• “I’ll ask again” the girl says, her tied up blond hair swaying with the breeze. “Who are you?”
    I gritted my teeth and shouted, “Kyo!”
    They didn’t say anything. They just stared at me, eyes narrowed, as if they didn’t believe that was my name. Then the eye patch guy moved, taking a step forward and turning so that he was facing me. Our eyes locked and it made me feel nervous. I mean, he was intensely staring! Then his hands went up and reached for me. My eyes widened. What’s he doing, what’s he doing? What the heck is going on! I panicked and shoved him away, turned around, and ran
    “Hey, where are you going?!” I heard the girl shout.
    I turned around to see the distance I made between us but realized something different. They’re chasing after me! Eye patch and blond ninja are chasing me! So where did bandana head go? Oh where did I go wrong to make this happen? I licked my dry lips and smiled slightly. But this is getting fun.
    I ran past houses and shops, maneuvered through people and pets. I came to a big open area where there was a gigantic fountain in the center. There were kids playing inside, laughing, and trying to climb the oddly shaped statue. I could never figure out what it was. The twists and turns always baffle me. If I were to guess, it’d be a statue of branches. I hopped on the fountain ledge and long jumped through the center where the water fell, got soaked and landed on the other side of the ledge. I came up towards an alley. There were clothing lines leading downward at an angle. Nobody hangs clothes on it because it goes diagonally so they use it to hang lanterns or balloons during festivals instead. There was a very long drop to the bottom. You could go down by the stairs but I wanted to do it a different way.
    I stopped and looked around the ground. Running footsteps increase behind me. I panicked and snatched something off the ground and held it up so I could see it better. I raised an eyebrow “A horseshoe?”
    “Ayumu!” blond ninja shouts. I turn slightly and realized that that was eye patch’s name. “Where are you going?” she continues to talk but he wouldn’t reply. “Why are you going after that guy?”
    Eye patch—Ayumu, came through the fountain. But to my surprise, he wasn’t wet! “Uh oh” I gasped. In mere seconds he’d catch up to me. As quickly as I could, I went toward the clothes line, jumped forward, put the horseshoe on the line, hung on tight, and dived. I was riding down so fast that my eyes watered. I didn’t even care about the sixty feet drop below me. Exhilaration heats up inside me more than I imagined. I laughed. This is great! I’m going so fast! I bet Ayumu and blond ninja gave up trying to chase after me. I looked over my shoulder to see if what I thought was right, and it was. It’s just me, my horseshoe, and this alley way now. “Uh oh” I say as I faced forward. “Uh oh”
    There was a brick wall just up ahead. That’s the end of this little joy ride. I gulped, this cannot be right. I just escaped two goons and now this? I’m going to die right here and now. Unless I jump. I think to myself. But that’s something impossible because it’s still a long ways down. Which would be better to die; as a red painting on the wall or as the red carpet? I chuckled at that. Even at the midst of death I can make fun. “This is the end of me” I closed my eyes and breathed my last breath, then…
    I fell backwards. I don’t know how it happened, but the clothesline seemed to have been cut and that made it unable to carry my weight. It was probably cut somewhere far, far back from where it starts. Was it them, I wonder? I guess the chasers didn’t stop chasing.
    My hands gripped the horseshoe hard before I threw it away in frustration. “Stupiddd!” I bellowed as I dropped faster towards the cold hard floor.
    Then there was water. A droplet fell on my cheek and another right beside it. But it’s not raining. I felt an odd calm wash over me. The walls seemed to get blurrier and the sky seemed to get bigger. Then a touch at my shoulder and under my knees—I’m being held. I blinked dazedly at my carrier.
    …Ayumu…?

    to be continued