The Hidden Veil

“What part of the spirit world did you bring me to this time?” Vie asked. 

“The past,” Sherry smiled. The twelve year old spirit skipped towards the staggering treehouse, making her golden locks bounce up and down with her lively aura.  

Vie’s eyes widened as she gazed upon the momentous house encapsulated within the tree. The summer sun brightened the colorfully lavish bronze paint on the outside and the dark bark of the tree contrasted beautifully. The windows were so crystal clear that Vie was able to spot the many chandeliers hanging overhead on the ceiling inside. But the small lanterns leading up to the house won Vie’s heart as they twinkled slightly every time the sun cascaded over them. The leaves on the tree swayed beautifully as the wind blew and Vie could feel the wind pushing her towards the treehouse. The tiny fairies on the ground, or as Sherry would call them “ballerinas”, danced around Vie’s ankles and whispered cheerfully for her to come inside. At that moment, she remembered that she was in the spirit world and reality had shifted in front of her eyes once again, but the beauty of it was beyond comparison. 

“Come on. He’s waiting for you!” Sherry exclaimed excitedly. 

Vie’s bare feet grazed the soft grass and gripped each platform as she made her way up the stairs and into the treehouse. She was introduced to custom carved wood furniture filled with colorful plush cushions that were draped with multiple linens. The floor was caressed with soft carpets, some bearing pictures of constellations and others with pictures of a couple wrapping themselves in each other's arms. Sherry and the fairies giggled as they led Vie up another set of stairs. Vie had reached what seemed to be an attic with a lower ceiling than the one downstairs but still had a gleaming chandelier hanging overhead no less. That’s when she saw him. His body was slouched up against a chair in the back corner of the room, but his dazzling suit and tie made up for his lazy posture. The wind blowing in through the window brushed his dark, wavy hair out of his face and revealed the glasses that Vie had adored from the first moment she laid eyes on him. The red string tied to her left pinkie slowly came back into view as it stretched across the room only to end being tied around the same pinkie on his left hand. When he saw the string, he looked up to find Vie staring at him from across the room and his eyes lit up with elation. 

“Hey,” Shon smiled. 

“Hi,” Vie replied as she approached him. 

“I like the dress.” 

Vie looked down at the creamy white dress that extended to her ankles and slit at her left thigh. She had barely paid any attention to her outfit when Sherry brought her here. Vie figured that Sherry must have changed her appearance when she arrived, but it made her heart thump in her chest knowing Shon couldn’t take his eyes off of it. 

“Thank you. I like the suit.” Vie blushed as she curled a strand of her hair behind her ear. 

“Shhhh! Pay attention!” Sherry hissed as she pushed Vie down into a chair next to Shon. 

Sherry snapped her fingers and both of their chairs faced the front of the room with massive interior windows that overlooked the tall trees hovering outside, shading the treehouse from the blazing sun. The sun had managed to escape some of the shielding trees and leaked through the interior windows, shining onto the couple standing next to each other-- the woman in a silk white dress and the man in a black and white suit with a blue tie-- in front of a priest ready to give him the blessing that they had desired for their whole lives. 

“You two are watching this moment while it happened in the past. This means that the couple will not be able to interact with you as they do freely in your world,” Sherry explained as she sat in between Vie and Shon. 

“This happened in the past?” Vie asked. “I thought you said that they were never together.” 

“I said that their families didn’t want them to be together. I never said that they didn’t try to be together. They constructed a plan to run away from their families, they found this treehouse, a priest and--”

“And they eloped,” Shon finished Sherry’s sentence. 

Sherry nodded in response and stared at the couple in front, Melody and Shino. They gazed into each other’s eyes while the priest read from his book reciting what seemed to be lessons of love from a distance. Vie had always wondered what it meant to stare at someone and know that they are yours. Being half of a whole and accepting your place by their side. Even now, sitting next to Shon she wondered if one day that could possibly be the two of them, despite that they had never seen each other outside of the spirit world. 

“Their love didn’t last as you both already know. ” Sherry said. “Once they realized that their love was at its end, they hoped that if they couldn’t be with each other in life then maybe they could be united in death. Their love lives through your fate.” 

Shon and Vie lifted their string drawn pinkies and shared a melancholy smile with one another. Vie was the first to lift her hand and slowly reached out towards Shon and he slowly began to do the same. At the moment when it seemed like their hands would touch, they passed through each other like an arm thrusting straight through a hole just a few seconds too late to grasp what had already gotten away. Just like all the other times they had tried before. Vie sighed in disappointment and lowered her hand. This is one of the downsides of being only half a spirit in the spirit world.

“How much do you think you have to love someone in order to secretly marry them?” Shon asked. 

“I would assume a lot, right? I would think that their love would have to be exceptionally unconditional,” Vie replied.  

“Do you think something like that is possible for two people more than 2,000 miles away, who can only meet each other in the spirit realm with a twelve year old girl as their spirit guide?”

“I never thought that my soul would be able to exit my body while I was still alive, but here we are in the spirit world, in a treehouse that looks too good to be true.”

Shon gave a small smile. “Fate works in funny ways, doesn’t it?”

“I’m forever attached to you with this string and it brings you close to me only for you to be so far away at the same time. You almost seem intangible. I would call that unfair.”

“Pssst!” Sherry whispered from above, capturing both of their attention. “You know where words fail music tends to say it a lot better.”  

The moment that Shino pulled back Melody’s veil, a piano appeared with a violin sitting right next to it. Vie could already hear the wind from outside whispering, longing for a song while the tiny fairies took hold of Vie and Shon’s fingers using all the strength they could muster to usher the two of them to the instruments. 

“Shall we?” Vie asked. 

“After you,” Shon replied. 

Shon took his seat in front of the piano while Vie rested the violin on her collarbone with support from her left shoulder. She took a deep breath, holding her bow in hand, as Sherry slowly descended from the ceiling and gently placed her hands on top of Vie’s ears. She closed her eyes and she could picture the notes in her head, flowing consistently, separating and melding together to construct one endless tune. Vie looked at Shon and they nodded acknowledging that the same notes were circulating in his head. He began slowly with soft notes speaking from the keyboard. They filled the room with it’s innocence adding to the purity of the atmosphere. Vie watched the notes play through her mind as Shon’s fingers flew against the keys, bringing new sounds into existence, speaking levels of longing and desire as the bound couple in front intertwined their hands together. Vie awaited her turn, for her instrument to finally breathe life into the melody that encapsulated this breathtaking setting. And then she smoothed her bow against the strings, inserting a new sound that clashed with its own voice, but resonated beautifully with the graceful magic of the piano. The two musicians shared a glance and exchanged soft smiles as the fairies hummed along with their gentle voices. Sherry spun around in delight and awe as flowers began to spring through the crevices in the walls and the wood floor. The stalks grew and the petals sprouted as the melody grew stronger and Vie could feel her soul shouting along with her violin. She could feel herself wanting, craving, hoping, reaching out to finally hold that one person, only to be gracefully held back. 

The song was over. The notes had dissipated. The humming had stopped and the couple kissed sealing their bond of marriage. The room was now filled with rows upon rows of flowers that emanated small specks of light illuminating the entire attic. Vie felt a tear fall from her face as she watched the couple enjoy their tender kiss and, until now, Vie never really understood how she could feel so extremely sad but so happy at the same time. The instruments had disappeared and Vie held a hand to her stomach and did her best to inhale and exhale slowly. 

“Tell me that this isn’t a dream and that you’re real,” Vie said, looking longingly at Shon. 

“If this was a dream then I would ask Sherry to never wake me up,” Shon took a step toward her. “The thing is, not being able to hold you is torture.” 

“Me too. Do you think it’ll be this way forever? Separated and never truly being able to see one another?” 

“Hey,” Shon held up his pinkie showing the red string. “We have this, which means I’m destined to find you.” 

Vie looked back at the couple who now had their foreheads resting against each other. “I hope that you’re right about that.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Shon whispering to the small fairies who had decided to take refuge on his shoulder and she watched as they picked some of the flowers from the walls and the floor beneath them. Vie stood still as one placed a flower in her hair while the others worked tirelessly to make the perfect bouquet. Once they finished, they placed the bouquet in Vie’s hands leaving her speechless. 

“Happy birthday,” Shon smiled. 

“You remembered,” Vie blushed as she tried to hide her smile behind her flowers. 

“Of course I did. You haven’t been able to stop talking about it.”

“Do I talk that much?”

“Yes. A LOT.” 

Vie groaned in embarrassment, but Shon took another step forward and she couldn’t avoid his eyes any longer. 

“I promise that I’ll find you,” Shon said. 

Vie raised her punkie and smiled. “I pinkie promise to do the same.” 

Shon’s grin grew wider and he held up his pinkie to match her. “Pinkie promise.” 

***

Vie awoke with a start. She wiped the perspiration off her forehead as she looked around trying to take in her surroundings. She was back in her room with her heart pounding and her mind still trying to catch up with the new reality she had been thrown into. Sherry was sitting at the edge of her bed and smiled once she saw Vie’s face. 

“Welcome back,” she grinned. 

Vie looked around until her eyes finally rested on her nightstand with the bouquet of flowers from the treehouse sitting on top. She held them close to her chest and buried her nose in them. They were luscious and felt like they had been picked from heaven. Suddenly, she heard the faint sounds of piano keys in the wind outside and she smiled. She shared one look with Sherry and she knew that it wasn’t a dream and she wouldn’t have to wait for much longer.