, Rei,” I reassured her.
“I know...” It felt like she’d finally started to relax. I could feel the tension draining away from her body, which was reassuring for me as well. “Umm, Koh? This might be too forward of me, but, umm...I’d like it if you’d hug me a little tighter, please...”
“Tighter?”
“Tight enough that I, umm, know I won’t slip away from you...”
“Okay, got it. I’m a little worried I might snap you like a twig, though.”
“Oh, Koh!” She gave me that look that told me she was trying to pout, but she wasn’t actually upset and couldn’t really pull it off. That time around, I really did manage to ease the tension—at least well enough. “If I could be in your arms when it happened, though,” she muttered, “that might not be so bad.”
I wasn’t from their village. Eventually, I’d have to leave and return to my life as a Hero. I’d never told her about any of that, but I had a feeling that she knew on some level we’d have to part someday.
But that would be some other day. On that day, I was there for her. I could provide her with peace of mind amid the terror of the thunderstorm. That alone was enough for me. I smiled, pulled her closer and held her just a little more tightly.
“Don’t even joke about that.”
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