The quiet ground floor of Melony’s house

Melony’s eyes scanned and saw her father outside under the mango tree, silently sawing a thick plank, face expressionless, as if building something.

Far away, in a bush—there she was. The mother dog.

She sat still, refusing to come near. Her face looked somber, as though Melony had yet to understand something important.

Melony approached her father, but before she could ask anything, her mother walked over, placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, and said in a soft voice:

“The other three puppies… didn’t come back, sweetheart.”

She stroked Melony’s head and continued…

“When your father and I were heading toward the Village of the Three Mountains, we passed an old short man who lived in a little hut near the rainbow meadow. We asked him if he’d seen anyone take four puppies that way.”

The old man said…

—Yesterday morning, I was out gathering mushrooms as usual. I saw three puppies playing under the giant tree. But soon, a shadowy mist crept through the forest. The air turned cold and thick… and then…

—The Dog-Headed Wizard appeared before the three pups.—

He wore a long black robe that covered him head to toe. His face was furred in dark brown, with a shiny, long snout. His large eyes were pitch black. His fangs and claws glowed sharply.

He chanted a spell. The three pups froze, as if their spirits had been taken. Then, they followed him into the silent fog…

—But where was Hamby then?—

Hamby had been nursing on his mother, sleeping sweetly in the hollow. He never seemed full. He awoke groggily when his mother, noticing the others were gone too long, left their warm burrow to search for them…

Knowing all this, Melony’s parents hadn’t wasted a moment. They stretched themselves tall, heads brushing the treetops, and took the longest strides they could to search for Hamby.

When the story ended, her mother hugged Melony, eyes glistening. Hamby nestled tighter into Melony’s arms.

She gazed into Hamby’s eyes… as if something was moving inside them.

…Look deeper… deeper…

—Is that… the rainbow meadow?—

The secret reflected in the eyes of her chubby companion might be the key to another world.

—And the disappearance of the three pups… may not be the end, but the beginning of something Melony has yet to understand.