Garry hopped into the mural, then turned back around to face Ib. "Yes! I'm really in! Hurry up, Ib!" Ib walked up to it and readied herself, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice.
"Ib…" She backed away from the painting and looked in the direction the voice had come from. Her mother appeared, almost materializing from the darkness in the gallery. Garry, however, didn't see her. There was nobody there to see.
"Ib? What's wrong? Come on!" Ib looked back at Garry, who smiled reassuringly at her, then waved at her to come to him. She looked back at her mother.
"Ib! I finally found you! Sheesh… I was looking everywhere! Don't just go running off places on your own! Your father's waiting for you too, see? Let's go, Ib!" Garry's smile faded.
"Ib! Hey, what are you doing?! Hurry up and come over!"
"Ib! How many times have I told you? Don't go following strangers!" Garry stood in front of Ib.
"Hey, it's not scary, okay? You'll be fine!"
"Ib! Listen to your mother! Don't go with some stranger! Do you never want to see your mother and father again?" Garry crouched down.
"Ib! I'll pull you over!" Ib looked back and forth between the two, who both spoke at once.
"Come with me…" "Grab my hand…"
"Ib!" She made the mistake of looking at her mother, who had a sad expression on her face, as if she knew she would choose Garry over her, and Ib couldn't stand it. She suddenly realized her mother had a point. Why should she choose someone she had just met over her parents, who loved her and raised her? She started to walk towards her mother.
"…Huh? Wait…" Garry stood up. "Where are you going?! Ib!" Garry tried to get to her, but realized the painting was one-way. He couldn't get back to her. He pounded frantically on the invisible surface that was separating him and Ib. "Hey! IB!" She continued walking nowhere with no one, as if in a trance. "IB!" But she was already gone. "…come back…" He put his face in his hands, tears forming in his eyes. "I promised… we'd make it back together…" He started punching the wall. "Let… me… THROUGH!" But it was no use. He stepped back, defeated, but there was nothing to step on to, and he screamed when he started to fall into a blindingly white abyss, and he shut his eyes.
Garry blinked his eyes open and looked around. He was standing on the upper floor of the art gallery. For some reason, he couldn't remember what he had just been doing. He glanced down at his wristwatch and realized he needed to leave. He reached in his pocket for a cigarette, then remembered he didn't have any with him, so he reached in his other pocket for the alternative: a lemon candy. Somehow, he must have lost it, because it wasn't there. He sighed, slightly off-put, and started to leave the gallery. As he walked by the reception desk, he overheard a worried couple trying to find their daughter. He found himself stopping and listening to them, though he didn't know why. The child was described as a nine year old with long brown hair and red eyes, wearing a red and white school uniform. He suddenly noticed the tears running down his face, and quickly wiped them off with his sleeve. I should have been more responsible. He blinked, realizing what he had just thought, then corrected himself. No, she's their child. They should have been more responsible. He walked out of the doors. My, losing a child in an art gallery. The girl must be terrified. He shook his head as he strolled down the street, heading home. Poor thing.