The haunting ghost, the polar bear, the bee and the palace garden - OS

The haunting ghost, the polar bear, the bee and the palace garden - A SwaRon OS

There she sat, wearing as much layers of clothes as she could to prevent her sensory perception from making her feel the bitter cold. She was sitting safely inside the classroom of a building known for its beautiful and simultaneously vast castle-like structure, but even the thickest walls in town could not help her to escape from this haunting ghost which was known by others as the classic characteristic cold of the winter. The teacher had even made an effort to exorcise the cold by turning on the heater. However, as unexpected this might be to the almost oblivious optimist, everyone could still see damp circles of respiration appearing in the air despite the heater having been turned on at its highest temperature possible. 

The cold turned out to be troublesome to such an extent that it even made her most terrifying teacher cease fire in his war with his most despised enemies, his students. Instead of making everybody's palms sweat out of fear for what would happen this class, he had  sat down with a sigh after having rushed into the classroom, being tardy due to the obstructive cold. After having shaken off his coat which was as ugly as one could only imagine but which apparently was thick and warmth-providing enough to wear in the current circumstances, he had turned on the computer with fingers trembling due to the cold and he had started displaying a movie using the beamer.

While the rest of the class was gratefully getting engaged in watching the movie, which seemed to be far from educational with its ample romantic scenes and background scores, she was the only one who was not staring at the wall with cinematic projections. With her characteristic stabbing silence, she rather seemed to be out of place in this group of talkative teenagers. However, not a single soul even seemed to notice the girl sitting in the last row near the window with nobody sitting next to her. 

As the suspense of the movie was keeping everybody on the edge of his seat while it was reaching its climax in the storyline, she was getting more bored and frustrated minute by minute. Longing for a change of surroundings, she asked for a hall pass to go to the toilet. Without even bothering to look who asked for it, the teacher gave her the hall pass and continued watching the movie along with the rest of the class with an expressionless look in his eyes. Without trying to look suspicious, she walked out of the classroom as fast as she could manage. As soon as she heard the door of the classroom click behind her while closing it, a tiny but lovely smile appeared on the face which had been wearing a morose expression until now. Still trying not to seem suspicious, she walked to the end of the corridor as normally as she could.

When walking around the corner and while getting out of everyone's sight, she could not control herself any longer. She quickened her pace and as she was heading towards the forest at the back entrance of the building, a mischievous glint appeared in her eyes while pulling a fluffy, purple object out of her back pocket.  She stood still for a few seconds and placed the woolen hat on top of her head, pulling it a bit more down to make sure it would also protect her ears. After having armed herself sufficiently  against her despised enemy, she spurted towards the back entrance. This had caused  a soft, red glow to spread across her round cheeks by the time she reached her destination. Although the distance she had run had not been too far and her speed had not been too high, she was gasping lightly.

When the heat in her body started to rise towards her ears causing her to feel a pulsing sensation within them, she raised her hand towards her head in order to take off her hat. However, she ended up grabbing air instead and she realised that she had lost her favourite hat while hurrying to get out.  She also realised that searching her favourite hat would not be worth the precious time she would be wasting, so instead of looking for it she decided to cherish her time. There would always be the possibility that someone would find it and place it among the lost-and-found items.

After consoling herself with that thought, she looked around and took in every aspect of her beautiful surroundings. This was the perfect place for her to get a breath of fresh air. Being the back entrance of the school of which almost nobody knew, the place gave her a serene and safe feeling. Besides being the back entrance, the place was also one of the many exits of the adjacent forest and therefore had an astonishingly beautiful view. While feeling her frustration and annoyance fade away with every breath of fresh air that she took, she sat down with her back against the cold building. She closed her eyes and could swear that the serenity of the place was getting almost tangible. If only it had not been that cold, this would have been one of the most peaceful moments in her life.

Before she would let the haunting ghost of her dislike for the cruel cold get to her again, she tried to distract herself by imagining herself in warmer surroundings. However, the cold moisture dripping off the back wall of the building was not exactly helping her in doing so. She was pursing her lips while trying to think of another way to distract herself, when she suddenly felt something fluffy on her lap. She opened her eyes in shock, only to find out that it was her favourite purple hat that she had felt falling into her lap. While looking around to see how it got there, she got surprised when she saw a pair of bright yellow sneakers next to her when she turned her head to the left.

The sneakers were worn by feet which belonged to the body of a tall, lean boy who was lying on the ground with his head on something which seemed to be a soft cloth. Just like she had been doing until a few minutes ago, his eyes were closed too. That, however, is the only thing they had in common. Unlike her, he was wearing summer clothes. His t-shirt was as bright as the sneakers as he was wearing and his sunglasses only made him look more deceptively summery. Normally, she would not be  a person who would  approach random strangers, but this rare situation triggered a rare reaction from her. Without even realising what she was doing, she could hear herself asking the boy: "What are you doing here?" . 

 Her hands flew to her mouth, as if they wanted to make her swallow back the words she had just said. The boy, however, did not seem to notice that at all. Instead, he just took off his sunglasses and made himself sit straight. Then he leaned towards her with his entire body, causing their faces to be at the same level  and at an excruciating proximity while he whispered: "I have come here for the exact reason as you have." At first she thought that he was joking, but as she looked into those dark, unknown eyes which were staring at her from beneath those thick and full eyelashes, she realised that he was telling her the truth. However, she did not want him to think that she got impressed by him that easily, so she asked him in a voice as casual as she could manage: "How do you know my reason for coming here?"

That was when he burst out in laughter. Still shaking his head because of what she said, he told her: "Your face says it all." Getting slowly angry at the boy because she thought that he was mocking her, she asked in an irritated voice: "Oh, really?! When you apparently already know my reason for coming here pretty well, can you please enlighten me by telling me what it is?" The boy did not seem to be alarmed by her sharp tone and told her while still laughing: "You have come here to enjoy the summer, silly girl! Just like me, by the way." Now the girl was getting even more confused. She started to think that the boy must be suffering from some kind of mental illness, as he clearly had no clue of time. Otherwise, he would not have dressed himself according to the summer and he would certainly not have told her that she was enjoying the summer while their surroundings made it obvious that it was still the middle of the winter.

Getting a bit worried whether she should call an ambulance or not, she asked him: "Are you alright? You do know that it is midwinter, do you? By the way, why are you dressed all summery? You look like a bee!" The boy just looked at her and said in a serious tone: "I know that it is not summer yet. But just like you, I am also trying to imagine that it already is summer." The girl could feel her face turn red and started to wonder how he knew all this. Looking at the nervous expression on the girl's face, the boy asked in a lighter tone: "By the way, why are you dressed all wintery? It won't work if you are dressed like this. You look like a polar bear!" The girl started to laugh and as he noticed that she was opening up to him, he said with a wink: "Except for the purple hat, of course. That does not suit a polar bear."

That was when the girl realised that the boy was the one who had just given her her favourite purple hat and she started laughing even harder. "So, it was you!", she exclaimed. "And I have been thinking that it was a ghost!", she teased. "Well...", the boy said while seeming to really consider her point, "That indeed is an actual possibility. However, the cold seems more likely to be a ghost to me." The girl could literally feel her mouth fall open due to the shock he gave her by saying that. "How do you know this?", she asked. "I feel exactly the same about the cold!", she told him.  That made her see a surprised expression on the face of the boy for the first time during their conversation. "You do?", he asked in a surprised tone. "Well, it seems like we have a lot common.", he said. "Except for our way of exorcising the cold.", he added. "You should really try my way of dealing with it.", he recommended.

The girl tried to detect a hint of his light humor in his dark eyes, but when she failed in doing so she seriously considered his advice. "Ok.",  she agreed. "What should I do according to you?", she asked. That's when he said: "You still don't get it, do you? The cold is the reason why I am wearing these summer clothes. It gives me a summery feeling." Suddenly, it all made sense to the girl. The things that the boy had said and done, the clothes that he was wearing. Everything fell into place. "Ok, I will try and do the same.", the girl said. After that she started getting ready to get up and walk away. "Where are you going?", the boy asked in a surprised tone. "What do you think I am doing? I am going back. It's not like I have summer clothes with me at the moment.", she explained. "You can just remove a few layers that you are wearing  now and try it right now with me.", he said.

The girl could not believe what the boy was saying. "What kind of girl do you think I am?", she asked angrily. "As if I am going to take off my clothes in front of you! I barely know you!", she yelled. As soon as the boy understood what the girl was implying, he said in an apologetic voice: "I did not mean to imply that. I seriously did not intend to say anything wrong." As far as she had known the boy until now, she knew that he indeed had no wrong intentions. That made her accept his apology and after having taken off almost all of the layers of winter clothes that she was covered in, she went to sit beside him and asked: "What should we do now?". 

It went silent for quite a long time and just as she started wondering whether the boy had even heard her or not, she could feel his hand grabbing hers and pulling her down onto the ground. After having made her lie down next to him on the cold ground, he used his other hand to close her eyes. She was about to say something, when she suddenly felt his warm hand slide from her eyes to  her cold lips. "Shhh", he hushed. Then he dropped his hand and whispered: "Now you should try to feel the summer. I guarantee it will work."

She could feel his hot breath next to her and his proximity made her doubt her own choice. What if she was being too impulsive? What if this unknown person turns out not to be trustworthy? As if he could read her thoughts, the boy squeezed her hand which he had been holding all along and said in an assuring tone: "You can trust me."

And she does not know what it was about him that made her trust him so easily, but she believed him.  Maybe it was because she looked like a polar bear. Maybe it was because he made her succeed in scaring away the haunting ghost who is known by others, except for her and him, as the classic characteristic winter cold. Maybe it was because he looked like a bee. Maybe it was because she started to feel as comfortable with this boy as she had never been with any other boy she had ever known. Maybe it was because their thoughts were so similar. Or maybe it was because lying down like this next to him made her feel like she was strolling in a palace garden on a bright summer day. Just as these thoughts were crossing her mind, she could hear his deep voice say: "You know, I really feel like taking a walk on warm day. Maybe we should visit a palace garden or something similar in the summer."