In one of the most busy town in Orendosa, an old woman is being rushed by a young boy to a candy store. She figured that resistance was futile when this little one was craving lollipops, and just resigned herself to follow him in silence and annoyance.
- "Yes, Weno, you can have that spider gum that spits blood, looks yummy"
It did not look yummy.
Weno squealed then excitedly gathered as many spidery-thingies he could in his small arms and pockets of his favorite yellow jacket then rushed to the counter while dropping a couple on the way. The old lady followed behind him while exhaling deeply as she stepped accidentally on them, making a silent promise to herself to never bring that darn kid anymore to a candy store.
-"It will be 29 kens, madam" said the cashier, with a look of compassion in his eyes. The old lady paid, grabbed the bag of candies (while ignoring Weno's complains as he wanted to be the one carrying it) and got out of the candy store. Weno was already carrying his school backpack, yet he didn't find it heavy enough since he craved to hold that candy bag, she should have added mathematics books in it to see if he was still that happy to hold it, she thought to herself.
Back on the street, Weno was dancing to the sound of the wind while singing to himself "Candy my sweet candy you'll end up in my tummy" in an amazing (sarcasm) tone. She would get a headache in the next 5 minutes if he did not stop. She wishes he would stop.
Little did she know it would be the last time she'd hear his terrible singing voice.
As they walked further and further downtown to get to their house, a small 2 bedrooms house with a yellow ceiling, Weno stopped on his track and stopped singing, looked up at the nearby hill. His eyes were empty, and his mouth agape, a very out-of-character behavior for the energetic and lively little Weno. What was going on ?
The old lady, that didn't have half the energy Weno had in his small finger, catches up to him. and stare at him in confusion.
- "You'll daydream once we'll get home, now hurry up or you won't get your bedtime story tonight"
Weno did not react, and surprised by his behavior, the old lady gave him a small tap on his shoulder to get him to move. She looked in the direction of the cliff he was staring at, and saw nothing but trees and a weird shape between them. She pulled out her glasses, cleared them with the hem of her jacket and put them on.
Her eyes grew wide, and before she could reach out to him, Weno was gone.
Weno Mongor, 7 years old, disappeared without any trace the 12th of November in Orendosa.
A couple years later...
In a sunny day, Menta was coming back home from school. The streets who were once full of people and joy, have now become empty and gloomy. He didn't mind, he was a free spirit who enjoyed being on his own. He felt more comfortable being on his own in the middle of the street, able to be himself fully, rather than being surrounded by strangers whose face he would forget the next minute.
The other kids in his school have been picked up by their parents with cars and huge black jackets that everyone was forced to wear, a new law apparently.
He didn't understand that law, but he didn't mind since he looked cool with it.
Though, he must admit..
He always found it weird, how people could go on about their day and act as if there was nothing odd about a man sitting on top of a cliff, unmoving and static. He thought that with time, he'd be like them and find this situation completely normal.
This man, with a hat to hide his face and his old boots, and a yellow jacket.
