27: The Figure by the Pond

“F-O… L-L… ‘FOLLOW ME’?
Follow me…? What does that mean?”

Rena stared at the red letters glowing on the screen of the crude phone she had created.
As she tried to make sense of the message, the screen began to blur, prompting her to tap it anxiously, wiping away the fog.

“Wait! Who are you?!”

Just as she called out in frustration, a sudden splash of water reached her ears.
Startled, she turned toward the pond and caught sight of something—
a faintly glowing, transparent object near the edge of the water.

“What… is that? It’s taking shape…
It looks like… a person?”

The form appeared to be beckoning to her.
Rena’s thoughts flashed back to the phone message, and her eyes widened.

“‘FOLLOW ME’… Was that your message?”

She took a cautious step forward, and at that moment, a faint voice came from the phone in her hand.

“…Na… Rena… Can you hear me…?”

“Tom!?”

She tried pressing the volume button, but it didn’t respond.
Instead, she brought the phone close to her ear and listened intently.

“Yeah… it’s me,” Tom’s voice said.
“I’m okay now. That weird version of me—he’s gone, I think.
Sorry for worrying you.”

“Tom, how are you even contacting me?
And did you send me some kind of message just now?”

“I don’t really know…
But like when you imagined those sandals and made them real,
I tried something similar.
I thought of you, and suddenly, your image appeared… so I tried calling out.”

“You’re already able to do that…?
Well, that sounds like you.
I did tell you to ‘believe without doubting,’ didn’t I?”

“Where are you now?” he said, sounding concerned.

“I’m by the pond. The big one.
I didn’t get the chance to tell you earlier, but I came here because—”

Rena suddenly stopped.
The figure that had been beckoning her turned away and began to move.
It looked familiar.
Something about the way it held itself.

“…Wait! Are you the person from before?!”

She hurried to call out, suspecting the figure was the man with the fishing rod.
Turning quickly back to the phone, she spoke again.

“Sorry, Tom. I think I just saw the person I was looking for.”

“I understand,” he replied.
“I’ll head there now.”

Still gripping the phone tightly, Rena began to chase after the fading silhouette.