I could hardly look at her body.
My thoughts circled through my head and shamed me for what I had done.
She loved you. The only one that had ever loved you and you killed her where she stood.
I heard the ticking of the stopwatch around my neck, the last gift Vern had ever given me. My breath caught in my throat as I held back tears.
It wasn't my fault right? I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't in the right state of mind then.
That's not excuse. You still killed your only friend.
I tried to shake away my thoughts, but they lingered, becoming stronger the longer I looked at her corpse.
I should just tell them, there's no punishment for me here. They worship me.
I couldn't bring myself to tell them.
When no one was looking, I ran off towards the woods, tears streaming from my eyes.
I stopped and panted, looking around . I was lost. I sat down to catch my breath and wipe away my tears, but they just returned, even stronger than before.
Before I knew, I was sobbing like a baby. The loss of Vern was too great. I looked around me and my eyes instantly locked on a berry bush. These weren't just any berries, they were macabre berries, capable of killing any creature within minutes when eaten.
I suddenly felt drawn to them, as if they beckoned me.
You have nothing left to live for.
I got up and walked to them, wiping the tears from my eyes. Before I knew what I was doing, I was picking the berries. They left dark juice on my paws. that smelled deceptively sweet.
Say goodbye murderer.
The forest was unusually quiet, as if everything in it was holding its breath. I could only hear my quickening heartbeat and the ticking of the stopwatch. I hesitated.
What are you waiting for?
What am I waiting for?
I then started shoving the berries into my mouth, my stomach and throat twisting in sudden fear. The taste was..... delicious.
Die.
New tears formed in my eyes and I whimpered pitifully.
No.
No. Not today.
I then spat out the berries, rinsing my mouth out with water of the painfully delicious taste.
Death was right there, but why did I not reach out to it? I had every reason to.
I could not answer this question myself. I slunk back to Vern's funeral, my head hung low in shame. When I saw Kario looking at me suspiciously, I wiped the tears from my eyes and the macabre berry juice from my mouth.
Then the coffin lid was closed as leaf litter was placed atop it along with her matching stopwatch. Then the coffin was placed upon a boat.
The archers pulled back their bowstrings and lit their arrowheads on fire.
The boat was pushed into the water and the arrows were fired, all hitting the leaf litter. It instantly burned.
After a while, nothing was left of the coffin or the boat. It was just ash in the water now.
I had stayed long after the funeral, watching the coffin slowly burn. I unclasped the stopwatch around my neck, the painful burden I carried. I threw I into the water and walked off.
Somewhere, somehow, I heard faint ticking from the bottom of the lake, then silence.