Chapter 21. Paper Rabbit
When Old Johnny finished his last sentence, Sirin fell silent.
The sentence was short, but the obsession contained within it was moving, and it made people wonder what could make an elderly man with such a hazy memory have a wish this strong.
"I'm certain this is going to be quite troublesome."
But they could only choose to go back to Old Johnny's past layer by layer, searching for the reason he wanted to go to the moon, or directly implant the wish to become an astronaut and go to the moon when he was a child.
"We need to enter your childhood, but such a long span of time can't be covered with a single memory jump."
"Do you have some kind of memento that would let us return to one of your earlier memories?"
"Memento..."
Old Johnny muttered to himself and slowly picked up a paper rabbit from the bench, the one with blue ears and a yellow belly.
Then, time began to rewind.
After a short segment of puzzle-solving, the sight in Sirin's eyes was once again flooded by white light.
Pitter—patter—.
The fine raindrops turned into sound against Sirin's eardrums, and with the serene background music, they brought a bit of cool shade to summer.
At the lighthouse by the cliff again, Sirin saw Old Johnny, holding an umbrella, sitting before a grave with a sorrowful face, even the pitter-patter of the raindrops on the umbrella's surface clearly audible.
Although this is a pixel-art game, the details are quite refined.
After that, Old Johnny's low voice slowly sounded.
"It's all over now, River."
"I can, like you, watch over her every day."
"...She won't be lonely anymore."
"Though perhaps I'll never understand, I'll be faithful to your wish."
"Anya must also be... grateful to you."
"But when I leave this world,"
"...who will come back to look after us?"
At this moment, Sirin revealed herself and walked over.
"...And you are?"
"I'm just a passing doctor. Is this your wife here?"
"Yes. Her name is River."
"What a truly exquisite name."
"Yes. She shouldn't have been laid to rest here."
"Hm?"
"She... shouldn't have done that."
"You wouldn't understand. Even I can't make sense of her."
Then, seeing Old Johnny fall silent and unwilling to say more, Sirin left.
A few brief lines contained quite a lot of information.
Who is Anya?
What exactly did River do?
Why would Old Johnny say such things?
More fog shrouded the truth of the matter, making everyone even more curious about the cause of it all.
[Hiss, feels like the old pits aren't filled, and new questions keep popping up.]
[Anya, River, Old Johnny—it's getting more and more complicated.]
[It is complicated, but it feels even more interesting now. I didn't expect a pixel game to be this good. It's already far beyond my expectations.]
[Miss Pufferfish, hurry up and keep solving the mystery, I'm anxious!]
[Urgent urgent urgent, I'm the King of Urgency!]
"Don't rush me, I'm on it~"
Responding to chat while she played, Sirin quickly found a new memento at the lighthouse.
That platypus plush.
A flash of white, and a new scene arrived.
This time, they came to an old room.
This was when River was still alive.
The woman with orange hair lying on the bed in Johnny's bedroom should be the River whom Johnny held so dearly in his heart.
That peculiar platypus plush lay by her side, and the floor was still scattered with paper rabbits.
"So, because Johnny misses his late wife too much, seeing all this triggers memories, which is why he put the rabbits and the platypus in the basement?"
A mournful piano piece slowly began to play, accompanied by a steady heartbeat, as if telling everyone how little time River had left.
Looking at this, Sirin's throat tightened for no reason.
Then Johnny spoke. "It's still enough."
He was speaking to his wife, River, who lay on the bed.
"Even after paying for the surgery, the remaining money is more than enough, so... don't worry."
But River closed her eyes and no longer looked at Johnny. "A white lie."
"That's what people call it, right?"
Before River finished, Johnny interrupted at once. "That's not true. I'm sure we have enough!"
"Say no more."
River opened her eyes again and spoke slowly. "...I don't want to see you lie. I know our finances very well. Why can't we stick to my ideal?"
"We need the money for your medical bills, River!"
"I know Anya is important to you, but... don't you think you've gone too far?"
"She—she isn't even..."
"Do you know what would make me happy, Johnny?"
River suddenly turned her body and looked right at her husband by the bed.
"...What?"
"You do know, don't you?"
"..."
Johnny fell silent.
Seeing Johnny quiet for a long time, River seemed to become quite dejected. She lay back again, no longer looked at him, stared into the air, and spoke softly.
"Fine. I'll do as you say."
"I just... hope you'll help me with this."
"River..." Johnny gently called his wife's name.
As if tired from speaking, River closed her eyes once more.
"When the treatment plan comes down, I won't sign it."
"As for what our money is used for, that's for you to decide."
"But if you can accept my ideal, I hope you'll use it to build that house, and then, so long as you can be there even one day, you can take good care of her."
"Keep her company, talk to her, let her live well. I hope she won't be lonely."
"And you?" Johnny couldn't help but ask back.
"Happiness... this is where my happiness lies."
After a brief silence, River suddenly took out a paper rabbit.
"Johnny?"
"Mm?"
"I made this."
Like presenting a treasure, River handed it to Johnny.
It was that special yellow-and-blue paper rabbit Sirin found at the top of the lighthouse.
"Tell me—what is this?" River asked expectantly.
"What is it?" Johnny still didn't understand.
"I want you to tell me what it is."
Johnny could only answer, "It's a rabbit, exactly the same as the other paper rabbits you folded."
"And what else?"
"Mm... it's made of paper."
"And what else?"
"Its body is yellow, and the rest is blue."
"Exactly. Anything more?"
River seemed to grow quite excited and pressed her husband eagerly.
But Johnny could no longer see any further features in this rabbit.
So, he could only change the subject.
He casually placed the paper rabbit on the floor and walked over to the piano.
"Let's look at this first, River."
"I composed a piece, for you."
"It's nice."
River's earlier excitement cooled.
"Then, would you like to hear it?"
"Sure~"
Not dampening her husband's mood, River's tone softened.
"The name of this piece is 'For River.'"
"Why is the name so tacky?"
"Mm... well."
Johnny, a bit embarrassed, explained slowly. "Just treat it as a placeholder."
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