Trigun Fan Fiction ❯ Mystic Grey ❯ Volume One: Chap. Three: Broken Picture ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The moon looked so big in the sky.
I don’t know where I am. Yet, I keep walking. The winds have died down tonight. The quiet made me sweat. Somehow I can’t stop walking. Even though I don’t know where I’m going, I keep going. I shut my eyes as I felt like shrinking into myself.
I just suddenly, came to a stop. My legs gave out on me. My heart calmed down as well. I didn’t grasp why, but I felt calmer now. I opened my eyes and looked up. I don’t recall the moon ever being so big. I stared at it with narrow eyes. The glow isn’t so violent like the sun. The moon’s is more like a caring mother. I have seen her like this before. I don’t know the origin, but it’s always calmed me down.
I turned and sat down on the sand. However, my hand brushed up against something hard. I looked down, curious.
Hm, what’s that?, I thought as I brushed away some sand. A deep brown corner of a wooden box poked out. I began to dig it out faster. The whole box came into plain view. I looked real intrigued now. It took a good amount of effort to pull it out. There was no lock on the front, so I pushed the lid open. The wood felt so cold to my fingertips.
The moon highlighted the black velvet inside. There wasn’t much to look at otherwise. Only a plastic name tag and a ruined photo. I took out both objects.
The name tag had bright yellow paper in cased in plastic. I tried to make out the faint lettering on the front.
“Re-i-ko…” I read to myself. Puzzled, I turned over the tag. Only three faded heart-shaped stickers suck to the back. I looked at the front again. Reiko. Reiko?
My attention turned to the photograph. Three people sat over what looked like a lit birthday cake. The two adults in the picture had their faces scratched out. The little girl behind the cake with her long brown hair and chubby cheeks struck me as odd.
Is that… me?, I thought. I looked at the name tag again. What was all of this? Why were these things in a box in the middle of the desert? Are these even mine?
“Oh, so this is where you disappeared to,” someone said behind me. I looked up to see a man with spiky blonde hair and a long red coat waving at me.
“Hi,” he said. I looked him funny as I waved back.
“Hi…” I mumbled.