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It had been a week since Arrietty began her intensive-care period with Aerite. Though each day grew more forlorn, Sho knew that saving her life was probably the better option than to satisfy his selfish needs. Besides, Spiller’s words reverberated within his hollow mind, the surges of guilt coursing throughout his veins every time he thought of the little borrower girl. Why did fate have to do this? Why did fate have to match them together, only to tear them apart?
Jane could only offer so much consolation before she began to grow tired of the same ol’ story of ‘I love her’ and ‘I want her’. Sho’s tie with Arrietty was special, indeed, but if he never learned to let go, chances were that Arrietty would never be able to return to normal. In any case, neither Jane nor Sho knew what ‘normal’ was anymore. To put it thoughtlessly, having borrowers in their lives had turned their world upside-down. Perhaps they were as much a nuisance as humans were.
Spiller waited with each passing moment, with each heart-aching moan, with every drop of sweat Aerite wiped, for this day to come. The day known as the seven-day grievance. It was a time limit, if you will, that borrowers had set long ago for some unknown tradition, when forcing someone away from the main clan. Whether it be for a journey of discovery, or banishment, the time limit gave the new nomad a week’s time to say good-bye and finish up any business they had to attend to. And it was now time to notify Sho that his time with Arrietty had finally come to an end.
The tapping interrupted Sho’s thoughts, and his mind slowly remembered what it meant. Spiller was here. He was, once again, in Jane’s house, doing nothing short of sulking. With heavy limbs, he cracked open the window. “Hello, Spiller.”
“Sho, I come to you today with an announcement. But I want you to know that I am not doing this out of hate or distaste, but I am merely following commands.”
“Let me guess,” sighed Sho, sitting down on the ground and leaning on the wall, “this is gonna be bad news.”
“It depends on how you want to see it.”
“Go on then. And don’t worry about Jane, she’s out shopping or something.”
“You’re no longer allowed contact with Arrietty, Sho. Or any other borrower, in that case.”
It took Sho’s brain a moment to register what had just happened. Within seconds, all of his dreams of meeting Arrietty and travelling the world with her were shattered. “What?”
“It’s a custom, bean, that a banishment be delayed a week in order to allow the banished to tie up loose ends. Your week is up.”
“…I see.”
Spiller noticed the overwhelming emotions in Sho’s eyes, but he continued. “If you so much as try to contact us again, you’ll lose us forever. We do have the right to attack the banished if they try to return. Arrietty knows of this, and she will not speak or think to you again until your banishment has been lifted.”
“And when is this?”
“We’ll see what Aerite determines.”
The door to Jane’s room opened, and in waltzed – not Jane, but – Aerite. Realizing her mistake, the now human-sized Aerite stopped mid-dance and bowed sheepishly to Sho. “Pardon me. I bring both good news and bad news.”
She settled herself down on the floor, remaining in her human form. “I have been able to save Arrietty from the chasms of death and torture. She will need months, perhaps years, to fully recuperate, but I’ve managed to stop the evolving process and delay it for many moons.
“On the other hand, I have decided, as Spiller mentioned, the amount of time you will serve banishment from us. In order to preserve Arrietty’s health and our safety, you will be removed from our society for a total of three years.”
It was as if a cloud had been lifted from Sho’s head, and a mountain tossed in as replacement. “Three years?!”
“That’s 1000 days, to be exact. Not truly three years, but about.”
“What about my mentalic state with Arrietty? Can’t I use that to talk to her?”
Aerite sternly glared at Sho. “You realize that is what’s killing her, right? I’ve already severed it. You’ll notice you can barely hear Spiller when he speaks – this is your normal range of hearing. Your empathy with nature and us creatures will decrease, and your mental capacity for memories will shrink. The process will be complete exactly half-way through your thousand-day sentence. After your banishment, you are free to find Arrietty again, but you will need to do so like the first time you did – with pure luck.”
“Did Arrietty agree to all this?”
“She’s not conscious – yet. We have her parents’ consent.”
A fourth voice entered the scene, but it belonged to no physical being. “Don’t leave me, Sho.”
It was Arrietty.
Aerite glanced about in confusion. “Arrietty?! You should not be able to communicate like this! Not after I severed the connection-”
“I’m sorry, Arrietty,” was the soft answer. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“Please,” came the bodiless voice, “don’t do this. I love you.”
Aerite fumbled with some notebooks, searching for the right magic to apply in order to prevent the sickened borrower from causing too much ruckus. Spiller stared at Sho, half in stupor and half in a trance.
“I have no choice, Arrietty. You know that.”
“Please, Sho. I couldn’t live without you.”
“Arrietty, never forget.”
Aerite triumphantly opened a page, shouting “Aha!” and collecting various pieces of magical influence from her bag (which seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, oddly enough).
“Never forget that we will meet in a thousand days.”
And Aerite finished the incantation, sending Sho into a comatose state and snapping Spiller out of his trance. Cautiously, Spiller asked, “Is it over?”
Aerite replied solemnly, while preparing to take her leave, “Yes, it’s all over.”
--
It’s been two years since my banishment. Jane still talks to me and invites me over, but I’ve never so much as seen the shadow of Maribel. Even Spiller, who Jane claimed visited every so often, did not leave any trace of his being. Just last month, though, I did find a note. It was obviously scrawled in a rush, with the lead of a discarded color pencil, and hastily thrown into my room likely when I was asleep. On it was simply “We’ve moved”. Although I don’t know for sure, my most hopeful guess is that it was Arrietty or perhaps Spiller. I couldn’t help but entertain the idea that I might never find Arrietty again. Last time she moved, she’d left me for what I thought was forever. By fluke, we’d met again. This time, I wouldn’t be so lucky.
But I swear, just yesterday, I may have caught a glimpse – just a glimpse
… of a little red dress.

---------

Author’s Words
Hello dear readers. I want to take a moment to thank you for reading my series and for all the positive comments I have received. These thirty-six thousand words have brought me into this amazing world, and now I invite you to complete it. I hope you all have enjoyed this process as much as I have, and though I admit I write less and less, I love it all the same. Now it’s your turn to bring life once again to this story. The world is a big place, especially for a borrower.
geek96boolean10 (Eugene)

Description
It had been a week since Arrietty began her intensive-care period with Aerite. Though each day grew more forlorn, Sho knew that saving her life was probably the better option than to satisfy his selfish needs. Besides, Spiller’s words reverberated within his hollow mind, the surges of guilt coursing throughout his veins every time he thought of the little borrower girl. Why did fate have to do this? Why did fate have to match them together, only to tear them apart?
Jane could only offer so much consolation before she began to grow tired of the same ol’ story of ‘I love her’ and ‘I want her’. Sho’s tie with Arrietty was special, indeed, but if he never learned to let go, chances were that Arrietty would never be able to return to normal. In any case, neither Jane nor Sho knew what ‘normal’ was anymore. To put it thoughtlessly, having borrowers in their lives had turned their world upside-down. Perhaps they were as much a nuisance as humans were.
Spiller waited with each passing moment, with each heart-aching moan, with every drop of sweat Aerite wiped, for this day to come. The day known as the seven-day grievance. It was a time limit, if you will, that borrowers had set long ago for some unknown tradition, when forcing someone away from the main clan. Whether it be for a journey of discovery, or banishment, the time limit gave the new nomad a week’s time to say good-bye and finish up any business they had to attend to. And it was now time to notify Sho that his time with Arrietty had finally come to an end.
The tapping interrupted Sho’s thoughts, and his mind slowly remembered what it meant. Spiller was here. He was, once again, in Jane’s house, doing nothing short of sulking. With heavy limbs, he cracked open the window. “Hello, Spiller.”
“Sho, I come to you today with an announcement. But I want you to know that I am not doing this out of hate or distaste, but I am merely following commands.”
“Let me guess,” sighed Sho, sitting down on the ground and leaning on the wall, “this is gonna be bad news.”
“It depends on how you want to see it.”
“Go on then. And don’t worry about Jane, she’s out shopping or something.”
“You’re no longer allowed contact with Arrietty, Sho. Or any other borrower, in that case.”
It took Sho’s brain a moment to register what had just happened. Within seconds, all of his dreams of meeting Arrietty and travelling the world with her were shattered. “What?”
“It’s a custom, bean, that a banishment be delayed a week in order to allow the banished to tie up loose ends. Your week is up.”
“…I see.”
Spiller noticed the overwhelming emotions in Sho’s eyes, but he continued. “If you so much as try to contact us again, you’ll lose us forever. We do have the right to attack the banished if they try to return. Arrietty knows of this, and she will not speak or think to you again until your banishment has been lifted.”
“And when is this?”
“We’ll see what Aerite determines.”
The door to Jane’s room opened, and in waltzed – not Jane, but – Aerite. Realizing her mistake, the now human-sized Aerite stopped mid-dance and bowed sheepishly to Sho. “Pardon me. I bring both good news and bad news.”
She settled herself down on the floor, remaining in her human form. “I have been able to save Arrietty from the chasms of death and torture. She will need months, perhaps years, to fully recuperate, but I’ve managed to stop the evolving process and delay it for many moons.
“On the other hand, I have decided, as Spiller mentioned, the amount of time you will serve banishment from us. In order to preserve Arrietty’s health and our safety, you will be removed from our society for a total of three years.”
It was as if a cloud had been lifted from Sho’s head, and a mountain tossed in as replacement. “Three years?!”
“That’s 1000 days, to be exact. Not truly three years, but about.”
“What about my mentalic state with Arrietty? Can’t I use that to talk to her?”
Aerite sternly glared at Sho. “You realize that is what’s killing her, right? I’ve already severed it. You’ll notice you can barely hear Spiller when he speaks – this is your normal range of hearing. Your empathy with nature and us creatures will decrease, and your mental capacity for memories will shrink. The process will be complete exactly half-way through your thousand-day sentence. After your banishment, you are free to find Arrietty again, but you will need to do so like the first time you did – with pure luck.”
“Did Arrietty agree to all this?”
“She’s not conscious – yet. We have her parents’ consent.”
A fourth voice entered the scene, but it belonged to no physical being. “Don’t leave me, Sho.”
It was Arrietty.
Aerite glanced about in confusion. “Arrietty?! You should not be able to communicate like this! Not after I severed the connection-”
“I’m sorry, Arrietty,” was the soft answer. “There’s nothing I can do.”
“Please,” came the bodiless voice, “don’t do this. I love you.”
Aerite fumbled with some notebooks, searching for the right magic to apply in order to prevent the sickened borrower from causing too much ruckus. Spiller stared at Sho, half in stupor and half in a trance.
“I have no choice, Arrietty. You know that.”
“Please, Sho. I couldn’t live without you.”
“Arrietty, never forget.”
Aerite triumphantly opened a page, shouting “Aha!” and collecting various pieces of magical influence from her bag (which seemed to have materialized out of nowhere, oddly enough).
“Never forget that we will meet in a thousand days.”
And Aerite finished the incantation, sending Sho into a comatose state and snapping Spiller out of his trance. Cautiously, Spiller asked, “Is it over?”
Aerite replied solemnly, while preparing to take her leave, “Yes, it’s all over.”
--
It’s been two years since my banishment. Jane still talks to me and invites me over, but I’ve never so much as seen the shadow of Maribel. Even Spiller, who Jane claimed visited every so often, did not leave any trace of his being. Just last month, though, I did find a note. It was obviously scrawled in a rush, with the lead of a discarded color pencil, and hastily thrown into my room likely when I was asleep. On it was simply “We’ve moved”. Although I don’t know for sure, my most hopeful guess is that it was Arrietty or perhaps Spiller. I couldn’t help but entertain the idea that I might never find Arrietty again. Last time she moved, she’d left me for what I thought was forever. By fluke, we’d met again. This time, I wouldn’t be so lucky.
But I swear, just yesterday, I may have caught a glimpse – just a glimpse
… of a little red dress.

---------

Author’s Words
Hello dear readers. I want to take a moment to thank you for reading my series and for all the positive comments I have received. These thirty-six thousand words have brought me into this amazing world, and now I invite you to complete it. I hope you all have enjoyed this process as much as I have, and though I admit I write less and less, I love it all the same. Now it’s your turn to bring life once again to this story. The world is a big place, especially for a borrower.
geek96boolean10 (Eugene)