The streets remain quiet and calm, the town moving on as the day began to close. People walked down the cobblestone paths, most going home, or whatever they called a home. The sky was a dimming purple color as the colorful show of the setting sun would come to a close. Everything was calm, the stage between the daytime hussle and the night time crime. It was evening, and a fairly cool one at that.
As the sky darkened, the young girl slowed her pace down the street, her quiet footsteps slowing till she no longer moved forward. Her gaze then would look upwards to see as the first stars began to break through the darkened sky. Even the moon began to appear, shining bright in fullness that particular night. Under the girl’s mask, her lips began to curl into a grin as she watches the sky, and although she watched the evening sky every night, she still could not help but grin when she sees it.
Though a little thought popped into her head as her gaze switched to the buildings around her. They were nothing like what she grew up with, or what she could recall from the fragments of memory she still had. Most of her past sort of goes blank for her, and all she can remember is her sister in her childhood. Perhaps that’s part of the reason she loved her sister so much, because all she can remember is her sister. However, either way, now she wandered down the pathed path, an idea forming in her mind.
She moved to walk up a few steps, where the elevated platform grew closer to the ledge of the roof on one of the close, clustered building as she grab the wooden posts, climbing the best she could to grab the ledge. She attempted to pull up, pushing off of the wall and trying to use the strength of her arms to pull herself up, but between the darkness of night and the typical weakness of the young girl’s grip, she fell towards the stone platform beneath her. A screech escaped the girls lips as she fell, before she hit the ground, letting out gasp of air.
Silence fell over her as she gasped for her breath, the fall causing the wind to have been knocked out of her. Her eyelids remained over her eyes as she laid on the ground for a while. But after what felt like centuries, she felt a warm, wet sensation over her nose. Her eyelids suddenly fluttered open, another gasp escaping her as she could only see a big, black nose in her face. The girl’s body tensed up, as if she thought that if she didn’t move, the creature licking her face would lose interest.
But it didn’t lose interest, just continued to lick her face. The girl continued to refuse to move, until the creature suddenly let out a startled yelp. A furry tail would lash into the girl’s face before seeming to disappear. Though she could still hear barking and snarling as she remained still. As the noise began to die down, she would sit up to see a mangy ball of fur sitting by the edge of the steps, panting softly and watching the girl. She tilted her head slightly, her brow’s furring slightly in confusion.
After a few moments of silent staring at eachother, she would begin to speak, “Hello there puppy.” Her tone escaping her in a soft, mouse-like whisper, and the dog would still cock his head as she speaks.
She fell silent for another moment before the dog let out a low, deep bark to her.
The girl would jump at the sound before saying softly once more, “Are you a nice puppy? Cause I don’t like mean puppies.”
The dog would start to wag his tail while he finally concludes that the girl was paying attention to him. He would let out another bark in response.
An amused grin would form across her lips as she pushes herself to her knees, holding her hands out to the dog as if asking for a hug, “Come here puppy.”
His head tilted again, though the dog didn’t move. The girl’s arms fell to her side once more as she stares at the dog. Silence fell over them once more, a long silence this time. An eerie silence in the darkness of night before the dog lifted its body, supporting himself on his feet before turning and trotting off the opposite way. She let out a huff of air, pushing herself to her feet once more. The feeling of bruising ache across her back as she began to limp off.
She walked across the town silently before stopping to ease herself onto a bench in front of a fountain, leaning her elbow on the ledge of the fountain and her head into her hand. Her opposite hand would move to swirl the water in the fountain gently, watching the ripples move out to the edge of the fountain before bouncing back towards her finger. She repeated the motion several times, remaining silent as she could feel the soft burn linger on her side where the woman had burned a M into her skin.
After what felt like a lifetime to her, she could hear soft steps behind her and she could feel the sensation of eyes burning into her back. She slowly moved her gaze back behind her, turning her head to see a looming hooded figure behind her, his shape recognizable to her as she lets out a soft huff of air. She would appear to be unhappy to see him from the outside, but in her heart, she felt a slightly flutter of relief and comfort even though she knew she would most likely be scolded for being out on her own once more. Her words coming out as a soft murmur, as she says, “Hey there.”
