Chapter 432: Going Home
"No, I'm sure her mother must be worried sick about her. She's been here for so long, after all. I'm sure Sparkle doesn't want her mother to worry about her, too," Donna explained while making breakfast.
Nene revealed a look of hesitation, but she knew that her mother was right.
Unbeknownst to them, Sparkle heard their conversation. She pondered briefly with wide eyes before picking up a crude pencil from the table next to her. Then, she started sketching on a piece of paper.
Soon, a creature appeared on the piece of paperan indescribable cluster of writhing tentacles with a cross-shaped pupil in the center. The creature was none other than Sparkle, and she had just drawn a simple, badly drawn self-portrait.
"Sparkle, what is that? It looks so ugly," Nene asked upon walking into the partition.
Sparkle's hand holding the pencil came to a halt, and she handed the sketch over to Nene. "It's for you."
Nene accepted it and stared at it from all angles, but she couldn't quite comprehend what she was staring at. "Um, thanks! Anyway, I'll draw one for you, too! I think I'm better than you at drawing!"
Nene proceeded to draw an image depicting two little girls sitting on mushroom caps surrounded by a group of tiny people.
Just as Nene completed her drawing, Donna was finally done making breakfast.
"Goodbye, Sparkle," Nene said as she stood by the entrance while holding Sparkle's self-portrait in her hand. A look of reluctance washed over her young face; clearly, she didn't want to part with her good friend.
"Close the door and lock the windows. I'll be back in two hours, so be obedient and stay in the house, okay?" Donna said. Then, she proceeded to repeat the same instructions multiple times before finally pulling Sparkle away.
The two walked toward the lower reaches of the World's Crown underneath the rain of spores. The spores had inundated everything beneath the cap, including the air, so there were very few people on the streets.
In addition, farmers generally wouldn't go out to the fields during sporey days; they'd only come out tomorrow to sweep the dust-like powder of the spores onto the ryegrass in their fields.
"Tired? Want me to carry you?" Donna asked Sparkle.
Sparkle reluctantly looked back before looking up at Donna. "I'm not tired."
Donna nodded and didn't insist on carrying Sparkle. She held Sparkle's hands, and the two walked down the main road between the fields. Everything beneath the cap was dilapidated and rundown, but the main road that led straight to the pier was well paved and well maintained.
It didn't take long for Donna and Sparkle's hair to be covered in gray spore powder. Donna took off her patched-up jacket and wrapped it around Sparkle, who was wearing a one-piece dress.
"Since you live up above, I'm sure you don't understand, but don't let this powder linger on your skin for too long. This powder will injure your skin, and mushrooms will start growing on the wound."
Sparkle stared at Donna for a while before she finally replied, "Thank you."
Donna smiled at the adorable little girl. For some reason, the more she stared at Sparkle, the more she found Sparkle to be a pretty lovable little girl.
Just then, Donna recalled Nene and Sparkle's conversation last night. She couldn't fight the urge and crouched to stare into Sparkle's eyes. Then, she reached out to pat Sparkle's head before saying, "Go back home and tell your daddy that he shouldn't go out to sea again once he's earned enough money.
"People have to be alive to enjoy their hard-earned money, after all."
Sparkle nodded. "I think so, too. Okay, I'll tell Daddy."
"Great, you're such a good girl," Donna said, pinching Sparkle's cheek. "Okay, let's go. Let's keep walking."
As they walked, Donna seemed to have thought of Sparkle as an outlet to confide her deep-seated feelings; she poured out everything she had been suppressing to Sparkle, who listened quietly in a daze.
"My husband used to saywithout people to transport merchandise at sea, what would people on other islands eat and use in their daily lives? But what's that got to do with us?
"Men really are fond of unrealistic things. In his pursuit of a fantasy, he died without leaving even his corpse behind.
"How can I possibly have anything good to say about him when he has left our child fatherless while other children still have their fathers around them?"
Sparkle felt like she understood what Donna was trying to say, but she also felt like she couldn't understand Donna at all. It was a confounding experience, but Donna's words had bolstered Sparkle's determinationdetermination to stop her father from going out to sea once again.
The two soon found themselves at the wooden basket closest to the Crown's gills. A large group of farmers was waiting calmly for their turn to ride the wooden basket and live up above.
Farmers could easily go down the Crown's cap, but staying up there was incredibly difficult. A few guards wearing masks and holding pens were standing by the shed next to the huge wooden basketthey were here to verify the identity of every single individual wanting to go up the Crown's cap.
"Come here, let's line up. What's your mother's name, and where does she live?" Donna asked while pulling Sparkle toward the farmers waiting in line.
However, Sparkle didn't reply. She let go of Donna's hand and ran up ahead, exclaiming, "You can go back home, Nene's mommy. I can go home by myself."
"Wait, Sparkle! You can't just go there like that!" Donna hurriedly chased after Sparkle to stop her. To her surprise, however, Sparkle was extremely quick; it took her just a few moments to reach the huge wooden basket.
Donna's astonishment was amplified when the guards clad in black uniforms didn't even do anything to stop Sparkle. They allowed Sparkle to jump onto the wooden basket.
Are Sparkle's parents truly part of the upper echelons? Donna thought, but she didn't dwell on the matter for long. It was fine as long as Sparkle reached the cap. After all, the security above was miles better than the security down below.
The winch was soon turned, and a piercing noise echoed as Sparkle and her fellow passengers were slowly hoisted upward.
"Sparkle! Don't run around once you're up there! Go straight home!" Donna exclaimed, attracting everyone's gaze. Donna's face flushed slightly as she turned around and left in a hurry.
Standing at the swaying wooden basket, Sparkle waved her hand at Donna, who slowly disappeared as the sky full of spore dust obscured Sparkle's vision. When Donna finally vanished from Sparkle's line of sight, Sparkle vanished from the wooden basket, scaring her fellow passengers out of their wits.
Sparkle saw light once more, and she found herself at the entrance of the Governor's Mansion of World's Crown. Stepping through the main gate, Sparkle found a maid busy cleaning at the door.
"Where's Mommy?" Sparkle asked.
"The Governor is in the library," the maid replied.
Sparkle's figure flashed, and she reappeared in front of the library. She pushed open the door and saw a huge, deformed, and rotten head on the wall.
The rotten head seemed to be talking to Anna, but their conversation came to a halt when Sparkle entered the library.
"Mommy, can we make Daddy stop going out to sea? I don't want to lose Daddy."
Anna set aside a strand of her hair behind her ear and said, "Sparkle, can you go outside? Mommy is busy right now."
Sparkle glanced at the huge rotten face and nodded before vanishing into thin air.
"That was your daughter? Why don't you introduce me to her?"
Anna smiled sweetly. "Sure, you can try to get to know her. Sparkle really loves playing with new friends, you see."
The rotten face stared at Anna's sweet smile for a moment before replying, "Forget it. Her aura feels a bit dangerous to me."
"Let's stop the chit-chat, shall we? How about we go back to the topic? Can we continue with our deal?"
Cosyjuhye's Thoughts
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