litlinks 2025

The Echo Between Us

by Rowena Guo, Canberra Girls Grammar School

Dahlia had always heard murmurs in the silence. At first, she assumed it was the sound of the house creaking or the breeze brushing against the roof. However, as she aged, the clearer the words became.

They were never her own thoughts.

“Make sure to remember your maths homework,” the soft voice might say, just moments before her teacher asked for it. Or, “Watch out,” just before a stray basketball soared across the court. It felt as though someone was speaking with her from the other side of a delicate barrier.

By year ten, Dahlia stopped questioning it. Someone was there.

During one stormy night, as rain lashed the windows, she whispered back, “Who are you?”

For a brief moment, all that could be heard was the rhythmic sound of water. Then: “I’m Kai. What’s your name?”

Her heart hammered. The voice was deeper than she expected, steady and almost calm.

After that, they communicated in seized moments: during her toothbrushing or when the home fell silent after midnight. Kai lived in a city that resembled hers but was slightly different. There were no cars, just trams gliding above the roadways. People had tablets integrated into their hands. Still, certain details were identical: her school, her neighbourhood, and even the red gum tree by her bedroom window.

Time slipped by. Their conversations grew longer, closer. She told Kai about the fight with her best friend and the struggle of wanting to fit in. He opened up about his father, who worked in an organisation known as the Ministry of Alignment, and how he hated the strict rules of his society.

One night, Kai’s voice was sharper than usual. “They’ve found the rift. They know I’ve been talking to you.”

Dahlia sat up in bed, her sheets tangling around her. “What rift?”

“Between our worlds. They say it’s dangerous. They want to close it,” his voice cracked. “I can’t bear the thought of losing you.”

Dahlia pressed her hands against her ears, trying to grasp the sound. “There must be a solution, something we can try.”

A silence lingered between them. Then, nearly inaudible: “Tomorrow night. At midnight. By the gum tree.”

Her heart raced. Was it really possible? Could he cross between worlds?

The next day was unbearable. She wandered through her classes, hardly paying attention to the teachers. When the clock finally hit midnight, she quietly stepped outside, her feet bare on the chilly grass. The red gum towered over her, its bark shedding in spirals.

“Dahlia?” His voice was closer than it had ever been, echoing through the cold night breeze.

“Yes!”

The tree trembled, and in an instant, the air fractured like glass under pressure. She caught a quick sight of him, a boy of her age, dark hair brushing against his eyes, extending his hand.

She tripped forward, fingers brushing his. A spark leapt between them, as sudden as a flash of lightning.

And then the rift closed.

Dahlia collapsed against the tree, gasping for air. The night fell back into an unbearable silence. She pressed her hand to her chest, where the memory of his touch still buzzed.

Time went by. The whispers never came back. She carried on with her life. School, friends, family. Yet something in her had changed.

Because even though the rift vanished, she knew the world was larger than anyone dared imagine. And somewhere, just a whisper away, Kai knew it too.