Ren

Another autumn day. Ren, our heroine, had moved up to 8th grade and was being bullied again by her classmates... There were two girls and three boys—Lina, Gloria, Dan, Jess, and Mike. Ren endured. Every day she came home with new bruises, but she still smiled and helped everyone.

October 12th. Saturday.

Ren and her best friend, Kaori, went for a walk in the forest. They had a fun time there, listening to music and having a picnic. Ren and Kaori sat in the shade of the trees, enjoying the sounds of nature, their mouths munching on the tasty treats they'd bought in advance, especially for this picnic.

But suddenly they heard rustling in the bushes. Ren and Kaori looked at the bushes. The friends didn't pay attention until literally a minute later when they saw a wolf skull. Rei immediately screamed and grabbed Kaori's shirt, squeezing her eyes shut, shouting:

Ren: KAORI! THERE'S SOMEONE'S SKULL IN THERE! KAORIIII!!

And she began to cry in fear. Kaoru pushed Ren away from her and touched the skull with her sneaker, saying more calmly:

Kaori: Ren! It's just a skull! This is a forest, here -...

Before they could finish their sentence, they saw the silhouette of a boy. He was sitting right in front of them on a rock. Both girls squealed and clung to each other, almost crying. The girls were shaking, but Kaori tried to remain calm and said, still pointing her index finger at the boy on the rock in a loud, trembling voice:

Kaori: Who are you?..

Ren was already whining into Kaori's shoulder... They both understood—it was a spirit. Not a person. A spirit, a demon, a devil, anything scary... But not a person...