Yuri finishes off her cup of tea. Val still has a good amount left. She hasn’t taken many sips.

“Oh, that’s right,” says Yuri, “You still haven’t told me why you’re out here.”

“Huh?, I- I said. I’m traveling.”

“Well you haven’t told me why you’re traveling.” Yuri leans towards Val. “You can’t possibly be out all this way just for fun.” She eagerly anticipates Val’s response.

“Well… I…” Val feels stuck. She knows what will happen if Yuri knows the truth. It’s happened plenty of times before. This situation was nothing new. It always ends the same way, but she always tries to make it turn out differently. She hasn’t succeeded yet.

“You…?”

Val doesn’t say anything. She just sits on the couch, looking down towards her hands, down towards the stick she is holding. It’s not that long of a stick. Pretty thin too. If she swung it at something, it would probably break without leaving a mark or bruise. It wasn’t very straight, and was unwieldy to hold. The branches on it were nice to look at though. She likes how they get smaller and smaller as the go further and-

“So you’re not going to tell me, huh?” Yuri reaches out and grabs the stick from Val’s hands. Yuri’s grip snaps the branches off of it. They all fall to the ground. “I don’t like it when people keep secrets. Secrets can be dangerous.” 

Val agrees. Secrets can be dangerous. Though the way they are is what Val and Yuri think differently about. “I can’t.”

“You can’t? Why not?” Yuri looks from Val over to the waterfall. “You don’t trust me. That must be it.”

It isn’t wrong to say that Val doesn’t trust Yuri. She doesn’t think Yuri will do anything bad to her, but she has no reason to think she can rely on Yuri. She knows she can’t rely on anyone. 

Yuri keeps looking at the waterfall. “Rivers are always going somewhere,” she says, “They flow with intention. That’s what I believe. The waterfall is what pushes it in that direction. Without it, the river wouldn’t flow like it does. Waterfalls give rivers strength. The strength to erode rocks in their paths, to flow with power.” Yuri looks back to Val. “I think you’re a river without a waterfall. You want to go somewhere, but can’t reach it alone. You need an extra push.” Yuri reaches her arm out and places her hand on Val’s shoulder. Val looks uncomfortable. “You’re young, Val. You need to trust others. So don’t keep secrets. Tell me what you’re doing out here.”

Val was very uncomfortable. Her breathing was labored. Her heart feels like it’s pounding out of her chest. She takes her hands and latches onto her scarf, pulling it up over her face. Her scarf. It would protect her. It always had.