We're on a family vacation at some mountain, I don't even know which one, honestly. I just follow along and enjoy the ride. Right now, we're on our way back home, and it's a long journey. It took us three days to get to the vacation spot from our house, so I guess it'll take another three days to get back, as long as we don't make any long stops along the way. At noon, inside our Ford Transit van, my Pa was driving peacefully and safely while my Ma, my siblings, and I quietly enjoyed the view. There was no music, no songs, just us, peacefully taking in nature. On this narrow, one-way road, we spotted a guy with frizzy blue hair and red clothes, riding his bicycle slowly ahead of us. We were passing through a village surrounded by dense forest and small streams, where houses were rarely seen. So, coming across a person out here was quite a scene. As we got closer, I could feel my Pa’s patience wearing thin as he tried to pass him as soon as he could. But since we were on such a tight, one-way road, he just drove closer to the guy and waited for a chance. When the forest cleared into sandy fields on both sides of the road, we knew that was our chance. My Pa accelerated and passed him. After that, he went back to his normal pace. My eyes had been glued to the guy ever since we first spotted him, so I kept staring at him through the window after we went by. Shockingly, he started pedaling much faster, not in a panicked rush, but with an eerie, natural speed and began closing the distance between us.

A moment later, my Ma suddenly spoke up, a look of pure anxiety on her face. Yet her voice stay calm and steady as to not let her anxiety spread on us.

After thinking it over for a few seconds, my Pa nodded and stepped on the gas.

But because he was panicking, he suddenly turned the steering wheel the wrong way. Instead of staying on the road, we drove right into the sandy field and past some scattered trees. He kept driving fast, and all of a sudden, we ended up at a beach. We finally stopped under a big bridge. The bridge was built high above our van because the land next to the water was as tall as a mountain. It was a long footbridge made just for people to walk over the water. The sandy beach here was very wide, but the bridge was built all the way across the sand until it reached the sea.

He looked around at us, almost mocking how clumsy we had been.

Suddenly, Sydney, our middle sibling, opened the door and stepped out. Worried and anxious, my parents quickly followed.

He climbed out of the van holding something in his hand.

Terrified, I quickly searched the van for any sharp or heavy objects I could give my family to use to protect each other.

Clutching the weapons tightly, I was just about to step outside. But when I looked up, my heart stopped. There he was.

The frizzy-haired blue clown was standing right outside, staring directly at me through the window. I gasped in horror.

He opened the van door and reached out his hand, inviting me to take it.

As if under a spell, I shifted all the weapons into my left hand and tightly gripped his hand with my right. I didn't know why, but the fear suddenly vanished. The whole situation felt peaceful, as though he meant absolutely no harm. He gently helped me out of the van and shut the door behind us. After staring deep into my eyes for a minute, he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, gently pried my fingers open, and left it in my palm.

With his index finger, he tapped his cheek just under his eye a few times while giving me a warm smile. Then, he turned away and walked toward the beach, completely ignoring my family. That was the moment the spell broke, and I finally noticed the shocked expressions on my family's faces as they stared at me.

I mumbled, trying to defend myself, but I couldn't find the right things to say. My mind went blank, and I completely forgot what I was just thinking about.

I ran over to them and handed the weapons to my Pa, Ma, and Sydney. I kept one for myself, holding it tightly. Then, all of our eyes turned back to the guy. We watched him dancing on the edge of the beach, right where the gentle waves washed over his feet.

Nobody answered. We kept our eyes locked on the dancer, our bodies tense and ready to protect each other if things went south. Ma was still breathing heavily, her face pale as she looked between the dancing clown and the handkerchief still resting in my open palm. Her overthinking was starting to get to her.

Suddenly, the guy stopped dancing. He stood perfectly still, facing the vast, open ocean with his back to us. For a second, nobody moved. Nobody even dared to blink.

Then, slowly, he turned his head over his shoulder and looked straight at us one last time. He gave us a warm smile, looking deeply grateful for something. That was when, right in front of him, several white, transparent figures suddenly rose from the sea. At first, there were just a few, but then dozens of them began emerging from the waves. They shared the same clear color as the water, looking as though they were being formed right out of the sea itself.

My whole family turned and ran desperately toward the van, leaving me behind. I didn't move but mesmerized and wondered, why did I, someone who care less about the world, suddenly feel a strange connection to them? They were completely unfamiliar. Their faces and bodies were distorted and broken, twisted as if they had been brutally tortured. Even though they were made of water, they looked like terrifying zombies.

I felt the same gaze that had been lingering on me earlier, so without hesitation, I looked back at the frizzy-haired guy and found him was staring straight at me, his eyes and face full of a deep meaning that I just couldn't read.

Honkkkk! Honkkkk!

The loud blast of the van's horn made me jump, snapping me out of my thoughts. I quickly walked away from the beach and got back into the van.

Asher rolled his eyes.

My Pa has been slammed on the gas to drive the van away for sometime. And finally it worked. But as we tried to hit the road, the van suddenly screeched to a halt. An invisible wall was blocking the way, preventing us from escaping.

Suddenly, a heavy pressure hit our heads. A flood of terrifying, horrific, historical scenes rushed into my mind all at once. I gasped for air, groaning from the sudden pain. The brutal images stopped for a brief second, only to be replaced by unfamiliar memories, and yet the feelings attached to them were deeply familiar, as if I had lived through them before. It was a warm, gentle scene of me and another person. He looked like my partner. But... it was set in a historical era...

Squeezing my eyes shut and opening them again, I looked out the window, desperately searching for something to stop this chaotic videotape playing in my head.

As the memories continued to flash violently, I looked around the van. My family members were all groaning in pain, their faces twisted with terror. Unable to take it anymore, I threw the door open and collapsed onto the ground. Desperate, my feet seemed to know exactly where to go, even though my mind was completely lost. The only things guiding me were those sweet, warm memories and some survival memories of fighting together with him, that kept rushing through my soul.

Eventually, I saw him. The guy in the red clothes with the frizzy blue hair was still standing in the exact same spot, staring out at the sea. The water zombies were completely gone. As I stumbled closer to him, the memories of us kept flashing in my mind, faster and clearer than before. A memory appeared of the partner of mine proposing to me, slipping a ring onto my finger while we both wore white wedding clothes. But just as we were about to kiss, his face finally became clear...

Right then, the frizzy-haired guy turned his head and faced me. That guy and my partner in memories have the same face and figure... His eyes were glassy with tears. His shoulders slumped weakly, and his entire body was shuddering. He leaned his head heavily against my shoulder. I could hear his trembling, quiet voice as he tried desperately to hold back his tears.

—The end