Editing 0part2.txt

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!d 400
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setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700
!sd
;dwaveloop 0, "bgm/coldfunk.ogg"
mp3loop "bgm/little phantasie.mp3"


`"La dee da~... la dee da~...."@
br
`When I approached the dandelion-colored girl for the second time, she was wearing a blue dress.@ Not only that, she had a ribbon of a similar color tied neatly up in her hair.@
br
`.... Cute.\

`She was pretty captivating, today, too.@ The same slender body, white skin like porcelain....@
br
`Some people think that pale skin is sickly-looking, you know.@
br
`Well, whatever.\

`She danced around like a butterfly,@ letting the hem of her dress blow right along with her movements.@ If she were a butterfly, for real, the force of the whirlwind she was making, herself, would be enough to send her flying away.@ 
br
`Maybe she was that kind of person,@ the type of girl who could live with nothing short of soaring in the sky@... like a majestic bird or something....\

`Maybe....\

ld c jule6,10

`".............."@
br
`"....... Eh?"\

`".... Ah."@
br
`When had she noticed me, how long had I blanked out, and how exactly did my expression look?@ The Julie in the blue dress was leaning close and peering at my now red face, curiously.@
br
`"....... ?"\

`Augh... say something.@
br
ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_1.png",10
;ld c jule2,10

!d 500

;cl a,10
`Funny.@ As if she could hear me say that in my head, Julie stood upright and clasped her hands together in a sort of prayer look.@ As if to say "Please, sir, have the first word, won't you?"\

`"........ Hey.@ Wasn't sure if you'd be here, today."@
br

ld c jule9,10
`She grinned at my throaty voice.@
br
`"Fufu... didn't I say I would be?@ And so are you, obviously."\

`"Uh huh, well..."@
br
cl a,10
!d 1000
`"...... I'm glad."\

`.... More silence.\

`While Julie was silent and staring up at the open sky, so full of possibilities,@ she didn't look too tense.@ I, myself, however, was throbbing with anxiety.\

br
`Tch.\

ld r jule3,10

`"Hmm? Are you going to smoke, Mark?"@
br

ld r jule2,10
`"Ah?"\

cl a,10

`... I see.@ Without really meaning to, I'd reached for the pack of cigarettes I'd slipped into my pocket last night.@
br
`Geez. What a disgusting habit...\

ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_talk_2-3.png",10

`"Um...@ You can go ahead and smoke, if you really want.@ I don't mind."@
cl a,10
br
`"........... Sure."\

!d 2000
ld c jule8,10

`"Hmmmm....@ You know, my father smokes like that."@
br
`"Hmm?"\

ld c jule3,10

`"You know, when he lights his cigarette he makes that...@ um... @cupping motion...@/

ld c jule9,10

`Er... how was it, again... ?"@
cl a,10
br
`Julie held out her hands and tried to mimic the cupping motion I made while I lit my cigarette.\

`It looked pretty weird,@ and I couldn't help but laugh at her.@ She puffed out her cheeks and huffed.@ What a brat.@ Aha.. @ha... @
br
`"Sorry, didn't mean to make fun of you.@ But, I've never lit them any other way, and I guess it's kind of funny that somebody else does it."\

`"Hmph."@
br
ld c jule6,10
`Julie's cheeks stopped puffing, and her expression faded into a frown.\
 
`Geez, if you keep this up she's really going to get angry, you know....@
br
`"S, so tell me more about your father, Julie. And you can talk about yourself, if you want."@
cl a,10
bg "cg/CG_blue_0.png",18,400,"sys/msk11.JPG"
!d 800
br
`"Hmm...@ Okay."\

!d 1500
cl a,10
bg black,1
cl a,1

`And she did.@
br
`She was an interesting girl.... @ But I think I'd already expected that much.@
br
`She was seventeen,@ and her father was a retired government physicist.@ Her mother had died several years back, and since then she'd been taking care of her father,@ in their little apartment on two-thousand and fourtieth street.\

bg "cg/CG_blue_1.png",18,400,"sys/msk11.JPG"


`.... My life story wasn't nearly as interesting,@ but I told her my half anyway.@ About my wife, Anne,@ about my bad habits and Anne's phobia of cameras.@ She giggled a lot while I recalled how angry she'd gotten when they tried to take her picture at our wedding reception.@
br
`"Aha... ahahahaha..."@
br
`But it really was funny, now that I thought about it.\

cl a,10
!d 500
bg "bg/bg01.jpg",10

`At the end of it,@ Julie had that same dazzled expression I'd seen yesterday when she was talking about all the things she'd seen.@
br
`"Oh~!@ That's all so beautiful!@ All of those things, how great it must be...@ it must really be lovely, being able to live in two-thousand-and-four!"\

`"Well, if you've got a time machine,@ couldn't you just move here whenever you want?"@
!d 1200
cl a,10
bg "cg/CG_blue_0.png",18,400,"sys/msk11.JPG"
br
`".......... Muu.@ It's not quite that simple.@ Even if I were to abandon Father @(which I never ever would!) @I'd still have the Time Police to worry about.@ You know, time travel is STRICTLY prohibited to government-sponsored historical expeditions."\

`"...... But you've been doing fine as is, right?"@
cl a,10
br
`"(Sigh)....@ Well, that's because my father invented his own time machine.@ The Time Police don't know about it, of course."@
br
`.......... Right.\

`"So you're breaking the law...?"@
br
`She must be a handful for her father,@ time travel or not....\


bg "bg/bg01.jpg",18,500,"sys/left.jpg"
ld c, "char/julie/sprite_blue_talk_1-2.png",10


`"Ehehehe....@ Just in their eyes.@ As they've got their own concept of "time",@ my father has a completely different concept.@/
ld c, "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_2.png",10
`Since they don't cross, it's fair game.@ Right?"@
!d 2000
br
`W...@ wait, that's not right at all!!
quakex 6,800
!d 600

\

`"I, I'm not sure about that, but...@ go on, tell me more about it."@
br
`"Fufu....@ sure thing, Mark.@ Well, let's see...."\

cl a,10
bg black,1

`"Well, first the official concept:@ according to the Time Police, it's absolutely prohibited for a person from the future to tamper with anything that happened in the past.@ 
br
`This is because, surely, a person's very presence in the past can cause things to change,@ and create a paradox in of itself....@ or so they think."\

`Uh.... that actually sounds pretty reasonable to me.\

`"Muu....@ Why that doubtful look...?"@
br
`Julie waggled a finger in my face, as if to scold me and say "It's as simple as that."@
br
`She continued.....\

`"......... But Father's definition is different.@ According to him, the "book of time" has already been written.@ Based on what he's saying, things have already been decided in the time line,@ so when someone goes back and tampers with the past, history will readjust itself so that the future stays the same,@ and that tampering becomes part of the event that was there in the first place."@
br
`"...................."\

`How could she say this all off of the tip of her tongue like it was completely natural...?@

br

`Talented fibber.\

bg dskfield,10
ld c jule2,10

`"S,@ so, your dad must be a pretty remarkable guy, huh....?"@
br
ld c jule5,10
`"Oh~!@ He really is, Mark! He reads all kinds of books, and he keeps them at our apartment on these huuuuuuuuuge shelves!!@ Why, he's got Hegel and Kant and Hume; Einstein and Newton and...@ and...."\

`"....... I get the point.@ Thanks."@
br
ld c jule9,10
`"Ah."@
br
`"So, I'm guessing you've read some of those as well?"\

ld c jule4,10

`As if the first comment had been a downer and the second a pick-me-up, Julie's expression lit up again.@
br
`"Ohhh, I have!@ Well, some of them anyway.@ You know, that Einstein is kind of tricky.@ And, and...."@
br
`"Haha...@ well, I've read some of those guys, too."\

cl a,10
ld r jule5,10

`"Really?@ Oh, Mark, we've got loads and loads of things in common~!"\

ld r jule2,10

`So we did.@
br
`Apparently our taste in literature, aesthetics and all that was a thing transcending time,@ as we shared a lot of the same favorite authors, art, food, you name it.@
br
`Smart girl.@ Delusional, maybe, but smart.\

`We had discussions about the various important people, authors, food,@ and so on that occupied both of our thoughts.@
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`She was smart, for a girl her age.@ She reminded me of Anne, a lot, in that sense.@ Anne had told me she was a smart cookie when she was younger,@ although considering the person it came from, I wondered....\

cl a,10
bg black,4
!d 3000
bg sunset,4

`".............."@
br
`That easy-going, pleasant feeling lasted until the sun set and Julie headed back home, to her "own time" or whatever she thought of it as.@
br
`I wondered.\

`"His own 'definition' of time, huh...?@ Interesting."@
br
`I wondered how a girl could think of such a deep and intricate story.@ Maybe that was....\

!d 1300

`But what if....\

!d 1300

`"..... Heh.@ Heheheh...@ I'm being ridiculous.@ Time travel?@ As if."@
br
`I looked up at the sky,@ which was already beginning to empty of day and fill up with the night, and smoked.@ I'd been wanting to smoke a second time when Julie was here, but held back for her sake.\

!d 2000
bg black,10

`....... It was an interesting theory, though.@
br
`I guess, if I were to go out on a limb and think of it abstractly,@ it would make some sense.@ The idea that history has a certain set of rules, rather.@
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`If "history has already been written" then that would mean that history, itself,@ is nothing more than a set of conditions....@ Set by who?\

`..... Let's try thinking about it like this.@
br
`Assume that there's a man named "Landen."@ In "Landen"'s timeline, he is set to marry X in 1997 and give birth to three children.@
br
`..... Let's say foul play is involved, and someone from the future decides to kill off X to prevent "Landen" from ever having children.\

`Ah, useless.@ It's all useless.@
br
`The timeline would produce a new "X" for "Landen" to produce children with.@ Time would....@ fix itself?\

bg sunset,10

`Ugh...@ That's all so screwed up.@ I'm... giving myself a headache with this.@
br
`Just thinking about things that don't need to be thought of, isn't that right?@
br
`"So it's her fault, right?@ Right...?"\

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`.......... I wondered if it would be too intrusive to look around for a "Danvers" at the post office.@ Even if the postmaster didn't know her mailbox, surely he saw a Mr. or Mrs. Danvers somewhere around...?@
br
`But, that wouldn't work out.\

`Julie had worked so hard to build up that imaginary scenario of hers, all that time-traveling nonsense,@ and I thought if I figured it out and realized the truth that I might slip, eventually.@ That would definitely ruin everything, and break her little heart.@
br
`I'd like to avoid that, if possible.\

`So, in the end, I didn't let these ideas run away with me.@
br
`I figured that letting this girl live out her strange little fantasy and leaving myself a bit in the dark was for the better.\

bg dskfield,18,2000,"sys/up.jpg"
!d 2000

`But ........... There was something strange.@
br
`The day I'd thought all of this, Julie said something strange.\

`"....... Will you be here tomorrow?"\

`Every time I saw Julie I'd get that uncomfortable tightness in my chest, but once we began talking it would fade away bit by bit.@
br
`In the end I'd be the infatuated one...@ and I'd be the one asking if I'd be able to see her again.@
br
`So why....?\

!d 1000

`"Sure. Same time, same place....@ Well, you know what I mean.@ Ahahaha..."@
br
`"................. I'm glad."@
br
`And her face brightened into a smile that was just as dazzling as the white-colored dandelions surrounding her.\

bg black,18,2000,"sys/down.jpg"
!d 1000

`What happened after that, I wondered...?\

!d 2000
bg "bg/bg06.jpg",4

`".... Eh?"\

`When I got to the top of the hill the next day, to the field of dandelions where I always found her, there was nothing but stillness, save for some birds and wild creatures roaming about.@
br
`Empty.@
br
`"................."\

!d 3000

`..... Heh.@ What's wrong with you, Mark?@ There's nothing strange about a girl being late, right?@ Things come up, mistakes happen, dates get screwed up....@
br
`That's....@ why she isn't here, right?\

`I settled down on a rock, and continued to repeat that to myself, as the sun made its slow, painful decent toward evening.\

bg black,4

`........... But she didn't show up, and I ended up hugging my knees to my chest to fight off the cold of the night.@ The field of dandelions had returned to just that: a field of dandelions.@
br
`Devoid of human life, namely Julie's.@
br
`"................"\

`My watch told me it was late.@
br
`.......@ I.....@ didn't feel like smoking.@ So, instead, I got up, dusted myself off and headed back to my cabin.@
br
`Just.....@ where did that girl go....?\

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;dwaveloop 0, "bgm/regretcomfmystery.ogg"
mp3loop "bgm/mary.ogg"

`When I got back, I looked in the mirror, and was a little sickened by the person looking back.@
br
`..... Maybe I saw a lovesick schoolboy, lusting after a young girl while his wife was away.\

`"...... What the hell...?"\

`I couldn't betray my wife.@ I wouldn't.@ I wouldn't.@ I was positive of that.@
br
`I hadn't been doing that, had I...?\

!d 3000

`For the first time in a while, I actually wondered what Anne was doing.@
br
`That was.....\

bg "cg/flashback1.png",10
!d 800
bg "bg/bg07.jpg",10

`.............\

quakey 5,400
!d 900
bg black,18,1500,"sys/down.jpg"

`It had only been a couple of days together with Julie,@ but I'd already grown so close to her, and felt so smitten.@ After a while, I wondered if I should blame her charisma.\

`..... But how could I blame a young girl for being pretty?@ Come on, now, Mark.\

bg hom2,10

`I went back and forth with myself, bouncing between childish rationalization and self-loathing,@ until I finally got so mentally exhausted that I had to go to bed.@
br
`..... But even then, tired,@ I didn't sleep easy.\

bg black,4

`So it took me a long time to fall asleep.@
br
`And when I did, and then when I woke up again...... @ I still didn't feel rested, at all.\

bg black,18,2000,"sys/down.jpg"
setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700
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bg black,4
setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700
!sd
bg "bg/bg092.jpg",4
!d 3000

`The next day I climbed back up that stony preface, toward that dandelion field where I'd been meeting Julie.@ 
br
`..... I wasn't looking forward to it, for some reason.@ Guilt, maybe,@ or the feeling that I had that she wouldn't be there.\

`Regardless of the reason,@ I kept on grunting, climbing, heaving myself onto the next foothold,@ until I reached the top.\

`Did Julie began to see I was growing fond of her, and she didn't like to think of someone like me in that way...?@ Maybe.\
br
`If she was weary of that because I had a wife,@ I guess I had to admire her consideration.@
br
`Either way, thinking really gave me a headache.\

`So I continued climbing, grunting and slipping and finally managing to the top where the field was,@ and expected it to be absolutely still, again.\

bg black,1
!d 2000

`Julie...@ did not reappear.@
br
`The girl whose smile made my heart feel so warm didn't come back to the field of dandelions.@ After her curious words, her presence had up and vanished from this place entirely.@ 
br
`..... It was my fault.... ?\

`I went and sat at the base of a tree whose foliage was just now blooming,@ a little later than the others, and thought.@ That's all I could do, really.@
br
`I felt disappointed.@ ........... No, lonely.\

`But why Julie?@
br
`More importantly.... @ where was she?@ The urge to know that was even stronger.@ 
br
`Where.... ?\

`The answer should be very simple.@ A girl like Julie..... must have a real life.@ I'm sure that wherever she lived she was doing something important.@ Surely...@
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`.... Unless she'd started to pick up on how much she'd grown on me, and the fact that I couldn't come within three feet of her before my heart started hammering?@ Maybe that creeped her out.@
br
`......... Thinking about those things just made me more depressed.\

`The fact that a young girl had appeared in my life out of nowhere, when my wife had disappeared for her own duties,@ and entrapped me with warm feelings........@
br
`Ah..... But it was my fault for falling for it.\


!d 1500


`........... I stared up at the sky, holding my hand over my eyes, and tried to forget the dandelion girl..........\

;dwavestop 0
!d 3000
dwaveloop 0, "sfx/raininside.ogg"
bg "bg/bg10.png",10
!d 500

`I just met you, Julie.....@ And yet......\

!d 2000
bg black,1
!d 300

`It feels like we've been friends, forever.\

dwavestop 0
stop
;dwaveloop 0, "bgm/on the passing of time.ogg"
mp3loop "bgm/on the passing of time.mp3"
bg "bg/bg05.jpg",18,2000,"sys/left.jpg"

`I spent some time ruminating.@ I lost count of how many days I thought about Julie, and then to Anne, and back to Julie again.@ Inside of me was a struggle between two people who... should never be compared.\

bg black,1

setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700
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!d 2500

bg,"cg/CG_anna_2.png",18,3000,"sys/down.jpg"
setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700
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`I became withdrawn.@ I lost my ability to speak with Anne while she was away, and told her my reticence was because of fatigue,@ the result of not sleeping well.@
br
`But, you know, it wasn't entirely a lie.@ I wasn't feeling well at all.\

`Anne, as a result, grew distant.@ The calls stopped coming as frequently, and she had a slight tremor in her voice whenever she talked.@
br
`.... I'm sorry. @
br
`That's all I could say,@ and even that I could only repeat it inside my head.\

;dwavestop 0
stop
bg black,4
;dwaveloop 0, "bgm/bluefeather.ogg"
mp3loop "bgm/bluefeather.mp3"
bg "bg/bg09.jpg",18,2000,"sys/up.jpg"

`It was ironic.@
br
`Even though I continued to feel ashamed, even though I continued to feel the regret of neglecting my wife, of neglecting the only real life I had,@ I continued to go to the dandelion field every afternoon,@ when the sun was highest in the sky.\

`Even though it would be empty,@ I'd sit around and listen to the birds, smell the grass, and try to imagine the young girl spinning about in this place who'd once added that much more sunshine.@
br
`"........."@
br
`Idiot.\

`Julie's face was so soft and pleasant.@
br
`She was always smiling....@
br
`Such a sweet girl.
br
`I don't think I ever heard her say a foul word about anyone, really.@ 
br
`An angel.\

bg dskfield,10
!d 1000

`Ah....@ I could see her now....@
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`Standing there in front of me, with her back turned.@ How often did she do that?@ But she looked dark, awfully dark.@ Why was she trembling?@ It was so strange.@ So strange.@
br
`But I didn't think anything of it, and closed my eyes.\ 

!d 2200

`Wait, what!?\

quakex 5,400

`Th,@ the real thing...!?\

bg darkexp,4
!d 800

`On May 22nd, after so many days of coming to this empty field, only to sit and ruminate and remember stupid things that would probably never happen again,@ the angel reappeared amongst the dandelions.@
br
`But....@
br
`Why was that beautiful angel garbed in such a black, dark dress, this time?\

`Not only that, she had her back to me....@ she wasn't moving....@ and she was staring upward,@ where that cluster of black clouds was forming and beginning to creep closer.\

`What is this feeling?@ This thick, black feeling that makes me feel like I'm suffocating?@
br
`"..........."@
br
`What's wrong?\

`The wind came down, and rippled the heads of the dandelions like a sharp wind might shake a lake's surface.@ The beautiful girl's hair, along with the hem of her black dress, swayed along with it.@
br
`"............"@
br
`Why was she so quiet, and why wouldn't she look at me?@ What's wrong?\

`"..... Ju,"@
br
`"You know......."@
br
`The words I'd begun to say died in my throat.@ After I began to think Julie was completely sucked into her own little world--after I thought my words wouldn't reach her, anyway--@she acknowledged me.\

`"...... What is it, Julie?"@
br
`"........."@
br
`I....@ wouldn't be able to help her if she didn't say anything, but I couldn't pry.@ The blank look I couldn't see but felt distinctly, the black dress, and her cold voice told me to keep a distance.\

`"I really loved.... @ my father.... That is, I... I..."@
stop
;dwavestop 0
!d 1000
;dwaveloop 0, "bgm/mary.ogg"

mp3loop "bgm/mary.ogg"
bg black,1
br
`That was...@
br
`"Julie..."@
br
`"He died...... last night...... ah, rather, he'll die two-hundred years from now, that is...."\

bg "bg/sprite_black_bg_1.jpg",18,2000,"sys/left.jpg"
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_cry_1.png",10

`"............"@
br
`So that was it, wasn't it?@ She was wearing a dress of mourning,@ and her expression..... looked sad, too.\
 
`Julie lowered her head.@

bg "bg/sprite_black_bg_1.jpg",18,2000,"sys/left.jpg"
br
`"....... He knew he was dying all along, and yet...."@
br
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_cry_1.png",10
`I heard her voice crack.@ Julie's voice, which was normally so full of pep and cheer, was breaking into pieces.\

`"..... I'm sorry."@
br
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_cry_2.png",10
`"........."\

ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_cry_1.png",10

`"......... You know, I wish I could offer something more than that, but....."@
cl a,10
!d 500
br
`"..... Aha..."\

`Julie let out a dry laugh...... if you could even call it that much.@ She shrugged her shoulders, and lowered the angle of her head even further.@
br
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_1.png",4
`"Ever since that...@ strontium 90 in the laboratory...@ I'm sure that he knew it was coming."\

`"... But still, he........ kept right on going, didn't he....?"@
br
`I nodded.\

`"He didn't.... @ tell anyone at all.@ Not even me.... @ Not his colleagues...@ nobody...@ why...@ wouldn't he tell his daughter, the girl who loved him, and made his dinner, and.....@ and..... and....."@
br
`"Julie...."@
br
!d 3000
`"I'm sick of it...."\

!d 3000

`"Mark...@ What's the point in going on, now....@ Now that Daddy is....@ Now that everyone is....."@
br
`........I felt something dramatic and personal and tender in that 'Daddy.'@ A side of her that I think that the girl may have wanted to hide.@
br
`That's right.@ She'd always been spontaneous and bubbly, but......\

`".... Julie.@ Come on, don't talk like that.@ I can't say anything about your father, but.... Come on, you can't just think there's nothing left.@ That's insane."@
br
cl a,4
!d 3000
`"........ Is it?"@
br
`Julie opened her mouth to speak,@ but then swallowed the rest of her words.\

`"........... No.@ I don't.....@ have anyone else.@ Say, Mark........@ Do you think you could...@ kill me...?"\

!d 2000
`That can't really be true.@ This is just..... another part of the game, right?@ There can't be no one left......@ Her father.... really is dead....?@ But the rest of this story.....\


!d 2000

`That's...@ not fair....@ It's just not fair.@ Even if she's insane, I can tell that she..... realy doesn't have anything left.\

br
`"..... (Sniff)....@ (Hic)...."@
br
`There's....@ no one who will take care of you...?@ Why...?\

`If I could, I....@ I......\

`Is.... the world that cruel...?@
br
`In the fourty-so years I'd been alive, I'd never seen...@ something like this.\

`"Ehe...@ (hic)@ ehehehe...@ I, I'm sorry I haven't been around, Mr. Mark...@ I, I guess I've been a little busy..."@
br
`That smile stained with Julie's tears did nothing to calm me like she meant.@ No, instead it made me feel a pang of compassion.@
br
`I'm... sorry.@ There's really...@ nothing I can do...?\

!d 3000

`"I'm sick of everything.@ Now I've lost everything in two-thousand-two-hundred-fourty-four.....@ Come on, Mark.@ You can do it, right?"\


bg black,1


`A really twisted look crossed Julie's face.\


`"Come on@......@ Grab me by the neck,@ lift me off that stump....@ Put a rope around my neck.....@ Hang me,@ crush my esophagus....@ Tear my jugular out....@ Stop on my heart, stick a knife in and out of my chest until I look like swiss cheese@.......@ Dunk me in the river and drown me,@ tie me to a rock and let me sink to the bottom@..... Come on, you can do it, right....? Kill me....@ Kill... meee......"\


!d 1000


`She sunk to her knees.@
!d 1000

quakex 4, 700 
textclear
`"Julie...."@

!d 3000
br
`"................. I'm sorry, Mark."\

`"......................"@

br

`Slowly.... I walked up to her.\

`That insane look........ had disappeared from Julie's face, and she looked so tired.\

`So....... as Julie asked, I grabbed her by the cuff.......\


!d 2000


`And I smothered her in my arms.\

stop
mp3loop "bgm/sad slow cut.mp3"
bg "cg/sprite_black_hugz_1.png",10
!d 1200

`"Ridiculous.......@ Don't.... ask me to do something stupid like that, ever again.@ I don't.... want to hear any more of this....@ 'kill me' business......"@
br
`"....... (hic).....@ (hic)....."\

bg black,10
!d 1000
br
`"I'll....@ be here for you, if you need me."\

!d 2500

bg "cg/sprite_black_hugz_3.png",10
!d 1000

`The dam broke.@
br
`Julie cried her heart out.\

`..... She cried for the first time.@ I felt that, through the dry sobs, the pain, and the tremors in Julie's little body,@ that she hadn't had this honest cry yet.@ She had refused to break down until she saw me.@
br
`It was flattering....@ And pitiful at the same time.\

bg "cg/sprite_black_hugz_2.png",10

`"Mark....@ I...."@
br
`"It's fine.@ It's fine."@
br

!d 1200
`Ah, that's right....@ It wasn't fine at all.@ But, as a man, what other choice did I have but to say something cheesy like that.... ?\

`".... Yeah, it'll be fine.@ Just calm down, and think....@ you're only a child, so I'm sure you'll...@ think of something..."@
br
`And suddenly, without any warning, she shoved herself away from me....?\

bg black,10

`"A....@ child...?@ Is that what you really think...?"@
br
`W, what....?@
br
`She looked wounded by that,@ like I really had stabbed her in the chest with a knife.@ And she started to push away from me.@
br
`"You think...@ I'm throwing a temper tantrum?@ That I just... I just...@ I...."\

`"Eek!"\

bg black,1

`".....@ Y....@ you....@ I...."@
br
`I hugged her, holding her so tight that she couldn't struggle against me.@
br
`She couldn't force the words out.@ ..... The sobs which she'd tried to cut short had begun to well up again,@ and her knees and legs began to shake again.\

!d 2000

`"..... I'm sorry.... Julie."@
br
`"..... U.....@ Uuuuu.....@/

bg "cg/sprite_black_hugz_3.png",10

` uwaaaahhhhhh!!!!!"\

!d 3000

`.......... Julie began to cry again.\

`"...... M...@ Mr. Mark, I'm sorry....@ I'm just...@ I'm not a child....."@
br
`"......... I understand.@ I didn't mean to upset you.@ I won't call you a child again."@
br
quakey 3, 700
`"............."\

bg black,10

`".... Ah?"@
br
`There was a strange sound.@ Where was...?@
br
!d 500
`Ah... So, I'd kissed her on the forehead.\

`"............@ ..... Ehehe....."@
br
`After hesitating, Julie giggled,@ and then she continued to wipe away the tears with a small smile on her face.\

bg dskfield,10

`"...... Thank you, Mr. Mark..."@
br
`Her cheeks were so darkly colored I thought they might be burning,@ as she glanced down at her feet with that bashful smile.@
br
`"...... It's nothing."\

!d 3000

`".......... So, then."\

!d 3000

`"I should....@ get going....."@
br
`"Will you..... be here tomorrow?"\

ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_3.png",10

`"........................"\

`You will, right?@ That's what you always say before we part.....@
br
`"..... I......"@
br
`You came back, didn't you?@ Please don't tell me you're....@ you're....\

cl a,10

`"Ehehe....@ To tell you the truth, Mr. Mark...@ No, Mark...@ Time machines run down.@ They get worn out, and break....@ I'm not sure where to get any spare parts, now...."@
br
`I.....@ felt my own heart beginning to sink.\

`"So, I can probably make one more trip, with it as it is right now, but....."@
br
`"I....@ I see....@ So....@ Will you try to...@ you know, be here tomorrow...?"\

`"Fufufu.....@ I definitely will.....@ Thank you, Mr. Mark...."\

!d 4000

`"But, Mr. Mark, if I can't come back......"@
br
`"..... Yes?"\

bg black,10

`.............. Ah.@ This is.... familiar....@
br
`This sensation.\

`She kissed me.@
br
`Even if it was on the cheek, I could feel the warmth moving from my face and spreading to the rest of my body@ like a sweet sort of anesthesia.@ 
br
`When I managed to collect myself, she was standing back at that original spot,@ with a teary smile.\

bg dskfield,10

`"Ehehe....@ I got you back, didn't I?@ If I don't come back.......@ I love you, Mark.@ I'll do my best...@ to come back to you, okay?"@
br
`"Y...@ Yeah, okay...@ I'll...@ see you later, then...."\


!d 3000
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_8.png",10

cl a,18,700, "sys/down.jpg"
`She turned.\


br
`..... What was that look on her face, I saw?\


textclear

textoff

setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700
!sd
ld c, "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_7.png",18,700, "sys/up.jpg"

;click
!d 500
ld c, "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_3.png",10

;click
!d 500
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_4.png",10

;click
!d 500
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_5.png",10

;click
!d 500
ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_6.png",10

;click
!d 500
cl a,18,700, "sys/down.jpg"

texton
!d 500
setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700
!sd

`It seemed like she was musing over something, then casting away the idea.@ I wondered.....@ if she was thinking about the "last trip" she had to make.@ Her cheeks were so red, and her brows so knitted together that it looked like....@ she really was considering something she could never take back.\

`Julie was blushing, frowning and focusing,@ and I realized....@ there were two possibilities:@
br
`The story was false, and her father's death, alone, was enough to drive her away forever.@
br
`Or it.......@ was true, and my heart was going to be broken.\

`I.... would lose, either way.\

`"........ Goodbye, Mark."@
br
`As if she'd made up her mind, Julie put on an embarrassed but determined look,@ and began to walk toward the beech trees.@ 
br
`She didn't look back.\

!d 1000
;dwavestop 0
stop

`"Wait, Julie...."\

setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700
!sd
!d 2000

bg "bg/bg092.jpg",4
quake 7,2000
bg "bg/bg093.jpg",1
dwave 0, "sfx/boom.ogg"
bg "bg/white.png",1
!d 1000
bg black,1
setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700
!sd

br
`A thunderclap...?@ A rocket launch...?@ No, those were nothing compared to the volume of the explosion in front of me.@
br
`But, it wasn't really an explosion.@ Just a....@ loud bang, an insanely loud bang.\

`Julie had waded into the forest of beech trees.....@ and I'd seen her make a strange motion with her hand....@
br
`And then the entire world had....@ gone white,@ cracked,@ splintered, and...@ no, words couldn't describe it.\

dwavestop 0

!d 2000

`Julie had left the earth of May 19th, 2004.\
</pre>