Home...

I want to go home...

Hurts...

–go home. I WANT TO GO HOME I WANT TO GO HOME I WANT TO GO HOME I WANT TO GO HOME I WANT TO GO HOME I WANT TO GO HOME –

Lily jolted, her body shuddering. She found herself lying in soft grass now. Around her little sparks of color fizzled in and out in the air.

“We’re here, we’re here!” a shrill voice sang. There were screams and giggles all around Lily. Next to Lily, the sparks of light conjugated together into one bright white light. It began to take the form of a person in the grass, then the light began to fall away into embers and beside Lily was now a child who looked to be her age. The child lay peacefully in the grass, blinking away drowsiness. They slowly sat up and looked around. When they became aware of where they were their eyes lit up and they sprang up running off with other children who were running.

Lily stood up and looked around. She felt slight relief at seeing something familiar. She stood among a large grass field known as the starting area. It was here that all children came to begin their adventure in Moon’s main area, the Festival Square. Everyone was heading in the same direction, towards the large open gates just a few paces away. Beyond them was the busiest streets any kid had ever seen. Lily stood up, wobbling on her legs. Moon made the body feel light as if it could float away. It took some getting used to for Lily. It had been such a long time. Lily could feel her curly hair floating in the magical air. She was dressed in her star patterned matching pjs. The tiny stars twinkled. Lily remembered her dream, wearing her night gown on that cold beach. She felt better wearing her normal pjs. Pushing the memory of her dream far back into her mind Lily began to follow the trail of children, skipping, running, chasing each other towards Festival Square. The crowd of children began to grow from evenly spaced to packed like school assemblies. When Lily reached the towering black gates that led into the busy street lined with street vendors and towering buildings, the crowd of children was like that of sardines. Above the large black gates ‘Moon’s Grand Opening!’ was written in colorful letters hovering in the air. Lily gulped nervously. How was she going to find Riley in this? Strangers’ shoulders pressed against hers, forcing Lily to keep moving within the thick crowd. As she was about to pass through the gate, she felt a sharp tug on her arm and her body squeezed in and out of the crowd. Finally, she was jerked out of the mass and into a clearing right beside the gate. Lily found herself staring at Chrys.

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“Took you long enough.” he frowned.

“Oh, hi Chrys.” Lily said. He simply huffed.

“This crowd is ridiculous, everyone and their little sister must of been eager to get into Moon.” he grumbled. He felt the weight of the daunting task just as Lily had. They had to find Riley within all these children. “It’ll do us no good to split up in this kind of area, we might as well stick together.”

“Oh, sorry...” Lily said.

“Huh, for what?” Chrys looked at her.

“Uhm...I don’t know.” Lily replied quickly.

“Whatever, hey did you notice?” Chrys suddenly said, fixing his gaze hard on her.

“Notice what?” Lily asked. She was still too overwhelmed by combined noise of hundreds of children scampering to get into Festival Square.

“Pull up your stats.” Chrys ordered.

“Stats?”

“You know! Your damn adventure log!” Chrys said exasperated.

“Oh, right.” Lily flinched.

Every child who explores Moon’s endless worlds has an adventure log. It keeps track of all the worlds, objects, and characters one discovers. Lily used to observe the leader board of children who discovered the most worlds within Moon. Being one of the best explorers came with perks and popularity. Lily wasn’t one of them, she preferred to stick to only the worlds she and Riley liked. The adventure log could also be used to communicate with other kids if you made a friendship party with them.

Lily took a breath. In her head, she wished for her own adventure log to come up. Using your mind was a basic skill every child knew how to do in Moon. If you couldn’t, it was like not knowing how to breathe. You couldn’t get around.

Suddenly a scroll appeared floating in the air before Lily. She grabbed its wooden handles and the golden paper unraveled. Lily gaped. She willed the paper to unravel and unravel until it reached the ground.

It was all blank.

“I...I don’t understand.” Lily finally said. She looked at Chrys. His own adventure log was a holographic blue screen.

“So, it’s the same. All of our stats- er, history has been erased. It’s like we’re new dreamers to Moon.” Chrys said grimly.