It's been... weeks? Months? Years? How can anybody tell anymore? Especially if time feels meaningless to the people who has lost track of it long ago... Ever since that incident, a innocent flower boy sits on his bed, crying himself to sleep at night... not knowing how to comprehend the situation from before.
Tears fall... just as the leaves does so as well. Time feels agonizingly slow for him. Each hour his eyes open is every moment that he wants to shut them... forever. The little boy clutches onto his blankets as he sobs uncontrollably, unsure of what to do next. What will tomorrow bring? Will tomorrow be worth to see? Who knows, he thinks to himself. Suddenly, his weeping tears start to cease.
In his mind, he wants to question it... but it's elsewhere now. He gets up, walks up to the nearest bathroom he could find. He figures that a quick wash to his face could do him some good... that's what he thinks, anyway. While moisturizing his face, he sees an unfamiliar reflection; one that doesn't belong to him, but a completely different entity.
He has no clue on what this 'something' is. This disorientated manifestation suddenly pops up from who knows where and it doesn't seem like it needs a physical matter for it to be reflected in a clear surface. Taking a look behind him, nothing is there.
It's just empty space... but staring at himself once more, the dismembered figure can be visible. He freaks out, knowing that he could be dealing with a paranormal threat right under his nose. He has no way to combat it and isn't sure if retreating is a safe option in this particular circumstance. Later, the dark manifestation only grows stronger - not in physical form, but has the ability to warp reality to a much darker scale.
Their presence is definitely felt within the flower boy's shoulder and it feels like his entire life is being threatened at this point in time. He tries to call for help, but nobody could hears him... nobody has ran up to him... his feint calling has been blocked out by some unknown wall. This isn't normal... It can't be normal, he thinks to himself. What has he gotten himself into?
With the knife at hand, the little boy smashes the window violently, causing it to shatter and make scratch marks on his arms... he's fine, thankfully. Despite his best efforts, the dark manifestation comes into physical form; not relying on a clear surface for its presence to be realized in the real world. The bathroom fills itself with darkness that it almost feels suffocating to the flower boy as he tries to escape from its clutches and shuts the door.
Unbeknownst to him, the corruption starts seeping under the doorstep and continues to spread... Powerless to do any more, the only thing he could do is run away from the unknown being... as much as he hates to do so. Whatever this creature is, he isn't able to outrun the darkness and gets swallowed whole, not knowing where he is right now... Wherever he is, it's definitely not Faraway and most certainly not his neighboring home at all.
From the looks of it, this must be his inner thoughts, he questions himself as he wanders around the seemingly endless void. Every step he takes makes him weary and unsafe as there is no clear and definite path that he is supposed to go; he's lost and afraid. A lost, stray animal... trying to find itself back to their home; a perfect analogy for his current situation.
Who knows what lies beneath his mind? Though he feels like it should be second-nature to navigate himself throughput his subconscious, it couldn't be more mysterious since he hasn't delved into his mind for a good while. A door suddenly appears out of nowhere with no rhyme and reason; it pops out of thin air... just like that. He has no clue if he has to open as it could be dangerous...
Whatever the case may be, he *has* to proceed forward or else he'll be stuck on his mind for who knows how long. The lost flower boy musters up any ounce of courage he has left and opens the door, which reveals a blinding light that quickly dissipates to a huge garden accompanied by a plethora of different flowers all across the world. Whichever reality he is in right now, the scenery is magnificent as well as the nice fragrance lingering in the air.
It seems to him that he finds himself on top of a patch of flowers and fruits - which are now messed up - but luckily, the little boy is able to replace the damaged ones and replanted new ones and in less than a minute, the recently planted ones starts to grow exponentially faster than expected... almost too quickly that the seed had no possible time to absorb both the water and the sunshine within the small time constraint in a reasonable timeframe. Of course, it's a dream, he thinks to himself.... but... he can't control it.
Overtime, however, the flowers starts to decay for no explicable reason... and dies quickly and forms into 'something' horrible. It forms into a dark sphere that once again, swallows the flower boy whole as well as the natural lifeforms with him. Despite his vision never blurry, all he could see is pitch black; no color to be seen... He takes a grip... but feels something on his hand. It's thick, yet sturdy... I wonder what it could be, he thinks to himself.
The little boy drags his left arm to see what he has... but it's nothing... yet he can still feel the rough object. Later on, a tree suddenly appears with a tire swing... swinging around with nobody occupying it.
Even with no solid ground to stand on, he walks up to the lone tree and sits on the tire as he swings up and down. Suddenly, a human figure appears out of nowhere... At first glance, he has no clue on who this person is. Her clothes are in a nightgown... and it's ragged for some reason.
He doesn't know her... yet he feels as if the flower boy has seen this figure somewhere. Tilting his head to the side, before he could take a closer look, the demented figure screams at him and lunges at him as it tears up his skin apart. He's losing blood fast... he tries to struggle, but is too weak to fight back. He can only let out a bloodcurdling scream before he is finally silenced... for the rest of eternity.
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" Basil, Basil, dear. Wake up. "
Before he knows it, the flower boy smacks the hand of his mother without even realizing before apologizing right afterwards. He can be seen quivering from head to toe... He must've had a horrible nightmare, his temporary caretaker assumes as she calms the distressed child. The warmth of a hug - though not related - seems to comfort him as he loosens up for now.
It takes a while for him to snap out of his nightmarish trance he has been getting for the past few weeks now, according to the calendar. Sometimes, anything that is going on around him seems to either slow down or not matter to him at all... as if he is mentally isolating himself. He couldn't take it anymore... he just couldn't... the flower boy hugs his caretaker tightly as he feels abandoned and uncertain on what's to come.
" Basil, dear. It's fine... you can tell me what's wrong... I'll listen to you. "
The horrible things *it* has done to him... would she even believe him? Question is, *why* would anyone believe him? It shouldn't come to discussion or else his newfound suffering would all be for nothing... he has to do this for him... for his best friend. The little boy shakes his head just a bit as he flashes a smile, hoping for the pain to go away.
It's not as if it will help him in the future. He thinks that letting that incident resurface once again would not only cause him dismay, but tenfold to his best friend. Above all else, he knows that it wasn't his fault... *Something* must've been behind him and killed his most beloved family member... right? He just can't picture his best friend being the culprit... he just believe it... he just can't... he thinks to himself.
" Don't worry, A-Aunt Polly! I'm okay... I think I just have a nightmare about s-spiders and drowning. I'll g-get over it soon. "
Basil then returns the hug and for a faint moment, it feels nice to have some comfort in these trying times. Of course, the incident has caused great grief and sorrow amongst his friend circle and he wants to help them as much as possible... though he doesn't know if he would be a bother to them or not.
In an instant, he seems to remember... the sudden breakup between the gang... it only took him up until for it to sink in. They barely meet up after the incident, much less they contact each other way less, which is to be expected... Who wouldn't grieve? Who wouldn't be extremely saddened by those events?
They *did* lose a memorable companion from an incident that is considered to be a stroke of bad luck. She died on the day of her supposed recital performance with her younger brother... and the police is still under investigation around the local area for weeks. Even without the daily commotion that goes on outside everyday, Basil can't seem to get in contact with any of his friends... they suddenly stop replying to his messages.
The flower boy wholeheartedly understands that his best friends need time to recover from such a traumatic event... but he doesn't want any one of them to forget their friendship. Abandonment is common in his social life, despite the company of both Polly the caretaker and his grandmother - who is ill and cannot do much on her own. He wants to vent to someone... anyone... of his troubles... but he fears that the little boy would trouble them over his 'miniscule' problems.
At one glance, his face bumps into a wall, wincing in pain. Unaware of his surroundings, he is now downstairs near the entrance of his home before being called to have his morning meal. He immediately doesn't feel hunger even after the hellish nightmare or even feels that his appetite is most certainly abnormal. It has started even before the frequent nightmares and that has no reasonable explanation on why so... he just feels empty inside, despite his stomache rumbling.
" What's wrong, dear? You should eat your breakfast so you don't tire yourself out. "
He nibbles his food, relieving the caretaker's worries since malnutrition is quite dangerous... that even Basil himself is aware of. In his mind, food is not essential at the moment... he has lived without any supplements other than water and quickly notices that his body has become abnormally thin for a child of his age.
He promises to eat a lot more, but completely forgets and starves himself without even knowing and even if he do get reminded, he doesn't have the energy to do so most of the time. Even getting up requires too much effort for him and oftentimes decide to nap a little longer, he keeps saying. After convincing himself to eat the porridge that his caretaker had made for him, he thanks and leaves for his daily school life.
He walks to the front door, opens it... and is suddenly met with a feeling of hopelessness and uselessness. Though he isn't sure where that is coming from, it's something that he shouldn't ignore... but he continues to move forward as he takes his first steps outside. In his vision, the world got extremely dark... more so than usual. The usual shining light seems dim to him and with every step he takes, the strong emotions emitting within him grows stronger and causes him agony.
Nonetheless, the little boy has no choice but to attend school as not to disappoint both his caretaker and his grandmother. Basil sees the other children run into school to avoid being late to class and much to his uneasiness, tardiness is the least of his worries He feels a strong force behind him, accompanied by a boisterous voice - which he recognizes immediately.
" A-Ah, Kel, " Basil greets to his friend... even if he has never met him for quite a while, the overjoyed kid seems to be the same as ever, " good morning. Are you feeling well?? "
" Basil, Basil! I'm doing well, thank you! It's been a while, dude! Where have you been!? "
Oh... it's just Kel being... well, Kel, he thinks to himself. He's usually oblivious to topics such as this and he doesn't want that energy to dissipate simply because of his personal mood. He wonders if his older brother - Hero - has shunned the truth about the incident away from his brother, in which he would understand since he's his precious little brother and never wants his optimistic energy to ever die... but he has to know eventually, right?
" Just spent some time by myself. I'm fine, though. So Kel... what do you want from me, seeing that you went your way to meet me after some time? "
" Ah! Thanks for the reminder! Uh, how about we hang out after school!? Again, it's been a while since we had any free time with learning and stuff... besides, I wanna stretch my legs and have fun! "
It's just him being a knucklehead again, Basil laughs on his amusement... but is also glad that his friend is still radiant with positivity after all this time. He sometimes wish that he could have that same energy as he does just so he can deal with the pain inside of him. 'Ignorance is bliss'... this quote pops into his mind when he thinks of Kel... because he hasn't changed at all, despite of the horrid incident back then.
" So uh... Kel, I have a question... "
" Hm? What's up, buddy? Whatcha need!? "
" ... "
" Have you seen Sunny lately? I haven't met him in school for a while and I'm getting worried about him. "
He finally picks up his realization and forgets that his inner voice sometimes goes outside of his thoughts, sometimes blurting out whatever he is thinking. With that, Kel doesn't seem too happy about his question... and it's quite understandable. Basil has never seen Sunny since the incident... where could he have gone? He... hasn't just up and went somewhere... right? The once energetic idiot seems disturbed by the query, but manages to brush that aside.
" Ah, Sunny, " the knucklehead finally responds after a few minutes to reflect on the question, " come to think of it, a few weeks have passed and he hasn't stepped out of his house for three... four weeks? "
Basil couldn't believe it. His heart shatters where he stands... he knows... he just knows that the poor kid is in pain. The flower boy pesters the boisterous child for more details and such since that's all he could go off, but for the first time, his friend seems defeated as if he has surrendered... and it's strange to him because Kel is someone who is stubborn, yet loyal to his friends.
" Sorry, man. I tried... I tried getting good old Sunny out of the house. His mom told me that he is still sleeping and apparently shows no signs of waking up anytime soon. "
" I tried to get in contact with him every now and then, but he hasn't picked up the phone for a long while. Poor guy must've gone through a lot after that incident. "
This is... shocking to him. He thought he was oblivious to the traumatic event back then... and while this somewhat relieves him because he doesn't want to keep on lying, it's hard to imagine the smile that Kel must've held after the death of a loved one who meant so much to Sunny. Though his disappointment is showing, the energetic idiot prompts the flower boy to make their way to their school.
" Oh! Dangit... We're gonna be late... C'mon, Basil! Let's skedaddle! "
" R-Right! L-Let's go! "
On our way to the school ground, both Kel and Basil walk to their respective classrooms since the head counts in terms of students greatly outnumber the amount of seats one classroom can contain, thus having subsections of each grade allows more students to enroll and at the same time, allows some of the unused rooms to be occupied.
" Eyo, Basil, my man, you gotta promise that we hang out later after school, alright! Don't forget! "
" O-Okay, Kel!! "
Upon sitting, his first instinct is to lay his head down as his drowsiness never succumbed even during the time where he *actually* intake his vital supplements... It's most likely a lingering effect that'll go away soon, Basil thinks.
Moments later, the bell rings, which alerts the flower boy before seeing most of his classmates, including his first friend, Aubrey. By the looks of it, her expression has darkened quite a bit the last time he saw the tomboyish girl. Her otherwise energetic self couldn't be felt and instead is replaced by dread and guilt... she must've been aware of what happened... he panics inside... The boy wants to comfort his best friend, but he has no idea how to approach her at the state she is in right now.
" Aubrey, Aubrey... " the flower boy whispers to her, but the second bell has rung and he decides to wait for another time.
As much as he tries, listening to the school proctor is difficult since his hearing isn't the best and he isn't the brightest compared to the mathematicians and science prodigies and even they aren't that dedicated. Despite that - however - he tries his best to do what he can, knowing that he is in a severe disadvantage... Thanks to the persistence of the flower boy, the proctor acknowledges his patience and continues to elaborate further on his teaching, making the student understand the material better.
Some children takes note of it and asks Basil for any tips on how he was able to learn so quickly and even going as far as to temporarily attain the proctor's attention for a good while.
Just when the school day ends, Basil's first act is to find her Aubrey... but she's nowhere to be found... even if break time just started. He rushes outside to check every vacant classroom in hopes to find her, but to no avail each time. His worry skyrockets every second, not knowing how to deal with it appropriately with him sometimes hyperventilating.
The only place he hasn't checked is the cafeteria. At first glance, it's loaded with different students that are from different grades and maneuvering around almost feels suffocating to him. He sees that there are a lot of group circles who seems like they're having a good time... After all, it is their last day of school before summer comes around and will likely won't meet up with one another for a long while. Through a huge crowd, Basil spots Aubrey... but she's running away... and nobody is stopping her.
He couldn't push through a large crowd since his figure can't topple down even a fourth grader. Kel - the one who is currently lost within the staggering amount of people - does a little stunt of his. He throws an old brown pouch that contains marbles, which made most of the individuals slip face flat onto the ground and later on signals the flower boy to keep on going. The situation escalated rather quickly and it gets the school authorities involved... I hope he'll be okay here, Basil sympathizes on the back of his mind.
Despite his kind nature, he tries to move past the people standing idly as fast as possible, but the tomboyish girl seems to be further away. Is she... avoiding me, the flower boy speculates. After a few minutes of following her without being spotted, Aubrey abruptly stops on her tracks and Basil promptly hides among the trees, hoping that she hasn't looked his direction.
Then... it starts raining. While Basil is trying to shelter himself as well as keeping line of sight to Aubrey, she just stands with drenched school wear. On inspection, he notices that her attire is scorched and old as if they are hand-me-downs from another owner instead of it being store-bought. Regardless, she doesn't even acknowledge the change of weather... She doesn't even have an umbrella with her, so she really didn't plan on visiting the Faraway Town cemetery until at that moment in school.
Before realizing that the coast is clear, he notices that she is standing in front of a particular gravestone with different bouquets resting beside it... He doesn't visit the cemetery a lot since he's usually occupied on tending to his flowers and assisting his ill grandmother. A moment after, he investigates said gravestone and immediately recognizes who is laying there...
Mari.
Time has passed... yet it feels as if they've been stuck on that particular day; the tragic accident. Mari has impacted so many lives - including ones that are closest to her - and knowing that she had received an untimely death must've been a devastating blow to anybody who knew or knows about her. The broken girl sobs so much that her eyes turn bright red... but she couldn't stop because she meant so much to her. A tough inscription on her grave can clearly be seen as, ' ᴍ ᴀ ʀ ɪ - [ 𝑆𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑? 𝐴𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒.] '.
That quote... is seemingly an unforgettable one. Basil remembers as if it was a record player playing the same tune over and over again, but to him, he doesn't mind it because it's a trait that he wants to mold into himself. Her younger brother - Sunny - is now all alone. Despite his parents' support, from Kel's experience, his status sounds so drastic to the point of social withdraw and potentially escapism in some form.
He sits down, not knowing how to deal with loss since he - as well as Sunny, Kel, Aubrey, and Kel - are still children and even if Hero is the oldest member of their friend circle, the fact that his love interest has passed away so suddenly... he wouldn't be so surprised if the reliable older brother figure couldn't take it anymore. Whichever the case, he knows that people are dealing with their losses differently... he's just worried that his friendships would be severed in the process.
Aubrey - on the other hand - gets closer to the grave and smacks her head onto it... From where the flower boy is standing, it looks like it must've hurt a lot, but it doesn't seem like she cares anymore. Suddenly, she hugs the grave as she continues sobbing uncontrollably to where her tears are overflowing downwards to where she is buried... He finally gathers up the last of his courage and tries to go in for a hug, but she isn't flinching at all.
She doesn't react to this sudden actions and seems dead... it looks as if she is possessed. Later, the troubled tomboyish girl realizes before crying once more before holding the flower boy's hands... not wanting to let go so soon. Fortunately for Basil, he doesn't plan on letting go and to him, this newfound bravery feels unnatural to him... but nonetheless, he tries his best to comfort her until the sky becomes dark.
" B-Basil... I miss her... I miss Mari.... s-so much... I miss her so much! "
Just as if he too is at his limit, Basil couldn't hold it in and starts fidgeting so much that his friend seems worried about him. To the little boy, inside of him, the tightening of his stomache only hurts a little more everyday and today is the day when he finally lets it all out. Not wanting to be a burden to the ones who are mourning... he bottles his feelings, hoping that it'll all just go away someday... because it won't be with us forever... ʳ ⁱ ᵍ ʰ ᵗ ?
" Me too, A-Aubrey... I miss Mari, too... I just want us to be happy... "
Their cries are drowned out by the heavy rain... but despite that, they continue to weep and mourn for the dead. Loud sirens can be heard from a distance, which didn't catch any of the two's attention and later on, a group of policemen and adults comes running into the forest. Thankfully, they formed a search party for both Basil and Aubrey.
Not knowing a reason or explanation for their sudden movement, the two rushes to any nearby bushes to avoid getting spotted. They have no clue why they're hiding from them... but they feel as if they aren't ready to move on... to return home. After waiting it out for a few minutes, the search party has left the area, both letting out a sigh of relief.
" Basil!! Aubrey!! You're okay! Thank goodness!! "
Without warning, Kel runs headfirst and gives them a massive bear hug and accidentally lifts them up before letting them down. Even with the happy returns, the energetic idiot couldn't help but tear up on sight and even with the trouble he had caused during the school, he doesn't seem to mind as long as his friends are safe and sound.
Upon closer inspection, Kel's whole body is scrapped as if he was in a midst of a battle against someone or something dangerous... Those might be scars belonging to wolves, trying to find them. Even if Basil wants to express his gratitude to his best friend, he couldn't because his extreme sadness overrides any sort of happiness at the moment and all he could do is cry on his shoulder as well as Aubrey...
They seems scared, Kel thinks to himself. On his end, he has no idea what to say to them to cheer them up since whatever comes out of his mouth, it usually make things worse for both himself and others around him. The only thing he can think of is to stay silent and give them a shoulder or give them the company they need. Hero comes out and wraps his arms around the entire group... just without the two siblings - Mari and Sunny.
" K-Kel... you idiot... why did you risk yourself to find me...? We fight all the time and I treat you h-horribly... "
" So...? What if we *do* fight all the time? We always get over them and make up somehow... Besides, friends... friends are supposed to be there for each other, right? "
" Aubrey, Basil... Oh... thank goodness, " Hero, despite in a depressed state, tries to stand tall and be brave... for the whole group, " where have you been? We've been looking for you... "
The two distressed individuals ask the brothers if they're part of the search group a few minutes ago, to which they answer no. Hero explains that his little brother - Kel - noticed that they haven't left the school through their usual route from home to school and vice versa and was worried for them, so he begged his big brother to find him without causing much of a scene... and also because Kel himself has caused such an uproar in school that it'll most likely be on the news.
Though his older brother is disappointed with the little brother's behavior and antics, he agreed to this 'personal search' of his, despite his mood not being the best after Mari's death.
" Eyo, big bro... we gotta go and bring them home... Our parents are gonna be worried about us... and I don't have the energy for that... "
" ... "
" Y'know what, Kel, I think we should stay here for a while... Maybe they want to grieve a little more... "
" But Hero- "
" I promise, Kel... I'll take full responsibility for not meeting our curfew time. Let's... give both Basil and Aubrey a chance to reminisce of the good times we had... "
The four children sits down onto the grass, just staring into the night sky with the stars glistening. It becomes brighter and starts to get just a little bit bigger as if some of those stars are getting close, no matter how small the distance is. Basil - being happy that they get to spend time with each other during hard times - feels bittersweet all of a sudden... He wishes for all of this to be a bad dream and that when he wakes up, *she'll* be alive again...
Basi, however, knows that he has to confront reality one way or another... and he wouldn't want to face it in a delusional manner. The overwhelming sadness flowing inside of him is still present and may become worse overtime... but he'll have his friends by his side. Aubrey and Kel... are just having their late night bickering about something random again... Even if it's something childish, he doesn't mind.
The oldest one here - Hero - has an expression of a soldier who has surrendered long ago when he faces his love interest's grave. His eye bags are more prevalent than they were before... and it was barely noticeable at the time. He lets down his head, feeling responsible for her death as he believes that her suicide is his fault... that he doesn't give her enough love.
Whichever the case, the flower boy can only sit beside him and hold his hand in hopes to reassure him that it's all going to be okay. For the entire friend group - albeit quite shaky as of late - she's been a great friend as well as a swell big sister figure... and it's sad that a good and young person such as herself had to leave this world for good. He couldn't bear any more losses anymore...
" Basil... I'm sorry for keeping this a secret... but there's something I have to tell you... "
" H-Huh? H-Hero? W-What is it, Hero? You can tell me anything... "
Judging by the face of the oldest brother of Kel, he seems hesitant to speak about the matter that he brought up seconds ago. He even starts stammering his words around, since that is unusually rare for the classy and distinguished Hero... The flower boy is feeling a sense of dread in the air even with the two of them not exchanging any words to one another. In an attempt to break the silence, he sighs heavily as if he is preparing himself.
" I... I have to leave soon. Tomorrow, to be exact... I have to go to college first thing in the morning... "
That moment completely shatters Basil's heart. Somehow, his selfishness only accumulates more inside of him and even wishing that his best friend to not go away. He doesn't want to lose another friend of his... not again. Instantaneously, Basil hugs him from the side, not wanting him to leave his side. Hero, on the other hands, has expected this sort of reaction from Basil and decides to return the favor... Oftentimes, he thinks to himself if he should leave them behind...
" Basil, Basil... I'm very sorry for breaking the news to you, I truly am... but I have to. I want to support both my parents and Kel... "
" H-Hero... Be h-honest with me... are you going to come back soon...? Like, really soon? "
" ... "
" ... "
" I'll... try. No promises, though... You can get mad at me or even resent me... and I wouldn't hold it against you, but I want to continue helping people... in her place... "
Basil could never hate him... he could never hate any of his friends... Sometimes, he blames himself for not being there for both Mari and Sunny... Since the little brother is taking this the most difficult, he might need his best friends now more than ever... but Kel has attempted multiple times and failed to get him to come out. What would she do in a time like this, he thinks to himself.
In the end, the flower boy couldn't give him an answer since he's so conflicting on wanting the best for him over wanting both him and the remaining friends he has to stay with him... forever. He's usually not a selfish person and doesn't act out of his personal needs before his friends'... but today and maybe in days to come, his selfless nature could rot and take over him.
" Hey, uh, Basil... you know we can always keep in touch, right? Just know... you're not alone, okay? Even if I'll be leaving... you have Aubrey, Kel and Sunny... "
" O-Oh... right. We have to get Sunny out of his house somehow... He hasn't attended school for the past few weeks... "
" ... "
" Darn... now all I can hope for... is that Sunny will heal soon... and that you three be there for him... because I know how much Mari means to him. "
" So please, Basil... don't stop. Keep making new memories with your friends and potentially new ones... Can you do that for me? "
Somewhere in his mind, the flower boy vividly remembers the photos he has taken from his first one to his last... and each to them carries a special memory that is dear in his heart. Though he is afraid of losing what he has captured, the boy knows that the purpose of a camera is to capture moments that would otherwise be missed and to look back on then and become stronger with each passing memory. " O-Okay, Hero... I'll try my b-best! "
Meanwhile, both the tomboyish girl and the energetic knucklehead comes around and takes a seat besides both Hero and Basil as the four comforts one another from a passing that has broken all of them indefinitely. Their hearts are in need of mending and even then, it could take years to fully recover... or maybe... their traumatic scar could be permanent... who knows... All they know is that they have to move forward.
" C'mon! Don't think that Aubrey and I didn't hear ya! It's cool... Basil won't handle the pain alone... cuz we got him... "
" Yes! Basil, as my best friend, you can always rely on me when you need anything okay!? "
" A-Ah! I-I'll keep that in mind, A-Aubrey... and same to you... because I want us to keep making new memories together. "
The gang only has one more thing to do on their last; try to help Sunny as best as they can. He's likely the most distraught out of all of us and the fact that he hasn't left his home to even catch some sunlight concerns the entire group... Not knowing what the future holds... and the sudden changes that is happening in life, Basil knows that everything is just going to be okay.
Everything is going to be okay... ʳ ⁱ ᵍ ʰ ᵗ ?
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[ᴇɴᴅ]