Unlikely Friends

“Shh. You can’t come with me yet.”

I see Kian every day doing exactly what he is doing now. He speaks to things that aren't there—in hallways, in the cafeteria, in the playground. He seems to be engaged in conversation with the air everywhere. Students at our school talk about him constantly, but he doesn't seem to care. Or, maybe it’s just that he doesn’t notice. 

On one particularly bright Wednesday afternoon, I saw Kian after school standing at the little nook overshadowed by trees. The nook was placed at the side of the school’s fence, a few steps away from the sidewalk, and to the left. 

That sunny day, my curiosity got the better of me. After looking away for a moment because of an almost neon Goldfinch whose flight path to a tree suddenly caught my eye, I returned my gaze to Kian. But by this time, my classmate had started walking towards the forest aligned against our school garden. My burning curiosity defeated my wall of protection against things that aren’t any of my business. I followed him as quietly as possible. As Kian neared the forest with me close behind him, I heard faint whispers coming from him. 

“Are they all there?”

Deeper in the shadowy woods, the faint whispers were muffled by the sounds of little paws and the flapping of wings. And I almost persuaded myself that I could hear something replying to him. 

After what felt like an age, Kian stopped in his tracks upon reaching a small clearing, with the afternoon sun beaming down and the tree’s shadows elongated. He looked in both directions before taking a few steps forward. I followed, and what happened next, I will never forget.

I was in complete shock and my brain almost didn’t process what I saw. Spirits rimmed the clearing. Yes, you read that right - spirits. Spotted between them and through them, birds chirped joyfully and shafts of the sun made the glade glow with the golden sunlight. Blue spirits walked gracefully as they surveyed Kian with their milky, blue eyes. I wondered for a moment if the birds themselves could see the spirits amongst us.

I also watched as the spirits walked through trees without being fazed. Kian seemed to be the only thing they could touch, apart from each other. And as I watched him commune with these creatures, he seemed so unlike his personality at school. Within the halls of Sunnyfields Academy, he seemed apathetic to whatever happened. Now, he was happy and smiling, relishing the warm afternoon sun that shined through the trees. 

He started to talk now, the whispers being replaced by confident tones. “You guys understand me, don’t you? The other kids don’t.” A little Mountain Bluebird cheeped and tilted its head as if it was asking a question. “I know they talk about me in the hallways. I can always hear their whispers.” A Red Deer stag cleared its throat, all heads turning towards him. With a touch of contempt, he said, “Such impudent behavior of those children. What do the adults even teach them?” His deep, booming voice made many of the birds jump and flinch, one bird even hanging upside down because of its surprise.

I turned away from the clearing where Kian was, hiding behind a tree. I was beginning to feel as if I really shouldn’t be listening to this private conversation. 

To this end, I began to slowly tiptoe my way back to the nook next to the school's fence, thinking I had gone unnoticed. Little did I know at that time that a small, incandescent friend of Kian’s had noticed my presence there. He wouldn’t make himself known to me for some time. 

Later that night, as I lay in my bed, I thought about what I had heard. Kian, the weird kid, really just seemed lonely and desperate for company. He had no friends at school and his home life was equally mysterious as his presence at school. Considering that he seemed to spend so much time at school alone or indeed in the forest, I could guess that his parents were too busy for him. 

Eventually, after having witnessed Kian’s conversation in the forest, I noticed a little transparent, furry animal, somewhere between a raccoon and a red panda, beginning to prowl the hallways. The first time it did, I let out a yell of surprise. The other kids in the hallway putting their bags away into their lockers looked at me in the same way that everyone did at Kian. 

All eyes were on me, and I suddenly felt overwhelmed by their stares. A feeling of helplessness washed over me, as if I were a turtle with no shell. Open. Vulnerable. 

After that day, there seemed to be no end to the animal’s regular visits to Sunnyfields Academy. Math, music, english, anywhere. After days of badgering, the animal seemed to have given up until I saw a furry blue head peeking at me from outside the window. I sighed. Eventually, I gave up trying to avoid the strange animal, knowing that it would find me either way. 

Once I realized that Kian and I must be the only people that could see these animal spirits, I continued to ignore the one that had followed me, until my last class. My curiosity again got the better of me. I needed to know what animal it was; I drew a picture of it and showed it to my teacher. 

“That’s a binturong! Did you see a picture of one? These are really rare, endangered animals!” 

I shook my head no. She again looked at me in an inquisitive manner, so I headed to the hallway before she could ask more questions. 

While I walked home that day, the spirit appeared in front of me again. I crouched down and said: “You’re a binturong, aren’t you?” 

I huffed and stood up, wondering why I had expected the spirit to talk back. I really was starting to lose touch with the real versus the fake. My imagination seemed to be running rampant. Just as I turned around to keep walking, a voice behind me said, “I actually can speak when I want to.” 

I whirled around, wondering where the voice had come from because I looked everywhere but couldn’t find a person. The voice, in a rather frustrated tone crossly said, “Down here, Stupid!” 

I looked downwards, fixing my gaze upon the Binturong spirit who stood there on the street.

“Dense kid.” 

The Binturong looked up at me from the pavement with its entrancing, milky blue eyes and strange ears that looked like anything but ears. It cocked it’s head and said, “My name is Tara. Kian needs you.”

I stood in stunned silence. I never expected that I would see spirits, let alone talk to them or have someone need me. 

“W-why does he need me and not some other kid?”

Tara gave me a condescending look. I decided it would be best for me to keep my big mouth shut and not get on her bad side. 

“He needs someone that can understand him.”

Tara led me to the clearing where I had first seen the spirits. At that point, I stopped trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened in the past two days. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. 

Once again, Kian had his back to me, soaking up the warm, sunflower-yellow sun. I took a step towards him. As I approached Kian, through the sides of my eyes, faint blue wisps dissolved into the sunlight beaming through the trees. I have never forgotten what it felt like to gather up my courage and say what I needed to. 

A twig cracking under me made Kian turn to face me. He looked to see who or what had made the noise. I took a breath. 

“Hi. I’m Viv.”