Disclaimer: I do not own SNK (by Isayama Hajime) and Paper Towns (by John Green).
I can feel the adrenalines in my body rising, and fast enough to hit my brain. My heart rate is increasing, hands are cold and sweating. Before I knew it, I was already in front of the old oak tree in the playground, five meters away. My feet were stuck on the ground, not intending to step any closer after following Annie as she ran towards the tree.
Things are quite normal as it is.
One, there's an old oak tree. Okay, good.
Two, it was dark-brown in color. Obviously and not weird.
Three, it has leafy branches with birds nestling and singing happy song like there is nothing wrong in the world, something like with number...
Four, the thick trunk of the tree has an old man slumped on it, wearing a business casual clothing, eyes open, mouth with blood, not moving, not breathing, flies flying and landing on his forehead. In short...
"He is dead." Annie said as she moved to the side of the tree to see the whole body of the man.
"A-Annie, le-let's g-go ho-home." My voice is trembling in fear.
"Look here, his eyes are open!" She gestured her hand in a way that it was inviting me to come closer.
"A-Annie, le-let's g-go ba-back." There's no way I'll accept her invitation.
"I'm curious. People closed their eyes when they die, right?" She asked, and as if I care. Eyes close, eyes open, when you're dead, you're dead.
"I do-don't k-know, A-Annie..."
"Do you think someone killed him?" She took two steps forward.
"A-Annie, Don't!" I yelled, afraid that the man might turned into a living corpse and bites Annie's lovely face.
But she moved her face closer in the man's, inspecting the cause of death. "…or it was an accident?"
Her actions made my bladder filled up with liquid that anytime might burst out and wet my pants, but my brains still on its mind, knowing I have to hold it back. That time, I want to run and scream like a coward bastard, but I can't leave Annie alone (even though it seems that she's enjoying the situation, very clear). Even against my will, I stepped forward through the dead man's body and grabbed Annie's hand.
"Le-let's g-go ho-home." I said.
"I think I want to touch him." Annie confessed.
"Annie! We should get out of here! Now!" I scolded her.
"Okay, okay. Fine. You're such a joy killer."
I held her hand tightly, assuring that she will not stubbornly go back and make some further inspection. Maybe if the situation is not like this, my heart will be pounding in joy, and not with fear. Her hands are small and soft. I can feel it as I dragged her out from the oak tree to our bicycles.
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We got back home, safe and complete. No bruises, no missing limb, foot or arm that might be eaten by a dead man. We reported what we see to our parents and they called the police immediately. My parents, who are both therapist, asked me what happen, talked to me calmly for me to relax, and sooner I got better and act normally again. We then heard the sirens of ambulance and police cars, and noticed that people from the subdivision gathered together.
Later that night, I helped my mother to wash the dishes after we ate our dinner. We watch movie in the living room every after meal, while eating popcorn or ice-cream, then finished watching by 8:45 pm, and I will used the remaining time to clean myself and to brush my teeth before going to bed at 9:00 pm. I was fixing my bed when my mom entered the room to kiss me goodnight. Next thing will be, me telling her that she don't have to do it anymore.
"Hmf, teenager-wannabe." She will teased, but still insist on kissing me.
"Mom, stop it." I protested.
"Why? Have you stopped peeing on your bed to argue?"
"I don't pee on my bed!"
She gave me a weird look, like yeah-I-know-it's-not-possible.
"I stopped peeing on my bed." I corrected.
"Okay fine, Mr. Teen-Wannabe." She surrendered. She patted my head and smile. "Goodnight then, Bertl." She made her exit and closed the door.
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A minute after my mom left, I turned off the lights, and went back to bed. As I turned my head, I saw a human figure shadow on my window. In surprise, I stepped backward, my foot hit my toy box, and I ended up stumbling on my bed.
"Relax, it's me." A familiar feminine voice said.
"Annie?" I gasped in shock. I got up, walk through my window, and pulled off the curtain that hiding the face of the beautiful creature on the other side. I was greeted by her smile.
"What are you doing here? It's already bedtime." I said.
"I know, but I can't wait to tell you about my investigation." Her eyes are sparkling in excitement.
I decided to remove the magnetic window screen off of my window to see her clearer. I noticed then that she was holding a small notebook and a girly pencil on her hands. She opened the notebook and read the content. The lights from the light post outside are enough to see what is written on it.
"Ms. Taylor, who was one of the gossipers, told me that his name was Nick Pastor..." she started. "...she said he was living on St. Joseph Street, the fifth house after the grocery store. So, I decided to go and check it out myself. I saw bunch of policemen in the place, and I tried to enter the house without them noticing, but I was spotted by one of them, telling me that I'm not allowed inside. I then told him that I also want to investigate, and I am the one who saw his body in the playground. He laughed at me, actually. I don't know why." She pushed the back of her pencil under the side of her pouted lips as her eyebrows furrowed.
It's because of you being an innocent, adorable child wanted to investigate a serious incident, and will just obviously make it harder to close the case. I thought, not wanting to tell her that.
"He said that if I'm that curious, I can ask some questions as long as it is not controversial. I asked about his age and job. I have learned that he was forty-six years old man working in an office near the capital. After answering some of my other questions, I thanked him and shifted my attention to a certain old lady. She was Mr. Nick's neighbor, and about to enter her house. So, I went to her place and asked for a glass of water. She invited me inside and I managed to get information from her. There, I found out that it was a suicide!"
"Suicide? Why would he do such thing?" I asked in confusion. "Killing yourself would be painful, right?" I added.
"I know. She told me that he was fired from his job, and blah blah blah. In short, he's problematic." She concluded.
"But it doesn't mean he have to kill himself."
"Yes, I also said the same thing. She just told me that we should pray for him, and gave me some cookies and a glass of milk instead of water after. It tasted good, though." Upon saying that, she closed her notebook and put it back and her pencil inside her pink, square sling bag.
"Maybe he got a loose screw." Annie joked.
My mind is flooding with thoughts, but I found no words to say. I'm completely speechless. I had this difficulty on picking which topic I should open up. I don't really talk much, unlike her who always had something to say. So I just stared at her, hoping for her to speak again, and fill the silence.
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But unfortunately, she didn't.
Her eyes were fixed on me, and mine on her. It was like we're on a staring competition and the first one to look away is the loser. I stayed still, breathing is normal; nothing unusual is happening, until she shifted her eyes from me to my behind. I looked back, trying to figure out what she's looking at, and when I saw nothing, I faced her again. She's still looking to whatever is on my behind and it's confusing me.
"A-Annie, wh-what are you looking at?" The image of Mr. Nick Pastor suddenly appeared on my mind, and adrenaline, for the second time this day, kicks in. The elevation of my hair follicles due to muscle cells contraction causes the hair in my skin surface to stand up, sending me goose bumps. I don't know if I should be explaining that, but I used science to dismiss Mr. Nick Pastor on my mind.
"Put it back." She commanded, pointing on the window screen.
I thought she was about to leave, and go home to sleep, so I did as what she had said. I placed back the magnetic window screen, and about to close the curtain, when I noticed that she was still standing outside. Even with the screen, I still saw how her baby blue eyes glimmer under the moonlight. Our staring competition continued. My eyes on her, her eyes on me. I don't know how long it takes, five minutes? Ten minutes? An hour? I don't really know. But it was like we are sharing a moment that lasts forever.
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