Eventually the girl held her cup towards me, interrupting my thoughts. Fumbling, I set down mine, spilling a few drops, and took hers. It was empty. She sat up on her chair, hands on the table, peering over the edge of my teacup, then sat back, pointing at it. I glanced down at my drink, which was still full, then glanced back up at the girl. She nodded, and I assumed she wanted more. I refilled her cup and handed it back. She gladly accepted it and started blowing on the newly generated steam.
Slowly putting down the teapot, I took the moment to talk to her again.
“If… you do not mind me asking…” The girl looks up. “What were you doing out in the forest this late in the evening?”
She placed her cup down and smiled, silently staring at me for a few moments. I gazed back with uncertainty. Then, as if realising something was wrong, she reached a hand up to the side of her head, palming it, her smile replaced by a half open, half closed mouth. The other hand joined, and she closed her eyes, concentrating. Slowly, she began to retract into herself, her arms bunching together and her brows knitted.
“Ah…! You don’t have to tell me…” I quickly interjected, instinctively leaning forward and raising a hand off the table.
The girl abruptly stretched one of her arms forward, waving her hand, then went back to concentrating. I gathered she wanted me to wait. Eventually she stopped and gradually lowered her hands, opening her eyes and dipping her head low. She looked at me in a sort of apologetic manner.
I was confused with what was going on. “Something wrong?”
She shook her head in defeat.
Contemplating for a moment, I realised, “You cannot speak?”
The girl further ducked her head in shame and slowly shook her head.
She must be mute, I concluded. I’ve heard of such children. Or, perhaps, if she could not speak…
I glanced off to the side.
After hesitating for a few moments, I looked back at the girl.
“You’re a… spirit… aren’t you?” I asked in almost a whisper.
She sank backwards into her chair. Flittering her eyes between me and the tea in front of her, she finally casted her eyes down at her lap and timidly drooped her head as if for mercy.
“I see.”
I leaned back into my chair. “I understand now.”
She looked back up at me, her head still ducked down, studying my reaction. As my shoulders sank into the rail of the chair, I took in how small she looked compared to my habitat. Her head barely made it to the crest of her chair. The table stretched out wide in front of her, as if she was sat in a grand dining hall, absent of her servants and her banquet. The girl did not belong, with her tattered rags and uncouth hair. Darkness amplified her foreignness, obscuring the intricacies of the furnishes to draw the observer’s eyes straight down to the girl. To her drooped head. It was as if she felt the crushing weight of judgement as the apparitions of the dark encircled her.
Was she truly a spirit? She appeared too human. A miserable little creature one may find on the streets of the southern suburbs. Not the minuscule meanderers of the forest or the town devastators that hearsay loves to circulate. Perhaps she was an orphan, mental with a delusion she was supernatural. No… she had demonstrated her powers already. I diverted my gaze to the flower table, studying it carefully. Unless, I was the one going mental.
When I settled my eyes on the girl once more, she was still staring up at me. It made me feel guilty, poised up higher than she was. I was staring her down. There was no helping it. Despite how short I was, this girl was simply too short. Trying to comfort her, I smiled. “Do not worry, I have no harmful intentions.”
She raised her head, judging my expression. A glimmer seemed to kindle within her. The innocent quality of a child’s soul. Reassuring her, I replied with a comforting smile and a slight giggle.
The girl slowly perked up, and an open smile grew across her face. I could tell from the squeaking of the chair that she had started kicking her feet excitedly.
“Are you sure this is all right though? For you to stay here?”
She nodded.
“No one will attack me if you stay here, correct?”
Her expression saddened, but she nodded even more enthusiastically.
“You don’t…” I paused, reconsidering my words. The girl watched me as I tried to think of a better way to put it. “… have anyone… who would search for you?”
The girl nodded.
“You do?”
She quickly stopped, and shook her head.
“You meant to affirm you don’t.”
She nodded her head again.
“Ah, okay.” What a lonely existence.
The girl sat still once more, waiting for my next inquiry. I smiled. “If you can promise me that, I will let you stay.”
Excitement rushed through the girl. She jumped out of her seat in celebration, shaking the table and rattling the teacups a little. The flowers in the table vase suddenly rejuvenated to full bloom, as if reacting to her excitement. Unexpectedly, I let out a naive laugh, pleasantly surprised. “A girl of flowers, aren’t you?” I remarked to myself.
She bounced back into her seat, sitting up straight with her big smile. Then, the girl abruptly froze. Her eyes locked in my direction, past where I sat. Her expression changed instantly, replaced by an alert yet ghostly stare.