Molly awoke for the third time that night. She groaned in frustration, and gave up on trying to accomplish a good nights rest. Luckily, the sun was rising, and she had to get up anyway. She swung her legs over the large bed and opened the door. Cool morning air blew into her house, inviting itself in. Molly squinted her eyes against the unwelcome houseguest, and swiftly walked outside and shut her door to prevent any other disturbances. The door slammed shut and suddenly Molly remembered she left the key in her house. Molly huffed in annoyance; she had locked herself out in the cold, muggy air.
Gosh darnit.
Molly sighed and decided to take a walk, maybe go bug-hunting. Halfway around the town, she spotted Liam weeding the ground. He was muttering some choice words at a particularly tricky clover.
"Hey."
"God dammit, this weed is going to drive me-oh, hey." Liam stood up, his hair ruffled. "How're you?"
"Cold and tired. And I locked myself out of my house," Molly replied.
Liam chuckled, that familiar soft laugh that he only gave when Molly was around.
"That sounds crappy. Better tell Nook when his shop opens up." his face contorted into a mask of annoyance. "Nook, that bell-stealing raccoon in an apron. Do you know how much a one-room tiny house costs?"
"Uh…no?" Molly said, wrapping her wings around her body in an attempt to warm up.
"It costs ninety-eight thousand bells. Ninety-eight thousand! How much am I getting paid to weed the town? Zero bells. But I'm bored and Jacques is complaining about the weeds, something about his inner peace, so here I am." Liam huffed, got back down on his knees, and tugged harder at the clovers.
"Ow!"
Liam looked up quickly, rubbing the back of his head. On the ground was a sack of one-thousand bells exactly.
"There. Thanks for weeding the town."
Liam looked stunned for a moment, then took the bag. "Thanks."
Molly turned around and began walking away.
"Hey, can I tell you a story?"
Molly paused and turned around. "Huh?"
"A story."
"Well, okay." Molly awkwardly took her place on the dirt next to Liam.
"Once upon a time, humans were the only species that could talk or wear clothes. If a parrot spoke, or a dog wore a wig, it was because of us. I went to school. There was a girl there who was also named Molly. She even looked a little like you." Liam smiled. "I had a platonic crush on her. All my friends joked about it, but didn't tease me, believe it or not. One day I invited her over." Liam hesitated. His mouth was frowning now. "We became friends. We became best friends. One day, her brother got sick. One day, her brother got very sick. The next day, her brother was gone. Molly was hurt. Molly was very sad about this. So I comforted her. I told her it would be alright."
"Well, the government saw that everyone was getting sick. A plague was going around. Scientists worked day and night and confirmed that this plague would destroy the human race. So the government took almost all the children, the future of the nation, and gave them all an operation."
At the word 'Operation', Molly felt a stabbing pain in her head. She lifted her wings and rubbed her temples. Liam paused and observed her quietly. Then he continued.
"This wasn't any old operation. They decided to simply call it the Operation, since that was what it was. This Operation took humans and turned them into animals."
The world was starting to swoop at Molly's feet. She felt nauseous.
"They lined up children and tested them for the plague. Almost everyone got through. If you tested negative, woohoo, you got to go ahead and get the Operation. If you tested positive…well, sucks for you, you have to stay behind. And die." Liam's voice suddenly went dry and cracked. He hesitated a long time before continuing, and Molly was glad, because black spots were starting to show up in her vision.
"I tested positive." Liam stopped there and abruptly got up. "You alright? You look a little pale."
"I'm really tired," Molly responded. Now that Liam had stopped talking, she was slowly feeling better.
"You better go to Nook's and tell him that you're locked out."
"It's 9AM, Liam."
"Well…the Junction should be open, and they're Nook's nephews. They could probably get him." Liam yawned and started towards his house.
"Oh, another resident moved in, by the way. Name's Biff."
"Biff?" Suddenly Molly gasped and keeled over.
"Molly!" Liam raced over to her. "Are you alright?"
Molly didn't respond at first, her eyes squeezed shut. Then she gasped, "I…don't…know…!".
Liam's eyes narrowed. "Don't pass out. Don't pass out. I didn't tell you everything that happened for you to forget."
"What? That makes no sense." Molly sunk to the ground, her eyes still closed, fighting against the raging pain in her head. Her heart pounded.
"What's going on, lil' hare?" Molly heard a cheerful voice. She dared to crack open an eyelid, and the sun filled her entire vision, feeling ten times brighter than before.
"Wait! Like, WHAT is going on?!" the happy yell from earlier quickly changed into a stunned shout.
"Nothing, Molly's fine," Liam called back.
"I don't feel like it…" Molly grumbled. Suddenly, she felt tendrils pull her down. The lost sleep from the night before was pounding in her mind, and she felt exhaustion take over. She sunk lower, relaxing. The clouds in the sky parted and a warm sun lulled her to sleep. Time for a nap…
Hands jolted her back to reality. "Don't pass out! Stay conscious!"
Molly's eyes widened and she took several deep breaths. After a minute or so, she slowly, slowly, sat up.
"Like, what the heck just happened?" Pippy was in Molly's face.
"Er…she was sitting down and got up too fast," Liam replied.
"Oh, okay!" Pippy beamed at Molly. "I'm going fishing, wanna come?"
"I'd love to, but…I don't have a rod," Molly lied. Truthfully, the last thing she wanted to do was listen to the rabbit whine about being unable to catch anything.
"Aw." Pippy temporarily drooped, then jumped up again. "Oh well! See you around!" She skipped off to the beach.
"Liam…what just-"
"I'll explain it later. You can't handle the truth right now." Molly opened her mouth to object, but Liam shook his head. "No, I mean it literally. If I told you, you'd pass out."
"Is it that bad?" Molly said, her stomach lurching.
Liam didn't reply. "I'm going to get Nook to open your door. Stay here, and do not fall asleep." With that, he was off.
Molly sat there, puzzling over what just happened. Was she ill? Or-
And then the memories came pouring in, one by one.
"I mean, I had nightmares. About you. And everyone in this village. And the whole concept. But you don't know why, do you?"
"Remember yourself! You used to love to draw, remember? Chalk was your favorite! You loved to bake cookies. You hated dust and liked cleaning your room. You had toys and your best friend was Peanut. Don't you remember, Molly Hills?!"
"Hey! You! Look what I got!"
"Liam! Stop! My friends are around. They're gonna think you're my boyfriend or something gross. I don't even know you."
"But look. Seriously."
"It was…a dandelion," Molly whispered. Her eyelids drooped.
"Wanna come over to my house? I have a whole ton in the backyard."
"…It's really pretty. But…"
"My mom bakes the best cookies ever."
"…Okay, fine."
Molly gasped, panting in the effort to stay awake.
"Stay awake, don't pass out, stay conscious, stay here…," Molly huffed. Her efforts, while brave, were futile. She shut her eyes. The headache returned, hammering against her head. It felt like there was someone in her brain, screaming and pounding the walls, trying to escape.
"Liam…" Molly called weakly, faintly. "Liam…I'm going to…pass out," Molly tensed, and relaxed.
Good night.
And then a force was thrown upon her, so sudden she instantly jerked awake with a sputter.
"'Ey there, Molly. Y'seemed in a bit of a pickle here. You're all right, right? Am I right?"
Molly opened her eyes. Jacques was sitting on top of her.
"What the heck are you doing?" Molly grunted.
"Dunno. You looked pretty yuck, so I said, 'Ey, she might need some help."
"You're not helping." Despite the words, Molly knew Jacques had kept her awake. She had a terrible feeling that if she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake up, what with the racket Liam was making.
"Righ', righ'. Heh."
"Get off me."
"Surrrrrrrre." Jacques got up and snickered. "Good morning, by the way. Nice town." With that, he strolled off. Molly sat up.
I need to figure out what's going on. Something's not right here.