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 walked down the hallway, glancing at various pieces of art, when one in particular caught his eye. He stopped where he was and stared at the giant rose sculpture. The sculpture made him feel sad, but he didn't know why. He stepped closer and started to study it, trying to figure out what it was that brought out the emotion in him, when he felt a little tug on his coat. He turned around to find a little girl who looked about eight or nine staring up at him.
"What are you looking at?" He guessed she wanted him to explain it, but he didn't really know how.
"Hm? Well, let's see… It's a rose sculpture, I guess…" He faced the work again. "…When I look at this sculpture… I feel somehow sorrowful… I wonder why?" He suddenly realized who he was talking to. Why was he telling this to a stranger? Especially a little kid like her. He turned to apologize. "Ah, I'm sorry if I said anything to trouble you, Ib…" He blinked. "Wait, what?" Ib? Where did that come from? He didn't know anybody named Ib. "Who's Ib?"
"I am." The girl was staring up at him. Garry was surprised.
"What? That's your name? Your name's really Ib?" She nodded. Garry was perplexed. "That's the strangest thing… I mean, I don't know you at all… It just kind of came out… How odd." And yet, the more he looked at her, the more familiar she seemed. "But… actually… Have we, perhaps, met somewhere before…?" She had a confused look on her face. This was awkward. Garry found himself looking anywhere but at her. "…My, look at me, asking you such strange things…"
He glanced at his watch. He had to leave. Good. This situation was getting more awkward by the second. He looked back at the girl named Ib. "Never mind what I said. …Well, bye." He turned abruptly and began walking away. He reached in his pocket for a cigarette, then remembered he didn't have any, so he reached in his other pocket for the alternative: a lemon candy. But he didn't find a candy in his pocket. There was… a scrap of fabric? "Hm?" He stopped walking and pulled it out of his pocket. "What's this…" White lace. "…a handkerchief? When did I get this…" The day was getting weirder and weirder. He felt a tug on his coat again. He turned around to find the same girl behind him. "Ah… Is this yours?" She nodded. Something on it caught his eye and he looked closer at it. "…My word, it's true… 'Ib'… Your name's right on it. But why is it in my pocket?" Then he noticed something that gave him chills. "Plus, there's blood on it…"
Suddenly a scene flashed in his head briefly, like a vision. He remembered… something. A small something. "I was… I was… wounded… On the hand… and…" It was slowly coming back to him. "A girl… A girl gave me her handkerchief…" All of the pieces were coming together now. "Yes… this handkerchief was given to me as a gift… A gift… from Ib!" He looked down at the brown-haired girl, a smile on his face. "Ib! I remember now… We were together back there…" He frowned slightly. "How could I have forgotten? It was so important! We stuck together through that bizarre gallery…" He remembered everything! "Chased by strange statues… And Mary too, right?" He looked down at Ib, realizing that she might not know what he was talking about. "Ib… Do you remember?" She shook her head. He had to remind her… What would shake her memory? "Ah! Remember when you got back my rose for me, Ib?! And the floor covered in eyes, and the room full of mannequins…" She still looked clueless. What else was there…? "And also…" The candy! The lemon candy! "When you fainted, Ib! I gave you some candy!"
She reached in her pocket, and her eyes widened. She pulled out the candy, still in its wrapper. She blinked a few times, staring at it, then broke into a huge smile. She remembered! "It's hard to believe even now… But it must have happened, right?" He smiled. "Ib… We got back safely! We did it!" He had kept his promise. He chuckled, but then remembered the time. "There's so much more I want to talk about, but I've got to get going…" He realized he was still holding the handkerchief. He started to give it to her, then saw the blood on it. "Ah, uh, Ib… Is it alright if I keep this handkerchief a while longer? It wouldn't do to return it as it is… I'll have to… make it clean, and then give it back." He stuck it back in his pocket. "Because… we will see each other again!" He turned to walk away, and looked back at Ib, who waved at him cheerfully. He waved back, then headed downstairs and out the gallery entrance, humming happily to himself as he headed home.