In another life – fanfiction by Refugnic

Under an azure sky, as the gulls’ cries echo over the gentle noise of the ocean hitting against the shore, Ada wanders across the dunes, her eyes filled with uncried tears.
Her bare feet don’t even feel the spiky stones any more, nor does she feel the cold air. Right there, she feels nothing but agony.

Her mother once told her, that the winds could blow all of her sorrows away if she allowed it to, so she opens her arms and embraces the strong gusts coming in from the oceanside, smelling the salt of the moist air. Yet no matter how much the wind tears at her clothes, all she can hear are howls of loneliness.
Her sorrows stay, clinging to her with claws and teeth and the more she tries to let them go, the stronger their hold seems to become.

Eventually she sits down as the tears she so desperately had tried to hold back overcome her resolve and begin flowing, accompanied by silent sobs, when suddenly an unknown voice says from behind her, “Pretty ladies shouldn’t need to cry.”
Ada startles but doesn’t turn around as she demands, “Go away! I…I just want to be alone…”
“No, really, that just won’t do. Not until you have regained your smile. Tell me, what made you so upset?”
“‘s none of your business!” Ada barks, slowly regaining her composure.
But the origin of the voice doesn’t go away. He just keeps standing there in silence.

After wiping off the remaining tears, she shoots to her feet and hurls around to look at the person who has the nerve of watching her cry.
A young man, around her age with a light tan, had walked up to her. His jet black hair matched his dark eyes, which seemed to look straight into Ada’s soul and Ada found herself averting her eyes from his piercing gaze.

“Such a frown does not become you, my lovely. What do I need to do to make you smile?”
Ada mumbles, “You could start by going away.”
“Ah, but then I would never learn what made you sad. Would you please tell me?”
Ada replies furiously, “I told you to leave me alone!” and turns around to walk away.
She doesn’t get far though before stopping abruptly when the stranger tells her, “He wasn’t worthy of your attention anyway. Neither is he worthy of your tears.”

Ada turns around, baffled and at a loss for words, when a gust of wind catches her hair, blowing it into her face and she needs to hold it back in order to see.
A thousand questions run through her mind at this moment, but eventually she asks the most pressing one, “Who are you?”

“My name is Adam. And who are you, my lovely?”
“Ada…what…how do you know?”
“Ada? A name befitting one such as…”
“Cut the crap and answer me!”
“Very well…I was just passing by, when your fight with your presumably ex-boyfriend escalated. I am not sure what started the fight to begin with, but ugly things were said and instead of apologizing, he simply turned around and left in his car, leaving you alone. So yes…he has not deserved one such as you.”
“…damn straight he didn’t. So…you’re trying to pick me up now?”
“I would dream of no such thing, Ada.”
“…why do you talk so funny? What did you throw in?”
“I am merely trying to help you. However regarding my speech pattern…is it not to your liking?”
“Well, it ticks off me, so cut it. Know what? You’re lucky. My plans for today got suddenly canceled, so I’m free for the moment. But I’m warning you, if you try something funny, you’ll get to know a less pretty side of me!”
“Don’t you worry, I’ll be the perfect gentleman!” Adam promised with a smile on his lips.

Adam closes the distance to Ada and offers her a tissue, saying, “You should wipe away those tears though.”
Ada takes it, mumbles a ‘Thank you’ wipes her face clean and blows her nose.
All the while, Adam watches her attentively.

After recovering for the biggest part, Ada tries to return the tissue to Adam, who merely replies with a smile, “Oh please keep it. It shall serve as a memento.”
“Didn’t I tell you to stop talking funny?”
“Fine, fine…okay, what would you like to do?”
“You’re going to treat me to an ice cream now,” Ada demands.
Adam laughs, “A feisty one, huh? But that’s okay. I like women who know what they want.”

The day passes with Adam taking Ada wherever she wanted to go, treating her to ice cream, the amusement park, the zoo and, as evening fell, to her favorite restaurant.

After they were done eating, Adam drives her home and in front of the house, Ada has fallen silent.
“What’s wrong Ada? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s just…why are you being so nice to me? I mean, I don’t even know you.”
“One needs no reason to be nice to someone else, wouldn’t you agree? Besides, you are a beautiful young woman with a strong will and a good heart. You deserve only the best.”
“That your way of telling me that it was ‘love at first sight’ or something?”
“No, that’s my way of telling you that you shouldn’t loose any sleep over some stupid idiot.”

A smile hushes over Ada’s face at the last line.
All of a sudden, Adam moves forward, making Ada blush and back away.
Thoughts run through her head as she ponders her options, however Adam doesn’t go any further, but instead asks, “I’m sorry, could you do that again?”
“D-Do what exactly?”
“What you did just there.”
“I-I really don’t know…”
Adam places his hand gently on Ada’s cheek. It’s warm and comfortable and her heart skips a beat before accelerating to an uncomfortable level.

“I-I think I s-should be going now. Just look at the time!” Ada says, fingering for the handle, eventually finding it and basically stumbles out.
“I am sorry…I shouldn’t have done that,” Adam admits, retreating to the driver’s seat.
Again, a million thoughts run through her head, hear heart still pounding like mad.

After a few seconds, she leans into the open window and sighs, “…you did fine, I suppose. Would you like to come in for a coffee maybe? Though I will need to take a shower before.”
Adam raises an eyebrow at Ada’s offer, but finally responds, “I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. I hope to see you again though.”
“…so was all this talk about me being beautiful just pity talk and you don’t actually want me?”
“I didn’t say that. However, as it stands, you are heartbroken and hurt…and would hate me later, if I took advantage of your moment of weakness.”

A warm smile appears on Ada’s face and Adam’s eyes light up. He comments with a nod, “Now that’s the girl I wanted to see…hold on…”
Adam bows down, grabs a piece of paper, jots down a few numbers, hands the paper to Ada and explains, “That’s my number. Feel free to call me if you want to do something.”
Ada takes the paper and as their fingers touch, an electrical discharge shocks the two of them a little, making both of them laugh.
Ada smiles, “Good, you pass. Hold on, I think I’ve got a little something for you as well,” and starts wandering around to the other side of Adam’s car.

Adam leans out and asks, “What would that be?”
Ada kneels down a little, puts a quick peck on Adam’s cheek, gets back up and throws him a wink, “Thanks for today,” before returning to the other side.
She then proceeds up the stairs to the house her flat is in and midway she turns around and waves Adam good bye.
Adam nods and slowly accelerates until his car cannot be seen in the dark any more.

Ada looks after him for a good while longer, kinda expecting him to come back, but as she begins to feel the chill of the summer night crawling up her bare skin, she still turns around and goes up to her flat, where she takes a shower and then goes to bed.

However as she slowly drifts towards a pleasant dream, her perception suddenly shifts. Countless, surreal memories of things that could not be appear in her mind and the fondness she had developed for this strange man gets replaced by seething hatred.

She opens her eyes to find herself in a raggedy tent, her longtime friend Robert laying next to her, snoring soundly.
She quietly gets up and leaves the tent and smells the fresh morning air, slowly recalling the events of the previous day.
She mutters to herself, “What in the world was that all about? Faust? Really? Come on subconscious, you can do better than that.”

As she stretches herself, Robert also leaves the tent and asks, “Morning Ada…slept well?”
“…nah, not really…I had a strange dream again.”
“A dream? What was it about?”
“…none of your business really. Anyway, what’s the plan for today?”
“‘Survive’ sounds like a good enough plan for the time being.”
“Yeah, I can live with that plan.”

They packed up, but the dream just doesn’t let her go, so she silently whispers to herself, “…maybe in another life, Adam.”

Author: Refugnic
See this short story on Deviantart.