A Game of Hiraeth

Antique shops always intrigued Lila Winters. Ever since she was a kid, going through these stores with practically ancient and beautiful items always got her so excited. Each object stirred her imagination and stimulated a story within her. It gave her hope that the world was a bit more extraordinary than she thought. Even at sixteen, that didn’t change. She’d narrate her life in her head as she walked down the halls of her school. She’d daydream about magical worlds when she was meant to be paying attention in class. Most of her life, she spent her time with her head in the clouds, praying for just a little bit of that magic to be true.

One day, on a very particular Tuesday, she found herself walking aimlessly down the street and away from her school with her headphones on. She felt in quite the bouncy mood, which could have been the product of the upbeat music flowing through her mind. She thought up stories in her head that felt almost real. It was almost like she was floating amidst her high hopes.

Lila found herself walking through a shopping village. There was the usual boutique, nail place, a restaurant, the like.

“Excuse me young lady!” She heard a voice call suddenly. She took her headphones off and turned her head around in search of the voice. “Yes, you! Hello!” Her eyes focused on an older looking woman with grey hair and a walking stick. In a spurr of curiosity, Lila made her way towards the woman.

“Um, hello ma’am. Were you calling for me?” she asked.

“Yes! Yes! Thank you so much. I was hoping you could help me in my shop. I work all alone and at my age”, the old woman let out a chuckle, “well let’s just say it’s a bit harder for me to move things around. Oh but you, you’re young and strong! Please young lady, would you please help an old woman out?” She proceeded to take Lila’s hands. She looked up at her with pools of hope in her eyes.

Lila checked the time: 2:45PM. “Oh, okay then. I guess I have time before I get home.” She put her phone away and smiled down at the woman. “I’d be happy to help!”

“Oh thank you so much dear!” The old woman took her inside. Stepping into that store was like stepping into a wonderland. Her eyes lit up upon entry. It didn’t take Lila to realize that the shop she was in was an antique shop. It wasn’t the biggest she had ever seen, but it didn’t matter; the items were the heart of any antique store.

On a small table was a multitude of different tea pots with beautifully painted floral designs; from cherry blossom trees to roses with thorny stems, the china sat there gracefully. There were unlit, glistening chandeliers adorning the ceiling. There were clocks with beautiful engravings, wind-up keys, and even a small section for vintage toys. It was heaven on Earth.

“Wow… This is amazing! You sell all of this?” Lila asked in wonder.

The old woman only giggled. “Oh, it isn’t much, but yes. Much of this belonged to my friends over the years, whether they bought them or inherited. But now is no time to gawk, dear. Could you please help with those boxes in the corner, erm… what did you say your name was?”

“Oh, right. My name is Lila Winters ma’am. And yours?”

“You can just call me Betty.” She pointed to a stack of boxes next to the vintage toys.

“It’s nice to meet you ma’am!” With that, she got to work. She lifted boxes onto high shelves, moved around heavy objects, and even dusted the high shelves.

The whole time, her eye was drawn to a singular object: an ordinary brown box wrapped in brown paper. It was simple, yet she could only imagine what treasures could be inside. There was a price tag on it, so it was for sale. ‘Maybe I’ll get to buy it’, she thought.

At the end of it all, Betty thanked her gracefully. “Here, how about you pick out one thing to take home for yourself?”

Lila beamed. “Oh! Really? Thank you!”

“No no, thank you, dear!”

Lila wasted no time going straight for the brown box.

“Ah- are you sure about that one, dear?” Betty asked, concern laced in her words.

“Yup! Positive!”

“Oh, alright then. Have a great rest of your night then! But please do be careful with it.”

“Thanks! You too ma’am! I'll be careful!”

Lila rushed to her home excitedly, clutching the brown box with both hands. She made sure to be careful as to not break anything that might be in there. She quickly greeted her mother when she got inside and hurried to her room. She plopped herself down on the bed and grabbed a pair of scissors. She felt like a child on Christmas morning. She scraped the blades against the brown wrapping and…

Nothing happened. There was just a line. “What the-?” She tried again. And again. And again. The paper just wouldn’t tear. In defeat, she simply placed the box on her bedside table and flopped onto her bed. She could hardly feel herself falling asleep.

***

Lila gasped for air as she felt her body pushed through something. She blinked her eyes into focus and saw that she was in a bedroom. The walls were painted grey and the ceiling was white. There was a TV mounted on the wall surrounded by a wall-colored shelf/drawer system. In the square shelves were potted plants, remotes, and baskets. The drawers had silver handles. Two were small squares, two were large rectangles. She saw a brown rug on hardwood floors and a black couch. Most notably, there was no door.

“Man, if I knew someone was coming, I would’ve gotten more snacks”, a voice said.

Lila turned her head, hoping to find the owner of that voice. “Hello?”

A boy stepped forward, a boy she hadn’t seen in the room until now. He wore a button down collar shirt, the first three buttons left open. His ears were slightly pointed and his skin was as pale as paper. He had white hair and purple eyes, and his pink lips seemed to naturally curl upwards. “Hey, how are you doin’?” he asked.

“What? Where am I?” Lila asked in confusion. “And who are you? What’s going on?”

“Well I wouldn’t be too worried, you’re just dreaming. I mean, you’re in prison, but you’re dreaming. It’s kinda complicated”, the boy replied.

The dreaming bit didn’t register all the way. “Why- Why am I in prison?”

“Um, something about theft? Yeah, if I remember correctly, you stole something that didn't belong to you, so now you’re in prison. Lucky for you, I’m your warden and you only have to spend a little bit of time here. After that time’s up, you get to wake up.”

His words wrapped around her head like a confusing mess. “Oh- Okay? What did I steal?”

“I’m pretty sure you know what you stole.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small packet. “Anyway, want some fruit snacks? I can get the TV going and we can just chill for a while.” He grinned. "You're quite a sight, you know."

Lila couldn’t help but smile. She walked over and took the fruit snacks. “Thanks. My name is Lila Winters by the way. Um, what’s your name?”

The boy raised an eyebrow. “Nope, sorry, can’t give it to you.”

“What? Why not?”

“I just can’t. I mean, not to a human.”

Her eyes lit up. “You aren’t human?”

The boy chuckled. “Let’s drop it for now. Lemme help you settle in, yeah?”

And so the night turned into morning. It felt as though days went by in the boy’s company. It felt… exciting. There was a certain rush to being there that Lila couldn’t place. It was different and new, even if she was just confined to one room. Technically, there was a second room; it was separated by a white sliding door and there was nothing but a grey futon in the small space. The boy would talk about little things that didn’t really matter. In turn, Lila would too. They didn’t need to know about each others’ worlds to relate in one way or another. Their favorite pass-time was laying on the floor of the “bedroom”, enjoying each other’s presence and laying in silence.

One day, the two were doing just that when the boy checked his watch. “Oh how time flies”, he announced as he pushed himself up.

Lila turned to her friend. “What?”

“Well your time’s up. You can wake up now.”

“What? What are you talking about? W-Wake up?”

“Yeah. You’re dreaming, remember?” he reminded, a tinge of sadness in his voice. He stood up and offered his hand.

She looked up and hesitantly took it. “Will I ever be back here?”

“Only if you don’t return what you stole. If you just put it back where you came from, we’ll be good.”

“But what did I steal?”

“You know what you stole.” He pulled her up and took her to the paintings. One of the paintings looks oddly like the view from her bedroom from her bedside table.

“I guess this is it”, Lila said grimly.

“Yeah.” The boy looked at her softly. “It was really nice to know you.” With that, he pushed her through the painting.

***

Lila groggily woke up in a comfortable bed. Her eyes widened in surprise when she found that she was back in her own room after days of being away. She stretched her arms and checked the day: Wednesday. Only a day had passed. Nothing seemed real. Nonetheless, she knew her mom would be coming in at any moment to get her up for school. She saved the trouble and got herself up. She looked at the box and scratched at the wrapping; she managed to make a singular tear.

***

The boy thought about Lila and smirked to himself. “Oh Lila Winters”, her name rolled right off of his tongue. “I know I'll see you very soon."

***

The days dragged on and the nights were bliss, the nights extending for days on end. She would sleep in to stay longer with her friend. She became addicted to the feeling of the breathlessness she felt whenever she arrived at the prison. At first, the boy didn’t understand why she kept coming back, but found that he too enjoyed Lila’s presence. Even after nights and nights of spending time together, he would never give Lila his name, even if he so desperately wanted to. He humored both of their infatuations with each other by sneaking her out of the prison and taking her into town. He introduced her to fruits she had never seen before, plants that weren't native to Earth, and people who had the same pointed ears he did. He noticed how attached she was getting to this world and felt that she was severing her ties to her world. He decided that he didn’t care if he broke the rules; he would make sure that she stayed.

One night, the two were relaxing on the couch when the boy said, “You know, you can stay here forever if you’d like.”

Lila’s breath hitched in excitement. “Really?”

“Of course. You just have to do one thing.”

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

The boy twirled her curly hair between his fingers. “Just open the box. When you do, I’ll give you my name. You get to stay.”

“Wait, but that’s impossible. I only ever made a tear in that thing.”

“Well it was impossible. Then you got curious. Now, you want to stay. It’s the key to getting here, so opening it has to be what you have to do to stay.”

She thought about it for a bit. “I’d love to, but-”

“You do want to stay here, don’t you, Lila Winters?”

Hearing her name come out of his mouth felt like a drug. “Well-”

“Think about it: you haven’t even seen the full extent of this world. There’s more magic, more adventure, than you could ever dream of.”

Thinking about it all, she couldn’t help but feel that pull, so addicting and sweet. It felt the same as the pull she felt towards antique shops. “I- I’ll try.”

The boy smiled. “Wonderful.” He took her hand and brought her to the painting, the routine being the same as always. “I’ll see you soon, Lila.” He gave a quick peck on the cheek before shoving her through the painting, thrusting Lila into wake much more rudely than before.

***

She quickly turned to her bedside table but there was no box in sight. Her cheek tingled with longing. “What-? Wait, where-?” She got up, jumped out of bed and scoured her room for the box. It was as though a tornado spiraled around the room.

“Are you looking for that box?” her mother asked from the door.

Lila turned around. “Yes! Do you know where it is?”

“I hid it.”

She felt her heart speed up a little. “What? Where? Why?”

“Because ever since you brought that damn thing into this house, you’ve been sleeping more, you’ve been hazy, I never see you anymore! You only answer in two word sentences and you always look so spaced out! I don’t know what industrial paper you have it wrapped in but there’s obviously something in there making you like this!” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Are you doing drugs?”

“No! No Mom, but I need that box!” She shouted, not really understanding her own words.

“No you don’t! I think you need therapy or something because something isn’t right. This is the most we’ve talked in weeks!”

Lila was starting to tear up now. She stood up and rushed out, searching through every cupboard, every closet, every drawer in the house. She could hear her mother’s muffled yells but she felt nothing. All she needed was that box; then everything would be okay.

She made her way into her mom’s room and checked under the bed: bingo. She crawled under and tore the box out from under the bed and made a mad dash for her room. Her mother was right on her tail, though she couldn’t outrun her daughter. Lila got inside and locked her door. What followed was a constant pounding on the door, but she didn’t care. She tore at the box ruthlessly, feeling satisfaction at every piece of brown wrapping paper that hit the ground. She flipped open the box as her mother was unlocking the door from the outside. The moment those flaps opened, regret and fear weighed heavy in her heart.

Ms. Winters threw the door open, but she was met by an empty room with brown wrapping paper littered on the ground. She felt her heart speed up as tears filled her eyes. The entire neighborhood could hear the screams of the distraught mother that day.

***

A missing person poster fluttered in the wind with the black and white photo of a certain curly haired girl. Months had gone by and the search raged on. Underneath a street light, a wrapped, brown paper box sat undisturbed. No one touched the box, nor does anyone want to; it’s said that if you get too close, you can hear the wails of a girl begging to go home - the home she can’t return to.