Mistake
"Don't you ever go near that man who lives by the lake," the mothers began to warn their children.
"Why?" they would ask.
"He has gone mad," the mothers would explain. "So be a darling and never speak to him."
The children never understood, for the man appeared of a rational mind whenever they strolled by the land around the lake. He kept to himself, always staying inside, but that didn't speak for his sanity.
They peered through his windows and the house was full of wooden dolls, all red-headed dolls.
"Ahiru!"
The people in the town square all turned their heads as a full grown man raced across the streets and pulled a young girl with flaming red hair into his large arms, his eyes shining with tears. He picked her up and spun her about, telling her of how he missed her and loved her, and the poor little girl could only scream and kick until she finally wretched herself free from his grip.
"I am not 'Ahiru!'" she shouted with indignation, backing up when he stepped closer. "You've mistaken me for someone else, now leave me alone! I said leave!" she shrieked, taking her shoe and throwing it at his head.
It was only then when the man finally awoke from his stupor, his overjoyed expression falling away like the leaves of a dying tree. He stepped away and quietly apologized for his mistake, before turning and running away from the town square, into the direction of the lake.
The children no longer questioned their mothers.