In all honesty, she thought this was how it was to lose her mind. She woke up in a wilderness that starkly contrasted the everyday life she'd grown to know, it was, by all standards, dirty--now she thought of it, the grey skies that intoxicated the air wasn't much better--but it also appealed to her, an open world, adventure just waiting to happen around some odd corner, or maybe even under a rock, that, once overturned, revealed a pill bug or centipede, the likes of which she'd only ever seen on the Forbidden Shores.
Yep, she was crazy, no doubt about it, she was just a regular human in a regular world that was completely modernized, the only trees existed in the Forbidden Woods on the other side of the Forbidden Ocean. There were--she realized--many forbidden things. Too many forbidden things, the small voice in the back of her head decided. It was right, the world around was all she knew, even the districts were forbidden from anyone previously registered to a district.
She decided that enough was enough, she would go to find that brave forest in her dream.
Upon awaking, she slipped out of bed. Same old same old.
She turned to the mirror and let out a squeak, for atop her head were two ears, and slowly a tail emerged on one side. She grabbed her phone and called the only one she knew who wasn't happy with the history's treatment of Animen in the past, the manager of a factory for vehicles.
"How did I get stuck with this kind of luck, anyways?"
"Hey, uh, there's a bit of a problem...well, it's hard to explain, it's one of those things you'd have to see to believe." she felt her ear with her free hand, hoping it was a dream, but it wasn't, "I don't even believe it, and I'm looking at it."
Within an hour he made an appearance at her doorstep and after letting him in--staying out of the doorway to hide--she slammed it back, "So, yeah, I have a problem."
Kokoso gasped and took a step back, "Oh...wow."
"That's what I thought," Maria pressed her head against her forehead, and ran her hands up to her hair, "we have to do something!" Maria shook her head, "There must be some way to fix-"
"It's so cute!" Kokoso covered his mouth and bounced on his heels, then turned around, "Okay, so just wear a hat for the ears, and run the tail up the back of your shirt, and meet me in an hour by the bus stop at the beach, don't worry, there's a somewhat plan!"
"What's the plan?" she stared up at ceiling, "What is the bus stop going to do, they'll run me out of town or toss me into the-
"You wouldn't believe it unless you could see it...plus, it's best if you're calm, so you don't raise suspicions." Kokoso turned around, "Don't worry, I was kind of expecting this to happen sooner or later, but I'll leave the explaining to Mother."
In an hour she found the young man leaning against a lamp post, he called it "hanging" and said it was a way of hiding in plain sight, though she was sure if he was hanging, he'd be a bit higher off the ground, and as for not being suspicious, that ten gallon hat on his head was kind of...not.
"Hey, you're here!" he bounced up to her like a bunny--there was a mental image of him with bunny ears instead of that hat--and danced a circle around her.
"Hyperactive child." Maria sighed, "What's the plan?"
"Well, walk and talk?" he started off the road, in the direction of the beach, to one of the seaside factories, and she, ever curious about what the questionably sane boy was up to, followed him.
She imagined he didn't want to discuss this where someone might hear and report talk of Animen to the authorities, there were incidents in the past, but none in recent years, "I think we're out of earshot now." she finally said, the texture of the sand underfoot taking her back to a time before the beach was forbidden, a time best forgotten. 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwWRHQ4pEES
"I just wanted to say that there are secrets about the world that I've been keeping under my hat." Kokoso let out a laugh as he tapped his hat, then calmed down and walked up ahead of her, turned to face her, and lifted his hat to reveal two bunny ears, before setting it back down "We're not like most people, and today...today we're going back."
Author's Note: I'll cut it off here, chapter two should be up soon! Again, thanks goes to Maria of MariaTJackson of FictionPress, or Marria3313 of Penana for the story idea/development/critique of this story!
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