Somewhere in New York
Inside a cafe, the atmosphere was bustling—customers coming and going, waiters busily taking and serving orders. The setting sun in the west didn't stop the flow of people entering the cafe.
In the employee changing room, two girls were switching out of their cafe uniforms into regular clothes. One had blonde hair and blue eyes, while the other had brown hair and brown eyes.
"Ugh, go to college, work, sleep, go to college, work, sleep, and repeat! Even on my days off I still have to work! Why hasn't a handsome and rich guy confessed his love to me yet?!" complained the blonde girl, making everyone else in the room shake their heads in amusement. "And here I thought I was cute enough."
"Isn't that because your standards are too high, Silvia?"
Silvia glanced behind her toward the voice—it was her friend who was about to take over her shift. Silvia just snorted and said something that left everyone in the room speechless.
"Finding a partner and marriage are two things that must be thought through carefully. They have nothing to do with looks or wealth."
Who was it that wanted a rich and handsome boyfriend just now...? thought everyone after Silvia's suddenly wise words.
"I think you should follow Lily's example. She just stays quiet and all the sons of company owners approach her, only to have their hearts broken in an instant," someone said while looking at the brown-haired girl next to Silvia.
"I just want to focus on my studies first and I'm not interested in finding a partner."
"Of course, your parents are rich. Obviously, you don't need to look for a partner right now!"
Lily just chuckled, packed her things from her locker, and walked toward the door under Silvia's surprised gaze—who suddenly realized she hadn't made any progress in changing clothes.
"Well then, I'll be going~"
"H-Hey, wait for me!"
Silvia quickly sped up her changing to catch up with Lily. Just as Lily's hand reached for the doorknob, it suddenly froze. Surprised, Lily tried to move other parts of her body, but nothing worked. At some point, the room had gone completely silent—the chatter of her friends and the sounds of the busy cafe had disappeared, as if time itself had stopped.
No, it seems time really has stopped... Lily thought. As she tried to think of what to do next, she saw a shimmering silver crack on the door.
Crack crack
The sound came from both far and near, from a single point and yet everywhere at once. More silver cracks appeared in her field of vision, slowly converging on the first one.
Crack crack
Soon, Lily's entire vision was filled with glowing silver cracks. Then the cracking sound stopped and the world returned to its unnatural silence. But Lily didn't feel relief—panic, fear, and curiosity flooded her heart as she imagined what might happen if those cracks actually broke.
BOOOOOOOM!!
With a deafening sound, the cracks shattered and the fragments flew upward as if pulled by some invisible force. Lily could finally move again, but all she could see was darkness and the floating fragments of the 'world' above.
What just happened? Where am I?... Lily wondered, trying to gather her thoughts. Her head spun for a moment, then cleared, and the first thing she saw was thick, green trees.
"Ughh!"
Suddenly, Lily collapsed onto the ground, writhing in excruciating pain that nearly knocked her unconscious. To her horror, she couldn't feel or move anything below her waist!
T-T-This... Struggling through the unbearable pain, Lily turned her head back, praying that what she feared wasn't true. But it was—her lower half was completely gone, and her organs and blood were scattered on the ground near a tree, staining the earth red.
"A-aah..."
It seemed that Lily had appeared in a location that overlapped with the trunk of an oak tree, causing her lower body to fuse with it and be severed from the upper half. The horrific sight, combined with the insane level of pain, shattered Lily's mental defenses, and tears flowed as her consciousness began to fade.
I...
Don't want...
To die.
"Kyaaaaaah!!"
"Huh?"
"I-Is that Lily?"
The screams and questions from her frozen friends reignited Lily's fading consciousness.
No...
I mustn't give up!
Maybe there's still a chance!
If I give up...
What will happen to them?!
Even just one step...
Even just a few centimeters...
I...
Have to keep moving forward!!
With fierce determination, Lily began dragging her remaining body forward with her hands, leaving a trail of blood behind. Her whole body trembled and she groaned in agony, but she didn't stop—as if to say, "Stop crying. Look, even I, this badly hurt, can still move forward. So you must too!"
Understanding Lily's intention, Silvia and the others stopped panicking. With tears still streaming down their cheeks and sadness etched on their faces, they watched and followed Lily in her brief journey.
Eventually, Lily's strength ran out after dragging herself a few dozen meters. She stopped in an area where flowers grew, turned over onto her back with great effort, and looked up at the starry night sky.
A bed of flowers and stars... not bad, Lily thought with a self-mocking chuckle, accepting her fate. She looked around at her friends, now joined by customers from the cafe she didn't even know, all with sad and serious expressions.
Lily smiled faintly. Her time was running out, her consciousness fading again. Her friends came closer while the others watched from afar with solemn respect. Lily opened her mouth to speak, and her friends sat down on the ground to hear her better.
When I look at the sky full of stars,
"W-wh-en I lo-ok at the s-sky fu-full of s-tars,"
I could not help but think,
"I c-could n-ot help bu-but think,"
I...
"I wa-want to be t-the bright-test st-star."
Want to be the brightest star
And then, everything went dark.
•••
The next morning, at Lily's grave—made by everyone—particles of light from what remained of her body near the tree gathered at the grave. And slowly, an oak tree grew from Lily's final resting place.