• It was six o’clock PM and the sun was beginning to set. It was hiding behind the comfort of the buildings, hiding from Night.
    “Don’t you dare set, don’t you DARE go down, damn sun!” Night shouts at the sun like a mad man. He turns back and continues hammering.
    Mika had brought Night into her friends woodshed and told him to get to working; she wanted the wood stand to be finished once the moon rises tonight. They got into an argument and Mika counters with, “Oh, I thought you could finish it by today. Do you need a week, perhaps?” she was mocking him. Night didn’t want to seem weak and useless, so he reluctantly says he could finish it once the sun touches the horizon. If he failed, Mika had something in mind for him and he didn’t want to figure out what it was.
    “Don’t you dare set” Night says.
    The wood stand was almost finished. It was beautifully made, better than the original one. It had carvings that swerved at the sides and he also carved rich designs on the face of the wood. The only thing missing on the stand is the top roof to keep the sun away.
    Night stood on a chair and started hammering the wood. He’s finished half of the roof. The hammer missed its target and hit Night’s thumb instead. He cursed and dropped the hammer which smacked against his foot. He yelped in pain.
    “Smooth move” Mika says at the doorway. She was there to see him make a fool of himself.
    “Shut up” Night wasn’t going to deny or make excuses for what just happened. He picked up the hammer and continued hammering the nails.
    “No need” Mika says, stopping Night. The sun has already touched the horizon.”
    Night dropped his arms to the side after hearing that. He damned himself for not being good enough, for failing. The pride in him faltered.
    “You lose” she grins, victorious. “Time for punishment”
    Night braced himself for the worst to come.
    “Come over for dinner”
    His heart and lungs malfunctioned for a moment. Okay, that was worse than he thought. He’d rather run around the town cosplaying as a sexy cat girl. But this wasn’t a time to be fooling around.
    “D-dinner?” Night repeats. “Dinner…why?”
    “Well—” Mika gulps, nervous. Her cheeks were flushed and she was fiddling with her fingers. “Cause it’s late and…and you haven’t eaten for uh…”
    “Six hours”
    “Yes, and you must be hungry. I’m just being sincere”
    “You mean considerate” Night corrected.
    “Oh—yes, that’s what I meant” she looked up and saw his blank expression. “You don’t have to come if you don’t—”
    “Thanks, I’ll be back by morning to finish the stand since I still owe you that” Night walked out the door.
    “Where are you going? My house is that way” Mika says.
    “Sorry, you must’ve misunderstood. Thanks for the offer but I’m going to pass on it” he didn’t look back when he said it.
    “O…kay” Mika says disappointedly. “Goodbye, Neij!”
    Night hesitated before saying goodbye because of the name she called him by. Get used to it, you’re the one that said that was your name, he thinks to himself.

    Mika pouted the whole walk home. Once she opened the door to her home, her mother and father asked where Neij was.
    “He didn’t want to come” she answers and left to her room. She laid on the soft bed and cuddled with her stuffed toy lion.
    Why am I so dissapointed? Mika pinched her cheeks and stretched them out, like what her aunty used to do when she was little. Get a hold of yourself! So what if he didn’t want to come for dinner, you don’t even know the guy! She rolled around until something hart hit her back. She pulled the object out and it was the green necklace. It swirled faster and faster, the color changing to a bright yellow. Was it suppose to do that?
    “Grandpa…GRANDPA!” she shouts, eyeing the necklace. It started moving by itself in a circle. Mika cupped the sphere in her hands and it vibrated within the closed space.
    Pappy came in and closed the door behind him. “What is it?” he asks, wondering what she wanted him for. He saw the string of the necklace coming out of her hand.
    “Grandpa, the necklace is moving!” Mika shouts. The vibrating was intense and the sphere broke loose. It stood still in midair, the colors calming in to a bright gold.
    Pappy’s eyes widened, the biggest Mika ever saw. He stepped forward, hands outstretched like he was going to hold it.
    “It’s a miracle…” he says, mesmerized.
    “What is…?” Mika asks. “Pappy, what’s wrong with the necklace? How can it float like that?!”
    “Nothing’s wrong” he says with the widest, happiest smile. “It senses it’s owner” he turns to Mika. “Did you, perhaps…find the boy?”
    “Wah?”
    “The necklace was awakened…by the presence of its owner. Maybe you…were around him” that’s why the necklace was changing when Mika held it.
    “The owner…?”
    “His name is…Night” Pappy was hopeful. He was out all day looking for him—no luck.
    “Night?” Mika thought for a moment. “No…I don’t know any Night”
    His expression went downhill fast. “Then…then who?” he looks back at the hovering necklace, golden with happiness of being reunited with Night.
    “Who was I with today? Well, no one except for Neij”
    “Neij?” Pappy knows that name well. It was one of Night’s past life. “Who is that…boy?”
    “He was the one that crashed into the stand.”
    “I’d like to meet him” Pappy says, holding the necklace in his hand, the glow faltering.
    “He wouldn’t come over for dinner” Mika whines. “But he’s going to work on the stand again tomorrow morning in the woodshed”
    Pappy nods, his eyes distant. After a moment of silence, he left the room without saying a thing. The necklace was with him.
    Mika falls back onto her pillow. “Today was a strange day. A really strange day”
    part 6