Spring in the Nusakan Thornwood never lasted nearly long enough.
Hassaleh's children, what remained of them, could tarry through the wood's many paths and invent all sorts of entertainment. They would shout and giggle all throughout the hours of daylight.
All but little Sagi, that is.
He was such a strange child. The others knew best to avoid him. Talking to himself as he walked along the thorny path, he would oft come across many curious things. Insects, oversized beans, and even a deflated balloon gator once. These were trifles compared to what he discovered that afternoon…
"I guess we won't find anything for mama today, huh, Marno?" Sagi dragged his heels along the ground with a frown on his face. His hands drooped behind his back as he approached the exit of the forest.
A low growl warned him to keep his distance, but being a boy and all, that was unacceptable. His curiosity beckoned him into a shallow vale where a family of balloon gators had gathered.
Sagi quickly ran behind a gnarled tree for cover and observed the odd ritual. The gators clawed at the soft earth beneath and grunted to one another. Perhaps they were hunting.
As the dirt and mud were shifted away from the site, Sagi could make out the form of a humanoid being.
He gasped; the gators were going to such lengths as to insult the dead? He hesitated for a moment, there were so many of them. But after some deliberation, he decided to preserve the corpse's honor and hurled a small stone into one of the gators' backsides.
The chase was on as Sagi bolted across the vale like a frightened Greythorne in a butcher's shop. He leapt over one of the berserk gators and rolled onto the ground in a heap.
As the first gator approached him with its teeth bared, a pair of hands reached up from the earth beneath and latched onto its tail. The ground shuddered violently as if in labor and the 'carcass' suddenly sprang to life. In a glaring flash of red, the gator met an untimely end. The others skittered away out of sheer terror.
Sagi coughed and stared up at the gigantic being in confusion. Did it just save his life?
"A-are you okay?" He crawled to his feet and circled around the puppet for a better view.
No reply; the mannequin just returned his gaze and cocked its head to the side. It posed no threat to the child, so he continued,
"Do you have a name?" He scratched his head and tugged on the puppet's arm.
"G-ui-ll-o," it echoed synchronously.
"What were you doing in the ground?" Sagi glanced beneath his sandals; his eyes widened at the sight of the newly formed crater.
"Guillo," it rattled on.
"I'm Sagi." He extended his little fingers towards the puppet with a big grin.
The hooded puppet stared down at its own phalange and copied Sagi's maneuver. With another clank it garbled, "Sa-gi."
"You're kind of weird." Sagi quietly laughed and wrapped his fingers around the puppet's hand. He beckoned 'Guillo' closer and his smile stretched even further across his face. "But I'm weird, too. At least, that's what the other kids say."
Guillo's eyes slowly faded into a calm, bluish hue and it began to speak more intelligently, "Weird? You appear to be a normal human child."
"I've got a spirit with me, so they think I'm weird." Sagi took a step towards home and Guillo followed his movements.
"I do sense a peculiar presence. Is it of any danger to you?" Guillo matched the child's stride and started to glance around at its surroundings.
"Marno is my friend! He'd never hurt me." Sagi pursed his lips and shot a pouty gaze up at Guillo.
"I meant no offense." Guillo slowed to a halt. It stretched its legs further and then its arms. Life was gradually returning to the abandoned marionette. "Friend?"
"Someone you can talk to." Sagi pulled his companion along the path until they reached the gates of Sheratan, his home village. "This is where I live."
"Quaint," Guillo muttered, some sarcasm present in its tone.
A young woman came running down the stairs that led into the village with her arms spread wide. Sagi charged into her embrace and buried his face into her bosom.
"One of the shepherds said you'd been attacked by balloon gators! Sagi, what were you thinking? I was worried sick…" The woman ran her fingers through the boy's hair and kissed his forehead.
"I'm okay, though, mama. Guillo saved me!" He scuttled out of his mother's arms and pulled Guillo out of the shadows. "It's my new friend."
"Friend?" She examined the puppet skeptically, then chuckled. "You've brought some strange things home before, sweetie, but this one takes the cake."
"I am obviously unwelcome here." Guillo lowered its head slightly and turned to leave the village.
"Did it just…speak?" Gena's mouth dropped.
"I'll be your friend, Guillo." Sagi latched onto the puppet's arm and leaned against it affectionately.
Guillo silently whirled around with Sagi at its hip and walked towards Gena. With no sense of being or belonging, it glanced down at the boy once more, this time in wonder.
"What a strange feeling…" Guillo buzzed and quickened its pace.
Gena's smile brought a new warmth into the icy situation. She simply laughed. "You should stay for dinner, Guillo. I'm making Sagi's favorite tonight."
Guillo followed the lovely woman up the stairs and through the village. Despite many stares and new gossip, Sagi remained fixed on Guillo's arm. It was a comforting notion.
Guillo had a friend.