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.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡyWbVilqapY
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.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4CHYlviAR
She decided that enough was enough, she would go to find that brave forest in her dream.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡxnDI4kNCAJ
Upon awaking, she slipped out of bed. Same old same old.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡE8FP4Ybu9A
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.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUE5BDq7V1
"How did I get stuck with this kind of luck, anyways?"copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡYtoCcsX05x
"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."copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJGpzLoKfx
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."copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIr0N3EeaA
Kokoso gasped and took a step back, "Oh...wow."copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡf94DLg6Igb
"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-"copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡg0VXpvINfY
"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!"copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡkBHMCvPgJ0
"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-copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZ9UCUbJDr
"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."copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTrQQRlzEB
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.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZdeMPJB5t
"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.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡBWsKQ5F2Oi
"Hyperactive child." Maria sighed, "What's the plan?"copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJcWA3NWDs
"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.copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡxarLpdA9PF
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. 192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNr7pwjSGbn
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"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."copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZInVirIe4
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!copyright protection188ＰＥＮＡＮＡaMfCxEQ7OG
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