Garu ran all the way home, locked the doors and fell right onto his bed, which must have hurt, considering his "bed" was only a few blankets and a pillow on a hard wood floor, but Garu didnt care. He had WAY too much on his mind. Like the fact that the girl that had always seemed to annoy the heck out of him was about to be gone. Forever. But there was something that scared him even more than that, like the fact that he actually cared. Suddenly, he was starting to see Pucca in a different way than he ever did before. Just the other day, she was the creepy, annoying stalker who he couldnt stand, but now she was the sweet, beautiful girl.. that he loved. And now she was going to die. The thought of her being dead made Garu sick to his stomach. Why? He thought, Why did it have to be me?

Garu layed there thinking about her for what seemed like about 3 hours until he finally drifted off to sleep. He had horrible nightmares that night, all involving Pucca. The last one was so terrifying that he woke up in shock.

This is how the dream went:

Garu was walking down the streets of Sooga Village, the sun brightly shining, and the sky clear of any clouds. Then, he spotted her, standing at the end of the street waiting for him. Without hesitating, he ran as fast as he could until he leaped right into her arms and started embracing her tight. He could feel her warm breath on his shoulder, as she wrapped her hands softly around his neck.

"Oh Garu" she whispered, "Theres nobody Id rather be with right now."

He wanted to just let it all out. Theres nobody ID rather be with right now! I LOVE YOU!!!

But suddenly, he couldnt feel her arms around him anymore. The blue sky became a dark gray, filled with clouds, the sun went away, and she began to slowly fade away. She reached out her hand toward him. He tried desperately to grab a hold of it, but he went right through her. Her image became more and more transparent, and he tried to speak to her, but no words would come out.

This couldnt be happening. She was slipping away from him. Then, strong winds began to blow, and he heard her voice one last time,

"Good bye Garu.." and then, she was gone. The winds stopped, the sky began to clear up, and everything seemed to be going back to normal. But when he looked down, all he saw that was left of her was the ribbons that kept her hair up. She was no more. He picked up the ribbons from the ground and held them close to his chest, repeating her name over and over in a soft murmur. He couldnt believe it. It was too soon. Too soon for her to die. This couldnt be happening. Then suddenly, he awoke with a fright.

He found himself covered in sweat, and he was breathing heavily. He looked out the window to see that it was morning again, and he had been asleep for almost 18 hours. He got up, and stared out the window. Everybody outside was as cheerful as they could possibly be. Did they not know of this horrible tragedy that was about to happen?

~To be continued