"You can't just walk away in the middle of me talking!!"\n\nmaria wasn't used to friends raising their voices at her, especially so suddenly. especially when she didn't even know she'd done anything until it was said. she shrunk back a bit.\n\n"Were you even listening?! That's so rude!"\n\nshe didn't know what to do in this situation. she didn't know how to explain. she tried to give an apology, but she isn't sure she even squeaked it loud enough for the other person to hear. \n\n"Ugh."\n\n[[<<|first]]

oh...\n\nshe remembers seeing a light.\n\n[[>>|fourth]]

"Oh, she's just exploring, I think. I've seen her do that sometimes."\n\nmaria got lost quickly after realizing she wasn't where she was before.\n\n[[<<|first]]

it was cloudier than usual and you would only be able to see 1 or 2 stars at most through the haze. the moon seemed to be absent. it was a few weeks past when fireflies usually came out, so there weren't any, but the quiet singing and chirping of other nighttime bugs still made a quiet background buzz underneath everything else.\n\n[[<<|second]]

she was always prone to wandering.\n\n[[>>|first]]

or, maybe it was? she really, really can't remember much. she remembers it was [[dark|dark]], which is weird in retrospect, since she doesn't go out after dark [[much|much]], but she remembers leaving the house, so she must've had a reason, so maybe she just forgot it. oh... so it couldn't have been an absentminded thing, right? she wouldn't just walk right [[out|out]] the door absentmindedly. right... ok. anyways...\n\nshe remembers being outside, and it was dark and...\n\nand... \n\n[[>>|third]]

she's not afraid of the dark or anything out there, but there's still always that feeling of underlying danger when you're walking around on your own at night. that, and it was chilly, usually. better to just stay inside.\n\n[[<<|second]]

inside the yard,

that was it.\n\nshe woke up, kind of, in the [[place|place]] she last remembered being, or, no, maybe it was just near there? or maybe that's just the earliest she can remember.

she remembers looking off past the [[fence|fence]], and seeing a light, off in the forest beyond their house.\n\nand she remembers thinking that was weird! you know! the forest is really dense, she couldn't usually see a thing out there. it wasn't moving or anything! just... a light, a little orangey light, like it could be from a lantern, or... a really well maintained fire, or something like that... \n\nand...\n\nand...\n\n[[>>|fifth]]

AVE MARIA

DER ERDE UND DER LUFT DÄMONEN

she's wandered into other rooms before, but only through open doorways, and never right out of the house (at least, that she can remember). besides, the door wouldn't have been open.\n\n[[<<|second]]

SHE'S NEVER CLIMBED A FENCE THAT HIGH BEFORE\n\n(replace with actual text later, i forget what i had to say about this)\n\n[[<<|fourth]]

it isn't on purpose, though.\n\nit's just... her attention isn't always-- well, hm. her mind starts wandering, and then she starts wandering too, y'know..?\n\nsometimes people think she might be being [[rude|rude]] or she sees something or she wants to [[explore|explore]] but it was more of a, subconcious thing...? she doesn't really mean to. it just happens. she'll be doing something, and then she's somewhere else, and, um... that's that.\n\noh, she's not too sure that was the case that time, though.\n\n[[>>|second]]