They went back to Sunny’s house and sat down in the living room, opening up the photo album and already getting a wave of nostalgia over them.
The photos look exactly like they did in the past. It was as if nothing had happened. Despite Sunny having already seen it plenty of times, he felt a bit happy seeing it with everyone else.
He didn’t deserve to feel that way. He shouldn’t be happy at all.
He grimaced at his own thoughts. Luckily, no one noticed thanks to them being absorbed with the album.
He bit his lip to set his thoughts straight and looked at the photo album with them.
Though now that they were all looking through it he realized there was one photo still missing. Judging by its description, it is meant to be a photo of the treehouse in his backyard. It’s been a while since anyone has entered it. He wonders if nature took it over.
“Hey, guys. Shouldn’t there be a photo there?” Kel pointed it out, noticing just like Sunny did.
“Huh...yeah, there should be a photo there….” Everyone looked at the area in confusion.
It wasn’t at Aubrey’s house nor was it at Basil’s. So where could it be?
“Wow, I completely forgot about the treehouse. Do you think we could check it out, Sunny?” Aubrey asked the boy.
“Oh, yeah! The treehouse! I think it would be nice to go there again!” Kel grinned.
Sunny let out a sigh, “Sure, if you wanna.”
“Alright, let’s go then.” Hero nodded, giving Sunny a proud smile.
Sunny suddenly felt nervous. He didn’t know why, but he did. Maybe it was the fact that they might run into something bad. Bad things always seem to happen when things are looking up.
It scared him, though his friends didn’t seem to notice. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, preparing for what could be ahead.
Everyone got up and Hero opened the sliding door to the backyard. The walk to the treehouse was short but no one minded. Sunny was surprised to see it still standing despite it looking like it had been through hell and back. Hero made sure to test the ladder first, checking to see if it was still stable after all these years.
Surprisingly, it is still stable. Though it did make creaking noises. Luckily it didn’t break under Hero’s weight.
Climbing up one at a time, the group made their way inside the treehouse. It was old and musty with vines growing out of the walls. Even some moss had managed to grow inside.
Even with all of this, they could still make out the things they used to love. Aubrey walked over to Mr. Plantegg and gave it a small smile, “God, this is still here? Thought it would have been destroyed by now…”
Kel picked up a pair of cards on the ground and straightened them before putting them on the table.
Hero walked over and picked up some of the books in the corner with a smile, “Hey, nice to finally see my old cookbooks again,” He chuckled.
Kel went to walk over to him but immediately jumped backward, “Gah! I stepped on a jack! Ow, ow, ow, ow!”
“Pfff, you should watch where you’re going.” Aubrey laughed.
Hero picked up a toaster and proceeded to stare at it, most likely trying to remember why there was a toaster in a treehouse in the first place.
Kel continued looking around as Sunny watched his friends happily explore and reminisce about the past.
It was relaxing. He was glad that the tense mood from last night disappeared.
“Hey, wait a minute. Now that I think about it...the cat, the TV, the cards, the sweetheart pillow… Sunny, did you base the beginning room in your dreams off of the treehouse” Kel pointed out everything.
“Um...maybe?” Sunny nervously turned away causing Kel to chuckle.
“Dude, it isn’t nothing to be ashamed about!” Kel continued to chuckle.
Aubrey rolled her eyes at Kel and lightly smacked the back of his head, “Stop bothering him, dummy.”
“Ouch! Hey!” Kel stuck his tongue out at her.
“Alright you two, that’s enough.” Hero stopped their fighting.
Sunny let out a sigh. At least they were happy. Maybe his worry earlier was just him overthinking.
He turned around to look out the window but something else caught his eyes instead.
Another photo.
It was taped to the wall.
He reached out and grabbed it, catching the attention of the other three.
He pulled it off the wall to see it was a photo of all of them minus Basil. Kel and Aubrey were smiling with joy while Sunny looked up at Hero who was climbing up to the treehouse. Mari was waving out of the window with a smile.
The photo was a bit worn but other than that there was nothing wrong with it.
There was something else though.
The photo was heavy and Sunny could feel metal on the back of his hand. He flipped the photo around to find a key taped to the back of it with a message.
“Don’t Forget. It’s in the toybox.”
Sunny felt like time stopped as his mind began to race with thoughts.
The toy box. Kel brought it up before. He doesn’t remember owning one, just like how he doesn’t remember that he owned a closet. He wonders if he forgot anything else. It scared him to be forgetting so many things in his life.
Perhaps they were all part of the truth he has forgotten. He doesn’t know how to feel about that. In fact, he really doesn’t know how to feel about anything anymore. Things always seemed to be getting worse and worse.
Was it best to have forgotten this truth or was it important to remember? What if it happens to be small and not that big of a deal? Would that mean he has been torturing his friends over it for no reason? What if it was a big deal? It could be the reason why Mari….
He...He wants to find it out. He really does. He just doesn’t know if it will be worth it in the end.
It would be easier to just die. That way he doesn’t need to do anything.
His body froze.
No.
He wasn’t going to just die. His friends...he doesn’t want to leave them. They don’t want him to leave them.
Selfish….
He knows, but it is for them. He doesn’t want them to deal with his corpse. Not after last night.
“The Toybox? Who would put this here?” Kel mumbled to himself, loud enough to snap Sunny back to reality.
That was a good question. The only person who could have done this was either him, which it definitely wasn’t, or it could be…
Basil.
Of course, everything goes back to Basil.
Sunny let out a sigh.
He has a feeling that they won’t get answers from him easily.
It was worth it to try though….
It was getting dark. Basil should be home soon.
Maybe then, they could finally talk.