In many ways, their lives are completely opposite. Just as his days are filled with routine, hers are filled with… well, nothing. She’d never been given a purpose in life. Never truly sought one. Nothing in her life is decided. And though she may have fallen into some rather quirky patterns, she has no true normalcy. Nothing to define the driftlessness of her days.
She is little more than the flotsam floating on the waves that crash against the shores far below them.
And, oddly enough, in the same way that her life boasts no routine, it also boasts nothing that speaks of true happiness either. She’d never been offered the opportunity to know lighthearted play. She’d never had other children around to teach her, and certainly her mother hadn’t been interested. Sure, she’d kept Noel alive and healthy enough before leaving her to drift in the world once she could care for herself, and Noel had always thought that was sufficient. Always thought that was the way the world works.
Still does, in fact. So this encounter? Well, she’d never been quite prepared for it.
His bright-eyed, easy teasing is comforting in a way though, and she finds herself offering him the faintest glimmer of a reciprocating smile before gruffly replying, “I mean, I guess… technically, I was born here.”
How he might have come to any sort of conclusion that would inspire him to ask her if she was sure she wasn’t a Northerner, she’s not entirely sure. But she’s also not especially keen on finding out why. Mostly because she’s pretty certain she wouldn’t care too much for the answer.
But he instead delves eagerly into his idea of adventure. Though he asserts it would be both ill-advised and somewhat difficult, Noel finds herself almost unwillingly intrigued. The thought of danger is appealing in a strange way. Almost too appealing. But the way her heartbeat increases with anticipation even as her senses buzz with an unexpected liveliness is all the convincing she needs.
“Ok,” she says abruptly, accepting his challenge before she can think better of it. She barely glances at him before bursting forward towards the edge of the cliff and flinging herself off.
- noel