The Little Child [3]
Dazzling sunlight streamed through the cracks in the cardboard box.
Lulu slowly opened her eyes.
Her body, which had burned like fire just yesterday, felt miraculously light now.
Lulu sat up, swung her arms around, and burst into a wide grin.
"Mimi... Lulu... no more owie now!"
Lulu pulled out the last piece of bread left from yesterday and held it first to Mimi's mouth.
Then she carefully chewed her own piece and stepped outside.
The rags and straw she'd laid out so meticulously yesterday had dried soft and fluffy.
Lulu gathered them one by one into her arms and brought them back inside to lay them out again.
She straightened the crooked box walls, brushed off the dust, and spent a long time tidying her nest.
By then, the sun was dipping low, painting the world in orange hues.
As long shadows blanketed the village and people headed home one by one, Lulu finally hugged Mimi close and peeked outside.
Going out when there were crowds meant getting kicked again, for sure.
The daytime world was far too dangerous for Lulu.
"Mimi... let's go..."
Lulu waited until full darkness fell, then crept out stealthily toward the cluster of trash bins.
She moved so carefully she barely made a sound, groping around one bin after another. That's when it happened.
A moldy sandwich chunk poking out from a bag caught her hand like a miracle.
"Whoaaa...!"
Lulu clamped her mouth shut, overflowing with joy.
But she had no time to savor it.
A rough-looking man's shadow crossed the alley from afar.
"Ah, damn it! Told 'em to clean up the trash right away, and now it stinks to high heaven, tsk!"
Lulu's heart plummeted at the grumbling man's voice.
Luckily, he hadn't spotted her yet.
Lulu held her breath and pressed herself tight against the back of the bin.
Smaller and thinner than kids her age, she vanished completely into the shadows.
"Ugh, the smell!"
The man spat a curse and flung the trash he was holding haphazardly.
Thwack!
The flying bundle slammed into Lulu's shoulder, but she bit her lip hard and didn't make a sound.
She just prayed desperately for the man to pass quickly.
Only after his footsteps faded completely did Lulu exhale a held breath of relief.
She cautiously opened the box the man had discarded.
Inside were all sorts of edibles piled up.
Most were spoiled and reeked, but Lulu picked out the miraculously edible bits.
"Mimi... look... food... yay..."
Normally she'd turn back here, but today felt like a lucky day.
Just a bit more rummaging, and she could eat her fill with Mimi for days—she got greedy. That's when it struck.
Krarung—!
Lightning cracked from a clear sky, and the heavens darkened instantly.
"...!"
Lulu's eyes widened in terror.
The rain she feared most in the world was coming.
Rain meant her box house collapsed, and she and Mimi had nowhere to sleep.
Plip, plip.
Drops began to fall, quickly turning into a downpour.
Panicked, Lulu clutched Mimi and bolted toward home.
But the torrent blinded her, and terror led her astray into unfamiliar alleys.
In the lashing rain, Lulu stumbled around trembling.
She fell, got up, fell again into the mud, over and over.
"Hic... home... where's home..."
Gusts mixed with rain battered her body.
Rain stung her eyes, blurring her vision; soaked sack-like clothes weighed her down.
Terrified her home might have washed away, Lulu hurried on frantic, tangled feet.
Then she tripped on a jagged rock and tumbled miserably into the mud.
"Ah...! Waaah..."
The pain of her torn knee was nothing compared to fear of Mimi getting wet or muddy—Lulu frantically groped the ground.
But the texture under her fingers felt wrong.
Not cold mud, not wet puddle.
"...Huh?"
An unbelievable sight unfolded before Lulu.
The surroundings were a black watery mire of mud,
yet in the midst, one battered book lay
dry as if rain parted around it, emitting a faint glow.
Lulu didn't know what a 'book' was or what this object meant.
But instinct told her:
This was treasure. Maybe a precious treasure to protect her and Mimi.
"Wh... whoa... this..."
Lulu snatched the book with trembling hands and shoved it deep into her bosom, deeper than the sandwich.
Shoulders jerking at thunderous roars like screams, she clutched it tight and ran back into the rain.
"Home... quick... gotta get home...!"
Soon, the fierce downpour eased as if by magic.
As the rain thinned, Lulu brushed wet hair from her face and scanned around.
Thankfully, the familiar silhouette of trash mountains appeared.
Near her box home.
Lulu kicked off through mud-splattered puddles, running desperately.
Gasping breath rising to her throat, she found her box house still standing, uncollapsed.
"Haa... ha... i-it's okay... Mimi, our home... didn't die..."
Lulu crawled inside and gently placed shivering Mimi in the innermost dry corner.
But she didn't rest.
Rain was stopping, but fear it might pour again drove her on.
The child crawled out again.
She dragged over large plastic scraps and wet plywood trash piles from nearby, grunting.
"Hng... heave..."
She carefully piled them atop the box roof, bigger than herself.
She patched leaky gaps with wet cloth, weighted heavy stones to secure.
Her reed-thin hands caked in mud, breath ragged, but Lulu checked the roof over and over, terrified of collapse.
Only when moonlight faintly pierced clouds and rain fully stopped did Lulu crawl inside, utterly spent.
"...Phew."
Lulu hurriedly dried her soaked body with old rags.
Any lingering water might make her sick again—she wiped meticulously.
Then she lined up today's finds before Mimi.
A bit wet and mangled, but to Lulu, more precious than any feast.
"Mimi... hungry, right...? Today... lots..."
Lulu munched the damp sandwich and carefully turned the pages on her lap.
Each flip rustled pleasantly.
"Whoa... Mimi... look... pictures... pretty..."
Unlettered Lulu saw no complex formulas or runes.
Just strange, beautiful patterns of red and black lines intertwined.
Lulu placed a small finger on the page, entranced.
That instant,
[Summon][Wealth][Array][Contract]
the bizarre characters cradled in the red star seeped coldly into Lulu's eyes.
Unreadable words danced and shifted forms in her mind.
Lulu tilted her head.
These pretty red pictures must be magic rainbows to summon a missing daddy.
The child believed it with innocent faith and smiled brightly.
"...Book... that lets... meet daddy..."
Lulu's heart thumped.
Drawing these cool pictures might really summon a daddy like the one pushing the cart earlier.
Lulu shoved the remaining sandwich in her mouth whole and jumped up.
"Mimi... Lulu... call daddy!"
Lulu hugged her precious book and Mimi tight to her chest.
From the damp corner of the soggy box house, a cotton-puff head poked out timidly.
Fishy earth scent and cold night air brushed her nose.
"...Up."
Confirming no one around, Lulu whispered a short sigh of relief.
She tiptoed stealthily, heels high.
Fearful of splashing puddles, she paused after each step, ears perked.
Suppressing breath and presence, the child slunk cat-like toward the square's center.
Finally, the plaza's heart.
Lulu stopped, looking around.
"Wh... how... how do...?"
Her head brimmed with the red star's cool pictures, but facing the vast ground, her hands faltered.
Lulu, who'd never drawn even a doodle properly.
She poked the ground with fingers, eyed Mimi's paws, flailing about for ages.
Then she spotted a sharp stone shard gleaming from washed rain.
Like finding treasure, Lulu snatched it and squatted on the plaza floor.
Her small knees touched cold stone.
"Draw... picture, daddy comes? Right, Mimi?"
Tiny reed hands gripped the shard white-knuckled in tension.
Lulu recalled and slowly scratched the first line on the ground.
"Like this... no... like that..."
Wringing memory, she scraped the floor.
Sharp stone over rough stone scratched tick-tock, drip in the quiet.
Maybe gripped too hard.
The jagged edge dug deep into her tender palm.
Red blood beaded, trickled down her hand to plip, plip on the ground.
But Lulu felt no pain.
Or rather, her mind brimmed so full with the red star's images, pain vanished.
As Lulu scratched with the shard, blood from the wound seeped slowly into crooked grooves.
Like starving beasts devouring prey, the etched lines drank her blood, glowing deeper.
Hands filthy with dirt and blood, sweat beading on her brow, Lulu didn't stop.
Finally, the last line connected, forming a warped circle and star.
Lulu panted, placing the book open on her knees again.
"Hmm... all done... Wealth?"
[Precious Thing]
As Lulu's hand touched the book, eerie voices echoed in her mind again.
Some showed blinding piles of yellow metal, others demanded shriveled hearts from wailing people, whispers craved souls of flower-like beauties.
One crooned to offer irreplaceable family lives, another commanded the one piece treasured above one's own life.
These grotesque visions swirled chaotically in the unlettered Lulu's mind.
Teetering gold piles, blood-scented hearts, misty souls...
Lulu didn't grasp their meanings.
But one word from the torrent pierced her heart.
[Precious Thing]
Lulu blankly eyed the doll beside her, Mimi.
Mimi was Lulu's only precious left in the world.
"...H-how... Mimi..."
Tears welled in Lulu's eyes.
Mimi wasn't just a doll.
Her everything—sharing warmth on cold nights, guarding through scary dreams.
Lulu didn't exactly know what 'wealth' meant. But instinct screamed placing Mimi on this cold picture meant never hugging her again.
Lulu's small hand clutched Mimi tight, glanced at the array, hesitated long.
Plip. A held tear fell on Mimi's worn cheek.
"Mimi, Mimi... sorry, so sorry..."
Trembling hands placed Mimi in the array's center.
As fingers parted from Mimi, Lulu's heart tore away too.
"Lulu... Lulu bad... made Mimi hurt..."
Guilt choked her; she sobbed raggedly.
Feeling like the worst kid betraying her only friend, unbearable.
Like begging forgiveness, she banged her head on the ground. Thud, thud.
Cold stone clunked dully against her forehead, but Lulu didn't stop.
"Mimi... hit Lulu... Lulu bad... wanted see daddy... hic!"
Self-loathing tears splashed the array.
Vicious sorry for Mimi, yet desperate inability to give up daddy—it shattered Lulu.
That moment, the array rippled grotesquely.
Defying worldly logic.
Normal contracts form sacrificing valuables, but Lulu offered something dearer than her life.
That brutally pure mix of 'self-hatred' and 'love' became sweeter fuel than anything for a demon.
Red lines snaked up Mimi's cotton paws like serpents.
Lulu, eyes swollen red, clasped hands, squeezed shut, pleading.
"If... family... meet... then..."
"Hug tight... come get you again. Sorry, Mimi..."
Leaving an impossible promise to retrieve Mimi, Lulu murmured low.
"Lulu... really... so lonely..."
"Daddy... please... come..."
That instant.
Over Lulu's bloody scrawl, the array vibrated as if tearing, spewing red radiance.
—Whummm.
A heavy pulse like Hell's depths crumbling shook the plaza floor and Lulu's tiny body.
In a blink, the world warped bizarrely.
Night breeze stilled, insect chirps from grass halted, even floating dust froze midair like specimens.
Time utterly stolen—a suffocating silence.
Then space shivered like paper slit by a blade, ripping wide.
From the oozing darkness stepped a man.
Black shirt buttons half-undone, heavy silver chains draped over.
Corpse-pale skin, half-lidded sleepy red eyes gleaming.
A cold languor that rotted all life just by existing.
Hell’s absolute, eternal silence ‘Sloth’ set foot on earth.
"...Haa."
The man scowled like facing the world's most annoying chore, tilting his head.
His faint sigh evaporated even the plaza's lingering micro-sounds.