The New Year's Event
A vast lawn stretched out beneath my feet. The park, which was usually packed with people, was empty and quiet today. For some reason, it put me in an incredibly good mood, and I started walking with a light, bouncy skip. The backpack on my shoulders bobbed up and down, dancing excitedly.
"You always seem to be in such a good mood whenever we come to the park, Jeff."
"Yeah. It feels like all my worries just blow away."
As I answered Shine's question, I realized we were getting close to our first destination: the Silver Pond. In the distance, the pavilion came into view, along with the massive boulder where Jin used to sit and fish.
I stopped in my tracks and hid behind a large tree, peering out to scan the pond. Shine did the exact same thing, pressing herself flat against the trunk and poking just her head out to look around.
"Is he there?"
"Hmm..."
I narrowed my eyes at Shine's whisper, carefully scanning the area. But there was no sign of Jin. In fact, there wasn't a single soul near the pond. A cool breeze swept by, gently fluttering my bangs.
"I don't think he's here," I said, cautiously taking a step forward.
The rustling of the grass beneath my feet and the faint chirping of birds in the distance made me feel wonderful. Knowing that rogue wasn't around made my mood soar even higher.
"Let's go!"
Once I was absolutely sure Jin wasn't there, I grabbed Shine's hand, and we dashed forward together. After running circles around the wide pond, we finally made our way into the deep shade of the pavilion, panting for breath.
"There's really no one here."
"Everyone must be on vacation."
I plopped down on the floor, letting the breeze wash over me. Because the gentle wind swept across the surface of the pond first, it felt incredibly refreshing. Lulled by the pleasant sensation, I closed my eyes and lay down. It felt as if my entire body was being wrapped in a cool, airy embrace. A soft chuckle escaped my lips from the sheer, blissful sense of freedom.
"Are you going to draw here?"
"No."
I shook my head at Shine's question. Even though it had turned into a bad memory, I had already drawn the area near the pond when I first met Jin, so I wanted to sketch somewhere else this time.
Jumping back to my feet, I pulled some drinks out of my backpack.
"What flavor do you want, Shine?"
"I'll take this one."
At my question, Shine reached her hand deep into the bag and snatched the lemon-flavored drink. I grabbed the remaining orange-flavored one next to it.
Shine and I sat on the pavilion's railing, sipping our drinks. Drinking a sweet, fizzy beverage while basking in a cool breeze... if heaven existed, surely this was it.
Savoring the sweet and tangy taste of the orange drink, I licked my lips and slipped the half-empty bottle back into my bag. I had to save the rest to eat with my sandwich. Shine did the same, tucking her leftover drink away.
I slung my backpack over my shoulders again and stepped out of the pavilion.
"We're going to the rabbit farm next, right?"
"Yep."
As I walked toward the rabbit farm hand-in-hand with Shine, I suddenly remembered Jin's shoes, which I had chucked into the pond. I glanced back at the water's surface. The pond flowed gently, reflecting the clear sky. The black plastic bag containing Jin's shoes, which I had thrown out there, was nowhere to be seen.
Hehe. A small giggle escaped me. He definitely hadn't been able to find his shoes in the end. I could tell as much from what I'd overheard during his phone call with Amy.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Oh, nothing."
We passed the pond and headed deeper into the park. Beyond the sprawling lawn lay a beautifully paved stone path. Round stones shaped like stars, moons, and suns were embedded deep into the ground.
"..."
I couldn't help but stop, utterly mesmerized. There were new shapes added that I had never seen before.
"Di... Dinosaurs...!"
Yes. The newly added stones on the path were shaped like dinosaurs.
"Dinosaurs?"
Shine stopped beside me, looking intrigued. I crouched down on the ground and pointed at a dinosaur-shaped stone.
"Look at this. This is a dinosaur."
"It looks unique."
Shine reached out and toyed with the dinosaur stone, her fingers sliding over its smooth surface. I stood up and looked around.
"What are you doing, Jeff?"
"Hold on a sec..."
The park was so meticulously swept that there wasn't even a single stray twig in sight. I could try digging it out with my bare hands, but that would definitely ruin my nails and get dirt all over them. Since I didn't want to get scolded by Amy, I desperately searched for a suitable tool to dig with.
After looking around for a while, I finally managed to find a decent branch. It was sturdy and had a sharp point. With this, I would definitely be able to excavate the dinosaur stone without any trouble.
Bringing the branch over, I began poking at the dirt around the dinosaur stone.
"Are you going to take that?"
"Yeah."
"I see."
"Is there anything you want, Shine?"
"Hmm..."
Shine looked around blankly. She didn't seem particularly interested in stones.
"I want a dinosaur stone too."
She pointed to the stone right next to the one I was digging up. I nodded and focused entirely on my task.
Thud, thud. The long branch proved to be quite efficient at scraping away the dirt. Perhaps because it was buried deeper than I thought, the excavation was taking a bit of time.
"Hup—heave!"
Poke, poke. I channeled strength into my fingertips and pried the branch. Suddenly, with a satisfying pop, the dinosaur-shaped stone popped out of the ground.
"Oh."
Knocked backward by the sudden release of tension, I tumbled onto my butt. I dusted off my rear and stood back up. The dinosaur stone was heavier than expected, and it was so large I could barely hold it in one hand. After brushing off most of the dirt clinging to its surface, I slipped the stone into a small pocket of my backpack.
Excavating Shine's dinosaur stone didn't take long. Since it was right next to mine, I focused my efforts on the hole I had just made, leveraging it to easily pry her dinosaur stone out.
"Do you like things like this, Jeff?"
"Yeah... I mean, they're cool."
I brushed the dirt off the stone as I spoke. But Shine still looked puzzled.
"This is cool?"
Having stuffed the stone into my bag, I mumbled incoherently. I didn't quite know how to explain the sheer awesomeness of dinosaurs to her. I figured I'd have to show her some dinosaur videos once we got back to our room.
I looked down at the stone path. The absence of the two heavy dinosaurs was glaringly obvious. There were gaping holes left in the middle of the neat, orderly path. Feeling a sudden pang of guilt, I grabbed some ugly, random stones nearby and stuffed them into the holes. The crooked, misshapen rocks managed to fill the empty spaces well enough.
"Let's go."
Shine and I bolted down the path without looking back. There was no one around anyway. Which meant there were no witnesses. The Great Dinosaur Stone Kidnapping would remain an unsolved mystery forever.
Running along the stone path eventually brought us to a small farm building. A sign with large letters was mounted on the front: RABBIT FARM. I didn't know whose taste it was, but seeing a giant rabbit head hanging above the sign made me think the owner didn't have the best aesthetic sense.
Shine and I ran straight toward the farm, our light, pattering footsteps echoing softly in the quiet air. Arriving in front of the farm's transparent glass doors, I stopped, staring into the empty space.
"Is anyone here?"
Shine, arriving a moment after me, poked her head through the gap in the door to look inside.
"Doesn't look like it."
Just as she said, the place seemed completely deserted. There was no one at the counter inside where the manager usually sat. If it were just the manager missing, I might have assumed they had stepped away to tend to the rabbits, but there wasn't even a single visitor in sight. I stepped back slightly to inspect the exterior of the building.
"That's weird."
There was no sign indicating they were closed.
"Maybe they went to the restroom?"
"Maybe?"
Tilting my head at Shine's suggestion, I followed her inside. The bright lights illuminating the interior suggested that the place wasn't entirely abandoned.
"Let's just go look at the rabbits."
Shine grabbed my hand and pulled me along without hesitation. I stumbled after her with awkward steps. As we headed toward the rabbit enclosure, Shine picked up a bag of rabbit food sitting on a nearby shelf.
"Shine, you have to pay for that."
"But there's no cashier."
I quickly pulled my credit card out of my pocket.
"Give it here."
I didn't know the exact process, but looking at the POS terminal, it seemed similar enough to the ones in convenience stores. I'd seen other people use them plenty of times, so it couldn't be that hard. Or so I thought.
I scanned the barcode of the rabbit food and swiped my card through the reader.
"Did it work?"
"Are you done?"
But the familiar chime that usually rang out whenever you bought rabbit food didn't sound. That meant the transaction had failed. Panicking, I reached out and started pressing random buttons on the machine.
Beep—beep—beep—bee-beep—beep—
The error sound beeped repeatedly. Cold sweat began to trickle down my back.
"Jeff?"
Shine's sudden voice startled me. Startled, a spark of blue electricity surged from my hand. It was an incredibly weak manifestation of my power.
Crackle!
But the aftermath was anything but weak.
Zzzzt!
The current leaped onto the POS terminal, instantly enveloping it. An Awakened's electricity possessed properties entirely different from normal currents. Because of this, any electronic appliance exposed to it was easily fried. This POS terminal was no exception. After flickering with a few blue sparks, the screen flashed a blue error screen and died completely.
"Gasp..."
"Is it done?"
Shine asked, looking completely clueless. I nodded slowly at her.
"Yeah... I think so."
I hurriedly stood up and frantically looked around. There aren't any security cameras, right? Fortunately, there didn't seem to be anything resembling a camera inside the building. Letting out a sigh of relief, I stuffed my card back into my pocket, grabbed the rabbit food, and bolted from the counter.
"Let's go!"
I grabbed Shine's hand and headed toward the rabbit enclosure. A small smile crept onto my face at the thought of feeding the rabbits. The fried POS terminal vanished from my mind in an instant.
Running excitedly, Shine and I soon arrived in front of the small wooden fence. Fortunately, the rabbits were still there inside the enclosure.
"The rabbits didn't go on vacation," Shine said, leaning against the fence.
"I guess not."
I began tearing open the packaging of the food. Having learned through repetition that the rustling sound meant mealtime, the rabbits swarmed toward us in an instant.
"Hello!" Shine greeted the rabbits, her eyes sparkling.
"Hello!"
But the one who answered the greeting wasn't a rabbit. It was a voice that shouldn't be here, a voice I never wanted to hear again. At the sound of that familiar male voice, my entire body froze.
From inside the enclosure, out of what looked like a rabbit hutch, a man stepped out. He was wearing the exact same overalls as the farm staff. In his hands, he held cleaning tools.
It was Jin.
He leaned his cleaning tools against the hutch and waved at us with a bright, beaming smile.
Shine's face instantly twisted into a scowl. Mine did too. The rabbit food in my hands slipped through my fingers, spilling all over the ground.