I love walking in the woods. It’s quiet, and I don’t have to worry about people watching me. Town is nice, too, but here I can just enjoy the day, feel the breeze, and not have to worry. And then I get to tell the dolls about my adventures when I go home. Today’s a sunny day. I’ve already found a frog that was hiding in the bottom of a tree, and I saw a cute rabbit run into a bush. It’s so much better than up at the castle. I feel at peace here.

A loud bang echoes through the woods, bringing me to an abrupt halt. What was that? The sound was close, so after regaining my bearings, I decide to investigate. It sounded like it came from somewhere off to my left.

It doesn’t take much walking at all to find a clearing in the forest. I haven’t seen this place before. There’s a man, about my age, sitting on the ground. He’s wearing a brown apron and a collared shirt. Both look like they’ve seen their fair share of use. It looks like he’s just gotten up from laying on his back. He’s facing a sword that sits in the center of the clearing. The grass around the sword has turned to ash. Soot is settling to the ground around the sword. Was there some kind of explosion here? I can’t think of any other explanation. In any case, I ought to check if he’s hurt. “Are you alright?”

Without standing up or turning to look at me, he weakly stammers, “Everything’s just fine!” I still can’t tell. Is he hurt? Why won’t he look at me? Does he not want help?

After a moment, I steel my resolve. If someone needs help, I want to do my best to help them. “I heard a loud noise, and you’re on the ground. Do you need help?” Maybe this time, he’ll tell me what happened.

The man stands up and dusts himself off, without turning to face me. Could it be that he’s nervous? This time when he speaks, he does so with a bit more volume. It seems like he’s calmed down a bit. “I was just working on a little hobby project, and it backfired. Nothing to worry about.” He turns to face me, and I can’t help but laugh a little. He’s got so much soot on his face, he reminds me of the raccoon I saw yesterday.

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I stop my giggling. If I treat him nicely enough, he might want to be my friend. I’ve been wanting to try making friends with someone for a while now. “You’ve got soot on your face. Would you like a handkerchief?” I ask. I wouldn’t be comfortable with that much soot on my face, so I can’t imagine he’s comfortable either.

“Sure, thanks.” At his approval, I move closer to him to offer him the handkerchief. I pull it from my pocket, and offer it out. It’s the pink one, with the flower pattern.

The man hesitates for a moment. “Do you really want to get soot on something this pretty?” What a strange question. Aren’t handkerchiefs meant to clean things?

“That’s what it’s for, isn’t it?”

“It looks like it cost a lot of money, though. I don’t want to ruin it. Where did you even get something like this?” I don’t understand why he doesn’t want to use the handkerchief. Does he think it would be better off never being used? If I’m going to be friends with him, I don’t want him thinking I’m stuck up, or like my handkerchief is too good for him.

“Would you like the handkerchief, or not?” I offer it again. He takes it, and starts to clean his face. I watch quietly as he does this; I don’t want to make him hold a conversation while he’s busy cleaning his face. After a few minutes, he finishes. Under all the soot, he has a good face.

“See? It cleaned your face just the same. It’s still a handkerchief, even if it’s fancy.” I hope he sees that I want to be his friend.

He mostly seems confused still. Maybe he isn’t used to talking very much. After all, he’s out here in the woods, same as I am. “Who are you?” he asks, looking me up and down. I haven’t introduced myself yet! Maybe this is how I finally get the conversation on track.

“I’m Zhuli. And you are?” I reach my hand out to shake.

“I’m Adrian.” After a bit of hesitation, he reaches out his hand as well.

“Nice to meet you, Adrian!”

“Nice to meet you too, Zhuli.”

We shake hands.