#dawnsweeper

"I wonder where Once-ler is?" Mystery mused. She brushed long, red strands away from her covered eye, sighing when they flopped back into place. Her friend had done a good job making sure that eye would be hidden behind her hair, but that was beside the point.

raz-ler

I've finished the piece I was drawing for you! Here you go!

     Mystery brushed her cloak with her hands, hoping to look normal. She glanced back at the Once-ler. Though they had met only a little while ago, she couldn't help but feel as if she would miss him. She was going away for a while. Something important had come up.

     Waving for the final time, she got on board the train.

Four years later...

     Mystery had changed a lot. She had gotten taller, her hair was a lot longer and more wavy, and the freckles that she had as a child were sort of starting to show up again. She was wearing normal t-shirt and jeans, though the black cloak was left behind.

      She was going to see the Once-ler again. It had been such a long time. She smiled when she thought of how he must have changed.

      But when she stepped foot of the train, an audible gasp escaped her lips. Thick smog clotted the air, making it hard to breath. Tree stumps were scattered everywhere, as dead as stone would be. Everything was completely barren. What had happened.

    Mystery had been taking down the day's decorations. Christmas was definetely a big holiday, so it wasn't an overstatement to say that it took five whole days to take everything apart. And now, these coils of lights were the last things to put away.

   Sighing, Mystery remembered she still had lights on the roof. Oh well. She'd just dump these outside and get the others with a latter.

    Opening the door, she tossed the coils of lights out. But she completely hadn't expected for them to land smack on top of the Once-ler.