"Come on, Ib! Eat up!"
Garry smiled over a plate of assorted macarons. He had been waiting for a chance to take her to this café for a long time. Not to mention that it had a long time since he had last saw her.
A concerned look appeared on his face when the young girl did not respond.
"What's wrong? You've been dozing off a lot today…"
She blinked and took a pink macaron from the small stack.
This isn't real.
"It is n-nothing," she murmured quietly.
"Well… if you say so," Garry replied, still unsure.
He sipped some tea and watched the scenery outside the window. It was great to see that Ib was fine after that gallery incident.
"It's a rose sculpture, I guess. Looking at it makes me feel somehow sorrowful…" He glanced back at her.
There was a flicker of recognition in his eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He turned away, with an almost regretful smile on his face.
"…Well, bye."
Don't leave me. Why don't you remember?
"Ah, I almost forgot. Here," Garry reached into his coat pocket and grabbed a rose, the petals a familiar shade of blue.
Ib froze.
All of the petals were torn apart.
He lay against the wall, not moving, not waking up.
He is just… sleeping. He'll wake up soon. He promised…
Garry's slender fingers carefully handed the flora to her. She slowly turned it around and examined the thriving flower.
There was a light-hearted grin on his face. "It took me a while to find one the same colour but I needed to find a way to apologize for not getting all of my… er… blood out of your handkerchief."
His smile was contagious. "Don't worry about it… but thank you. It's beautiful…"
Ib covered the blue rose with her precious handkerchief and tucked it inside her skirt pocket.
He clapped his hands in delight. "So how is school? Are you having fun with your friends?"
The blond-haired girl looked at her with pleading eyes. "Ib…! Please! STOP!"
Aren't we friends?
…
"Yes…" Ib took a bite out of the strawberry sweet. She closed her eyes as she chewed. In that little café, surrounded by delicious sweets and the man she trusted most, Ib felt so calm…
He finally stopped talking to the bunny ornaments and noticed them. "Oh my… did you get lost?"
With glazed eyes he continued, "You should talk with us too until your mommy and daddy come pick you up!" Unnatural laughter escaped from his mouth.
He's not coming back.
All of the sudden, there was a ringing in her head. She felt…so dizzy. Her head…
"…Ib! Are you okay?!" Garry grabbed her thin shoulders. The nine year-old looked as if she was about to collapse.
The lights in the café flickered, turning on and off rapidly. Light. Darkness. Light. Darkness.
Her vision began to blur and the pounding in her head got louder and louder. Ib could barely make out Garry's figure.
"IB!"
…
Ib stood still in a dark room. It was completely empty except for a large painting on the wall. Worst of all, that eerie feeling was back. The one that made her feel as if someone or something was watching her every move.
She…she was back in the gallery? She was just outside with Garry! She had been waiting to meet with him again for weeks... unless-
No.
It was real. It had to be real. After everything she went through, didn't she deserve this?
…Where was he? The young girl searched the room but the man was nowhere to be seen.
Ib clutched her head, desperately trying to remember what happened to her friend. She couldn't have left him behind. She would never leave him behind.
She had to find him.
But she soon discovered that wandering around the dim empty gallery was futile. There was no sign of him anywhere. As Ib returned to where she started, she began to think that Garry was truly gone…
"Ib!"
At the sound of the familiar voice, the fears in her heart were immediately eased. They could finally leave together.
Tightly grasping the blood-soaked handkerchief that she had wrapped around a withered rose, she reached for his hand.
As they walked away from the large painting of the gallery, Ib smiled.
She couldn't wait to try some macarons.