A True Heart's Test: Chapter 4 – Amazing Things in Plain Sight

Chapter 4 – Amazing Things in Plain Sight

Rushing through the portal, I find myself in a strange place. It’s not a beautiful forest or a grand city. It’s just a simple farm town similar to the one I’m from. We’re standing in someone’s backyard where their horses, cows, and chickens are eating and going about their daily business.

“What is this?” I ask.

“A backyard,” Eleazar says with a sarcastic smile.

Okay, that’s it.

“Ow! Why did you slap the back of my head for?”

“Because.”

Once the portal behind us closes, the animals start freaking out for whatever reason.

“What a way to start the morning,” a girl about my age says as she exits the backdoor, “Hey! You two better clean up this mess you made or I will chase you down and make you pay!”

Eleazar and I help her calm down the animals and put them back in their proper places out of a sense of obligation. I’d rather not start any trouble in this town before we find whoever we’re supposed to.

“Now, what are you two doing here? Explain yourselves before I call the guards,” the girl asks.

“My best friend, Cornelia, here is on a quest to find her Heart Absolute ability and this is the final destination where she’s meant to witness something to help her. My name is Eleazar and it’s nice to meet you. What’s your name?”

“It doesn’t matter. Go on your quest and-”

“Miquita! Be kind to these strangers. Don’t you see that the young man is a noble?” a woman inside the house says.

“So what?”

“So, invite them in and let them eat breakfast with us.”

“Okay, mother. Come in.”

We take the offer even though we just ate breakfast and when Miquita’s mother offers us something, we ask for water and she gives us milk. After which, Eleazar explains to her why we’re here. Miquita seems to cringe at hearing this as if she’s bothered by the reasoning behind my quest. To be honest, I’d be jealous too if I were in her position.

“That’s great! Miquita here hasn’t found her Heart Absolute ability either, but hopefully, she will someday.”

“I hope so too so I can get out of this place. I’m tired of constantly doing farm work,” Miquita comments.

“Farm work is humble, honest, and worthy of praise,” Eleazar says.

“Sure.”

“Heh, I think I know why we’re here. Is it okay if we help you today?”

“Knock yourselves out.”

Help her? Nothing about helping her sounds like the start of our previous adventures. Why is Eleazar looking at me as if he knows something I don’t?

“What?” I say.

“Oh, nothing. You’ll see why we’re here soon enough.”

“I hope so.”

Eleazar gets changed into casual farm worker clothes that remind me of how he looked back when we were younger. For the whole day, we go from farm to farm helping people with their needs similar to what I do back home, which I hate. It’s easy to get around thanks to Eleazar’s portals, but it still sucks. Why are we meant to do this? What am I meant to learn? This feels like a waste of time. Maybe I’ll meet someone along the way who I’m actually meant to follow.

A little after noon, we eat lunch at one of the farms we work at. Eleazar is having fun chatting it up with the farmers inside so Miquita and I step outside since we aren’t part of the conversation. While we’re outside, she gives me a strange look that I catch before she can turn her head.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Nothing,” she says.

“I know you looked at me.”

“…That best friend of yours is annoying me. Can you tell him to stop being so positive and cheerful all the time?”

“Trust me, I’ve tried, but he never stops. Oh, and he’s not my best friend. He just visits and bothers me from time and time, and this’ll be my last time seeing him after I get my Heart Absolute ability.”

“Heh, so you feel the same way I do about him. It must be nice being given this journey by the Absolute.”

“It has its ups-and-downs. Still, even after witnessing so many big events, I don’t completely understand what I’m supposed to learn.”

“Even so, I wish I could go on an adventure like you. A girl like me probably won’t see the world outside of this town for my entire life just like the other farmers and I don’t think I’ll ever get my Heart Absolute ability. All my efforts and prayers are for nothing as far as I’m concerned.”

“I felt that way and still do to an extent.”

“Tomorrow is my birthday. My parents invited everyone in the town that I’ve worked with, but I don’t think anyone will come. These people don’t really care about me. I’m just another farmer that does the job averagely well. I’ll…I’m planning something that will either make my Heart Absolute ability or change my life for the better.”

“How are those two things mutually exclusive?”

“Because…because I’m going to try to kill myself tomorrow.”

“What?”

“I can’t live like this anymore! You don’t understand how hard it is living like this with people that don’t appreciate you and people our age being put on pedestals because of their efforts or because they have their Heart Absolute ability.”

“I understand completely as a community service worker who lives in pretty much the exact same situation.”

“Community service worker? Heh, between that and that guy I understand why the Absolute had mercy on you and put you on your adventure. So, you must understand why I want to do what I’m going to do. If I try to kill myself, my Heart Absolute ability may kick in just like some of the stories I’ve heard. If I do end up dying, then at least I’ll be free from this miserable life.” Dang it. I don’t feel like I could talk her out of this. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being here. It’s good to know that there’s at least one person who is like me in this world.”

What am I going to do? Eleazar’s positivity will probably make her want to kill herself more and I can’t exactly argue with her without affirming her views. Perhaps the real person I’m supposed to follow will come to save her tomorrow? Tonight, Eleazar and I stay over at Miquita’s house and sleep in the guest rooms. Unfortunately, I have to deal with Eleazar’s snoring, which doesn’t help me go to sleep when thoughts of Miquita’s potential suicide attempt are already keeping me up. I spend the time I have awake praying that she doesn’t do anything drastic or that her attempt fails at least.

Early in the morning, I wake up as soon as the rooster crows and try to find Miquita. I find her outside putting a noose around her neck and a rope around a wooden beam. Running outside, I try to find words to say, but just end up saying nothing except for her name.

“Hey. I’m glad that you’re here at least,” Miquita says.

“Hold on,” I say.

“It’s going to be okay. Let’s see how those ungrateful people react when they see me hanging. Who am I kidding? They probably won’t care for long. Still, here’s hoping I get my Heart Absolute ability, but I don’t have much hope in it.”

Before I can run up to Miquita to stop her, people come out of her home and her mom calls out to her. Everyone that’s here seems to be concerned about Miquita. They’re all people we met yesterday and have presents in their hands. Seeing everyone makes Miquita take the noose off her neck and walk toward us. She’s speechless and looks like she’s about to cry as her parents embrace and berate her at the same time with tears in their eyes as well.

“I thought you didn’t love me because I didn’t have any unique abilities like the others and because I’m working a dead end job,” Miquita says.

“Honey, we still care about you despite that. Everyone here cares about you. You’ve touched their hearts with all your dedication and hard work. If anything, that’s your amazing ability.”

People start coming forward presenting gifts to Miquita along with their testimony of her hard work and how much they appreciate her despite her being just another farmer. One of the people that give her a gift and their appreciation is a young man that’s about our age. He gives her a crown that he made from the flowers on his farm and basically confesses his love for her. All this puts a smile on Miquita’s face and seems to change her not too dissimilar to the others that I’ve met with Heart Absolute ability. Miquita’s parents hug me and thank me for saving her to which I can’t say much since I didn’t really do anything except stall her for a second.

Of course, because of this, I have to stay for Miquita’s birthday celebration, and when everything is over, I’m left speechless to see nothing else happening. No one special comes and nothing spectacular really happens. While sitting on Miquita’s porch waiting for something, anything else to happen, Eleazar sits next to me.

“You did something great today,” he says.

“I didn’t do anything special.”

“You may think that, but it’s you have to give yourself credit for saving Miquita.”

“Whatever. I’m still waiting for the reason we came here.”

“What are you talking about? We already accomplished it.”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about. I haven’t learned anything new. What was I supposed to learn exactly? That sometimes we already have everything we need around us?”

“Exactly.”

I can feel my heart stop for a second as soon as Eleazar said that. His smile fills me with such hatred for him that crushing his head passes my mind for a second.

“No, no! Take me somewhere else!”

“There’s no point in it. I might as well take you home. I’m sure your parents are worried about you-”

“No, they’re not! They don’t care about me!”

“Miquita thought the same and looked at what happened with her.”

“I’m different though. Take me back to your advisor and ask him if there’s anything else we need to do.”

“Let me see if the Absolute will let me.”

A portal opens up and brings us to the office with Adivino at the front desk like he was before.

“Ah! Eleazar and Cornelia! How did your adventures go?” he asks.

“Tell me there’s something else I have to do. Tell me I missed something,” I say.

“For what reason?”

“I don’t have my Heart Absolute ability. Nothing has changed about me and I haven’t learned anything.”

Adivino looks confused and then at Eleazar who shrugs.

“Okay. If you’ve gone through everything you were supposed to, this shouldn’t take too long.”

I pace around waiting and thinking about what I could’ve possibly missed for a short while before Adivino comes back to confirm that there’s nothing more that I need to do and I already have everything I need. This upsets me to no end and I almost scream out loud.

“See? I was right,” Eleazar says.

“Shut up!” I snap at him.

“Hey, calm down. It’s okay to accept things the way they are.”

“I refuse to accept that I went on that adventure for nothing!”

“You didn’t go on it for nothing. We learned about what being conceited does to a person and how the Absolute can save the conceited through an unlikely person with Lionel. From Caleb and Kyla, we learned that having a Heart Absolute ability doesn’t instantly make your life better, happy, or make you perfect. Finally, with Miquita, we learned that a person’s Heart Absolute ability doesn’t have to be something grand or magical, it isn’t always obvious, and that even the simplest Heart Absolute abilities are greatly appreciated and needed all the same.”

What Eleazar says hurts my ears to hear them because I realized the same things but didn’t want to accept them. Still…still…there could be a chance.

“Take me somewhere else.”

“I can’t take you anywhere the Absolute doesn’t want me to. If the Absolute wants you to go home, you’ll go home.”

“But if I’m supposed to go somewhere else, we’ll go somewhere else. Prove me wrong that I’m meant to go home.”

“Okay.”

Eleazar opens a portal to a place that blinds me with its light. Hopefully, this isn’t home. Come on! Prove me right! This can’t be the end of my journey!