In the car, on a dusty road, the ocean shined in the distance, reflecting the moonlight. On the ocean was a small house that faded in as the car drove away. Out here, out here in this desert there were no forests to be found, but that didn’t stop the lanternwood seeds from seeds from floating through the air. Every now and again some of the seeds would land, the lantern breaking open and sending out a burst of light before growing into a large tree. In the car, accompanied by a soft dream pop, pink eyes stayed on the road---whether they were focused or not `was another story. In the passenger seat was friend who had fallen asleep somewhere along the way, mouth slightly open and breathing in the night air. All the car windows were down, and even though the wind flew passed there was no other sound than the music;not even the sound of the friends content sigh as they dreamed a pleasant dream. Each time a lantern crashed in their path Neos eyes grew heavier, he pressed on still, reveling in the comfort that came with the forest that was building around them. He weaved the car through the trees, every now and again scraping the sides and tearing off strips of paint with every scratch. With the paint stripped off butterflies burst into existence, carving their path in the sky by the way of lantern light. They swirled their way higher and higher into the sky, high until they met one of the lanterns and crashed—-the collision causing a bright blue firework in the sky.

Neo jolted awake, a quiet gasp escaping his lips. He rubbed his eyes with bandages hands and blinked in time with the hazard lights that flashed from his car. Beside him was a small bag with butterflies printed on it---making up for the lack of butterflies in these deep dark woods. Neo pulled his phone out of his pocket, The time was still frozen, and cracks on his screen still made it impossible to tap on the call or messaging apps---he had even tried to download a new messaging app and use that but his phone always froze. At this point it wasn’t worth trying, so instead he just liked to play a few puzzles every now and then to clear his head. He tapped through a few rounds of mahjong before the app crashed. Neo gave a frustrated groan and rubbed his eyes before starting the car back up, it flickered to life at the expense of a an extra breath, and with that Neo drove off.