FIREFALL, OR IN EXO WONDERLAND ▷ COMPLETE

Epilogue, or a Fall in Xoford

EPILOGUE, OR A FALL IN XOFORD

The chariot of the Sun was drawn across the sky with a trail of a twinkling sound behind.

Oh, did I say twinkling?

Sorry, it was just a message tone. Eun-soo forced her jaded eyelids open and dragged her Samsung Galaxy Ace 7 (the third version was so popular, they decided to make more versions of it) closer to her face. The screen displayed a message.

From: So-called Konstantin Jung

Good morning, Eunnie~:)

She knew more than anyone else that it was morning already. The message was nothing significant. So, she pulled her thick blanket to her chin and went back to sleep. Then, the twinkling returned. Uttering a string of half-awake curses the author wished not to speak of, she stretched a long arm towards the nightstand and grabbed her smartphone again. Another message. Fancy that!

From: So-called Konstantin Jung

Haven't you checked the refrigerator?

Dear God, since when did Kris have an affection for refrigerators? Oh, Kris. She glanced at the digital frame on her nightstand. It consisted of a slideshow of pictures: her own family back home, the strange creatures of Wonderland (her friends mistook them for creepy but good-looking cosplayers) and the pictures taken during Ace's first birthday party. Ace, the birthday boy, was smudging the cream of his almost-eaten birthday cake on the tip of Kris's nose. Next, Eun-soo threw some confetti on Ace to give the naughty child a lesson. Kris retaliated on his son's behalf by blowing a noisy party horn to her face. The fight was ended with the two of them laughing and eating cake.

The last picture was of Kris and Ace sleeping that she'd taken during her last day in Wonderland. A vision of innocence in madness. Sometimes, Kris could be so random. Perhaps, he had an important issue regarding the refrigerator that he desperately wanted to discuss with her. Maybe the refrigerator is kaput.

So, why not?

Eun-soo walked to her refrigerator and tugged the door open.

A tin of spaghetti sauce fell down to hit an end of a mini see-saw made with a ruler and a book. At the other end of the see-saw, a rubber ducky flew up from the impact and hit a ping-pong ball on her coffee table. Quack! The ball rolled on the table to drive a toy car down a ramp. Off the ramp, the toy car went along in a straight line to press the 'ON' button of a toy robot that pulled down a pulley. The rope on the pulley pulled a drawer slightly open and a tea-bag dropped down on her head.

Eun-soo yanked the tea-bag by its string. Written on the tea-bag was "What's that on your laptop?"

She checked her laptop. On it was a piece of paper. "This way" it said, with an arrow underneath. She followed the direction of the arrow and arrived by her kitchen. On her cabinet was another piece of paper. "That way" it said, with an arrow underneath. She followed the direction of the arrow and arrived by her television box. On it was, you're right! Another piece of paper! "Check out your mailbox!" it said.

Gullible Han Eun-soo went outside. What kind of elaborate prank is this, Kris? Why does it need the involvement of a miserable Rube Goldstein machine? She grunted and slammed her mailbox open.

Something was inside.

It was a brown, ornamented letter that smelled like strawberries. It was a decent letter, if not for the childish handwriting on it:

Dear Eun-soo,

Meet me at the Christ Church Cathedral at 3 o'clock sharp!

Waiting,