• "Kiera, wake up."

    A light voice rang into my ear as I slept. It didn't sound like anyone that I knew, so I wasn't sure how he knew my name. I really, truly, honestly wanted to roll over and see who it was, but I couldn't. I couldn't even open my eyes right then if I'd wanted to and I felt awful because someone was trying so hard to wake me up and I wouldn't get up. Fingertips brushed my forehand as someone pushed my hair behind my ear.

    I wanted to get up, I really did. I can't imagine how annoyed this person must feel sitting there trying to talk to me while I just lay here without giving some sort of response, but I couldn't open my eyes or move no matter how hard I tried. I wasn't sure what to do or how to let him know that I was listening to what he had to say. Maybe if I tried really hard then I could move and open my eyes and talk and give an actual response.

    "Kiera, I need you to get up now. Could you please wake up?"

    It was a whisper in my ear this time and whoever was there was closer to me now than he was before. I wasn't frightened by this man being so close to me while I was in such a state, though. His voice and his entire presence were all just so calming. Maybe I ought to have been afraid of him because of that, but it didn't seem at all like I had any right to doubt him. He hadn't done anything to me so far even though I'd been laying here helpless as I am since he came.

    I heard him take in a big breath of air before a long sigh followed after. I felt even worse now because he was getting even more upset by the minute. If I just twitched my hand or something, maybe that would work. I focused all my attention on my fingers, willing them to twitch or move or do something. Anything was fine as long as there was movement.

    "Kiera?"

    Finally, after about a minute, I was able to move again. I opened my eyes and slowly turned over onto my back. The man who had been trying so desperately to wake me greeted me with a smile when I looked at him. His hair was so long and it was such a pretty color, too, and so were his eyes. They reminded me a bit of Ruadhán's tiny little eyes when I looked into them.

    I didn't mean to stare at him for as long as I did. I was just fascinated by everything about him from the light tan that was the color of his skin to the red-brown color of his eyes and the dark color of his hair, as well as his outfit, which I believe was called a Hanfu or something like that. I really didn't want to look away, but I was being so terribly impolite right now. He smiled at me again and I felt my face suddenly begin to get hot, but it wasn't like how it usually was when I would blush. I think I was actually embarrassed this time.

    The man helped me stand before pulling twigs and leaves and grass from my hair. I felt as if I'd shrunk a bit as he gently put my hair back in order and my stomach was all fluttery and odd. I wasn't sure what was wrong with me because I'd never felt like this before. It made me feel insecure about myself and I didn't like that. I was a confident person and nothing ever made me feel like I wasn't good enough or pretty enough or smart enough for anything in my entire life.

    "Here," The man said, holding his hand out to me. "This time I'll be taking your hand in mine."

    Hesitantly, I reached out to take his hand. The moment my fingers touched his palm, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along as he began to walk. I felt my face get hotter than it had been moments ago and used my free hand to try and hide it, but I could only manage to cover my mouth and nose. I didn't know what to do or say at all. So I followed the man silently, finally taking in my surrounding.

    Everywhere I looked, there was bamboo and the way the light shined through the branches made everything so much prettier. I had no idea where we were going, and I really wasn't even that afraid. There was a long and winding trail that we were on and it almost felt like it was going to go on forever and ever. Maybe this should have bothered me, too, but it didn't. In fact, I was actually kind of excited about where he was leading me.

    "My name is Li Park."

    I looked up at him again and nodded. That was a really nice name and it seemed like it fit him pretty well. I wanted to assume that "Park" was his first name because everything about him made him seem like he was Chinese and I thought I'd heard somewhere that the Chinese, like the Japanese, always wrote their surname first before their given name. Or maybe he was introducing himself the way I would since I was a foreigner; that would make his name "Li". I was terribly confused and I think he knew it because he chuckled a bit.

    "It's Park." He said, taking me by surprise.

    "O-Oh." I said, looking away from him again.

    I couldn't stop feeling so awkward and embarrassed and I knew he deserved more than just short answers and nods to everything he would say, but I didn't seem to know what to say every time he would speak to me. I had never really acted like this toward anyone, that I could remember, and I knew I hated it already. I didn't like feeling so awkward and confused and insecure. Something had to be wrong with me or else I'd be the one smiling and making jokes. The thought crossed my mind that this might be what it's like when you fall in love with someone.

    That was preposterous, though. I'd never once had any attraction toward anyone. I really never thought anyone was cute, either. People had just been different faces with different personalities to me, but there was never a face or personality that jumped out at me enough to make me consider the person attractive. It was always the same with everyone I had met, and yet, here I was feeling as though I might quite possibly like this man that I had just met for the first time. But he felt oddly familiar to me, like I'd met him before and had known him for a long time.

    He stopped walking suddenly and turned to face me, his smile slowly turning into a frown. I felt a sting in my heart seeing such an expression, knowing that it was probably my fault it was there on his face now. I didn't know what to do or say to make him start smiling again, but I had to do something. I hated it more than anything when people looked upset because there were so many things to be happy about and smiles always made you feel so much better. So if I could just make him smile again, then I wouldn't feel so awful.

    "D-Don't make that face." I said, my voice cracking slightly. "It doesn't…It doesn't suit you. Smile! You need to smile. Like this!"

    I showed a toothy grin before pulling my hand away from his. He watched me, but his expression didn't change at all. I felt my heart sink a bit and reached up to grab his face. I touched the corners of his mouth and pushed them up to kind of force him to smile.

    "See?" I asked, dropping my hands. "Doesn't that feel better?"

    Suddenly he started laughing and pulled me against him, hugging me tightly. I didn't move. I wasn't sure what to do. Normally you would hug the person back, but my heart was beating so fast and I was so confused and I couldn't make my body respond the way it should have. So I just stood there like an idiot and let him hug me.

    "I was worried." He said, moving his hands to my shoulders and stepping back a bit. "You were being so quiet and the expressions you were making weren't like you at all. You usually smile so much that I wasn't sure what was wrong and I had no idea what to say to make you stop frowning."

    "S-Sorry, I…." I paused.

    He raised his eyebrows and gave me a questioning look, like he wanted me to go on. I had no idea what to say next or how to even explain myself. I couldn't just tell him it was because he was making me feel so weird. That was rude and it would upset him. That's the last thing I wanted.

    "Don't apologize."

    He seemed to know how I was feeling because his expression changed again. He lifted his hands from my shoulders and turned away from me. I felt bad that I was making him feel so bad. If I could just get over whatever was making it hard for me to react, then I would. And then I could talk and act normally and this whole situation would just go so smoothly, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen anytime soon.

    He threw his arm back toward me and wiggled his fingers as if he were telling me to grab his hand again. I stared at it for a minute before looking at him again. He glanced over his shoulder at me like he was trying to tell me to hurry up. Not wanting to upset him even further, I grabbed his hand and we began walking. He slipped his fingers in between mine as we went on and I couldn't help but look back down at our hands.

    This was such a foreign concept to me because I never had any friends who would randomly grab my hand like this and my family preferred to just link arms and drag you away to wherever it was that they were going. Most people held hands like this when they liked each other, though. I got butterflies in my stomach and I knew I'd started blushing again. Park only chuckled at me, somehow finding amusement in my embarrassment. How mean.

    "Sorry," He said. "I know I shouldn't laugh, but I've never seen you act like this before. It's cute."

    My heart skipped a beat and I quickly looked away from him. He was trying to embarrass me now. I just knew it because he was enjoying teasing me like this. My attention was pulled elsewhere when I suddenly felt like sneezing. Something was tickling my nose, but it wouldn't stop no matter how many times I rubbed it. Park frowned and grabbed my hand to get me to stop.

    "What's wrong?" He asked.

    "My nose," I began. "It feels like something is tickling it, but there's nothing there and I can't make it stop."

    He didn't reply, instead looking up and away from me at some unknown object. I looked up, too, because I was curious, but it didn't matter how hard I looked; I couldn't figure out what he was staring at. I heard something chirping in my ear and I looked around to see what it was, but nothing was there. I looked back at Park, who was frowning again. He seemed to know what was going on more than I did and it made me feel uneasy for the first time since I'd been with him.

    "Looks like you have to go now." He said.

    I stared at him in confusion as he let go of my hand and stepped farther back away from me. I didn't like the way he was acting and I wanted to ask him what was going on, but I knew he wouldn't say anything. Suddenly everything got dark and I couldn't see anything at all. The tickling on my nose started to get worse and the chirps I was hearing started sounding more like words than chirps. It sounded like Ruadhán, but I couldn't see him.

    I quickly realized it was because I was squeezing my eyes shut, trying my hardest to keep from waking up. It was a useless attempt and I opened my eyes to see Ruadhán sitting there making faces at me. He seemed annoyed with me since I hadn't woken up right when he wanted me to. I reached out from under the cover and stroked his fur. He nudged my hand with his nose before coming closer.

    "I was having a weird dream, Ruadhán." I said, finally sitting up.

    He crawled into my lap and looked up at me before chirping.

    'What was it about?'

    "I'm not entirely sure, actually." I said with a laugh. "I met this really strange guy named Li Park and he made me feel so odd. He kind of reminded me of you, you know."

    'How so?'

    "He had your eyes and his hair was the same color as the fur on your belly here." I brushed my fingers across his stomach as I spoke. " And the way he talked to me. "

    'You're imagining things.'

    "Yeah, you're right." I laughed. "I probably am."