8 The D-day
Day 245
"Your Kerry, she vanished. I'm sorry, but I'm saying it all out of sequence. Kerry made a request to her parents: she wanted to learn to play the cello. Imagine the look on her mother's face! Your deaf youngster who wishes to pursue a career as a musician. She would only buy books on music at the bookshop, which irritated her parents every time they came to pick her up. Kerry's father mustered the confidence to say to his wife, "If this is what she wants, we'll figure out a way to make it happen." They sent her to a special school with a teacher who has the students wear headphones around their necks to listen to the vibrations of the music. Oh, I'm curious as to when the progress will come to a halt. Kerry's teacher began teaching her the notes on the sheet music, and the miraculous occurred. Kerry, who had never accurately repeated a word, uttered "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si, Do" perfectly. Kerry was studying music when she began singing and adding lyrics to the tunes. She went to Paris. And they claim, the parents claim, that the girl fell down when they were strolling down the street."
"Fell?" I inquired.
"Yes. That is all there is to it. Since then, she's been in a coma."
"In a coma? Where is she?
"Of course, at the hospital."
"Kerry who?" I inquired.
"I just know her first name," the elderly lady explained.
"You've got to be kidding me," I exclaimed.
My expression conveyed something else.
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Last Day
"Listen, young fellow, I sincerely want to assist you, but you must understand that our registers contain about a thousand persons, and classification is based on surnames rather than first names. Finding your... what's her name again?" would be a lot of effort.
"Kerry."
"Yes, but Kerry, who has no surname...," I'm sorry, but I won't be able to help you.
When the hospital guard agreed to open his door for me, I was as unhappy as I had been delighted.
Kerry, a nameless individual. Kerry with no surname.
It was already dark when I got home, and I went up to the attic. I lay down on the floor and fell asleep with exhaustion.
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'Norman. Kerry Norman,' said a cello-toned voice.
I leapt to my feet and collided with the ceiling.
I sensed rebuke in the shadow's eyes as it glanced at me.
"You are Kery's shadow! I know who you are! Your voice is familiar to me! What happened to her? How is she doing?"
'She's been waiting for you.'
"She waits for me? What exactly do you mean?"
'Yes. She had hoped to meet you here, in Paris. She hauled her folks throughout Paris looking for you. Furthermore, she had a brief encounter with you. I joined you when yours shadows crossed. I intended to tell you she was in Paris. I joined you when our shadows crossed. When I joined you, another shadow took my place, and it was the shadow of someone who had been in a coma for a long time. Kerry had learned to recognize shadows, as you had demonstrated, and she tried, but lost its life force and fell into a coma.'
"Can you tell me where you've been all this time? How come you didn't tell me?"
'I couldn't do it. You would not have listened if I had informed you two months ago. Before you could help her, you had to change.'
"Where she is now?"
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I ran for hundreds of meters before giving up and boarding a bus. I got off since it wasn't moving fast enough for me, and I took a cab that dropped me up just in front of the hospital.
"I'd like to visit Kerry Norman."
"Hello, sir, could you please repeat her name for me?"
"Kerry Norman."
"Ah, I see... she's in the intensive care unit. Sir, you may use corridor C, room C500."
As I raced, I said, "Thank you."
"Sir, take the elevator! It's on the fifth floor!"
I was already on the fifth level when I unlocked room 500's door, panting.
I wasn't properly dressed, but I was eager to see her.
I remained in the corridor for a few moments, staring at her. She was laying on the bed, her breathing mask glued to her face, while another device was monitoring her vital signs. I knelt, my hand on the edge of the bed.
'Be careful! The Russian roulette will begin in 60 seconds.'
My phone has lost. It remained on the schoolyard's pavement, crumbled. I had no idea where this announcement came from, and I was too weary to be concerned. Nothing was more important to me than Kerry's life.
'30, 29, 28, ...'
I heard footsteps approaching as the countdown proceeded.
'25, 24, 23, ...'
The person's high heels made a rhythmic noise, and they were moving in time with the countdown.
'19, 18, 17, ...'
Behind me, the steps came to a halt. I didn't turned around, and the person was waiting for me to do it.
I didn't do it.
'10, 9, 8, ...'
Deadly silence.
'5, 4, 3, ...'
The hospital room was dark and gloomy. All the shadows that had left their owners to join me, both day and night, were there.
Kerry's shadow was petting a grooming a white cat on her bed.
'0'
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"Who you really are ?" I asked.
'A school guard or a shadow. However, I owe you a debt, and I believe now is a good time to settle it. Do you recall what I said about dating once? At the moment, I believe you were suffering your first disappointment.'
"Yes, I remember being unhappy that day as well."
'That time has come.'
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"Kerry, I never expected to feel so vulnerable. Seeing you, seeing the look in your eyes that day on the beach… I'd give you everything if I could be the one you want me to be, but I'm just me, a shadow of the teenager you met at the beach."
She created with the paper eagle enormous "S's" and beautiful "8's" in the sky of my big city. Kerry had a natural talent for writing airborne poetry. The dawn was already rising when I finally realized what she was writing and read, "I missed you."
The shadows I had snatched had vanished.
They'd been whisked away by the young lady with the high heels.
Before vanishing into the darkness of the curtain folds, the guard waved at me.
