Red Strings of Fate

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"I believe that, my friend, is a book," a man with shiny, slicked hair explained. "You should try picking up one, sometime, Eames. They often come highly recommended."

"I know that, Arthur," Eames slightly sneered at Arthur's sarcastic, condescending tone. "I meant, what is the bloody book about! I can't read it!"

The older man lounging in a spare chair in the workshop looked up from his book. His dark eyes wandered over the foreign characters on the cover that only he could read.

"Oh, this?" an older man asked with a thick Japanese accent. "In Japan, we call it 'The Red Strings of Fate.'"

Always curious to know more, Arthur raised his eye brows, as the man returned to his book. Engrossed eyes, moved upward and downward on the page as he read.

"So what do these 'Read Strings of Fate' do in Japan, Saitou?" Eames blurted out, making Saitou look up from the page again.

"In Japan, we believe that two people who are tied by red strings on their pinky fingers are destined to be together… I think you Westerners call something like this 'soul-mates,'" he answered.

"We may call it that, but I'll never have one!" Eames said adamantly with a grin. "There's too many lovely ladies in the world to wine and dine. And too much booze to drink and several card games to play."

Arthur shook his head. You are absolutely hopeless, he thought.

The Parisian lights glowed brightly under his window. Cars and taxis wound their way through the busy streets; their drivers paid no mind to their passing of the Arc De Triumph or the Eiffel Tower in the distance, while Arthur looked at the night's sights appreciatively. Under the great window, the streets thrummed with the hum of conversations wafting up from the cafes and restaurants and car engines that roared down the street. He smiled.

"Sometimes… reality is really better than a dream world," he said to the empty room.

Not that I can really dream anymore…

He adjusted his pressed and polished slacks and sat on the edge of his bed, continuing to let the Parisian night soak into his memory.

Briskly, she and a friend walked down the street, balancing their school bags and large paper bags of groceries in her arms. She sneezed.

"Someone's thinking of you, Ariadne!" her friend giggled.

"No… I'm probably getting a cold from working too much…" Ariadne retorted.

"Yea! They must be working you like a dog at that 'internship' of yours… are you even getting paid for this? You're always out until very late."

"I will… when the job is done," she replied. "I can't really complain though… After all, it is… pure creation…"

Ariadne grinned.

"Well, if there was ever anyone who was good at that, it would certainly have to be you… Though I'm sure working with that man in the three piece suit isn't so bad either… Hm?"

She blushed. They giggled the rest of the way home.

A single desk lamp shown brightly over hands, as she poured over her designs, tweaking and primping the finer details of a maze. For a moment, she dropped her pencil and leaned back to look at her work. A confident smile grew on her face. She could almost hear him praising her. Giddily, she bit back a smile at the thought. She yawned. She stood from the desk, making a quick note on a spare sheet. Make totem.

Yawning again, she flopped down on her bed, her mind beginning to wander as she stared at the popcorn dots on her ceiling. Without knowing, she slipped into the dream world.

The bright sun shown down on the park. Around her children roared with laughter. Ringing bicycle bells and creaking swings echoed in the distance. She began to wander down winding paths, her head swishing from side to side as she tried to look for someone. Of course he wouldn't be here…. He hasn't been for several years now… she thought. She continued to wander, letting her mind shift the environment around her into another world, another world filled with the bright warm colors of fall and cool mountain air.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

She shot up and slammed her hand down on her alarm's "Off" button. She flopped back down and continued to think. Her mind drifted back to her childhood, as she remembered an old dream from long ago.

A young Ariadne patted the sand down firmly in her bucket with her bright blue plastic shovel. With a heave she flipped the bucket over and let it sit in the sand. With a pull, the molded sand stood in the perfect form of a castle tower. She smiled at her handy work.

"RAWR!" a boy cried as his plastic tyrannosaurus rex plowed though the tower, collapsing it in mere seconds.

"ARTIE!" she wailed.

With an evil laugh, the older boy's tyrannosaurus rex continued to plow through the remnants of the castle.

"Why you always so mean to me?" she wailed again, on the verge of tears.

The boy stopped his antics and looked up at the small girl as she walked away. He sprinted after her.

"Wait! Ariadne! Look… I'm sorry… I'm just fooling around… it's what friends do..."

Artie wound a long arm around her shoulders and gently kissed her brown, straggly hair. At that time, none of them could explain why their hearts often seemed to skip a beat in each others' company.

That dream was back in elementary school… She thought, slowly pulling herself up off the bed. She counted on her fingers that dream and its variations appeared to her in her life. Middle school too… high school… but not college? She wondered. She sighed.

"What's it matter anyway… You're too old for imaginary friends," she sighed to herself.

Something tugged at the back of Arthur's mind. Old visions of a long ago dream swam in his head. What was that little girl's name again? He wondered.

"Artie! My teeth hurt," the young girl pouted, rubbing her slightly swollen cheeks.

"What's the matter?" Arthur squeaked, coughing trying to control his fluctuating teenage voice.

The girl smiled, flashing him her braces filled mouth. He grinned.

"You got braces! Lucky!"

"No I'm not! They hurt like hell!" she cried. "All the boys are gonna hate me!"

"Better than all these pimples…" he retorted, adjusting the khaki slacks on his school uniform so he could sit on the park bench. "I can't even get a date for homecoming looking like this!"

His voice cracked at what seemed like every other word. He ran his hand through his very short, dark hair. He looked at her, then down to her books about 8th grade algebra. Only one thought popped into his head. If you think a boy's gonna hate you just because of your braces, then the boys at your school are certainly nothing but wolves…

Her name was on the tip of his tongue, yet he could not remember who she was. He happened to look up from his work and turned to Ariadne's desk. He felt a vague sense of deja vu.

She rushed out of the high school, savoring the brisk fall air hitting her face. The breeze billowed her long brown hair behind her. In the parking lot, a car honked. Ariadne practically tackled the driver after she hopped in.

"Artie! How's college? You're going to graduate soon right?" she grinned, trying to keep the lisp caused by her retainer out of her voice.

"Yep! And I've found a job! I'll get to travel and see the world!"

His voice had finally lost the fluctuation of puberty, and she could not help but notice the improvements to his skin. Her eyebrows arched up inquisitively.

"What will you do?"

He hesitated to answer.

"I'm… going to be a… personal assistant… I need to find out all the details about different… clients for a businessman and keep his affairs in proper order," he chose his words very carefully.

The dream road appeared before him as he drove. With a small flex of his mind, tall trees began to line the road, the orange leaves contrasting greatly to the bright blue sky. The breeze bustled more red, yellow, and orange leaves along their path as if leading them to the large mountains that slowly appeared in the distance. Around a great lake, they drove. Ariadne looked into the crystal waters with a smile, as she slowly filled the banks with campers, hunters, and fishermen.

"I'm… going to miss creating these dreams with you," he said, suddenly breaking the silence.

The realization that he was leaving to start an adult life on his own finally sunk in. What about me? Ariadne wondered.

"You don't think we're too old to be imaginary friends?" he asked, as if reading her mind. "That stuff should be saved for little kids at this point…"

He swished his head, flipping his long hair out of his face. She nodded. He stopped the car part way up the mountain. Quiet, they stepped out and looked over the vista. Other than the road and the lake, the landscape was filled with pure white as though it were a fresh canvas waiting to be painted on. She snatched up his hand, as he looked down at her in surprise. She continued looking out. Already knowing what she was thinking, he smiled. They filled the negative space past the lake and by the road began to fill with an endless ocean of forests, rivers, and mountains framed with all the golden warm colors of fall. She painted the bright blue sky far past their heads and filled it with several, lazily drifting clouds.

They leaned back on the hood of his car as they looked out at all they had created.

"Too bad boys like you don't exist in the world, Artie," she said. "You really would've been my dream man…"

He laughed.

"Here," she continued, summoning two rings made out of red yarn from her pocket. "Just don't forget me, all right?"

She slipped the smaller one onto her left pinky, as he did the same with his. Unknown to them, another red string sprouted from her yarn ring and attached itself to his.

"I won't… You'll always be my dream woman A-"

"We enjoying the view?" Eames sniggered, as Ariadne looked in his direction with a strange and slightly embarrassed look on her face.

He rolled his eyes and ignored his question, trying to get back to his work.

Despite the others' suggestions for them to go home, Arthur and Ariadne continued to work late into the evening. A blush rose to her cheeks as he complemented her on her latest maze design.

Later, her mind tired and straining, she placed her rulers back into their holder. She rubbed her eyes, pushed her work aside, and pulled out a fresh paper to work on. Swishing noises softly filled the workshop as her pencil made its way along the page. She lost herself in all the details of her work; the mountains, the lake, the trees, and the rivers were all drawn with precision as she remembered the old dream.

At his desk, Arthur pushed his papers aside and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. With a stretch he tilted his chair on its hind legs and curiously looked over at Ariadne. Appreciatively, he took in her from, as she sketched something furiously on the page. Pearly white teeth gently bit down her pretty pink lips as she sketched and shaded. His eyes grazed over her lips, as thoughts began to fill his mind. Quickly, he pushed them aside before it got out of hand. He set his chair right and slowly stood. Making his way over, Arthur peered over her shoulder and choked back a gasp.

"Ariadne… what is that?"

She looked up, sheepishly.

"Sorry… I was getting to stressed from the maze, and I want-"

"No," he interrupted, picking up the picture. "This place…"

"Do you like it? I dreamed of it once, in high school, with my imaginary friend…" she chuckled at her silly explanation.

He studied all the details of the paper. Though not 100% complete, he looked on with awe. It's exactly how I remember… he thought.

"You're kidding me right?" he questioned, trying to hide the desperation out of his voice.

"No! … I wish I was though… That was a rather lame explanation…"

He knelt down beside her. Gently, he took her hand and looked up at her face.

"… You got to this mountain after driving up with a boy that picked you up from school… and you two created everything along the drive up…"

Had it not been securely attached to her head with proper joints, Ariadne's jaw would have dropped to the floor.

"And when he parked the car, you two created this view, and you gave him a ring made out of red yarn…"

Somehow, her mouth closed into a wide smile.

"Artie… You've really grown up…" She grinned. "I… obviously didn't recognize you…"

His eyes ran down her petite frame. Standing, he moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her and kissed her cheek.

"You have too, Ariadne…"