Summer, age 5.

``What's taking so long, inkhead, you're in the way!''

``Shut up James, I am trying to reach the next foothold.''

``You shut up, maybe if you weren't such a tiny inkhead you wouldn't be stuck in such an easy spot!''

This damn kid making fun of me when he's only half a head taller than me.

``Hurry up inkhead, now I can't get past James.''

``You climb like a girl inkhead!''

Tony grins at me.

``What's that supposed to mean?!''

Sarah exclaims.

``Stupid kids distracting me when I am trying to climb this damn tree.. Yes, I got it.''

I mumble to myself

I finally get a foothold and continue upwards.

``What took you so long, inkhead.''

``Shut up mamas boy''

``DON'T CALL ME A MAMAS BOY YOU INKHEAD!''

These damn kids.

I have to hang out with people my own age. I don't want people to think I'm weird, and once they grow up it will be good to have been friends since childhood.

But damn, they can be so annoying.

We've finally reached the top of the tree. It's a huge ash tree reaching several feet over the forest canopy. The view is breathtaking, especially because you can also see the sea from here. Today, me and the gang are here to watch the sunset over the forest, the gang being Alfreds kids Tony and Sarah, along with two of our other friends, Earthclaw Andrew and Skywing James. Andrew is a lizardman Kith with red scales, and James is a birdman Kith with skyblue feathers. They are the only kids my age in the village, and even though we give each other a hard time, I consider them friends.

``Woow, you can see the entire forest from up here!'' [Tony]

``You can't even see Bightkeep from here, stop being stupid'' [Andrew]

``Don't call me stupid, dirt-brains'' [Tony]

``If you don't want to be called stupid then stop being stupid, stupid.'' [James]

``If you don't want to be called mamas boy then stop being a mamas boy, mamas boy.'' [Tony]

``I'm not a mamas boy!'' [James]

These kids arguing back and forth over nothing, ugh. Just shut up and wait for the sunset already.

Half an hour of juvenile bickering later, the sun starts to set over the forest. I never took the time to actually see a sunset from start to finish in my old life, which I sorely regret. Luckily, the sunset is very similar to how it is in my old world, so this is a good substitute. The golden sun descending over the Summergreen forest, as it is called, streaking orange and purple light across the cerulean sky is a sight I still don't understand that I never took the time to see, especially since I had so much free time.

Dying puts a lot of things in perspective, i guess.

As the sun starts to dip below the horizon, the planetary rings becomes more apparent, as does the one moon you can see tonight.

God I love this.

The vibrant colors that simply appear as the sky turns navy blue, the spectacle of it takes my breath away.

And now, the pinnacle of beauty:

The twilight.

God I love this. It only lasts for ten minutes or so, but it always puts a smile to my face. The sky is still slightly illuminated by the sun, and there's a faint golden line on the horizon.

And the cherry on top?

There are manaflies. Thousands of them across the forest, glowing in the dark like fireflies but much more radiant, practically illuminating the forest, in all the colors of the rainbow. As they move, it looks like rivers of color is flowing through the forest, as manaflies of the same color gather together.

Breathtaking.

..

Just fast as it began, it goes away again.

The horizon slowly darken, and the manaflies gather in swarms on trees under the canopy. The sky turns black to reveal the rest of the starts.

``We should head back.''

``Yeah, lets go.''

We slowly climb down the tree, taking care no to slip on the way down. Once we reach the ground, we stop to look at the manaflies, now resting on the branches, from below. They illuminate the canopy from below, providing us with yet another wonderful sight to remember.

``Let's go, we don't want to be late.''

``Yeah, dad told us to come straight home after the sun set.''

``Let us go then.''

We start making our way home, admiring the manaflies as we go.

``Did you hear that?''

``Hmm?''

``Did you hear that? I heard a sound from that bush over there''

``What are you waiting for, go check it out''

``We were told to head straight home after sunset, let us just go.''

``Stop being a killjoy, inkhead. Andrew, let's check it out.''

The three boys enter the bush, keeping an eye out for the source of the sounds that become more apparent as they come nearer.

Soon after, they find a nest of baby boars, squeaking as they approach.

``Wow, they're so cute!''

Sarah whispers in a delighted squeaky voice.

``Look, they're so tiny''

``Guys.''

``Their skin is all smooth, haha they look like you inkhead!''

``Guys.''

``Look at their tiny little eyes!''

``Guys, liste-''

Andrew picks one up.

``See, they're so cure, I bet if I asked my parents they'd let m-''

``PUT THAT DOWN YOU IDIOT!''

They all turn to stare at me.

``PUT THAT DAMN PIG DOWN AND RUN YOU IDIOTS! IF THEIR MOTHER SEES YOU TOUCHING HER BABIES, SHE'S GONN-''

I'm interrupted as a loud screech can be heard from beyond the bush.

I grab Andrews collar and pulls him hard enough that he drops the boar, and yell into his face.

``RUN!''

With a look of terror on their faces, one by one they turn around and run.

We run. We run back as fast as we can.

We can still hear the boar, but we can't see it.

We keep running.

I hear the others screaming.

I turn my head, and I see it.

It's not all that big for a boar, but neither am I.

As I turn back my head, my foot gets caught in a branch.

I stumble, and try to regain my balance.

But it's dark, and I fall.

I can taste dirt. I scramble to my feet, and keep running.

I feel an impact on my back, and fall again. I hit the ground hard, this time I can taste blood.

I try to get back up, but something impacts me from the side.

Landing on my back, I see the boar on top of me.

I hold my arms out in front of me, and I feel it strike my guard.

It strikes again, my arms feel wet.

Something sticky drips down on my face.

It's stomping on my stomach, I can't breathe.

It finally gets off me.

I feel relieved, and relax just long enough to catch my breath before it strikes my side, flipping me over.

I can't get up.

My arms won't listen to me.

I hear the boar running away into the bush.

Is it gone?

Everything tastes like iron and dirt.

I hear voices, but I can't understand them.

Someone rolled me over.

Oh it's Andrew.

Everything is a blur.

He's pulling up my arms.

My sleeves are ruined, especially on my left arm.

There's a big tear across the length of the sleeve.

Bloody boar ruined my shirt.

It's wet and hot.

Looking at it further, it wasn't only my sleeve that was torn.

There's a big gash on my forearm.

And the rest of my sleeve was covered in blood.

The world snapped into focus.

All of a sudden, I felt everything at once.

And I screamed.