“Surprise… Cass!” Mari says, still out of breath from getting them both to their destination. “Been working… on this… for a while…”
Cassandra is indeed surprised, she wasn’t sure what Mari was going to show her when she was asked to close her eyes, but she certainly didn’t expect to find themselves here. She’s found herself under a tree near the edge of the big park in the centre of the city. The two of them lived nearby when they were growing up, and would come here together to play or hang out all the time. Cassandra can barely remember the last time she came here, she found less reason to do so after her condition started deteriorating, and finding activities she could partake in here, let alone just making the trip in the first place, became more of a struggle. After dropping out of school her family moved to a quiet suburb further out, hoping it would be good for her, and at that point there was no way she’d ever be coming all the way out there unless she miraculously recovered from her illness. Mari had stopped going at the same time, only returning recently to practise for today. She never saw any point in coming on her own, and even if she had other people to go with she wouldn’t want Cassandra to feel left out like that.
Cassandra is surprised to see how little things have changed in the years since she’d been here last, some of the facilities seem to have been updated, but it’s still the same sunny park filled with people finding ways to enjoy their free time. She can’t help but feel totally bewildered as she takes in the sight of a nostalgic location she never thought she’d get a chance to see again.
“Marielle… you really went through all this effort to get me here?” She asks.
“Yeah, Cass…” Mari’s finally caught her breath enough to get back on her feet, and is holding onto the handlebars of Cassandra’s wheelchair to make sure she stays up.
“I guess I needed a bit more practice, but I wanted to do this for you. You’ve been stuck within a couple blocks of your home for years now, and I thought if I’d be using my magic for anything, I should try to help make your world a little bigger again, bit by bit.”
“Marielle, that’s… so nice of you.”
“You deserve it, Cass. This is about as far as I can take you and the wheelchair right now, but I’m going to keep working hard until we can go anywhere in the city you want, so there’ll be plenty more trips like this in the future, okay?”
“In the future? I can’t wait…” Cassandra says without dropping her smile.
Mari is glad she managed to pull this off after all that effort, but she can’t help but feel something is wrong. She feels something pulling at her heart, a tinge of sadness, which is a feeling she’s been very familiar with at various points in her life, but this is different. It almost feels disconnected, like it’s not actually her emotions, yet she’s still feeling it somehow. She decides that now isn’t the time to be dwelling on these sorts of feelings though, today is for Cassandra.
“C’mon, let's take a look around.” She says as she starts pushing the wheelchair along.
The two of them walk along the circular path running through the park, taking in the sights and sounds as they go. Mari has to admit that she doesn’t really get out a whole lot herself, but she’s more than happy to do so if it’s for Cassandra. There was a long period of time after being disowned by her family where she didn’t like being in public on her own, so in a way this is a chance for her to re-experience the outside world as well. Although part of her wants to get back and keep working on her new home, something like this once in a while isn’t so bad, and there are so many unique sensations to experience.
The cool breeze running through the trees, families enjoying a picnic, birds chirping, people riding their bikes, the smell of fresh grass, the sounds of a casual sporting game being played by friends nearby, dogs barking as they’re pulled along by their owners, cars driving on the roads surrounding the park, children yelling on the playground, the sun glaring down on them, an industrial lawnmower being run in a far corner of the park, crows fighting over scraps of food carelessly dropped near a bin, the bell of a bicycle mere moments before it rushes past the two of them at full speed, giving them both a fright.
It happened so gradually that Mari didn’t notice at first, but something is off, and everything feels a bit much right now. That distant sadness has been replaced with a much more anxious feeling, and while it still doesn’t feel like it’s coming from her, it’s noticeably stronger than the previous feeling was. She can’t help but worry, although she’s not sure if she’s the one who’s really worrying, or if this weird feeling is to blame. She takes a look around to see if there’s anything that might be causing it, which is when she notices that Cassandra has started clutching her head in her hands.
“What happened, Cassandra? Are you okay?” She asks, trying her best to keep calm.
“Marielle… was the park… always this stressful?”
I'm calling it she has some kind of power that's causing her fatigue.