The week after Pearl's disappearance was dreary, to say the least. Ophelia tried her best to ignore the glances out of the corner of the eyes of onlookers, the hushed tones, and the sudden silence whenever she stepped into a crowded place but it was unbearable. Worst of all were the looks Pearl's mother gave her whenever Ophelia had the misfortune of bumping into her. She looked at Ophelia like she was responsible for the disappearance of her daughter, like a stain. It was to be expected of course, for Ophelia was Pearl's best friend but the feelings of betrayal Ophelia felt stemmed from the fact that Mrs. Julia was like a second mother to her. Their relationship which was so close they were often mistaken for mother and daughter was now strained to its limits. Mrs. Julia, who couldn't stand the sight of Ophelia always walked out on her, and Ophelia on her path was learning the subtle art of avoidance. Pearl's siblings were more understanding, but their affection had a motive, it was a desperate attempt to fill the gaping hole in their hearts that their sister left. Ophelia knew she could never take Pearl's place, so even their care stung. Such was the predicament Ophelia found herself in, torn between Mrs. Julia who wanted to erase Ophelia along with all traces of her memories of Pearl, and Pearl's siblings who tried to use her as a replacement. Pearl's father on the other hand, handled his grief very differently, like most other members of the town, he moved on quickly, as though he never had Pearl as a daughter and sometimes, he would stare at Ophelia, a puzzled look on his face as though trying to understand the significance or origin of her presence in his house and his life.
Ophelia's first dream was a week after Pearl's disappearance. The day was like any other, she arranged the bed she once shared with her friend-turned-sister, laid her head on her pillow, and got up with a start, Pearl was beside her on the bed. Pearl looked her most radiant, the shock of her new beauty almost overpowered the shock of seeing Pearl after almost a week of her disappearance. Pearl beamed.
'I can't believe it!', Ophelia shouted at the top of her lungs. Joy overcame shock as she got up overjoyed, rushing to the door, she would tell everyone that Pearl was back. It was good, too good to be true.
'Wait! Don't!', Pearl's voice called out to her but it was too late. Ophelia bounded out the door only to find herself awake and sitting upright on her bed, in the darkness of the night. Pearl was gone.
Ophelia didn't have to dwell too much on the meaning of her dream for Pearl visited her again two days after that. Her previous experience had taught her not to rush this time. This time when she saw the more beautiful rendition of Pearl beside her, she got up slowly, fully convinced that this experience, like the last, was a dream. Pearl spoke first.
'You're crying', Pearl's eyes softened. Only then did Ophelia hear her sobs, her cheeks were wet with tears and she could feel them fall onto the bed sheet below.
'Why did you leave?', She didn't say what she wanted to say: 'Why did you leave me?', the difference between the two was just a word yet conveyed the depth of the loneliness she had felt these past days. Pearl was her sister, her best friend and she had abandoned her when she knew Ophelia had no one else.
'I'm sorry', Pearl apologized. Ophelia wanted to be angry but she couldn't muster the strength it took, that singular apology was all she needed to hear. Pearl was truly and completely forgiven.
'Will you come back?'Her voice was barely a whisper, Ophelia knew the answer, and she knew she didn't want to hear it.
'Come outside', Pearl climbed out through the window and Ophelia followed. Perhaps because she was so convinced she was dreaming, Ophelia didn't consider that she was on the first floor (Ophelia's room was on the first floor, facing the east), it may also have been absolute trust in the hand Pearl stretched out to her that caused her to toss caution to the wind. She found, however, that once she held Pearl's hand, she was outside and her feet didn't touch the floor. Her only support was Pearl's hand and they seemed to be freely suspended in mid-air. Terror gripped Ophelia but she reassured herself that she was only dreaming, besides, the fright was worth it if she could see Pearl again. Pearl carried Ophelia gently to the balcony outside the master's bedroom and set her down. Pearl herself lighted on the silver railings and posed with the delicacy of a carefully sculpted statue, both hands behind her back, one leg in front of the other.
'I am here to take you', she said as soon as she had landed, 'I will teach you how to get to where I am'. Ophelia nodded, she wanted nothing more.
'I was also taught how to get here. First, you will need your wings'.
'I see, wings', Ophelia agreed immediately, she smiled, betraying her derision.
'Can't you see mine?', Pearl asked in amazement on seeing her reaction.
'No, not really', Ophelia could see Pearl clearly in the moonlight and there were no wings, feathers, or anything of that sort on Pearl's back. The question had amused her at first but when Ophelia considered the fact that they had all but floated to the balcony on the other side of the house, she treated the matter with more sobriety. Pearl's motions of flight were so fluid, more like gliding than anything else, she felt no tugging, grunting, effort, or pressure. Pearl only floated, as though she were as light as paper to the balcony.
'That's not good. I could see hers', Pearl mused to herself, 'Your first lesson is this then, you must learn to see!'.
'How?' Ophelia asked. Pearl didn't seem to know the answer to this question but she looked up suddenly, her eyes brightening with the light of an idea.
'I'll fly between you and the moon, you have to look carefully, be focused!', and with that she took off, flying very close to the moon, Ophelia was afraid she might hit it. Graceful would be the only word to describe Pearl's flight, Ophelia soon forgot her motive and was content to watch Pearl flitter across the sky like a faerie, floating like a part of nature, like a falling leaf, upwards and around, swooping downwards then fluttering about, Pearl seemed to thoroughly enjoy herself, she seemed to be one with the wind. But Ophelia saw no wings.
'Did you see?', Pearl finally asked, only then did Ophelia remember she was supposed to be looking for wings.
'No, but you fly very gracefully', she replied.
'You'll just have to fly without being able to see the wings then', Pearl said, 'You have wings too, when you can see mine, you'll see yours, They're very small though'.
The conversation had taken the wrong turn, Ophelia imagined Pearl sweeping her up into the sky and watching her drop like an eaglet just to see if she could fly. Such behaviour was consistent with Pearl's character and a shiver ran through Ophelia's spine. But even if she couldn't fly, she would just wake up, right? As these thoughts ran through her head, Ophelia heard a cold voice and whipped her head around to face the speaker.
'Why are you here?', Mrs. Julia had opened the balcony. As she spoke, she stared at the railings where Pearl stood but when Ophelia turned back to look in the same direction, Pearl was gone. Only then did she realize Mrs. Julia was talking to her, in the manner she did nowadays, looking nowhere in particular, with that realization also came the knowledge that she wasn't dreaming, Pearl was just here.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
When Ophelia woke up again later that day, it was with a firm conviction that the events of the night before were absolutely real. She knew as certainly as she knew her own name that Pearl visited her. The natural course of action was to tell her family that she was still near, near enough to visit, she hadn't abandoned them. The choice of whom to tell was clear enough. Speaking to Mrs. Julia was out of the question and of Pearl's siblings, only her immediate younger sister was mature enough to handle the news of Pearl's reoccurrence. The only issue now was meeting her alone, on which Ophelia decided the best time would be on the walk back from school. All of Pearl's sisters went to the same school and they all walked home together but Amber had a tendency to walk a little behind her sisters, getting her alone was the easy part. Ophelia met with Amber where their paths crossed, as she walked home from school. She had to wait a bit for Pearl's sisters but they came surely enough. The younger, more active ones passed first, chattering loudly, and Amber sauntered behind them, watching, enjoying their chatter and play. Ophelia walked up to her. In the golden sunset, under the company of tall trees with yellowing leaves, her features suddenly struck Ophelia, she resembled her father so much. Amber noticed Ophelia only when she was right beside her and smiled warmly, even her demeanour resembled her father's.
'What are they saying?' Ophelia asked, referring to Amber's younger ones.
'Nothing important really, they are arguing about who is better at a dumb game.', Amber whispered under her breath so her siblings wouldn't hear.
'I see and who would you say would win?', Ophelia continued to probe.
'Neither! They're both terrible' Amber answered without bothering to lower her voice this time consequently earning harsh glares from the forms ahead. Amber wore a mischievous smirk and upon seeing their reactions, giggled. Ophelia relaxed a little, Amber had that effect, she was easy to talk to, so easygoing and relaxed, in contrast, Pearl was intense and demanding.
But now came the difficult part, how to broach the painful topic of her sister.
'Can I speak to you?', Ophelia asked tentatively. Amber, perceptive as ever, seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation and immediately slowed her pace, allowing her siblings who were now moving even faster, as though racing each other to go on ahead. The trail was lined with brown leaves, the sun shone through the branches and leaves above and cast a golden light on the ground, the crown of the trees creating a beautiful pattern. On seeing this pattern, Ophelia remembered the events of the night before and wondered what Pearl's wings would look like. Would they be golden like the beautiful leaves above? Yellow, like the flickering sunlight that fell in rays around them and bathed them in golden glory or perhaps red? Amber's favourite colour. They could even be orange, like the setting sun, or a lovely shade of blue, sky blue. That would suit her best. Ophelia looked at the cloudy sky above, it was still mostly blue, but purple, orange, and red played around the edges, threatening to overcome the passive blue. She tried to imagine wings the colour of the sky but this task was too daunting for Ophelia.
'It's about Pearl isn't it?' Amber finally spoke, bringing Ophelia abruptly out of her reverie. Ophelia sighed, reopening this wound would be painful, but it was necessary.
'Yes, it is' She managed, Amber's face showed no reaction.
'Yes, we all miss her, but we have to move on', Amber answered stoically. Ophelia knew her well enough to see the emotion behind her calm demeanor, it was anger, and who could blame her, if Ophelia felt betrayal, how much more Amber, her sister had left her.
'I agree, but it's hard', Ophelia started, not knowing how to mention the dreams.
'We must try our hardest, then', Amber said curtly.
'But the memories -' Ophelia started, but Amber cut her short.
'They must be forgotten, they bring nothing but pain', the conversation had gone wrong, maybe this was a mistake, maybe Amber wasn't ready to talk about something like this yet but time was a luxury Ophelia felt she could not afford, so she went ahead and blurted her true intent in speaking to Amber.
'And the dreams I sometimes have of her, where she seems so real, more than real, I can't understand it', Amber had stopped walking as soon as Ophelia mentioned the dreams, the emotions raging within her flickered over her face for only a moment, but Ophelia saw. Shock, pain, and anger before deathly calm overcame it all. Ophelia then knew she had made a grievous mistake. What Ophelia didn't know was that when multiple people vanished in succession, dreams of those who left first were common amongst their loved ones, it was a sign that they were about to go, it was rumored that those who had gone come back for those dearest to them, to take them to be wherever they went to. Sometimes the dreams started just a few days after the first disappearance, sometimes, they started years later. But for everyone who had gone, there are claims that they had dreams of those who had gone before, their loved ones who showed them the way. Amber knew this, she had grown up in this town, seen the previous disappearances, and heard the stories, so hearing that her sister had chosen to return, not to her but to Ophelia, struck pain straight through her heart, she felt bitter jealousy rise within her, why had Pearl chosen Ophelia over her.
Amber became very silent, she didn't speak again until they had gotten home. On which with a taunting voice and severe eyes, she glanced at Ophelia and told her mother,
'Ophelia has dreamt of Pearl', with those words, Amber made her way to her room. Mrs. Julia looked languidly at Ophelia as though she lacked even the willpower to care about the implications of this new information. She muttered something about diner, leaving Ophelia to wonder what their strange behaviour could mean.
It seemed to Ophelia that the worst-case scenario had occurred. Not only was Pearl's appearance significant (and extremely so), she was probably the only one who had gotten a visit, Pearl had for whatever reason, chosen Ophelia to be her sole visitee. Ophelia had misjudged the situation, this was the conclusion she reached from Amber's reaction. Ophelia went to her room and freshened up, her mind kept going back to Amber's words. What was the significance of Pearl's visitation? She came back to the dining table and settled down to eat when suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. The old library. In this town, there was a library as old as the town itself, it was said to have been donated by one of the founders of the town. Others say that it was the house of the first man who vanished, he had left behind his earthly property, and his house so large and full of books had been converted into a library. Books of all sorts could be found there, certainly, she could find the answers she was looking for there. Ophelia knew there was no time to waste, the sun had already gone beneath the horizon and the evening was almost upon her. She rushed out of the house without telling anyone where she was headed. The houses and trees went by in a rush, the cold wind beat against her face and she was out of breath but it was alright. She had gotten to the library as the moon was coming out but it wasn't locked, relieved, she stepped into the library still panting.