𝑽𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔

𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚

"Hello?"

Lloyd woke up in a field, the same field from Coia. He got up slowly and looked around. The sun was out, but it was dark as night. There was no snow anymore, it was springtime. He bent down to clean his dirty face with the water. Why was his hair white? Why were his eyes gray?

"Hello."

He spun around and reached for a nonexistent gun in his pocket. It was a young boy covered in dirt and mud.

"Hello." He spoke in a language he didn't recognize.

The boy sat across from him and started cutting a grapefruit. Confused, Lloyd slowly sat down.

"Fruit?"

"No, thank you."

As the boy was cutting, the other saw someone behind him. It was a tall figure looming by the edge of the field. It was too far to tell if it was male or female. It just loomed. It was unclear if it was staring at him or at the edge.

"You look sick." The boy spoke as he ate. He couldn't be much older than eight.

He suddenly became aware of his appearance. He was cut up and bruised, his hair was longer and messy, his eyes looked red and tired, he was emaciated.

"I know. You look dirty. Would you like me to give you a bath in the lake?"

"Sure."

Before he could blink, the boy was upside down in the water. He was on his head, his nasty feet up in the air. His stomach suddenly felt tight. Something he didn't really know how to describe. Something foreboding.

Just as quickly as it happened, the boy was flipped to the correct position to be in a lake. He happily splashed around, shouting and laughing. Lloyd's stomach felt better as his hand felt warm. He looked at it. He saw the outline of another hand holding his fingers.

"Is that-"

"Hey!" He jumped. "I'm waiting for you!"

"I'm coming!"

He walked to the lake and started to bathe the boy. He didn't have soap, so he used flowers. With each flower, the dirt came off. He was able to see him now. It was a white boy with brown eyes and hair. It made him sad. He missed his brown eyes and hair.

"Wow! Look at me!" The boy jumped up and ran around, suddenly wearing traditional Serbian clothes. He looked cute.

Lloyd was happy to see this, but he found himself peaking at the figure behind them. He didn't know how to feel about them? Her? Him? It? It seemed right. He didn't know if it was good or bad. It had to be somewhat good. It wasn't bothering him or the boy, who was now leading him to explore.

He was in Serbia before, but he didn't recognize it anymore. Sometimes, when they thought he wasn't looking, things would flip upside down or lose color. He felt wrong.

"Look at this!" Lloyd's stomach dropped again.

"My plane! How did it get here?"

"I don't know, but it's fun to climb on!"

As the boy climbed, Lloyd looked at the water. His body, brown haired and legs bleeding, was bobbing around. Face down and pale, just like from the night. It was trying hard to be correct, but it wasn't. He wasn't head first, he was foot first. He wasn't that tall either.

"I'm sorry." He recognized the voice. "I love you so much. Please forgive me."

The boy tugged on his hand. When he saw him, he wanted to throw up. The boy looked sick and uncanny as he clung to his chest. His body was rapidly changing his height as he put his hand on his mouth.