章 37: C37: Truth P2
It wasn't Johnny who was in the car accident! It was his twin brother, Joey. Neil gasped at the sudden info.
Joey isn't the name of the so-called grandfather either, but after his mom killed Joey, she had mental issues and traumas and started to think of Johnny as Joey.
That was also when the beta-blocker was given to Johnny. This part of the memory is really cruel to both his mother and Johnny.
Everything from before has been answered.
Why does he keep sleeping in a double bed? Why does his mom keep calling him Joey?
Even the comics he liked to read, and the pickled olives that Joey liked.
After the car accident, their mom raised him as Joey because of the overwhelming sadness and trauma.
But there's still some confusion and unanswered questions. What about his wife, River?
Does his desire to go to the moon have anything to do with her? It certainly doesn't have anything to do with his mom or his elder brother.
As time in the game moves backward, it brings Neil back to the time before Joey died.
As an older brother, Joey loved him very much.
They entered a competition together at an amusement park.
Joey got a little toy train, and he ended up with a platypus toy.
Johnny told him that he also wanted the train, but Mom stopped him.
Joey, being the kind brother he was, said they could play with the train together.
It became obvious that their mom seemed to favor Joey.
Feeling a little down, Johnny walked toward the back of the amusement park where the lighthouse lay, holding the platypus he'd won.
And then, it hit Zhen.
That platypus!
The same one that belongs to River. Johnny had won it at the playground.
Could this mean...?
The next scene confirmed it.
He found a good spot, a wooden stake like a bench, where he could sit and watch the stars. His mood began to lift.
At that moment, a little girl appeared. It was River when she was a kid!
It sent shivers down the spine, and everything suddenly made much more sense.
This was where Johnny first met River. Not in high school, as everyone thought.
Seeing River approach, Johnny greeted her happily, trying to strike up a conversation, but she seemed ready to leave. He called out to stop her.
After a brief exchange, he asked if she wanted to watch the stars with him.
With soft piano and violin music playing in the background, River and Johnny sat on the wooden stakes, looking up at the distant stars.
The camera zoomed in on the scene.
The green grass swayed gently in the breeze.
"Look there…" he said.
"You know, there are countless lights such as this in the sky!" he chimed.
He was trying to start a conversation, and this time he certainly had her attention.
"Okay," River replied, acting just as she did in high school, always aloof.
"Well," he said, fumbling to find something to say.
"You just said this bench is your place, right?" he asked, puzzled.
"I only come here during the carnival," she replied, unenthusiastically.
"Don't you like crowded places? ... Well, I don't either," he continued.
"Hey, you haven't told me your name yet!"
"I won't tell you," she said.
"People at school make fun of me for it." For the first time, she spoke in a full sentence.
"Why?" he asked.
"They say they need to go to the restroom when they hear my name," she said, her tone flat and unamused.
"Well, okay, but… let's just say it's not worse than Johnny, right? I mean, there are people named Johnny everywhere," he added, trying to sound self-deprecating.
'So what?'
'Okay?'
"What if there's a name everyone has? Well, I hope that, like the stars in the sky, they are similar when viewed from here, but it does not diminish their beauty," he said, fumbling a little.
'Well, I think so too. So what do you think these stars are?' she asked.
'My dad said that the stars in the sky are huge spheres. That is always burning.'
He was chatting with River, and she asked, "Have you tried making an Easter bunny out of a star?"
'Is it like looking for constellations in the sky?' he asked her back.
'Exactly,' she affirmed.
'I've looked for others, but never a rabbit.'
'Want to try looking for it?' she asked.
'Yeah! We are sure to find the best Rabbit constellation! Let us find out who spots it first!' he challenged.
With the countdown to three, two, one, he continued counting while looking upward at the eternal sky.
River next to him said, 'I found it!'
"Uh," a bit speechless,
he asked, "Where is it?"
He was a little stunned at her speed of response.
The screen in the game shifts toward the sky, aiming at the full moon.
'In the sky!' Zhen thought.
'Where in the sky?' Johnny asked.
'Think big!' River replied.
'I can't find it... wait... wait, I see it!' he said, a little excited.
"Tell me what you saw!"
"Is that right? There are two ears and a head." He pointed his finger at the moon.
"Anything else?"
'And there... that's two feet!'
'That's right, there's more!'
'And... and the moon! The moon is its round belly!'
The simple lines in the picture outline the stars in the sky.
They formed one – a rabbit.
A rabbit with a yellow belly!
The game content flashes across my memory, flashback by flashback. I see the whole story, and now it makes much more sense.
Why did Johnny go crazy with origami bunnies after River told him about their first meeting?
Why did River ask him many times in her life what the yellow-bellied paper rabbit was?
Why hasn't he been able to give River an answer that satisfied her?
Now Dong Zhen finally understands!
It was River who had been reminding Johnny in her way.
She was always reminding him. That this was the first time they met under the starry sky and the moon many years ago!
Along with their chat, Zhen learned that River always believed that the stars in the sky were lighthouses.
She thinks those lighthouses want to communicate with others, but there is no way to do that. They can only keep illuminating others, which is the only thing they can do.
Everything is explained.
Why does River care about Anya so much!
Then a scene that moved countless people appeared.
Johnny was heading home when his mother called out.
Before leaving, Johnny left his platypus with River.
'This is the prize I won, I'll give it to you!' Johnny said.
That's how the platypus, which had been by River's side, came into her life!
'Will you… will you come back next year?' Holding the platypus, River asked Johnny.
'Certainly! How about you?'
'I will.'
'Same time? Same place?'
'Okay!'
Hearing her answer, Johnny was so happy heading home, and this time River asked,
'But what if you get lost, or forget?'
'Then we will always meet on the moon, silly.'
Following Johnny's words, countless people who were playing this game couldn't help but feel their eyes tear up.
The screen suddenly blurred.
All the questions.
Finally got an answer here.
クリエイターの想い 
Blood_22
Blood_22 Like it ? Add to library！
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット