Into the Forest Green

The child walked through the spongy moss. She held her hands to her chest. She kept her ears open for the outside as well. They’re working hard to get everyone back. Only the child knew that it wasn’t going to be enough.

The birds singings faded in the background. Something else caught the child’s attention. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Her little feet followed the sound as their guide. The child closed her eyes.

What are you doing?

The child didn’t answer. She breathed as she took a listen. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

She snapped her eyes open. She gasped and took off running.

What happened? Where are you going?

There was a long dark green string floating along in the sky. The bight colors stood out in the darkening sky. Masayuki wanted to reach out and grab it. The child kept her arm by her side.

What are you doing? We have to get that string!

The child doesn’t answer as she kept running. Her eyes stayed on the string. Masayuki kept trying to reach it, but the girl’s body won’t move. She opened her mouth to say one word. The boy goes quiet after that.

Fine. Have it your way.

The child huffed as she kept running. She would grab the string until she got to the end of the path.

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The thumping turned into light singing. Little sparks of lights danced around in the air. The child stood in the middle of the tall grass. She reached up for the ribbon. Her body went stiff. Masayuki could feel it too. His vision clouded before everything changed to green.

The images skipped around in his head. They went so fast that he could barely keep up. Masayuki would’ve reached out if he could. From what he could make out, he saw a girl skating around on the sidewalk. He could see her chubby cheeks and brown curly hair. Her laughter made him feel warm inside.

Then he heard a silent whisper.

Oh. I’m fine. He coughed a little bit.

Hm? You know where we are going? Say, when can I come out?

The child didn’t answer. Instead, she quickly turned around.

Huh? What is it?

She put a finger to her lips. She used her other finger to point ahead. Masayuki took a look for himself in the green. The shapes looked hazy. However, he could make out that he was looking at long ears. Was that a bunny? The boy took a closer look.

That’s when he froze.

Lisa?

The bunny turned and stared at him. That’s when he could see Lisa seemingly staring back at him.

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Lisa snapped out of it and stared straight forward into the empty space. She pointed forward.

“I can see Baby Doll and Masayuki,” she said.