The latest heart throbs against the dark green of rainforest leaves.
She steps back to admire it.
It wasn't hard to take, this one. No, it wasn't hard to take. The poor creature couldn't hold onto it any longer.
It was a handsome heart. Dark red with a steady beat. It was soothing.
Across the clearing, another heart stirs.
"You?"she says, surprised. "What do you want?"
Its beat has become unsteady, and she doesn't like that. It moves restlessly from where it hangs on the old tree. That wouldn't do. No, that wouldn't do at all.
She took care of all her hearts. And she had many, all hanging from the branches of her rainforest. They were always sad, her hearts, but she could soothe them. It was her job.
She reaches for the discontent heart with gnarled, elongated fingers, but it stops moving. The girl with the auburn hair stands before her. Her eyes are wide with dead sorrows.
"Get back inside," she tells the girl.
Back inside, yes. She must go back inside.
The girl shakes her head. Her auburn tresses burn against the darkness of the forest. "I cannot, Rikamu," she says. "She has come back. I can feel it."