While the others resumed their conversations, I went over to the tree to ask her some things.

“Greetings, little one.” She spoke to me as I arrived at her trunk.

“Hello there, tree… Could I talk to you for a bit?”

“Sure, little one.” The tree replied. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Who are you exactly?” I asked.

The tree paused before chuckling. “Well, clearly, I’m a tree.”

“Ok… And what are you all doing here?”

“Well, doing tree stuff, obviously.” The tree answered.

“And what exactly do you mean by that?”

Suddenly, glowing rings began to appear within her roots.

“This is our root network.” The tree began to explain. “It's how we transfer nutrients to each other. You see those rings heading into the forest?”

I watched as the rings moved away from the tree and towards another. After presumably absorbing the rings, that tree in turn began to transmit its own rings from its roots, though those rings quickly dimmed as they reached the next tree.

“Those rings spread out through the entire forest.” The tree continued. “And help each of us trees live just a little longer than we otherwise would.”

“I see that.” I said. “But you can talk and move again. Aren’t you guys willing to do more than just live as trees?”

But the tree simply sighed. “We’re still trees, and we still have the needs of trees. Water, light, soil, and such. None of that just goes away.”

“Then you’re still trapped, still stuck. What a waste of a second chance.”

“Don’t worry, little one.” The tree said, “We like it here.”

“Speak for yourself!” Another tree—with a giant crack around its trunk—blurted out.

The tree continued. “As I was saying, we like it here. The view is pleasant, and the soil here is better than that in the woods.”

“Yeah, I don’t buy that.”

“I’m sure you would if you were in my shoes,” the tree replied. “But for now, I think I’m going to go back to being a tree. It was nice talking to you, by the way.”

Before I could respond, the tree went silent again, its roots continuing to glow as rings pulsated throughout them. I rolled up to the tree, trying to hit its roots, but I got no response. I shuddered internally. Was this what it was like to give up? I guess the one advantage of being inanimate was not having to worry about such things.

I looked down towards the riverbank, and I saw two rocks getting out of the water, beginning to make their way toward us. At first, I wasn’t sure which ones they were specifically, so I waited for the sound of their voices. As they got closer, I recognized the voice of Mashita, along with that of a rock whose name I hadn’t learned.

“How was the water?” I asked when they arrived.

“It was fine.” Mashita replied.

“Any trouble getting out?”

“What?” The unnamed rock shouted with the voice of a very old man.

“He asked if you had trouble getting out of the water.” Mashita said to the other rock.

“Oh! None at all, Sonny.” The rock answered.

“Yeah…” Mashita turned toward me. “Getting out was easy.”

I paused. Was it fine to get in the water myself? I looked toward the river. Should I jump in? Would I be able to make it out?

“You have to take a leap of faith.” Those words echoed in my mind.

I looked down from the ledge and at the waters below. I froze again. Perhaps the nearby shore would be better. After all, it was shallower, and the outcome would be the same regardless. But on the other hand, I recalled how I froze up before I even reached the water. Taking the plunge would at least make things quick. I looked back toward the group. Ok, here goes nothing.

Tilting backwards, I slid off the ledge, and before I knew it, I heard a splash as I hit the water. A rush of green surrounded me, flowing upward and behind me. I looked back and saw a trail of green moving away from me, forming a trail in the water that stretched into the distance. After all this time, I finally went into the water. And yet, it didn't feel like the end.

With every moment, more and more paint came off. And even within the murky water, I was able to see more and more clearly. I could see the roots of the trees, with glowing blue rings adorning them. I could see the walls of the river itself, and I began to see the riverbed below, which was barren, with one odd exception. On the riverbed, I could make out the presence of another rock, red paint slowly drifting off it. And as I got closer, I could hear the sound of counting. It was this guy again, from last night. But how did he get down here? And why was he counting? I tried to speak to him as I was descending.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

But he didn’t respond, instead continuing to count. Perhaps he was just busy. Given how high he was counting, he must have been doing so for at least a few days. Maybe I could give him some company while the paint was coming off of us. I landed beside him, and for a little while, I rested next to him while he continued to count.

After a little while, pretty much all of the paint had drifted off of me, save for the paint on my bottom. Though this area probably wouldn’t be much of an issue, I still may as well address it as long as I was down here. I flipped over, readjusting my vision to remain level. And while the paint on this last area was coming off, I tried to speak with the other rock again.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

But he gave no response, simply continuing to count. This was weird. Was this guy all there in the head?

“Shut up.” I heard him say.

“What?”

“I said shut up!”

I paused.

“Now I have to start over,” he continued. “Second time this week.”

He began to count again: “One, two, three, four.”

“You don’t have to do any of this—all this counting, all this staying still. You’re not stuck anymore.”

“So what!” he snapped at me as red paint drifted off of him and in my direction. “You think that makes everything better? Give me a fucking break!” The rock rolled away, quickly disappearing into the murky waters, leaving me at a loss for words.

As the paint continued to drift off of me, I wondered how much of a difference I had actually made, whether that hand had actually helped any of them, or if it was just a bandage to a larger wound, one that couldn’t so easily be healed.

I looked back up toward the surface. By this point, the others were probably wondering where I had gone. So, as the last of the paint flowed off of me, I prepared to head back to them. However, doing so was a different matter. Maybe I could try to jump out of the water. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right? After all, if I was able to jump on land, I could probably do so in the water as well. I leapt from the riverbed, rising up through the water. However, I only got halfway up before I sank back to the bottom. It seemed that I needed more momentum to reach the surface.

When I reached the riverbed, I prepared to jump again, this time attempting to put pressure on the ground to provide me with an extra push. Since I still couldn’t perceive any forces, I just hoped that I was putting enough pressure on the ground to be able to launch myself up. Fortunately, when I jumped again, I rapidly shot through the water and penetrated the water’s surface. However, breaking through the water stopped my momentum, and I quickly sank back down. But as I resurfaced, I was able to see the shoreline of the riverbank, an area with a gentler slope. So, if I just got near there, I would be able to get out of the water.

Getting back to the riverbed, I tried to launch myself again, this time at an angle so that I would at least land outside of the pit I had found myself in. After a few tries, I was able to launch myself out of the pit and onto the gentler slopes underneath the riverbank. When I looked up above me, I saw the water’s surface only a few centimeters above me, and the riverbank itself was only a gentle slope away. Since I was now higher up, I looked back into the river’s depths. But unfortunately, the other rock was nowhere to be found. Maybe I would cross paths with him again in the future, but there wasn’t much I could do now. So, I turned towards the water’s surface and made my way out of the river.

When I resurfaced, I saw the others nearby, lounging on the shores of the riverbank. And seeing them, I began to wonder how much I had actually helped them. Did they still feel trapped, like that tree? Were any of them feeling the same way as that rock? Were they all just being polite?

However, my thoughts were interrupted when I saw a rock—presumably Kouji—tumbling and bouncing across the riverbank, giggling and laughing in what could only be described as a state of pure bliss. I watched as the other rocks and necklaces around him all joined in as well. Watching them play together on the shores of the riverbank brought me a sense of comfort. Even if that hand wasn’t a perfect solution, to see little ones like Kouji have a chance to live and laugh again, maybe that was enough.

With this in mind, I made my way over to the group. Because I was back on solid ground, it didn’t take long for me to reach them.

“Hey, Ishikawa-san!” Sobue said, heading over to me as I arrived. “You’re all cleaned up.”

“Yeah, you too, Sobue-san.”

Seeing him reminded me of the reason why I had come all the way here in the first place.

“Sobue, about the girl—”

“No need,” he interrupted. Behind him, I saw the others heading off in the direction of the bridge, much to my surprise. I couldn’t help but wonder if I had missed something.

“Where’s everyone going?” I asked.

“Where else?” Sobue responded. “We’re going home.”