The Boy, The Ruins, And The Girl Who Shouldn't Have Existed

The smoke-darkened sun shone weakly, casting long shadows all along the remains of what used to be a large, bustling city. There were mighty stone goliaths still standing, showing that even after an era ended, its mark on the world never faded. Some thought this was amazing. A testament to the old era’s power. Others thought it was a blight on the planet. A scar that would never heal. Jason was an optimist. He liked to believe that since these builds could survive, so could he. He was always careful when he walked through these ruins. Not just for his own safety, but also out of respect. After all, this was a massive gravesite. Jason frequented these ruins a lot even though his mother always warned him of how dangerous it could be being around all those ruins if another quake hit. But, he liked the quietness of the city and would often sit there just to clear his head. Sometimes he would see a figure watching him from one of the giant stone buildings, but whenever he felt a gaze on his back and turned to look, all he saw was a flash of a shining, silver mane of hair. 

Today was different. Jason set out early in the morning to see if he could catch whatever was spying on him. Maybe it’s one of those scary monsters I used to hear about from Ma, Jason thought. Ma had told him stories of large gray beasts that would travel in groups and savagely bring down anything to sate its hunger. Jason shuddered and hoped he would never run into one of those. As he traveled down the cracked, grey road, he could see the dark sun rising lazily over the horizon, blessing the ruins with light. Soon, he made it to his normal spot. A stone circle with an overturned tree with the tall, regal stone buildings watching over. He slipped off his backpack and set it on the ground. He took a deep breath, and then shouted, “Whoever you are, I know you’re out here! It’s okay! I won’t hurt you! I just want to talk!” 

He waited for a response, but the city was dead silent except for the sound of wind rushing through the hollow skeleton of a city. He sighed and hung his head down in defeat. What did I think was going to happen? I’m probably going crazy from visiting this city too much. 

“Hello?” A quiet breathy voice reluctantly called out from one of the stone buildings. 

Jason’s head shot up in surprise as he leapt to his feet.

“Hi! Hello! Can you see me?” Jason desperately yelled.

“You don’t need to yell, I’m right here,” the voice said right behind him.

Jason jumped, and then spun around and was face to face with a girl. A girl that seemed timeless. She was beautiful. Her silver hair reflected the sunlight perfectly, almost making it look pure white. She had her hair tied up with a black ribbon which provided the perfect contrast to her hair. She had dark blue eyes that almost seemed to turn into a dark purple in the light, a cute button nose, and full lips to complete her soft features. 

“Well? What do you want?” The nameless girl said impatiently.

“O-oh! Um, I just wanted to talk to you since I noticed you would watch me sometimes.” 

The girl’s face turned a bright shade of red as she stuttered for an answer. 

“Wha- I- I wasn’t looking at you I just heard some noise, so I had to check it out!”

“Well, okay, if you say so.” 

“Why should I care if you believe me anyway? Yeah, as a matter of fact, I don’t care. So what if I was looking at you?” 

“Does that mean you like me or something?” Jason mentally slapped himself. Stupid! Why would you ask that? Of course she doesn’t!

Surprisingly, the girl seemed to blush even harder, but shook her head in a hard ‘No.’ 

“Well anyways, I’m Jason. It’s rude to stare, you know?”

“Well, Jason, my name’s Ira. Nice to meet you. What are you doing coming into these ruins all the time? Most people avoid it because they’re scared of being cursed or something stupid like that.” 

“I just like how quiet it is here. It helps me collect my thoughts and relax.”

“Oh, well if you like how quiet it is, I’ll just go. Sorry for interrupting, have a nice day,” Ira says as she tries to slip away.

“Oi, hold on, I don’t mean I don’t mind your company!” Jason says in a hurry. 

Ira raises an eyebrow, and says condescending, “Oh? You don’t mind the company of a girl you’ve just met? You’re pretty straight forward.” 

“Wha-No! I mean yes, but I mean I like you! Not like a weird way, but I mean I want to talk to you more!”

“Flattery isn’t going to score you any points with me, Jake.”

“I know you did that on purpose.”

“Did what on purpose, Jacob?” 

“Fine, I’ll go then.” Jason pretends to get up and grab his backpack, but Ira makes no move to stop him. The expression of shock, disappointment, and sadness flash and fade on her face as she struggles to control her expression. Jason picks up his backpack and turns to leave when a small voice calls out from behind him. 

“You’ll come back right?” 

Jason turns and sees Ira’s solitary figure in the shadow of the buildings. She seems impossibly small now, like a child afraid of the dark. 

“Yeah. I’ll see you soon.” 

Ira stood and watched as Jason’s figure became smaller and smaller in the distance until he was finally out of sight. She let out a small sigh as she turned to return to her makeshift home. It was right above Jason's spot. She climbed the cold, battered stairs and entered her “home” floor. It certainly wasn’t pretty to look at. Gray concrete everywhere--all devoid of color. She trudged to the other side of the room and flopped down on the old, beaten, relic of a mattress. She had salvaged it in one of the nearby stores when she first arrived. Ira was used to being alone by now. She hadn’t talked to anyone but herself for her entire existence. Ira laughed softly to herself and thought, it sounds like a long time, but it's only been for a couple of years since I arrived. After all, Ira didn’t belong to this world. Technically Ira belonged to all the worlds in the universe. 

The Great Shattering was a catastrophic event in which the parallel universe theories were proven right but in the worst way possible. Each universe attempted to converge into one, and for a moment, they did until they split apart once more and shattered. The stress created by attempting to converge caused a massive explosion of energy within each universe at the point of convergence: Earth. A lot of the Earth’s crust literally shattered as massive amounts of energy were pumped out of the core, hence the name, The Great Shattering. Even to this day, there were still lingering quakes that reminded everyone of the catastrophe.  

Ira was a result of a single person merging into one at a single point in time and space. So, she was the combination of every single Ira to exist. She knew she didn’t belong here. It was only a matter of time before the last quake rippled through the planet, and when it did, she would be erased like she never existed in the first place. 

Ira jerked herself back to the present as she felt an odd sensation in her chest. Another quake? She wondered. No, it was a different feeling. It was cold, numb, and spread from her heart. It almost felt like her heart was snapping in half. Ira could feel tears slip out from her eyes as she collapsed onto the mattress. What is this feeling? Why won’t it go away? She thought of Jason. Maybe he did something to her. But when she thought of him, the pain went away. She felt it replaced with a warm, comforting feeling instead. Oh, so this is loneliness, Ira thought bitterly. She had never once felt this pain before even though she had spent all her time here alone. It was strange, but Ira knew she would feel better tomorrow-- after all, Jason said he was coming back! With this thought in mind, Ira slowly drifted off to sleep and dreamt of the days to come. 

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“Ira? Are you there?” Jason’s uncertain voice echoed through the ruins. 

“Yes! I mean, yeah, I’m here.” Ira mentally scolded herself. She didn’t want Jason to know that ever since they started to spend more time together, she had spent every morning waiting for him to come back. 

“Where are you? You better not sneak up behind me again”

“Too late,” Ira whispered in Jason’s ear as he jumped.

As he recovered, he gave Ira a look that said, do it one more time, and I’m going to leave. 

“Sorry, it’s just fun seeing the way you overreact,” Ira said with a small smirk.

“Wha- Overreact? I don’t overreact! Anyone would’ve reacted that way!” 

“Okay, okay, Scaredy Cat Jason.”

“What?”

“Anyways, I thought I would finally show you the city since you like exploring and all.”

“And you’re saying you know this city better than me.”

“That’s right.”

“Well then, lead the way tour guide Ira.” 

“I will once you take that sass out of your voice.”

“Fine. Please lead the way, Ira.”

Ira smiled and gestured for Jason to follow her. Ira led Jason down a path she had traveled many times. It was a straight shot from the overturned tree, and each side of the street was lined with ruins of stores. Ira pointed to a metal box on the side of the street and asked Jason, “What do you think that is?” Jason gave her a look that said, seriously? But proceeded to check it out anyway. He looked into the ruined metal box and saw seats, knobs, and buttons he didn’t recognize. 

“Maybe it used to be something for entertainment?” Jason pondered out loud.

“Actually it’s called a car. People used to use it as a way of transportation. You see those circular cut-outs at the sides? Those are where the wheels go!”

“Yeah, sure, maybe, but how would it even work? It looks like it weighs a ton!”

“Listen to this, these cars used to work off engines which were these things that would move because of combustions!”

“Yeah, right! If there really were combustions, the whole damn thing would’ve blown up!”

“No, no, the combustion wasn’t big, but it was inside the engine! It was a controlled explosion that would power the car.”

Jason looked at her skeptically. “It sounds like you know what you’re saying, so let’s leave it at that.”

Ira sighed, and continued to lead Jason along the cracked road. As she went, she explained almost every single ruin in sight. This led Jason to think either she knows her stuff, or that she was just straight up making it up. Jason took the first option as he knew Ira would never intentionally lie to him. He didn’t realize how enjoyable it would be to have someone his age to talk to. After a while, hearing lectures from his mom got old. He smiled to himself and hoped that he could keep spending time with Ira for a while. Ira glanced back at Jason and returned the smile. He really is handsome when he isn’t scowling or making sassy remarks. Jason felt his ears get hot for a second as he thought, How can she be even prettier when she smiles? This isn’t fair. He pouted, but fortunately for him, Ira thought he was pouting because she was walking too far ahead. She slowed her pace until she was side by side with him and gave him a small, tight smile. Jason’s heart fluttered as he thought, I like this girl more than I thought. Jason stopped in his tracks and waited until Ira noticed. She turned around and gave him a questioning look, but when Jason looked up his face was flowing with emotions. Pain, sadness, happiness, hope, and love fought for dominance on his face. He ended up with hope as he cleared his throat. 

“Hey, Ira, we can keep hanging out like this right?” 

Ira was caught off guard and knew she had to tell him soon. She didn’t have long.

“Y-yeah, but first, I have something to tell you.”

Ira sighed, sat down on the curb, and gestured for Jason to sit next to her. 

Ira sat and waited for Jason to come to terms with her “condition.” She studied his face and found distress plastered all over it. He furrowed his brow as if he was trying to figure out how to solve her problem himself. Ira scooted closer and gently laid her hand on his. Jason looked up miserably. 

“It’s okay. I’m okay with it. Everyone has to die someday, you know?” Ira said quietly.

“How could you say that? We don’t know how long you have! How do I know that you won’t disappear tomorrow?” Jason replied bitterly. 

“Jason-”

“How do I know that you’re not going to leave me tomorrow?” 

Ira looked up, surprised by his tone of voice. Jason had never once sounded so hopeless. He looked just like Ira had the first time he met her: a child afraid of being alone in the dark. Ira reached toward her trademark black ribbon tying up her hair and pulled it off. She gently held Jason’s arm in her lap as she tied the ribbon tightly around his wrist. 

“There. Now no matter what, I’ll always be with you. Maybe one day you’ll even be able to remember me when I’m gone.” Ira said optimistically. She knew she didn’t have long; she knew the last quake would be tonight. Ira wasn’t scared, but instead, she was worried about Jason. She was worried about what he would do tomorrow and the day after that, and all the days after that. Jason finally looked up with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. 

“Y-yeah. Maybe you’re right. The last quake was a while ago. I’m sure the last one won’t be anytime soon.” Jason gave her an uncertain smile, searching for any truth on her face. Ira just smiled back warmly and held his arm. He seemed to relax now and got up slowly, dusting off his pants. 

“It’s starting to get dark. Let’s head back.” Jason said while stretching his arms towards the sky.

“I wouldn’t want to be stranded out here at night. I’ve heard some weird noises, you know?” Ira said jokingly. 

“...Are you serious?”

“What, you want to find out?”

With that, Jason grabbed Ira’s hand and ran back towards the overturned tree they had met at so long ago. After a couple of minutes, they made it back to the tree, panting and laughing. 

“You should’ve seen the look on your face!” Ira said as she wheezed from laughing.

“Whatever! How was I supposed to know if you were joking or not?” Jason pouted. Ira noticed that he was pretty cute whenever he pouted. She smiled to herself as she traced his face with her eyes--carving it into her memory.

“What? You think you’re a real jokester, huh?” Jason’s voice cut into her thoughts. 

“Wha- Yeah, yeah, you’re just stupid for falling for it. This place has been abandoned for years, Jason. Didn’t I tell you already?”

“Uhh, probably, but I don’t remember.” 

I hope you’ll remember me, Ira thought sadly. She put on her happy face and looked at Jason one last time. She shuffled over to him and grabbed him in a hug. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She felt Jason’s arms return the gesture as he hummed in response. 

Ira broke away from the embrace and shooed Jason off. 

“You don’t want to be late, or else your mom’s gonna yell at you again!” Ira said playfully.

“Alright, alright, I’m going. See you tomorrow, Ira.” 

Ira once again stood and waited until Jason’s figure disappeared over the horizon. Now she was truly alone. She prepared herself as she felt a quake nearing the surface. She took one last breath as the ground shook and cracked under her feet. Ira felt her consciousness being split in an infinite amount of ways as her body started to fade away with the wind. Right before she was swept away, she whispered into the wind, “I hope we can meet again one day, Jason.” 

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It was a typical day for Jason. Now, he worked in the fields as a farmer. Jason bent over to pull up a weed as he sighed. Why do these weeds keep popping up? He wiped his face with the back of his hand and noticed the black ribbon tied on his wrist. He couldn’t really remember where he had gotten it, but he felt a strange attachment to it, so he had decided to keep it. He scanned the field for more weeds until something caught his eye. In the far distance by the woods surrounding the village, Jason saw a flash. A flash of silver so bright it almost seemed pure white. He stared off into the woods warily as he searched for the flash of silver once more. Eventually, Jason gave up. It seemed as if his mind was just playing tricks on him. Then, a refreshing, cool breeze blows across the field; a single whisper is carried with it: I hope we can meet again one day, Jason.  Jason perks up immediately, recognizing the voice. His throat goes dry as he struggles to find the word--no-- the name he’s looking for. 

“Ira?”