Somewhere beyond the reach of human eyes, something was swirling. Many "somethings" were swirling, in fact. They whirled about for some time, before fading into nothingness. Some were bright, cheerful, and vibrant, whereas others were dull, grey, and filled with pain. A great many of them were bleak, and the few that retained their bright color seemed to fade far faster than any others.

Memories, all playing out in a fading mind. Some played slowly, and others were gone in the blink of an eye. Slowly but surely, all of them faded into oblivion, leaving only one left. It lingered, playing out over and over and over yet again. It started off as a foggy, unclear memory, but with every repeat, it became more and more clear. What exactly it meant to the person who witnessed it was uncertain, but one thing was for sure: only a memory with massive impact on a human could linger about for so long. Perhaps they did not even realize how valuable it was.

As it looped into the most vivid recollection yet, a cold, grey scene took form. Rain drizzled gently from the sky as two children made their way through the woods, hopping on large stones and splashing in puddles. Neither wore a raincoat; both were more than used to such weather where they lived. The leader was a girl of about ten, with black hair that fell to her shoulders and deep brown eyes. Rain soaked into her black, lightweight hoodie, but she didn't seem to notice as she pressed on, brushing the hair out of her pale face.

Running alongside her was a boy of about six. One would never have guessed that the two were siblings, for the boy's head was filled with bleached-blond hair and his eyes were a pale blue. Though they were different as night and day, they were, in fact, siblings. Or at least, they were step-siblings.

"Froggy! Froggy! Heeeeere, froggy froggy froggy!" The little boy called out as they made their way through the wet woodland.

The girl giggled as she took the boy's hand. "Come on, there won't be any froggies here, we have to go to the creek to find them."

"Oh." the little boy said as he seemed to consider this fact. "Okay! Creek! Creek! Creek!" He continued to chirp that word as his sister led him down a hill and toward a dip in the ground. Water rushed through, lapping at the few stones that poked out. The creek was fuller than normal, as the rainfall added to it considerably.

"Creek!" the boy cheered, laughing at the rushing water. He stopped suddenly when a loud croaking noise echoed through the area. "Froggy!" the little boy exclaimed, running in the direction of the noise.

"Wait, be careful-" his sister called as she began to chase after him, but slipped in the mud and fell on her face. By the time she got to her feet, her brother was running along the side of the ever-growing stream as he chased a large frog. The rain had begun to fall harder, filling the creek faster than before and causing the muddy slopes to erode. She ran after the boy, this time careful of her footing, and was soon right behind him.

"Jos, you need to be careful, the mudd is getting slippery!"

The boy, however, did not hear her. He was squealing in delight as he chased the hot-footed amphibian. He was in a world of his own. As such, he did not realize what was happening until it was too late. The muddy ground slid out from under his feet, and he tumbled into the ever-deepening water.

The girl wasted no time whatsoever. She threw herself into the rushing water after him, frantically kicking and paddling until she reached the boy. He had no idea how to swim, and was screaming and thrashing in absolute panic. His sister wrapped her arms around his body, kicking hard and using every bit of her strength just to keep their heads above the water. She struggled for a few minutes before finally steering the both of them toward the side of the stream. With one last surge of strength, she threw herself and her brother onto the land, where both of them began coughing and spitting out water.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked as she inspected her brother. He did not respond. Instead, he threw his arms around her, and buried his face in her sweatshirt. The next moment, he was bawling and sobbing, terribly shaken from the event. His sister protectively wrapped her arms around the child.

"It's okay now," she whispered. "You're safe, okay? I'm not going to let you drown, not ever."

With that, the scene began to fade into nothingness. The boy's sobs softened as the light from the scene faded away, and the lingering memory followed the others into the dark abyss. The last glimmer of light went out, leaving nothing but thick, dark emptiness.