Mr. Fancy Hat | Chuuya Nakahara ✓

Six | Snip Snip.

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You dreamt of a coin, old and covered in dirt, the engravings worn and the head of the king so tarnished as to be stolen from view. You held it in your left hand, watching the mud dirty your skin. So close to your face the coin had the aroma of stale blood. You turned to look down at your right hand and in your palm was a new spring leaf, crowned by a perfect sphere of dew, reflecting an image of your face, softened and relaxed. When you turned back to the coin, the image of the king had freed himself and journeyed over to the leaf, igniting the growth of strong roots and new foliage that reached for the sunlight, robust, virescent.

You found yourself smiling—and the smile seemed to transfer to your face in real life too whilst you were in a deep and heavy slumber. Sunlight streamed golden through the window in a well mannered announcement of the sun, the light streaks slating through the gaps between the blinds had painted your face; the brightness of the vivacious beams rousing you awake from your peaceful slumber. Your eyes slowly fluttered open; the smile on your face not once faltering even in the slightest, because for the first time in a long time—you genuinely felt good. You felt like you could finally breathe.

Upon waking you yawned and sat upright, rubbing away the tiredness from your eyes with your knuckles. You smacked your lips; simultaneously allowing your eyes to adjust to the blinding light pouring into your brand new bedroom like milk from a carton being poured into a ceramic bowl of dry cereal. You felt so nice and fresh since you showered last night before you headed to bed; the cuts on your body still stung a little and the bruises, if touched, did cause small aches here and there, but it definitely wasn't as bad as before. You knew that you could push through it. You always did.

You yawned one last time and stretched your arms above your head—and when you looked to your left, you were met with quite the unexpected sight.

Hanging on the door handle of your large wardrobe decorating the opposite side of your room, was a large zipper bag. This was definitely not there last night, and right now, you were extremely confused regarding how this thing could have possibly gotten in here without you realising, especially since you were a light sleeper and would wake up even if you heard the sound of a pin drop. Squinting your eyes, you moved into a different position with your feet dangling over the edge of the bed and your hands resting on either side of your body with your palms facing downwards. You weren't sure if your eyes were deceiving you, but on the floor next to the large zipper bag, was what appeared to be a folded up piece of paper.

You rose to your feet and slowly walked over to what was now the recipient of your utmost attention, wanting to get a closer look. Your footsteps were light and airy, your bare feet sauntering across the soft grey carpet that felt like billowing ground clouds under your soles. Once you reached the opposite end of your bedroom, you momentarily paused, before you bent down and picked up the piece of paper from the floor which you noticed was folded neatly four times over. Scratching the side of your head, your eyebrows furrowed in a deep sliver of curiosity as you slowly began to unravel the piece of paper; wondering what could possibly be revealed.