0part2.txt
From Anon Vn
Revision as of 08:55, 25 December 2009 by 71.41.126.18 (Talk)
;dwavestop 0 stop bg black,7 setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700 !sd !d 400 bg "cg/inbetween.png",4 !d 3500 bg fie01,18,800, "sys/up.jpg" 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.@ br `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.@ br `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...?"\ bg black,4 stop ;dwavestop 0 setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700 !sd !d 400 bg "cg/inbetween.png",4 !d 3500 bg black,4 setwindow 15,17,23,23,25,25,0,2,18,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700 !sd mp3loop "bgm/bluefeather.mp3" ;dwaveloop 0, "bgm/bluefeather.ogg" !d 500 `.......... 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....?\ ;dwavestop 0 stop !d 1000 bg "bg/bg07.jpg",4 ;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 !sd bg "cg/inbetween.png",4 !d 2000 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...@ br `.... 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 !sd bg "cg/CG_anna_3.png",18,1800,"sys/up.jpg" !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 !sd `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....@ br `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.\