I paused. Maybe they went the other way, past the bridge. I hadn’t seen them go across before, but they might have done so while I was underwater with that rock. In any case, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to check in that direction, and as such, I began to make my way across the bridge. However, as I did so, I noticed how open this bridge felt, as in, whatever railings were there wouldn't do anything to stop me—or really not any of the others—from just falling off. But what was there to fall into besides water? The only island I saw was when I was back at the riverbank, toward my right at the time. Once again, this was probably nothing. But still, there was nothing wrong with making sure, right?

Once I reached the middle of the bridge, I stopped and began to look around. I couldn't see where the river began or ended, though I couldn't see far to begin with due to the trees along both sides of the bridge. But this wasn’t the main thing I wanted to figure out. Instead, I looked down at the river below, only to see uninterrupted water, meaning that if they were looking to kill themselves, then the river probably wasn’t how they would have attempted to do so.

Still, if that was the case, then what happened to the others? Where exactly did they go? I could find that out if I kept moving forward. Just keep moving forward. I rushed across the bridge—towards the shrubs on the other side—as I tried to shake away the storm of thoughts occupying my mind. However, not long after I passed the bridge, everything suddenly began to rush around me. It lasted for a few seconds before the motion stopped. And when it did, I found myself surrounded by more trees, with the river just behind them.

As I looked at the trees, I wondered if they could move, like the ones on the other side of the river. To find out, I went over to one of the tree's roots and rolled over it. The tree, however, remained completely still. It was possible, however, that this was only the case for one of the trees. So I tried another, and the same thing happened. It looked like in this area, all of those trees were still trapped, though, to be fair, I could probably say the same for the trees back where I was before.

I looked around, seeing the slope again to my right. I was about to try and head back up to look for the others again, but I paused. Why was I doing this? It hadn’t even been a day since I met them, so why had I gotten so attached? Was it because I saw myself in them? People that I could relate to and who had likely experienced the same things as me.

Even so, I could’ve joined them when they were leaving, but I hadn’t. And now they’re—no! There’s still time; I could still reach them, but even if I did, how could I be sure I wouldn’t just find more dead bodies, like that rock? No, that’s ridiculous! They’re fine; they’re fine! Besides, what could even kill them here? I hadn’t seen or heard anything on that road for days, and a fall probably wouldn’t kill any of them, not here at least. They were probably all doing fine, so why was I still feeling worried?

Then I came to a realization: Was it their lives that I was worried about? Or was it mine?

Was all of this just an effort to distract myself?

I tried to force these thoughts away again, but despite my best efforts, they wouldn’t go away. So why was this? Things were supposed to be getting better now, so why were these thoughts stronger than before? Was it because I was still shocked over what happened with that rock? Maybe, but I wasn’t feeling shocked, was I? No, for some strange reason, I felt excited—excited that I may finally have a way out.

But why now, of all times? Why now, after everything that happened over the past couple days, am I feeling this way? There was so much I still needed to do as well—so many people to be freed. But at the same time, I realized—I wouldn’t be doing any of it, would I? No, all I would be doing was guiding the one who could. And even that—I knew—would only be a temporary arrangement—just until she was doing this on her own, without any deception on my part. And once that happened, we’d probably go our separate ways, as I’d probably just be dead weight otherwise.

I didn’t feel completely ready for when such a moment came, which may be why I still felt nervous about heading back. After all, these past couple days were the only time in the past year that I felt like I had a purpose—the only time I felt being here in this world was worthwhile. What would happen when I was no longer needed? What would I do?

My original plan for what to do after this happened was to wander around this world while things improved in the background. As I was still stuck as a rock, there wasn’t much else I was able to do to help anyway.

But since that rock died—and since I had an idea of how that rock died—I now had a tangible way to get out of this world if I so wanted to.

But all of that could wait, right? I still had to check on the girl first, and I had spent enough time over here as is. I looked at the slope behind me. Unlike before, I didn’t see a clear way up, not without falling over. The tree branches were too high to leap on as well. I could go through the water, though that wasn’t something I particularly wanted to do. On the other hand, I recalled the steps I used to get to the bridge on the other side of the riverbank. It was possible there was something similar on this side as well. I would just have to go to the river to do so. I hopped past the surrounding trees and up to the river. And surely enough, there was some exposed earth I could use as steps. However, before I climbed up them, I looked toward the side of the river I was on earlier and at the dozens of trees that had all gathered over there.

As far as I knew, all those trees had all been reanimated by the same thing—that thing being that girl’s hand, or whatever she claimed was attached to it. In either case, from how big the clearing was before I encountered her, along with how many trees I saw here, it was clear that they had been brought back before I originally encountered her. And in that case, it was possible that I wasn’t needed for any of this in the first place. And for that matter, it was possible that none of this was something that anyone else wanted either—not by the trees, not by that rock, and not by the girl who had the means to do so. There were the people that I helped so far—and I was glad I had—but it’s not like they stuck around either.

So in the end, that only left me—pushing a half-measure that no one wanted for a problem that I otherwise could not solve, all in the hopes of convincing myself that my existence was worth more than it actually was and that I actually had a purpose other than staying still and doing nothing for the rest of my miserable existence.
So should I just go back to that? Do what the trees did and act like nothing happened? Is that what I wanted to do? I paused to weigh my options, but before I could make a decision, I suddenly began to hear the sound of clopping hooves, though I wasn’t sure exactly where it was coming from. I couldn’t see it from the other side of the bridge, so it must have been coming from behind, which could only mean…

I turned toward the slope next to the bridge and began climbing up as fast as I could, hopping from exposed rock to exposed rock. And sure enough, when I reached the top and looked to my right, I saw a horse-drawn vehicle headed in my direction.

I had a feeling of who was inside it, and if I was correct, then perhaps there was one last thing that I could do on my way out.