Anura's Flight

Luca’s POV

As I see the coffin with my best friend slowly being emerged by the flames. I see her face in my mind. She was the one that was with me, during my moments of pain, fear and anxiety. I look up to the faces of the hundreds of people surrounding me. Fuck me, their eyes all say the same: a fallen angel. The sunshine is gone.

None of us knew each other, yet we seemed to share a bond. But I, Luca, have no idea what that bond is supposed to be. Kathy, Sunshine, came into my life by chance. Playing a AR game, we bumped, quite literally, at a location in the west of Europe. Playing a game in the open, at my age, is frowned upon. But Ingress is not Pogo.

That night, I get in my bed reluctantly. My phone tells me its way past 2 at night. I need to sleep, but the tightness around my chest will not leave. “BREATHE!!” I hear this familiar voice in my head say. “Yes, yes I know”! FOR FUCKS SAKE shut up.

I slowly manage to even out my breathing and give in to the absolute fatigue.

What seems to me like only seconds after I have closed my eyes, a bright light shines through my eyelids. I try to block the light out by throwing an arm across my face.

“Open your eyes for me, Bro.”

“Not today, Sunshine. You are dead anyway.”

“Are you sure?”

As if stung by bees, I push myself out of bed. My eyes start to water as I try and pry them open. The light is absolutely blinding.

“Sunshine indeed, let me tone it down a bit for you Bro”

Sure enough, there she stands. Just in front of the only window of my small studio. Like the angel I always thought her to be. Except, the wings look really weird on her.

“I am no angel, and you know that damn well too. Lose the wings, Bro.”

I jolt to a sitting position, while my legs are tied with the sheets. I try to get out of the entanglement. I hear the fabric tear. “Oh, for fucks sake” I grunt.

I am finally able to free myself and rip all the sheets off my bed. My breathing labored, hearing my heart drumming in my ears. “Yup, here we go, full-blown anxiety attack” I mutter to myself.

I squat down on the floor, my vision slowly going blurry until all goes black yet again.

5 years ago

Amsterdam is a totally different site compared to the city I am used to. I cling the beer to my left side, getting through the crowd. A small female gets pushed into my left side. She quickly tries to catch my beer, but fails. “Oh god, I am so sorry” she says as the beer spills over us both. Looking down my shirt and pants, I start laughing. “That is a different way to get all wet”, I say while shrugging my shoulders slightly.

A small smile twists the corner of her mouth up, when she reads the name on my tag.

“Hi!, a pleasure to bump into you! My name is Kathy, Sunshine32.” She blushes a bit and says: “I am the idiot that pissed you off during a decode puzzle, last December”. I frown as she notices my right hand. “Does that hurt?” she asks. Pointing at the hand.

I roll my eyes.

“You are always that direct, I remember now Kathy”.

“Sorry, mister! One doesn’t get to be my age by tiptoeing around the bush much.”

“You are not that old, Kathy.”

She snorted “I beg the deffer”. “But, please, can I buy you another beer? “

“Yeah”.

That day, that very second, I changed my mind about this lady. Her whole outlook on life was so old and weird, you just had to like her… or something…

She did some amazing things after that. She hopped on a plane to visit me in hospital after my 100th or so operation. Watched me shrink into a small child as I had another attack induced by pain and morphine.

Fixed my shit after I got evicted from a studio yet again. How she knew, no idea. How did she fix it? Just did. Next visit, we ended up in a small brown café drinking coffee, and she gave me keys to a small studio. But this one had high ceilings, a well-equipped kitchen and a real window. A real home to me now.

“Luca!”

“Wake up bro!” I need your help. Please get up.

“Anura is coming, wake up! She needs her gaurdian . LUCA!”

My hands, fuck it hurts. I try to unclench my fists. The band around my chest relaxes, giving me space to breathe. “shit, for fucks sake”, I grumble. My back is at a totally wrong angle and I try to stretch my body while still on the floor. I need to get a rug. This is happening much too often.

I hear my phone peeping. Indicating, I received some massages. Glancing at the window, I see some light pouring in. Dawn is upon us. I have to get ready for work. This job I landed was a blessing, allowing me to work from home. Being able to pay for the bills with a steady income was just a dream come true. Being able to keep a job with all the continuous health calls and surgeries has been hard the past few years. I was taken from my family when I was just aged 5. My parents no longer being able to take care of me. The fact that my right side was paralyzed from the shoulder down, didn’t help either. The arm did gain some movement in my teenage years. Surgeries helped too. The pain stayed tho. Phantom pains, the doctors called it.

But my new boss knows about my disabilities. He knows my right hand isn’t of much use anymore. He acknowledges the fact that I sometimes can not work normal office hours due to pain. He also knows I will get the work done, no matter what.

Getting off the floor was a thing for now. Getting a mug of coffee too. But, I need to get up to do that. Anura is coming. “Who the fuck is Anura?” I ask myself out loud next.