Chapter 171 Dream Part III
The little girl in a pink winter coat with a snow white knitted scarf wrapped loosely around her neck was peeking behind a tree trunk.
Anyone who saw her that moment would think that she was playing hide and seek with someone. Her eyes were focused towards the big rock covered with snow, just meters away from her.
She was quiet as she observed her surroundings. Since her grandparents would usually arrive home during twilight, the girl was at ease to stay in the woods as much as she wanted – at least, for today.
Putting her bag down, the girl crouched down and leaned on the tree trunk.
She rummaged in her bag and brought out her favorite chocolate bars again. She scribbled the words, 'This will be the last time' on it before she stood up.
The girl was careful as she approached the rock. When she was finally on top, she took a slow turn as her intent eyes searched the woods around her.
She couldn't feel anything unusual. The woods was still as quiet as the days before. But there was no sign of her losing hope.
Upon putting the chocolate bars on top of the rock, the girl climbed down and walked away. She took her bag and left.
However, before she reached the trail towards the road, the girl abruptly turned around.
She didn't run but her steps were faster than usual. She thought that that boy might not want to show up at all if she was around so she decided to do this. She would pretend that she was heading back and then sneakily return and hide behind the tree trunk again.
As she approached that place where she came from, the girl's pace became slower. She was careful not to make any noise.
She stood behind the tree trunk, her heart beating fast . She felt a thrill of excitement. Would she finally see him today? She really hoped so.
Slowly, the girl moved to take a peek. She was holding her breath but to her dismay, no one was there. The chocolate bars were still on top of the rock.
Extremely disappointed, the girl pouted as she leaned on the trunk before she slid down on the snowy ground. She heaved an unhappy sigh as she closed her eyes.
In that moment, she didn't feel like moving anymore. She'd been waiting for him for six days straight and yet, not even his shadow showed up.
Sulking, the girl just sat there, brought out some potato chips and ate out her frustration. She stared at the clear blue sky. The weather was nice that day but as she looked up, for the first time since she arrived in Snowflakes Village, she felt lonely. She began to miss her mom.
She didn't know how long she sat there without moving. It could have been more than an hour. Eventually, her eyelids began to drop. She rested her head on her forded arms on top of her knees and she drifted to sleep.
…
The muted light eventually woke the girl up. She slowly lifted her face up. She was groggy and dazed as she yawned.
When she realized she was still in the woods, her eyes widened. She stood up fast and thoughtlessly stepped towards the rock.
And what she saw next made her freeze.
Someone was there, on top of the rock. It was him - that boy she saw that day. He was sitting quietly, one leg slightly folded and the other one was dangling. He was looking at the sky, slowly chewing something.
The chocolate was in his hand, opened. He was wearing a gray coat and his black hair was damp again.
But this time, he didn't look as dangerous and ice-cold as he did that day. Rather, he looked like a lonely guardian of the forest.
When the girl took another step to approach him, the boy finally noticed her.
He abruptly stood up. His eyes turned exceptionally cold and dangerous as he looked at her.
And then, he turned around.
"Wait!" the girl yelled. She was still about ten meters away from him but the boy just halted for a moment before he jumped down the rock.
"WAIT!" the girl yelled again as she ran after him.
He was fast. It didn't even take a minute for her to lose sight of him. But she knew where he went because of the snow so she followed his footprints. She didn't know why she was even chasing him.
"Hey! I said wait! Why are you running away? Are you scared of me?!" She kept calling out as she run after him.
"You're a boy! You shouldn't make a girl chase after you like this – ahhhhh!!!"
The girl screamed as she started to slide down. It seemed like she was falling down a slope. She had been so busy chasing after him that she didn't pay attention to where she was going. The thick snow covered the slope of the ground and when she stood on top of it, the snow fell from her weight, taking her with it. She panicked as she kept sliding down the slope but a second or two later, her brain started to work and her hands frantically started to scratch on the ground, trying to find something to hold on to.
Coincidentally, her scarf caught onto something, causing her to stop sliding further down the slope. She carefully looked down and was terrified to see that it was a very long way down to the bottom. She knew she would die if no one came for her.
"H-help me!" she tried calling out to the boy. She saw her scarf was caught on a thin, brown branch and the branch looked like it could snap at any second. She tried to hold on to the snow to support her weight as she continued calling out for help.
The girl's eyes widened in shock as she watched the branch slowly being bent more and more from her weight, before she heard the crisp sound of it breaking. In the next second, she started sliding down again. She screamed at the top of her lungs from fear. She didn't want to die yet!!! She closed her eyes and was ready to scream again when she felt a pull from above.
She slowly opened her eyes to see if her scarf saved her again but to her surprise, someone, that boy, was holding her hood.