0v4.txt
From Anon Vn
This latest edition of 0.txt uploaded on July 31, 2009 @ 21:04 EST. For more information, go to the /jp/ Project forums.
;mode800 ;Dandy Girl ; *define kidokuskip mode_wave_demo caption "Dandy Girl beta2.100" ;By eosq, originally by TLH and Anon1 versionstr "Dandygirl" , "beta2.100" savename `Save`,`Load`,`File ` savenumber 20 effectblank 0 mp3fadeout 4000 transmode alpha selectcolor #ffffff,#cccccc menuselectcolor #ffffff,#aaaaaa,#999999 menuselectvoice "","","","","","","" humanz 10 rmenu `Save game`,save,`Load game`,load,`Remove window`,windowerase,`Reset`,reset,`Quit`,end ;rclick menu menusetwindow 20,20,0,2,0,1,#333333 defaultfont "Sazanami Gothic" killmenu 1 killmenu 1 killmenu 4 killmenu 4 killmenu 3 defaultspeed 12,6,0 underline 599 effect 2,10,1500 ;Pixelwise crossfade effect 3,11,200 ;Left-sided scroll effect 4,10,3000 ;Pixelwise crossfade, long effect 5,10,50 ;Pixelwise crossfade, fast effect 6,10,400 ;Pixelwise crossfade effect 7,10,6000 ;Pixelwise crossfade effect 8,10,4000 ;Pixelwise crossfade, VERY slow effect 9,10,500 ;Pixelwise crossfade effect 10,10,500 ;Pixelwise crossfade for 500 milliseconds, by far the most-used effect in this novel effect 11,10,800 ;Pixelwise crossfade, medium effect 12,8,1000 ;Upwards curtain effect 13,9,1000 ;Downwards curtain windoweffect 10,200 defmp3vol 80 defsevol 80 defvoicevol 80 globalon ;allow use of global variables ;definition block end----------------------------------- game *start setwindow 15,17,28,23,26,26,0,2,20,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700 bg "cg/jpproject.png",10 ;/jp/ project splash screen wait 3000 ;remove the beta version lines in the final build ;-------------------------- bg black,10 br br `This is a beta version. The script, art and music aren't finished yet.\\ !d 2000 ;--------------------------- mp3loop "bgm/petals in the wind.mp3" *title1 bg "sys/title_test2.jpg",10 lsp 1,":c/2,160,3;sys/btn_start.jpg",348,381 lsp 2,":c/2,160,3;sys/btn_load.jpg",352,436 ;lsp 3,":c/2,160,3;sys/btn_extra.jpg",349,491 lsp 4,":c/2,160,3;sys/btn_exit.jpg",364,546 print 1 spbtn 1,1 spbtn 2,2 spbtn 3,3 spbtn 4,4 *btn btnwait2 %0 if %0<=0 goto *btn if %0=1 goto *beginning if %0=2 goto *menu_load if %0=4 stop:csp -1:bg white,10,1000:end *menu_load csp -1 bg white,1 systemcall load goto *title1 *beginning csp -1 bg black,10 stop !d 2000 ;br ;br ;br ;` The Curtain Falls\\ mp3loop "bgm/curtain fall alt.mp3" !d 500 `That girl standing in the midst of the golden field reminded Mark of Edna St. Vincent Millay, which hadn't crossed his mind in years.@ He wondered why that might be, as he watched her spin around in circles with the breeze whipping through her hair.@ br `Perhaps it was the way the sun angled off of her golden-colored hair, and the childish display of energy this girl was creating.@ Was it the way her white dress swirled around her slender legs...?\\ `"Where's she from...?"@ br `She was truly breath-taking.@ br `Mark smiled, admiring her, and thought that her energetic dance looked like something plucked out from his past.\\ `........... No.@ That wasn't quite right, either.@ br !d 2000 `That's right.@ She wasn't from the past at all, was she...?\\ !d 3000 bg "cg/frame01.png",8 !d 1000 `"Ha...@ augh...@ haaa..."\\ `Mark hadn't noticed her right away.@ The climb up the rocky slope had left him sweaty and out of breath, and the only thought crossing his mind was how quickly he could empty his canteen into his stomach.@ br `When it was empty, he finally noticed her, and his mouth somehow felt dry once again.\\ `She hadn't seen him yet.@ Mark wondered how he could make her notice him without scaring her off.@ Would she stay and continue her wild dance,@ or take to the sky and fly away,@ like a frail, beautiful bird just out of his reach?\\ `"..........."@ br `He hung his head and took a deep breath.\\ bg "cg/frame02.png",10 `And then, when he looked at her again,@ she had turned around and begun looking right back,@ like some kind of curious animal.\\ bg "cg/panel1.png",10 stop !d 3000 mp3loop "bgm/moodyprincess.mp3" bg "bg/bg04.jpg",3 !d 800 `The two weeks I'd saved in my work schedule for Summer vacation went to waste.... maybe.@ When my wife had been unexpectedly summoned for jury duty, I'd been forced to spend them alone.@ br `I spent days sitting inside, or climbing the rocky walls, or just lounging about waiting for time to pass.\\ bg black,10 `I was pretty lonely.@ br `Up till now I'd been leading a lonely existence,@ fishing off the pier in the day and reading the cool evenings away.@ It was peaceful, but very dismal at the same time.\\ `.... After two days the routine had caught up with me, and I'd taken off into the woods without purpose or direction and eventually climbed up to the place where I met this strange girl.\\ bg "bg/bg01.png",10 quakey 5,800 `"Haaa.... haaaa."@ br `I was wheezing really badly, and I could hear my own ragged breath.@ My lungs were on fire, and my legs felt like they'd been turned to stone.@ br `But the girl in front of me put me at ease.@ Her smile, her giggling and her silly dance seemed to make the pain in my joints ease.\\ stop `".........?"@ br `She finally noticed me?\\ dwave 0,"sfx/footsteps.ogg" ld c "char/julie/sprite_stare_1.png",10 dwavestop 0 `"........."@ br `"........."@ br `She stared at me with big, bright blue eyes.@ About as blue as the sky surrounding her.@ They were covered just a little by her hair, which had a shade like the sun or the brilliant dandelions, here.\\ cl c,11 ld c "char/julie/sprite_innocent.png",11 br `It brought on a bad case of deja vu so strong I almost reached out to touch her.\\ `Eesh.@ ...... Better keep my hands to myself.\\ cl a,11 ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_5.png",11 `Ah, what am I thinking like that for, anyway?@ I'm forty-four, and this girl can't be much older than twenty....@ Creepy, Mark.@ Creepy.@ br `Anyway,@ talk, talk, talk, you idiot.\\ `"Aha...@ ha...@ hi, there...@ nice view here, isn't it...?"@ br `The girl blinked, then her face broke out into a grin.\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_spaced_1.png",11 mp3loop "bgm/new meeting.mp3" br `"Ah! So, I'm not the only one who thinks so, am I~!"@ br bg "cg/frame03.png",3 `The strange girl spun around and swept her arm in an enthusiastic semicircle, as if motioning upward.\\ quakex 2,500 `"Aha....@ no, it really is..."\\ `I nodded dumbly.@ br `Well.... she was right, I guess.@ The meadows underneath us were pretty, colored like autumn leaves,@ and there were some nice "suburban structures" that I could see from up here.@ br `Of course, those were in Cove City,@ which was a pretty nice sight from up here, too.@ It looked like a sort of medieval castle place, if you looked at it at the right angle.@ br `I could see why a young girl would like this view.\\ `"Huh...so.... I take it you're from the city too, huh?"\\ bg "bg/bg01.png",6 ld c "char/julie/sprite_moe_2.png",10 `"Fufufu.... I guess you could say that."@ br cl a,10 `She smiled really coyly, like she knew some kind of important secret that I didn't.@ br `.... What did she mean 'I guess you could say that'?\\ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_smile_1.png",10 `"I'm from the Cove City of two hundred and forty years from now, you see."\\ cl a,10 stop !d 1200 `Oh, so that's all is it?@ !w 2000 br quakex 6,800 wave "sfx/Wham.wav" `......... Wait, WHAAAAT?!\\ mp3loop "bgm/maltshopbop.mp3" ld c "char/julie/sprite_emo.png",10 `"........"@ br `The dandelion girl sighed and slumped her shoulders.@ br `"Fuu....@ It's all right,@ it's not like I expect you to believe something so strange so easily.@ Still, it'd be nice if you could pretend...."@ br `Her "hinting" expression told me it would be a bad idea NOT to play along.\\ cl a,10 `Maybe she was delusional.@ br `.... Or maybe she was just playing a child's game.@ But either way, I did play along for my own ambiguous reasons.@ br `"..... Th,@ that would be the year twenty-two hundred and fourty-four, right?@ I guess, uh...@ it must've, you know... changed quite a bit."@ br `"Oh, it has!"\\ ld r "char/julie/sprite_talk_9.png",10 `She'd perked right up.@ She said that, sounding like she was excited and frustrated at the same time.@ br `"It's part of a megalopolis now and extends all the way to there, don't you know!"@ br bg "cg/sprite_point_2.png",10 `She pointed to the fringe of the forest near us.\\ `"Two Thousand and Fortieth Street runs straight through that grove of sugar maples,@ and do you see that stand of locusts over there?!"@ br `I was....@ starting to get a little creeped out by this girl's game, now.@ br `"Y@....yeah, I see them...."\\ `"Well, that's where the new plaza is!@ Its supermarket is so big that it takes a whole half day to go through it.@ Although, you can buy almost anything in it, from aspirins to aerocars.@ You know?"@ br `She stopped just for a second, to take a deep breath.@ br !d 1500 `.... And went right along, after that.\\ br `"Oh! And right next to the supermarket, where that grove of beeches is,@ is a big dress shop just BURSTING with the latest creations of the leading couturiers.@ I bought this dress I'm wearing there this morning! Isn't it just beautiful~?"\\ bg "bg/bg01.png",10 ld c "char/julie/sprite_dance_3.png",10 `Uh....@ Uh....@ Umm....@ br `..... How was I supposed to answer this one?@ br `"Ah... yes, it's nice."\\ br `"Fufufu...@ Won't you feel how soft it is~?"@ br `.... Well, it WAS a pretty dress,@ and for this girl to be asking me to feel it...@ br `I'll just give it a quick inspection.\\ bg "char/julie/sprite_clothes.png",10 !w 2000 `Huh.... ?@ What's this supposed to be?@ br `It was cut out of a material I didn't recognize at all, something like cotton candy, sea foam, and snow fused into one.@ br `This was the first time I'd seen anything like it.\\ `Uh... Well, there's no limit any more to the syntheses that could be created by the miracle-fiber manufacturers, I guess...@ br `.... And there's no limit to the tall tales girls like this can weave, either, I guess.@ br bg "bg/bg01.png",10 `".... So, did you travel here by time machine, or something, young lady?"@ br `She opened her mouth in shock and covered it with her hand.\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_3.png",10 `"Oh~! How did you guess!@ I did, I did travel here with a time machine!@ My father made it, in fact~!"@ br `"..........."\\ `What the... ?@ br `I looked at her closely.@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_7.png",10 br `"....... What is it?"\\ `I'd never seen such a guileless look.@ What was up with this? Was she a very good liar or just genuinely crazy?@ Or maybe she was one of those people that could train their brains to believe real nonsense........\\ `"Umm ......@ You come here often, then?"@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_smile_1.png",10 br `"You must be a mind-reader!@ This is my absolute favorite favorite favorite space-time coordinate!@ I stand here for hours, sometimes, and look and look and look.@ You know, the day before yesterday I saw a rabbit, and yesterday a deer, and today, you."\\ `"... Okay, that's all fine and well....@ but how can there be a yesterday if you always return to the same point in time?"@ br `The girl took a minute to consider this.\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_9.png",10 `"Ah.... I see what you mean.@ Well, the reason is because the machine is affected by the passage of time the same as anything else, you know?@ And you have to set it back every twenty-four hours if you want to maintain exactly the same co-ordinate.@ I never do that, because I much prefer a different day each time I come back. You know what I mean?"@ br `I didn't, exactly.@ br `"Okay.... So, does your father ever come with you?"\\ cl a,10 stop !w 1800 ld c "char/julie/sprite_farewell_1.png",4 !w 3000 `".........."@ br !w 1000 `The girl looked up into the sky,@ where a flock of geese was flying in a V shape, and scrunched her face up into a difficult expression.@ br `And she kept staring at them, blankly.\\ `Where had that warm, affectionate atmosphere that I'd been enjoying suddenly gone?@ The sparkle in her eyes faded,@ and she suddenly looked much older to me.....@ br `Was she struggling for words...?@ br `"..................."\\ mp3loop "bgm/on the passing of time.mp3" !w 3000 br `".... My father is an invalid."\\ `"Eh?"@ br `"He'd love to come, if he really could....@ But, I do tell him all about what I see, really I do.....@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_10.png",10 `And, uh, it's almost the same as if he really came. Wouldn't you say it was?"@ br `"Sure thing."\\ `There was a weird eagerness and genuine tenderness in what she said.@ I couldn't help but be just a little charmed by it, really. @ br `.... You idiot.@ br `"I'm sure it is......@ It must be nice, you know, owning a time machine."\\ stop !d 1000 `The girl nodded seriously, then frowned.@ mp3loop "bgm/coldfunk.mp3" ld c "char/julie/sprite_emo.png",10 br `"Well, they're a boon to people who like to stand on pleasant meadows.@ In the twenty-third century there aren't very many left, you know...."\\ `.......... That was a quick recovery.\\ `"Heh. There aren't very many of them left in the twentieth, either.@ I guess you could say that this one is sort of a collector's item.@ I'll have to visit it more often."@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_innocent.png",10 br `"Oh... ? Do you live near here or something, mister?"\\ `"Oh, sort of. I'm staying in a cabin a little ways back.@ I'm supposed to be on vacation, but it's not much of one.@ My wife was called to jury duty and couldn't come with me.@ Since I couldn't postpone it,@ I've ended up as a sort of.... reluctant Thoreau, I guess."@ br `The girl nodded, leaning forward.\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_stare_3.png",10 !d 1000 `".... Oh, and also, I'm Mark Randolph. Mark is fine."@ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_smile_1.png",10 `"Mark? Is it?@/ ld c "char/julie/sprite_moe_2.png",10 ` Fufufu... Julie Danvers is mine.@ It's almost as pretty as the dandelions here, don't you think so?@ Since I can call you Mark, you're free to call me Julie if you want."@ br `.... Eh? Where did that sudden queen-like aura come from?\\ `"Okay, then."@ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_smile_1.png",10 `Even if she wasn't a queen, I did think the name was beautiful.@ And it was equally suiting for her. Like the dandelions, and like the clear sky.@ br `Not to mention she had a really mysterious air about her.\\ `Heh.@ Do you really think you're fooling me, though... ?@ br `She probably lived in that little cottage somewhere in the woods.@ If that was the case, this was just a farce she was putting up for giggles.@ Well, assuming there wasn't something mentally at odds with her.@ br `Well, I wasn't even sure how old she was, so I couldn't rule out the delusions of a hyperactive teenager.@ br `But, in any case, that was still all right.@ I'd humor her, kind of like the way parents witness and chide on their children's belief in Santa Clause, or the Easter Bunny, or the tooth fairy or something like that.\\ br `Since it wasn't causing any harm.@ br `I just did my best to keep that smile on her face.\\ `"So, Julie, what kind of work do you do? Or are you still a student?"@ br !d 1000 ld c "char/julie/sprite_innocent.png",10 !d 100 ld c "char/julie/sprite_moe_2.png",10 `"Hmmm.... ?@ I look young enough to be a student, do I? That's so flattering, Mark."@ br `......... What a difficult person.@ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_9.png",10 `"To be serious, I'm in training--@to be a secretary, you know~"@ br `Julie got on her tip-toe, spun around and did a full pirouette, stopping in her original position and clapping her hands together.@ br cl a,10 bg "cg/frame04.png",3 `"It'll be a lot of fun, don't you think so, Mark?~@ Being big and important and taking down what people are saying in a real serious kind of way.@ Right?"\\ `"Oh...@ Um, I guess so."@ br `And then, Julie's face lit up like a candle.@ br `"Oh, Mark! Say, what's say you make me your secretary!@ Wouldn't that be great~? That's a great idea, isn't it~?"\\ bg "bg/bg01.png",10 br `"Oh.... Sure. That'd be nice, I guess. My wife was a secretary, once.@ You know, before the war.@ That's how we met and all that, and....."@ br `........... Ah.@ That's....@ strange....\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_7.png",10 `"Was she a good secretary?"@ br `"That's.... oh, yes. She was a good secretary.@ I mean, in the end I lost her, but just as a secretary.@ Although, I mean I gained her in another way.@ So, that is to say, I never really LOST her, I guess.@ Uh..."@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_innocent.png",10 br `Julie was responding with a blank look.@ br `"Well, anyway...."\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_smile_1.png",10 br `The girl who looked and smelled like dandelions, Julie, nodded her head enthusiastically....@ But then looked as if she'd remembered something greatly important.@ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_talk_10.png",10 `"Ah....@ I almost forgot, I have to get home right away.@ I'm sure Father's home, and I have to tell him about everything that I saw today.@ Plus, I have to make his supper for him."\\ `That left me feeling a little disappointed.@ br `"I see.... Well, Julie, will you be here tomorrow?"@ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_innocent.png",10 `"Tomorrow... ?"@ br `"Twenty-four hours from now, that is."\\ cl a,10 ld r "char/julie/sprite_dance_3.png",10 `"..... Sure. I've been coming here every day, so coming again tomorrow is no big deal."@ br `Julie nodded slowly, then her face twisted with a big smile.@ br cl a,10 `"Ah... Good, then. Guess I'll see you around, then."\\ bg "cg/frame06.png",10 `As if seriously hurrying to her own little time machine, Julie went down the hill,@ off into the grove of sugar maple trees where would supposedly be Two-thousand-fourtieth street two-hundred years from now.@ Her beautiful white dress fluttered along with her.@ br `"............"\\ bg "bg/black.png",4 stop wait 1000 mp3loop "bgm/on the passing of time.mp3" !d 5000 `What a charming girl.@ It must be nice to have such a young, child-like innocence,@ in which simple lies are nothing more than playful delusions.@ br `She had such an enthusiasm for life.......@ and a fascinating sense of wonder.\\ br `These were two things that I lacked, and which I appreciated greatly for that reason.\\ br `That being,@ because I'd been a serious guy for most of my life.@ I spent enough time in law school studying my way to the top,@ and when I finally formed my own practice I spent even more time working on sustaining it.@ br `.... I never really got a break from it all, I guess.\\ `Anyway, I married Anne shortly after I began that practice, when she was my secretary. @ br `Not only was the dedication I had to my work a factor in keeping me a serious man,@ there was a bout of difficulty surrounding the war.@ Times when I struggled, and even harder, later, when I had a wife to support on top of that.\\ `.... Come to think of it, I was still struggling.@ Even now, I was struggling against my conscience after having watched that girl.@ And there was my practice, my job, my wife...@ br `Never a break for me.\\ `It was ironic, that these few weeks of vacation I was having were quite forced,@ and my wife wasn't even around to help me enjoy them.@ The "vacation" had turned into more of an imprisonment.\\ br `"...... ?"@ bg "bg/bg06.jpg",4 br `Before I'd even realized it, it had apparently begun to change to night.@ The breeze of the evening,@ rolling off of the waves of the ocean, was beginning to blow and make me shiver.\\ !d 2000 `"..... I guess I should head home, now."@ br `The dandelion girl (Julie?) was gone now,@ and the chirping of birds and sounds of the day that had surrounded her disappeared promptly, too.\\ `I hung my head, sighed, and headed down the gravel path toward my cozy but lonely little cabin by the lake.\\ !d 1000 bg "bg/bg02.png",4 `I'd spent the last two weeks alone, now that I thought of it.@ They were a combination of sulking and sight-seeing,@ and something I couldn't genuinely enjoy.@ br `....... Well, maybe I wasn't entirely alone.\\ `I returned to the cabin,@ and got cozy the way I usually did at this time.@ bg "bg/bg04.jpg",4 br `I had a pretty simple supper.@ I went and read.@ I watched the lightningbugs which flew around and flickered like tiny lightbulbs, outside of the window.\\ !d 1800 `"..... Ah, right. I should remember to lock up before I go to bed."@ br `Mental note: taken.\\ `Well, it wasn't that I'd forget anyway.@ I just felt a subconscious need to hear myself talk out loud.@ br `I wondered...@ was it that girl's companionship that made me begin to crave more for the first time in a while?\\ br `"............ Stupid."@ br `I picked up the novel I'd begun reading the day I started coming here, and thumbed through it.\\ br `So... @ Where had I left off, again.... ?@ br `It was about a chance meeting between a young boy and a young girl,@ two people who fell in love in a Romeo-and-Juliet-esque manner,@ but with (thankfully) different results.@ br `That was....\\ !d 1500 `"........."@ br dwave 0,"sfx/book flip 1.ogg" `Rustle.@/ dwavestop 0 dwaveloop 0,"sfx/book flip 2.ogg" ` Rustle.@ Rustle.@ br `The sound of the pages moving, alone,@ was distracting enough for me.@/ dwavestop 0 ` I couldn't focus on this, anyway.\\ br bg "bg/bg05.jpg",4 `Ah...@ why was I thinking of that person?@ br `Heheh....@ there must be something wrong with my head, huh?@ br `I'm thinking of a young girl, not of my wife,@ and I'm on the verge of having some kind of twisted fantasy.@ br `Tch.\\ bg "bg/black.png",4 `Well, did that really mean I was being unfaithful?@ Maybe I was just lonely....@ I'd been in this cabin, all by myself, for a little while now.@ br `And all of a sudden, a cute girl comes out of nowhere and she...\\ !d 2000 `"....... That's right.@ Anybody would feel happy to see her, and think about her for a while."@ br `So there was nothing lowly about my thoughts.@ And, even then, I'd never thought anything intimate about her, had I?@ Of course not.@ Aha... ha...@ br `Just a little,@ I felt the tenseness in my shoulders ease.\\ bg "bg/bg05.jpg",4 `"....... I wonder what you're doing right now, Anne?@ Tell me....@ What would you think of that young girl, who looks like the color of dandelions and wears dresses made of things I've never seen in my life.... ?"\\ !d 4000 br `I reached and took a cigarette from my pocket.@ br `.... When was the last time I smoked?@ br `".... Hmph."@ br `I should probably quit, huh?@ I know it's a disgusting habit.@ It's not like I'm proud to be forced to do something like this to relax, you know.\\ `I lit it, and smoked it slowly.@ It was weird...@ a guilty sort of feeling like you'd reached your hand into the cookie jar without having done so in such a long time.\\ `What was it that she said?\\ bg "bg/black.png",10 br br br br br `"The day before yesterday I saw a rabbit,@ and yesterday a deer,@ and today, you."\\ bg "bg/bg05.jpg",4 `It seemed comfortable, and sort of.... familiar, I guess.@ br `That night I thought of the strange girl,@ Julie Danvers, and fell asleep with a lot of questions about her that would be never or easily answered.....\\ bg black,7 bg "bg/bg01.png",4 mp3loop "bgm/coldfunk.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 some kind of 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....\\ br `Maybe....\\ `".............."@ 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 `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. Didn't think you'd be around, today."@ br `She grinned at my throaty voice.@ br `"Fufu... well, I am. 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 particularly tense.@ I, myself, however, was wordless and utterly full of anxiety.\\ br `Tch.\\ ld r "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_1.png",10 `"Hmm? Are you going to smoke, Mark?"@ br `"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...\\ `"Um...@ You can go ahead and smoke, if you really want.@ I don't mind."@ br `"........... Sure."\\ !d 2000 `"Hmmmm....@ You know, my father smokes like that."@ br `"Hmm?"\\ ld r "char/julie/sprite_blue_sit_3.png",10 `"You know, when he lights his cigarette he makes that...@ um... @cupping motion...@ 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 "char/julie/sprite_blue_sit_4.png",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 ld r "char/julie/sprite_blue_sit_3.png",10 !d 800 br `"Hmm...@ Okay."\\ cl a,10 ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_sit_1.png",10 !d 1500 cl a,10 bg "bg/black.png",10: cl a,10 `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.\\ `.... 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.\\ bg "bg/bg09.jpg",10 `At the end of it,@ Julie was left with that same dazzled expression I'd seen yesterday when she was talking about all the things she'd seen.@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_1.png",10 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 nineteen-sixty-one...!"\\ `"Well, if you've got a time machine,@ couldn't you just move here whenever you want?"@ !d 1200 cl a,10 ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_sit_1.png",10 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....\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_2.png",10 `"Ehehehe....@ Just in their eyes.@ As they've got their own concept of "time",@ my father has a completely different concept.@ Since they don't cross, it's fair game.@ Right?"@ !d 2000 br `W...@ wait, that's not right at all!!\\ quakex 6,800 `"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 "bg/black.png",10 `"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...?\\ bg "bg/bg09.jpg",10 ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_1.png",10 `"S,@ so, your dad must be a pretty remarkable guy, huh....?"@ br ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_2.png",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...."\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_1.png",10 `"....... I get the point.@ Thanks."@ br `"Ah."@ br `"So, I'm guessing you've read some of those as well?"\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_2.png",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 "char/julie/sprite_blue_smile_1.png",10 `"Really?@ Oh, Mark, we've got loads and loads of things in common~!"\\ `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 `And she was smart, I was starting to learn.@ Delusional, maybe, but very 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 "bg/black.png",4 !d 3000 bg "bg/bg06.jpg",4 `".............."@ br `The feeling of "rightness" carried on for a long time, 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.@ There are people who are just such talented fibbers, though.@ 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 when Julie was here, but held back for her sake.\\ !d 2000 bg "black.png",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 "bg/bg06.jpg",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...?"\\ setwindow 15,17,28,23,26,26,0,2,20,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700 bg "bg/black.png",4 stop !d 400 bg "cg/inbetween.png",4 !d 3500 bg "bg/black.png",4 setwindow 15,17,28,23,26,26,0,2,20,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700 mp3loop "bgm/bluefeather.mp3" !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 wanted to avoid that at all costs.\\ `So, in the end, I didn't take any such steps.@ 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 "bg/bg09.jpg",4 !d 2000 `........... 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 slowly dissolve into nothingness.@ br `In the end, our conversations would leave me infatuated...@ and in the end 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 "bg/black.png",4 !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 "bg/black.png",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....?\\ stop !d 1000 bg "bg/bg07.jpg",4 mp3loop "bgm/regretcomfmystery.mp3" `......... After sitting in the livingroom, thinking over everything for a while, I began to realize I'd made a mistake.@ br `I thought about a lot.@ How much I disliked myself for acting like a lovesick (not to mention unfaithful) schoolboy, and how seeing her those few times and then not seeing her had made me realize that simple thing.@ br `What a horrible, lecherous man....\\ `And yet....@ I wondered if it might be a different, inexplicable feeling I was having.@ Maybe.@ What if it wasn't simple infatuation?@ br `.... Ha.@ What an idiot.@ I'm just trying to ease my conscience.\\ `I couldn't betray my wife.@ I wouldn't.@ I was positive of that.@ br `I hadn't been doing that, had I...?@ br `Ugh.\\ quakex 3,300 `Stupid.@ quakey 3,300 br `Stupid.@ quakex 3,300 br `STUPIIIIDDDDDDD!!!!\\ !d 3000 `For the first time in a while, I wondered what Anne was doing.@ br `That was.....\\ bg "cg/flashback1.png",10 !d 800 bg "bg/bg07.jpg",10 `.............\\ quakey 5,400 `I banged my fists on the table, over and over again while I ground my teeth.@ It was so...@ vexing.\\ bg "bg/black.png",4 `It... @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 charismatic attitude for all of this.@ br `..... But how could I blame a young girl for being pretty?@ No, this was my mistake.\\ bg "bg/bg04.jpg",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 "bg/black.png",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.\\ setwindow 15,17,28,23,26,26,0,2,20,1,1,#ffffff,0,0,800,700 bg "bg/black.png",4 bg "cg/inbetween.png",4 !d 2000 bg "bg/black.png",4 bg "bg/bg092.jpg",4 !d 3000 setwindow 15,17,28,23,26,26,0,2,20,1,1,#999999,0,0,800,700 `Like the idiot I was, I ended up climbing back up that stony preface days later, toward that dandelion field where I'd been meeting Julie.@ br `..... My heart was racing, again,@ but not with a feeling that I liked at all.@ It was a mixture of fear, self-loathing and vanity.\\ `I felt like I was making a mistake.@ br `But, for whatever reason it may have been,@ I kept on grunting, climbing, heaving myself onto the next foothold,@ until I reached the top.@ My racing heart, uneasy mind, and so on made it seem to take that much longer.\\ `There was the possibility that Julie wouldn't be there at all.@ I considered that it might be because Julie began to see I was growing fond of her, and she didn't like to think of someone like me in that way.@ 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 "bg/black.png",10 !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 `How many days... @ has it been? br `I felt starved of something I needed as a part of me,@ and that craving made me sick.\\ `I couldn't understand what fueled it.@ br `But, more importantly.... @ where was Julie? The urge to know where she was even stronger than that.@ br `Where.... ?\\ `The answer should be very simple.@ A little girl like Julie..... must have a real life.@ I'm sure that wherever she lived (in this time period?) @she was doing something important.@ Surely...@ br `But, the next possibility dawned on me.\\ `".... I see.@ Could she sense my lechery, and the fact that I couldn't come within three feet of her before my heart started hammering?@ Was she repulsed by it...?"@ br `As I thought these things, I only sunk into a deeper, darker depression.\\ `I was...@ truly disgusted with myself.@ br `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 was enough to make me lose my lunch.@ br `Ah..... But it was my fault for falling for it, wasn't that the case?\\ stop !d 3000 mp3loop "sfx/rain 2.mp3" bg "bg/bg10.png",10 !d 500 `What draws me to you, Julie?@ br `I.... @ miss you.@ br `But how can I say something like that.... ?@ I've.... @ only known you for a few days, now.@ br `And yet....\\ !d 2000 bg "bg/black.png",10 !d 1000 `It feels like we've been friends, forever.\\ bg "bg/bg05.jpg",4 `How many days did I spend, ruminating like that?@ How many days did I feel the gravity of reality trying to force my face against the ground and crush my body and mind?@ br `..... I'm not sure.\\ `For many days.... how many.... ?@ I remained thinking of Julie, and then to Anne, and back to Julie again.@ Inside of me was a struggle between two people who... should never be compared.@ br `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.\\ stop bg "bg/black.png",4 mp3loop "bgm/bluefeather.mp3" `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 "bg/bg09.jpg",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...!?\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_1.png",4 !d 2000 `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, toward the horizon,@ 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, and suddenly the girl I was beginning to think wasn't paying attention to me acknowledged my existence in a heartbeat.\\ `"...... 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 !d 1000 mp3loop "bgm/sombertrio.mp3" br `That was...@ br `"Julie..."@ br `"He died...... last night...... ah, rather, he'll die two-hundred years from now, that is...."\\ 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 was surely one of mourning, as well.\\ `Julie lowered her head.@ ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_cry_2.png",10 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 `"........."@ br 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, although I don't think such a sound should ever deserve to be called a 'laugh'.@ 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."\\ `"... a... @ and yet he...@ he kept right on...@ G... going anyway, Mark...."@ 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 `"I just...."\\ !d 3000 `"So, tell me...@ What's the point in going on, now....@ Now that Daddy is...."@ br `........I felt something dramatic and personal and tender in that.@ 'Daddy', that is.@ 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 maybe she'd always avoided showing a weaker side to her.\\ `"Come on, Julie, you know that isn't true.@ I'm.... sorry, about your dad.@ But, even so.@ There's got to be something else...."@ br cl a,4 !d 3000 `"........"@ br `Julie opened her mouth to speak,@ and then shook as the words struggled to get into her mouth.\\ `"........... No.@ I don't.....@ have anyone else.@ Say, Mark........@ Do you think you could...@ kill me...?"\\ `It's a lie.@ It's a lie....@ That can't really be true.@ It can't be, it can't be true that this beautiful girl, who has no wishes aside from loving and being loved, has no one in her own time to care for her...\\ `That's...@ not fair....@ It's just not fair.@ 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.@ br `No one in the world...@ no one in Julie's time...@ would be waiting for her when she went back.\\ `"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 just....@ want it to end, Mark...@ Do you think you could do it...?"@ br `"Julie....!"@ br `"What is i--, eek!"\\ bg "bg/black.png",10 `I wouldn't let Julie continue.@ br `Before she could let out another word, another stupid self-defeating word,@ I'd run up behind her and wrapped my arms around her.@ And she didn't resist.@ She went limp, instead of struggling, and didn't fight back at all.\\ ld c "cg/sprite_black_hugz_1.png",10 !d 1200 `"Nothing to live for.... ?@ How can you say something so stupid, Julie... ?@ You can't really be thinking about dying.@ Such a beautiful girl...@ has to do something with her life...@ Don't be..... stupid...."@ br `"....... (hic).....@ (hic)....."\\ bg "bg/black.png",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 `The girl, 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 `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 "bg/black.png",10 `"A....@ child...?@ Is that what you really think...?"@ br `W, what....?@ br `She looked wounded by that,@ like I'd 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 "cg/sprite_black_hugz_2.png",10 `".....@ Y....@ you....@ I...."@ br `I hugged her, holding her so tight that she wouldn't even be able to 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 "bg/sprite_black_hugz_3.png",10 ` uwaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!"\\ !d 3000 `.......... Julie began to cry again.\\ `"...... M...@ Mr. Randolph, 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 `"............."\\ bg "bg/black.png",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 "bg/bg09.jpg",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_1.png",4 `"........................"\\ `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. Randolph...@ 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 "bg/black.png",10 `.............. Ah.@ This is.... familiar....@ br `This sensation.\\ `She kissed me.@ br `Even if it was on the cheek, I could feel the warmness fading 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 "bg/bg09.jpg",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...."\\ ld c "char/julie/sprite_black_stand_1.png",4 `She turned.@ br cl a,10 `..... What was that look on her face, I saw?@ 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 was considering something she could never take back.\\ `For the first time since I met Julie......@ I began to believe her story.@ And I felt scared, because of it.@ br `Was it a reality check...?@ The idea that, this girl would continue to pretend......@ even after her father's death...?@ br `So...@ that means...\\ `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 stop `"Wait, Julie...."\\ !w 2000 bg "bg/bg092.jpg",4 quake 7,2000 dwave 0,"sfx/warp.ogg" bg "bg/bg093.jpg",1 bg "bg/white.png",3 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 bg "bg/black.png",4 `Julie had left the earth of May 19th, 2004.\\ end
