Fly! My friend

“Well, I’m done eating now.” I told him, “I’m so tired, I’ll go to sleep now.”

“Good night.” He said to me.

“Y- You too.” I responded.

I quickly got up, and was about to leave, but before I could, Dexter called me.

“Wait!” He said, “Where do you sleep?”

“On the top floor.” I replied.

“Is there a bed up there?” He asked me.

“Of course not.” I responded, “I sleep on the floor.”

“What!? How?” He seemed really confused and surprised at the same time. “Isn’t the floor all wet and slippery?”

“It is, and it’s very hard to fall asleep up there,” I responded, “But I don’t have anywhere else to sleep.”

“Wait for me for a sec.” He said to me as he was getting up as well.

Then he walked out of the toilet, and after a while, he came back with a pillow and a blanket.

“Here, take this.” He said.

“O- okay…” I told him. “Where did you get that from?”

“It’s just a spare.” He said. “It’s a little old, but it's better than nothing, right?”

“Yeah, thank you.” I told him. “Well, goodbye for now then.”

I swiftly left the toilet afterward and started making my way up to the top of the basement.

It was nice of him to give these to me, but why wouldn’t he give them to me from the start?

It didn’t really matter now, tonight is going to be my most comfortable night in the basement.

I eventually reached the top floor, then I put the blanket and the pillow down on the floor, and realized something interesting.

This blanket fits me perfectly. It was so small, it was clearly made for children.

Maybe this blanket was supposed to be for Hanako?

I put my backpack down on the floor, then I slowly lied down, resting my head on the pillow.

Woah!?

This pillow was so soft and comfortable.

I guessed this is what luxury feels like.

I started to get drowsy almost immediately; my mind is slowly drifting away.

It felt really, really nice…

After not too long, I fell asleep.

…

When I woke up, I was still half asleep, so I was just lying down with my eyes closed.

Then all of a sudden, I heard the sound of footsteps.

It was really quiet, then it slowly getting louder and louder.

It seemed like someone was approaching me.

I was still lying down, but after a while, a person came into my vision.

It was Dexter.

He walked up the spiral staircase and was slowly approaching me.

I pretended to be asleep, so I could see what he was going to do.

He came straight to my backpack, which was a little further away from me, and was about to open it.

“Hey!!” I shouted at him. “That’s not cool.”

As soon as he noticed me, he didn’t say anything back.

Instead, he snatched the backpack and was about to run away.

“Stop!!” I shouted at him some more. “Don’t you think you can get away!!”

I tried getting up, it was pretty difficult since I just woke up, and by the time that I managed to get up, he was already long gone.

I quickly rushed down to the bottom floor and made my way to the dining room.

When I entered the room, I saw Dexter with my backpack and a bunch of food, quickly entered the bedroom.

I rushed after him, but when I got to the door, it was locked.

“Dexter!!!” I yelled at him. “Open the door!!”

He didn’t say anything back to me. I continued to yell at him for a while, but I got no response whatsoever.

He got plenty of food in there with him as well, so he would probably last a few days in there.

What should I do?

Without my backpack, I couldn’t do anything.

I wouldn’t have a place to store my stuff, and worse, I wouldn’t have a weapon to defend myself.

I tried knocking at the door some more, but still, I got no response at all.

I stood at the door for a long while after that. I tried knocking on the door and calling for him occasionally, but after a long time of complete silence, I left the dining room.

I headed to the toilet to have breakfast. I really don’t know what to do next.

Maybe I could turn the blanket into a makeshift backpack?

But where would I go anyway?

It’s not like I could just go home on my own or anything.

I needed to talk to Dexter again somehow.

But I think I should just go back to the top floor for now and assess what I actually have left.

After I was done with my breakfast, I ascended the stairs back up to the top floor.

When I got there, I saw that big parrot that I met before.

It looked like it’s interested in the blanket and the pillow, but obviously, the parrot was too big to use them and it seemed a little frustrated.

“Hey!” I said to the parrot, “Do you need anything?”

At that point, the parrot has finally noticed me and was about to fly away from me.

I didn’t try to hold on to it this time, since this parrot was most likely created by Hanako, I figured I should be able to communicate with it.

“You don’t have to be scared.” I told the parrot, “I won’t hurt you.”

The parrot didn’t seem to calm down at all, but at least it didn’t fly away, instead, it seemed confused.

I slowly approached the parrot and as I got closer, the parrot slowly backed away from me.

“Do you know Violet?” I asked the parrot.

“Violet! Violet! Violet!”

The parrot suddenly started to frantically repeat Hanako’s real name after I said that.

“You do know her, right?” I continued asking.

The parrot stopped calling Hanako’s name and nodded at me.

“I know where she is.” I told the parrot.

“Violet! Violet!” The parrot continued calling for Hanako.

“Wait! Calm down!” I told the parrot, “I can bring you to her.”

The parrot started jumping around and skipping around. It seemed incredibly happy.

This could be my chance to hitch a ride from the parrot…

I might be able to get to Dexter with this parrot.

“Can I ride you?” I asked the parrot. “I really need to go somewhere and I need you.”

The parrot tilted its head. It looked like it was trying to ask me something.

Wait?

Couldn’t it talk?

“Ehhh… Hello?” I asked the parrot, “Can you talk?”

The parrot shook its head.

That’s weird. Shouldn’t animals in the Gallery be able to talk? Like Mori and that stupid spider near the trapdoor.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that this parrot is in the basement?

“Can you carry me to Dexter’s room?” I asked the parrot. “It’s really important.”

The parrot suddenly seemed a little concerned, but it turned its back toward me spread its wings, gestured me to jump on its back.

I hopped on the parrot’s back without hesitation, then the parrot flapped its wings a couple of times, before it took off with me on its back.

The parrot and I flew along the corridor at a really high speed. There were a couple of times when I almost fell off of its back.

It turned the corners flawlessly as well.

What is this parrot?

Why is it so good at flying?

What kind of superpower is that?

Eventually, I saw light coming from the end of the hallway.

We flew toward it and saw an opening in the wall.

Finally…

I am on the outside now…

The parrot then flew me along the wall of the mansion. We flew diagonally down to the bedroom and landed on the balcony.

I quickly hopped out of its back, then it flew away. I guessed it didn’t like Dexter all that much?

I ran into the bedroom and found that Dexter was looking through stuff in my backpack.

He was so fixated on my backpack that he didn’t notice the giant parrot that landed on his balcony.

“Dexter!!” I yelled at him, “Stop what's you’re doing right now!”

“Wait? What?! How did you get here?” He turned to me and said in confusion, “I thought I already locked the door?”

“You shouldn’t do this, Dexter.” I told him, “I thought that I could trust you.”

“And I thought that I could trust you too,” He replied, “Until you hid my stuff away from me.”

“What are you even talking about right now?” I asked him, “I thought you left them there yourself.”

“Shut up!!!” He shouted at me, “All of these are mine!”

As he was shouting, he took the rock pick out of my backpack and pointed at me.

“Don’t come closer!” He told me.

“But I don’t really care about your family stuff!” I responded. “I just want my stuff back.”

“Is this part of your stuff too?” He asked me as he was about to take something out of my backpack.

It was the lilacs that Hanako gave me, along with the letters.

“Why did you even have this?” He continued asking me, “Even worse, why didn’t you tell me that you were talking with Violet while you’re down here?”

“I wasn’t talking to her!” I told him, “I couldn’t send anything back.”

“Liar!” He exclaimed, “I will not believe anything you say anymore!”

Then he suddenly collapsed on to the floor and started breaking down crying.

“Why? Why? Why did it have to be this way? If only I was smarter! If only I know!” He said.

This is a lot worse than I could imagine. Whatever happened back then must have been really devastating for him.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. At this point, it was just too sad for me to not do anything.

But he didn’t respond. He still sobbing over those flowers and that old family stuff that he didn’t hear me.

I took this opportunity to secure my stuff back. I took the rock pick back from him and got my backpack back shortly after.

But he didn’t seem to care. This man must have really loved his family, huh?

I guessed this is what being alone in complete darkness will get you.

I decided to sit down on the bed and wait for him to calm down, and as I walked toward the bed, I noticed something on the nightstand.

It was a key. And it was no doubt the key of the bedroom.

I snatched the key from there, then I waited on the bed.

“Wow, this bed is really comfortable.” I told him, “No wonder you didn’t want to share it with me.”

But he still sobbing at the family stuff, completely ignoring me, so I decided to just leave the room after a while.

I checked in the backpack to make sure that I have everything I needed.

A rope, some painting supplies, the rock pick, my pencil case, and the notebook from my world.

The rest of my stuff was with Dexter. There was his old family stuff and Hanako’s letters.

I took one of the lilacs back from him and he still didn’t notice it, then I spotted a couple of Dexter’s lanterns on my way to the door.

“Hey! Dexter! Can I take of these?” I said to him while pointing at the lanterns.

“Yeah…” He replied. His voice was shaking, but at least he responded and stopped ignoring me.

I took one of the lanterns, then I left the bedroom.

“Goodbye for now, I guess.” I told him.

I slowly walked back up to the top floor, still without any idea of what to do next.