episode_0033

Early morning.

After my escape, the three of us never slept again.

Amy, who was looking at me looking depressed, took Shine and me out of the room.

A hallway where we walk silently.

Shine held my hand tightly and came closer as if she wouldn’t let me go.

It was so close that I thought my feet would get tangled.

I showed a slightly awkward smile at Shine’s behavior of sticking close to me in a burdensome way.

“Are you laughing?”

“Sorry.”

Shine seemed very angry.

At this hour, she should be in deep sleep, relieving herself of the day’s fatigue, but there was no sign of sleepiness in Shine’s eyes.

“Amy. Where are you going?”

After walking for a while, I couldn’t overcome my curiosity and asked a question.

Amy turned to me briefly and smiled playfully.

“I want to see that.”

“That’s it?”

Amy, who had been smiling faintly, suddenly stopped walking.

Thanks to Amy’s sudden stop, I almost hit her leg.

“Amy?”

“Yes.”

Amy said and pointed to the huge door.

A very large door.

It looked bigger than Amy.

I swallowed and looked around.

“Where is this?”

Amy didn’t say anything to my question and just opened the door wide.

A huge entrance.

Brightly pouring light.

A space so vast that your eyes will be wide open.

At the end of my line of sight, an incredibly wide screen was hanging down.

This was a huge movie theater.

“Where is this…?”

As I looked up at Amy in wonder, she reached out and hugged my body.

A body raised high, a heightened field of vision.

I was so surprised that I shook my legs.

Amy smiled slightly as if to reassure me as she looked at me like that.

“You said you wanted to see the movie version.”

“Yes? But that’s… .”

Amy said that and stepped into the cinema.

The sound of footsteps echoing through the empty space.

Behind Amy’s footsteps, Shine’s small footsteps could be heard.

I looked up at the screen with trembling eyes.

“What flavor of popcorn?”

“I am caramel… .”

The tips of my ears feel hot.

The wavering gaze had no intention of leaving the screen.

Amy walked to the center of the cinema and sat me down on a chair.

The soft, sinking chair wraps your body in warmth.

Shine also sat next to me.

His tightly clenched hands looked like they had no intention of letting go.

I wanted to loosen my grip because I was starting to sweat, but I kept quiet because Shine looked anxious.

“What does shine taste like?”

“I eat what Jeff eats.”

In response to Shine’s answer, Amy tapped her phone.

I looked up at Amy from the screen.

Amy noticed my gaze and smiled faintly as she caressed my cheek.

“If there’s something you want to see, let me know.”

I bit my lip at her words.

I couldn’t say anything.

Empty-

I thought I heard a small noise, and then all the lights went out.

A black curtain descended in an instant.

As I flinched in surprise, Shine leaned against my arm.

“Don’t go alone next time.”

Shine spoke as if she was disappointed.

I nodded with an ambiguous expression.

As I lightly stroke Shine’s hair with my empty hand, her expression slightly relaxes.

A dark space.

A huge light was projected onto the wide screen.

“Yes.”

While I was concentrating on the screen, Amy held out a huge box of popcorn.

A sweet, fragrant scent wafting through the air.

I swallowed and took the popcorn.

A huge wind noise.

The wide sky spread across the screen was a starry night.

The sound of the cool wind blowing made me feel like I was really flying in the sky.

A little girl on the screen was flying through the sky on a broom.

The twinkling stars around her guided the way as if blessing the girl.

The soft moonlight made the girl’s hair sparkle.

“Lucy… .”

I focused on the screen with my eyes sparkling.

A flood of scenes filled with splendid effects that we normally wouldn’t see came pouring out.

Lucy, flying with the starlight, begins her journey to a distant land.

Throughout the video, I felt like I was traveling as Lucy.

He arrived at a huge castle and teased the grumpy king, and went to the giants’ country and saved them from danger.

Lucy always flew freely in the sky.

Her back view flying with the gorgeous starlight looked so charming.

The trip was coming to an end.

As always, Lucy climbs to the top of a high cliff and releases the orb filled with memories into the sky.

It hangs in the sky like a twinkling star.

[Today’s trip ends here.]

I clutch my pounding heart.

Lucy said so and flew into the sky.

Lucy’s journey is not over.

Because the world she lived in was very, very wide.

She prepares for her next trip.

Me too.

The gorgeous night sky disperses in an instant.

I was lost in thought, and as I watched the ending credits slowly roll up, I jumped up from my seat.

“Amy!”

“Huh… ?”

I clung to Amy, stamping my feet.

Her eyes were closed, as if she was half asleep.

She wiped the saliva flowing from the corner of her mouth and looked around as she spoke.

“Are you done?”

“Really!! Thank you so much!!”

I took Amy’s hand and shook it up and down.

I didn’t ask how she was able to screen a movie that hadn’t even been released in theaters.

I wanted to feel this lingering feeling now.

“Was it fun?”

“Yes!”

I nodded and sank into my chair.

A pounding heart.

A hot flushed face.

Hands trembling with excitement.

I will never forget this moment today.

“What about Shine? How was Shine?”

I looked back at Shine with sparkling eyes.

She was looking at the screen and answered with a small smile.

“It was fun.”

I hugged Shine’s body.

It was so much fun to be able to enjoy my favorite hobby with someone I like.

widely-!

The noise is heard again.

The darkness that had been there disappeared in an instant.

Sparkling lights came from all directions.

I get up from my seat, shielding my eyes from the blinding light.

Amy let out a soft moan, stretching as if to release her stiff body.

“Shall we go back?”

Amy said and held out her hand.

Shine and I, holding her hand, leave the movie theater.

My excitement still hadn’t subsided, so I continued to tell Shine about the scene I had just seen.

“I should go to sleep now.”

“Yes!”

As soon as she got back to her room, Amy climbed straight into bed.

It was the same for me and Shine.

I guess I’ll have to brush my teeth again after eating some popcorn and drinking some cola.

But Amy said nothing.

I laid down on the bed, closed my eyes, and hugged the giant witch’s hat.

“I think I’ll wake up a little late.”

Amy checked the time and immediately fell asleep.

It was the same for me too.

The effects of coffee had faded, and the sleepiness that had been pushing away came rushing back.

I gave a small smile at the sight of Shine looking down at me through her blurry eyes.

“Good night Jeff.”

That day, I had a rare dream.

In a vast, sprawling city, I was a small girl.

I looked down at my hands blankly.

be small.

It’s so small.

But it wasn’t awkward.

I stepped forward cautiously.

The gray city was filled with vibrant colors the moment I stepped foot in it.

Wearing only a white one-piece dress, she takes each step carefully.

A city that once seemed bleak or like a painting is now filled with life.

A car appears on an empty road.

Small birds were flying high in the sky.

The city that had been silent was now filled with countless sounds.

I kept walking.

A street that is familiar yet unfamiliar.

I moved without hesitation as if I knew the way.

Passing through a well-paved road, you enter a sprawling housing complex.

A place I’m seeing for the first time.

But it’s a familiar place.

I walked to one of the many houses with a pretty red roof.

“Jeff.”

A faint voice in my ear.

I shift my gaze.

A view of Shine through a white wooden fence.

She was waving at me.

“Shine.”

I absentmindedly held out my hand.

At my words, Shine stands up from her seat.

A green lawn spread out beneath her feet.

I pass over the fence and enter the lawn.

Shine was holding a small rubber ball.

The ball in Shine’s hand falls slowly.

The ball fell to the ground and slowly rolled toward my feet.

“Here is… .”

“Did you forget?”

Shine approaches quietly and says.

The white clothes flutter and distract the eyes.

“This is my house.”

I nod my head blankly.

My house.

Shine and my house.

But I can’t go.

“That’s right. I can’t go now.”

“Why?”

“They took it all.”

I forgot.

I nodded absentmindedly.

But who?

Who stole it?

I opened my mouth with a question.

But the voice did not come out.

The sight of Shine slowly moving away.

I reached out to her.

“Look at it.”

Shine waved and greeted.

A faintly emerging spirit.

A subtly heavy feeling of weight.

A stuffy heat enveloped my body.

I rubbed my eyes and looked around.

A quilt that has been turned over carelessly.

I slowly lowered my head and examined my body.

A half-raised upper body with Shine hanging above it.

She was hugging my waist with both hands as if she wouldn’t let me go.

“Are you awake?”

“Yes… .”

I mumbled in response to Amy’s question.

Amy seemed to wake up faster than me.

Anyone who saw her sitting at her desk, drinking coffee and working on paperwork looked amazed.

“Shine. Wake up.”

I shook Shine’s body gently.

But Shine didn’t seem to have any intention of getting up and just dug deeper into my arms.

I looked at Amy with a troubled expression. She got up from her seat and came towards me.

“When you wake up, wash your face.”

“Yes.”

Amy released Shine from my body and gently shook Shine’s body.

Shine’s eyes, which had been closed, opened and she sat on the bed with sleepy eyes.

“Shine, go wash up with Jeff too.”

“Yeah… .”

Shine didn’t move, even though she answered.

Shine, who had been nodding off, buried her head back into the blanket.