"Ibu..."
Whoosh...
The gentle, cold waves.
Silent. Quiet. Lonely. Alone.
"Mom..." Sob
No answer, only the waves that keep running and returning. The small child with silver-white hair continued walking along the shoreline, leaving tiny footprints in the sand.
Silent. Quiet. Lonely. Alone. And...
Afraid.
The girl kept walking, not knowing where to go. Her eyes welled up with tears, and her feet stopped, signaling that there was no hope left.
"Snow..." a soft whisper called out.
The girl turned toward the vast ocean, as if the sea itself was beckoning her to come closer.
"Mom... where are you?"
Her tiny feet moved toward the crashing waves, getting closer and closer. A large wave approached, and the beach became shrouded in mist, then...
"SNOW!"
She turned around.
"Mom—"
The wave swallowed her whole.
"M-mom!!! Help—" her scream was carried away by the current.
"SNOW!! MY CHILD!!" Fear overwhelmed her.
"HELP! HELP!" The woman screamed hysterically in terror.
The longer it went on... the deeper it dragged her. The girl was pulled farther and farther from the shore. As if the ocean itself was tugging her down. "M-mom..."
Her body weakened against the current, unable to fight back, dragged deeper until she disappeared beneath the surface.
"What's going on?! What happened?!" A group of men came running toward the woman.
"SNOW! SNOW WAS TAKEN!" Her voice was erratic, high-pitched with fear.
"Dammit!" one of the men cursed.
"HURRY! PUSH!"
The group quickly tried to push a wooden boat into the water, but nature seemed unwilling to cooperate. A storm suddenly appeared—strong winds, darkening skies, and thunder roaring violently.
"W-we can't! The boat won't move!!" one of the men helping shouted.
Resignation. Panic. Fear. Trauma. All of it happened at the same time.
The little girl was gone. No trace, no sign left behind.
"SNOW!!!!" The woman collapsed to her knees on the sand.
The man who seemed to be the leader of the group grabbed a spear from the boat and rushed into the water, diving in.
"Marco!" one of the men called out, watching his friend disappear into the waves.
Marco kept swimming, but the waves grew fiercer, as if rejecting him, as if the ocean itself wanted the child. The wind howled louder, and a thick fog rolled in, obscuring all vision.
Worry gripped the people on the shore. An elderly woman came forward and embraced the crying mother.
"Calm down... everything will be alright, Nayra."
Gone without a trace. No direction, no clue what to do.
No answers, only the terrifying dark fog that kept closing in.
Marco was now far from the shore, diving deep, searching left and right. Nothing. No sign of the little girl.
He resurfaced, but the fog made it impossible to see.
"Snow! Snow?!" he called out.
Whoosh...
Something moved—fast. His instincts screamed danger, and he immediately gripped his spear, ready to defend himself.
Something emerged behind him.
The fog thickened, obscuring everything. No signs, no clues Marco back. Should he wait? Or... should he keep searching?
"Dammit!" the man who resembled Marco cursed.
Another man ran toward the shore, ready to follow Marco.
"Monto... don't!" one of the group members shouted.
Monto stopped. Not because he was scolded, but because...
From within the dark fog, a silhouette appeared, gradually becoming clearer. It was Marco. He had returned, holding Snow tightly in his arms, as if unwilling to let her go after what had just happened.
Nayra, the girl's mother, immediately ran toward them. "Snow!"
She hugged her daughter tightly, terrified of losing her again.
"Snow!"
Her voice was still laced with fear, panic, worry.
Marco stood silently for a moment, his expression strange. He glanced back at the ocean, as if he had seen something earlier. The fog lifted, and the storm calmed. Strangely, there was nothing there.
Snow's mother shook her violently, trying to wake her up. She did everything she could to hear her daughter's voice again.
"Snow... Snow..."
"SNOW!"
"Wahh!!"
Thud.
I fell off my chair. And realized—Was I dreaming? In front of me stood a bald, wrinkled old man in a uniform, hands on his hips.
I quickly stood up, panic and nervousness washing over me. "S-sorry, sir..."
"How many times have you fallen asleep in class? Do you even intend to study or not?" His tone was sharp, leaving no room for excuses.
"I-I..."
"What? More excuses? You stayed up late again, didn't you?" His glare was piercing, unforgiving.
I didn't know what to say. I wanted to answer, but guilt stopped me. The tension thickened, and other students began whispering. Cold sweat drenched my body, a nervous rain that wouldn't stop.
I swallowed hard.
"Snow helps her aunt every night, sir." A student from three rows behind me defended me while adjusting her glasses.
Attention shifted to the girl who spoke up.
The teacher turned toward her.
"And how would you know that, Rose?"
"I happened to pass by her aunt's shop yesterday and saw Snow carrying some goods." Her answer was firm, without hesitation.
"Is that true, Snow?"
The teacher looked at me, verifying if it was true. But... could he tone down the intensity of his stare a little?
I froze, feeling like I might faint right then and there.
"Y-yes, sir..." I stammered.
The teacher pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly frustrated and exhausted—especially since I'd done this more than once.
Sigh... "Fine. I'll let it go this time, since that's the case. But..."
He stepped closer, his gaze alone enough to pressure me. It felt like being stared down by a terrifying deity.
"If you fall asleep in class again without a valid reason, I will punish you. Understood?"
"Y-yes, sir!" I replied immediately. Thank goodness it was over.
The teacher turned back and returned to the front, resuming the lesson on the board.
"Alright. That's enough for now. Copy this into your notebooks."
The students quickly grabbed their notebooks from their bags.
My tense body finally relaxed like melted slime. Relief flooded through me. "Thanks, Rose..." I whispered.
"Just treat me later," she replied, adjusting her glasses.
Me gave a weak, shaky thumbs-up.
Ring! Time for break.
"Sigh... Thanks for helping me out," I said.
I walked over to Rose's desk and slumped onto it.
"No problem."
"But..." I hesitated about her defense.
"...Are you sure that was safe?" I whispered.
"Even if it was a lie, it's still somewhat true, right?" Rose replied, packing her things and pulling out her lunchbox.
"Well, yeah... but I only carried, like, two to five items."
I didn't mind. I did help, after all—even if it wasn't enough to exhaust me.
"Alright, let's go to the cafeteria," I suggested.
We walked to the cafeteria—partly to fulfill my promise of treating Rose. But... the school was packed during break, students pushing and shoving to buy food. There wasn't even any seating left.
"Ma'am! I'd like this!"
"Give me one!"
"Hey, move! I was here first!"
No chance to get in line. Maybe I couldn't treat Rose after all.
I'm stared blankly. It was impossible to join the hungry crowd. "What now?" she wondered.
"I brought some bread. Just eat mine."
"Are you sure? But I was supposed to treat you."
"Next time," Rose said.
She opened her lunchbox—filled with sliced bread that looked incredibly delicious, almost tempting.
I couldn't help but drool.
"Come on," Rose tugged at me.
"Wha—" I yelped in surprise.
The cafeteria was crowded, but we always had our spot—the gymnasium. It was only used for events, so we often went there when no one else was around.
Rose ate gracefully, taking small, slow bites. Meanwhile, I sprawled out on the stage.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked.
Snow was confused by the sudden question.
"You're always sleeping in class. Are you doing something?"
I stayed silent. I wasn't sure why either, but I felt like I wanted to know.
"Well... honestly, sleeping in class feels amazing, swear."
I didn't want to talk about it. Not even to her. I wanted to keep this a secret—because it was just too weird.
"So you like getting scolded by teachers?"
"N-no! It's just... I feel comfortable in class." Rose misunderstood because I was hiding that from her.
"Weird." Even Rose didn't buy it.
She seemed skeptical, but my strange answer was enough for her. Rose handed me another piece of bread mid-conversation.
"No, thanks. I already ate three."
I refused, even though I still wanted some.
"Take it."
Without hesitation, I grabbed it shamelessly and devoured it in one bite.
"Hey... Rose," I mumbled with my mouth full.
Rose turned and adjusted her glasses. "Hmm?"
"Thanks..."
Rose looked confused.
"For what?"
I hugged her tightly. "For being here and being my friend!"
Rose was usually bothered by this, but... she knew I only had her when I felt lonely.
"Idiot."
She smacked Snow's head hard.
"Ow! What was that for?!" I whined.
"Don't say things like that. If you do, it means you can't do anything without me."
"But... because... I have something precious."
Rose just sighed and finally stepped down from the stage, heading toward the gymnasium exit.
But at that moment, in my eyes... Rose was truly precious. For some reason, she was so kind to me. When I was struggling, happy, angry, or... lonely. She was always there.
"Hey! Wait for me!" I ran after her.
——————