Over the course of a few days, the boy had explored Kaibu’s body thoroughly. Kaibu had a long split tail, two long horns and two smaller ones on top of his head, large blue eyes, black long fur that covered every part of him, and long sharp teeth. More fascinating than his body, however, was his personality. Despite his sharp teeth, he ate berries and fruits constantly, and he was extremely shy. He liked holding small animals and got excited over the littlest things. The boy loved being with Kaibu; he’d never had a friend in the village. The village. His mother. It hit him harder than he thought possible. His mother was on the verge of death and he was getting her flowers, but in reality, he was playing around in a forest far from home, not by her side. He and Kaibu were lying in the grass when he shot up unexpectedly. Kaibu, startled, did as well. The boy grabbed Kaibu’s shoulders roughly, shaking him a bit. Kaibu knew the forest like the back of his hand and he needed bellflowers. He commanded Kaibu with a stern voice to take him in the flower’s direction. Kaibu got up calmly, grabbed the boy’s hand, and slowly started guiding him around. Kaibu knew that the boy’s emotions were on the edge and he had to stay calm. They walked until sundown and reached a large lake. On the other side, the boy could see a patch of vibrant purple and white. He ran towards the water and splashed through the waves. Kaibu ran to him and pulled him from the lake but the boy thrashed violently and tried to keep going. Kaibu, sensing the boy’s desperation, put him on his back and started to swim the lake himself. Once they reached the bank, the boy immediately ran to the flowers and gathered them in great branches. He gathered for hours, until he couldn’t hold the bouquet anymore from sheer weight. Kaibu picked it up for him. The boy began his trek home, Kaibu close behind. The walk, once again on the path, took days. The flowers were of course plucked and began to wither throughout the journey. Reaching the end of the pathway and the beginning of the clearing, the boy remembered Kaibu. He grabbed the flowers and sorted through them too= pick out the ones that still seemed to have the color of life in them. He picked a rather sturdy one and handed it to the beast with a slow, sad smile. Kaibu did not know what this expression meant in the slightest. The boy made his way to his village and never turned to look at Kaibu once. Upon returning, the boy rushed to the doctor.He knocked on the door and the minute it was opened, the doctor’s face fell. He was invited inside, and on his way to the room that housed his mother, the doctor stopped him. He had him sit in a chair and disappeared for a minute. Two. Three. The doctor emerged from a room in the back holding an urn. The boy was unnaturally calm, as if he knew and already prepared for it. The doctor planned on burying the urn but the boy stopped him and took hold of it. The urn was beautiful, something fit for his mother. It was white with silver decorations and purple bellflowers graced the bottom. He thanked the doctor and went home. The next few days until the funeral service, the boy did nothing but stare at his mother’s ashes. Day in and day out. The day the village gathered to mourn his mother, the boy set out. The sun hadn’t risen yet but the boy knew where he was going. It was calling to him after all. He followed the path for days until he reached the cottage in the middle of the woods. There stood Kaibu, as if waiting for him. The boy motioned for Kaibu to follow as he made his way behind the house. He cleared the garden of its previous vegetation, puzzling Kaibu to no end. He opened his mother’s urn and spread out her ashes along the fresh soil. He turned to the beast and took the sturdy bellflower still clinging to Kaibu and planted it right in the middle. There it stayed. The boy grew and stayed with Kaibu in the forest, never returning to the village even once. His feeling lingered for the rest of his life, and Kaibu’s too. Long after they were both gone, bellflowers had grown through the forest, down the path, in the clearing. They creeped along the village and beyond. The village grew old and forgot of the boy and his ill mother. So, as the bellflowers seemed to glow with sincerity of past regret, whose remained a mystery.