By the river

She ran through the flowers in the grass. Although the trees were green, they had a bluish hue - everything seemed to have a bluish hue. She held a lighted lantern in her hand. There were some sounds in the distance that made her run even faster. When she reached the river, she laid down on the grass and steadied herself. Lily lifted her eyes and saw a boy on the other side of the river.

"Why did you run?" the boy asked while looking at Lily in confusion. The girl stood up and said in a whisper, "Mother told me to come here, she told me to come to the river.", "But why?" the boy asked again. "I'm not sure, she didn't seem to be feeling well, she wasn't smiling either!" the girl replied sadly. "Why did they send you to the forest so late? You look small, how old are you?" The boy approached the river bank. "Seven and a half years old." The girl stood up from the ground.

"But what are you doing here so late?" asked Lily. "I was going for a walk, that's all, and then I heard something about where the river is and I wanted to see what it was," the boy explained as he played with a stick.

"Listen, are you sure you don't know what actually happened?" The girl said nothing, just stood there staring into space. Then suddenly she said:
"Before my mother told me to run to the river in the forest, I noticed some strange-looking men."
"What do you mean by strange?" the boy raised an eyebrow. "They had clothes made of metal and held strange things in their hands - I think father once said those things were called rifles." Lily moved as she played with her dress. "You mean they had weapons on them? Did anything else happen?" The boy had already sort of understood what could happen. "After I ran, I heard some loud noises, but I don't know exactly."

"I don't know either, we've been talking for a while and it seems the sun will be up soon. My mother will ask where I am; I'll go home and come back later, alright? And it is possible that she knows how I can help you." The boy turned around and left.

The girl stared blankly at the boy as the golden sun rose.