INTERLUDE

"Ready, SUNNY?"

I looked towards my sister and gave a resolute nod.

MARI looked back at me with a smile, nodding back as she prepared her silver-coated plastic shovel in her hands.

I gave my shovel a quick look as well, testing its weight.

"Alright you two, you know the rules!" The instructor reminded us, "You each get five minutes to dig as many holes as you can! Only dig holes on the spot marked with a big X. Each spot will give you a random amount of sand dollars. Reach a certain amount of sand dollars, and you'll be able to win the big prize of bringing home your very own giant dinosaur plushie! One prize per player though, so better make your choice count! Good luck, have fun, and remember the golden rule!"

The instructor cheerfully pointed to the big sign near the exit.

"NO REFUNDS" written in plainly bold letters.

MARI and I worked really hard to earn this trip to visit the amusement park together. Ever since we saw the commercials, we've been begging for our parents to take us here for months.

Our parents finally relented, but only after we made a deal to do well on our schoolwork.

For MARI, that was no trouble. She easily breezed past all of her school assignments like they were nothing.

For me, I'll admit I had a bit of trouble overcoming such a steep obstacle. I was never one for schools and the like.

Still, with her help, I managed to pull it off and we finally got the trip we've been asking for.

"Remember the plan, SUNNY." MARI reminded, "We each only have five minutes to grab as many sand dollars as we can. To give us the greatest chance of earning the jackpot, we have to split up and do our best to dig as fast as possible. That way, we'll be able to get one plushie for each of us!" Turning to face him with a smile, she asked, "You got that?"

I nodded seriously.

The buzzer sounded, signaling the game had started.

"Oh! It's time!" MARI quickly went to work on the nearest X, "Let's dig like our lives depended on it!"

I went to work as well, splitting up from her and digging my own share of holes.

It was around halfway through that I realized that I may have the physical disadvantage here…

Looking over at MARI's side of the room, I could already see that she had already dug through three times the number of holes that I was able to do.

I felt a bit of frustration build up before I managed to shake it off and keep digging.

I didn't know why I was so surprised. It only made sense.

MARI was already twelve years old, three years older than me. Not only that, but she was athletic and fast from playing softball all the time.

Compared to me, who usually napped all day and played video games whenever I wasn't busy, it was no wonder why she was so much faster.

I had to remind myself that it wasn't a competition… We were both working together to get the same thing after all.

I just needed to work harder so that I didn't get dragged behind.

Only a minute was left, but I could still probably make it… if I was lucky, the last few holes I could dig might give me enough points to earn the big prize.

"YES! I got the jackpot!"

Hearing MARI's cheers interrupted my thoughts as I looked at her.

She was waving a ticket in her hand like crazy, whooping and cheering as if it was her birthday.

"SUNNY, look! I got the jackpot dollar! I got enough to earn a plushie!" MARI showed off as she waved at me. "How about you? Did you get enough points too?"

Shoot, she managed to find one before I did? How was I supposed to catch up to that?

Okay, that was fine. I just needed to try to dig faster and hoped I get lucky with the next few spots as well.

Just as I was about to resume digging though…

The buzzer sounded again, signaling the end of the game.

I lost track of time. Taking a look at how many sand dollars I collected, something became very clear. I didn't get enough points.

"Aw, sorry kid. You didn't get enough points for the big prize." One of the adults told me before reassuring, "At least you can get one of the normal prizes! Those are still just as good, right?"

Right. Sure. Just as good. Which was why they made them worth fewer points compared to the giant popular plushies.

Sigh…

"So, did you two have fun in there?" Mom asked while on the drive home.

In the end, I decided to get the DIGGING DINO'S coloring book for my reward. Out of all the prizes that were available to me, this one at least seemed like something I could waste some time on.

MARI, on the other hand, was hugging her giant plushie of DINO like it was an award.

"Yeah! It was a blast! My favorite game there was DINO'S DIG! It's how I got this baby!" MARI bragged as she showed the toy off to our parents.

"Aw, that's cute! Congratulations!" Mom clapped politely, before turning to me, "And what about you, SUNNY? Did you get anything good?"

…

I didn't say anything. I didn't feel like it. All I did was show her the coloring book in response and hoped that she wouldn't ask further about it.

"Oh…" Mom seemed to get the hint and politely ended the discussion with a simple, "Well, better luck next time!"

"Hey, since you two had so much fun, what do you guys think about another deal?" Dad proposed, looking at me in the rearview mirror, "If you two can manage to get the same grade or even better on your next report card, we can bring you both here again! How does that sound?"

"Ooh! That sounds perfect!" MARI cheered, before asking, "Can we invite our neighbors to join us too?!"

"I don't see why not. I'll ask their parents if they're okay with it." Dad smiled.

"Yay! Then it's a promise!" MARI ended up agreeing for the both of us.

Honestly… I kinda just want to forget this whole thing and find something else to do instead…

MARI turned to me and asked, "Isn't it exciting, SUNNY? We'll get to come here again next time, and we'll even be able to bring HERO and KEL with us too! Let's work hard to keep our grades up, okay?"

…

I dunno… I just don't know.

Whatever…

I gave her a small shrug as I looked away and stared out the window.

As if noticing something wrong, MARI simmered down as she gently called out to me, "SUNNY?"

I felt my eyes close, doing my best to keep my frustration bottled up inside.

I can't… I couldn't let her know that I was upset. It would be pointless and stupid and over-dramatic, and I didn't want to cause a scene or make a fuss.

I felt MARI scoot up closer to me before she laid a hand on my head.

"SUNNY, is everything okay?" She whispered in concern.

I couldn't help but look back at her and glared at that stupid plushie in her arms.

God, I wish I was… I wished I wasn't so pathetic. We both made a promise to work hard so that we could both go home with a plushie for each of us.

But because I was so slow and stupid, I couldn't manage to get that right. All I got out of this whole trip was a stupid coloring book.

Why wasn't MARI laughing at me for being so pathetic anyway? Isn't she disappointed in me? That I broke my promise and messed everything up?

Ugh, I just…

I looked away and took a deep breath.

With a small sigh, I shook my head, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Nobody needed to hear me whining. Nobody has to know. It was just a toy.

It doesn't matter if I really really wanted one. It was just a toy. I already have a collection of them at home that I could play with as much as I want.

I didn't want it anymore anyway.

It was just a toy.

I don't… I don't want…

I just…

…

…

…

While I was lost in thought, I felt something big, soft, and green get smushed up against my face.

Grabbing the offending object, I looked down to see that it was the DINO plushie that MARI won.

Giving a blink of confusion, I turned back to MARI to see her smiling encouragingly at me.

"I want you to have it." MARI giggled.

…

What…?

"But… MARI, you won this toy. Not me. It should be yours…" I mumbled back.

She shook her head, "I'm getting a bit too old for toys like that anyway. Besides, I didn't really want one that badly."

…

Liar… Ever since you saw one of these in that poster, you wouldn't stop gushing about how much you wanted one for yourself. The dinosaurs were just so cute, you had to have one…

Why lie to me?

MARI petted my head, "I think this DINO will look great with the rest of your collection."

…

…

…

I didn't even know what to say anymore…

I brought the plushie up to my chest and squeezed it tight into a hug, both to feel it against me and to hide my face from the world.

I could hear MARI giggling, "You are so cute!"

It only made me want to hide away even more.

So soft… so plush…

It wasn't even meant for me, and yet she gave it away so easily...

…

I…

I just needed to keep my grades up, right? So that we could both go to the amusement park again next time?

…

Next time… When we play that game again, next time for sure…

I'll win a cute dinosaur toy just like she did today. Then, when that happens, I'm going to give it to her.

That way, we'll finally be able to keep our promise together of going home with one for each of us to play with.

…

"T...Thanks, MARI..." I mumbled.

"Anything for you, SUNNY." MARI smiled cheerfully.

Author's Note: hi, I am sick and I wrote this chapter while sick.

I am going to take a small break to recover. I know I'm not exactly the best with my updating schedule, but expect a delay before the next chapter can come out. I hope this short chapter flashback will make up for it.