. . time is but a blink sometimes)"Ring-a-round a rosie, A pocket full of posies; Ashes! Ashes! We all fall down." The two little girls collapsed into the lush green grass. The blonde one, seven-year-old Emily Ann Dryer, kicked her feet with joy, while her brunette best friend, Nicki Marie Lauer, laughed gleefully alongside her. Their classmates ran around them, playing and shouting, enjoying every second left of midday recess. "Isn’t that about the plague?" Hannah asked, cocking her curly blonde head to the side as she studied the kids. "The Black Death?" "Maybe," Serah replied, swinging gently back and forth on the center swing. "Or maybe it’s just a nursery rhyme." "Either way, it’s absurd," Hannah said. "It makes no sense." "That’s the point." Serah watched as the girls stood back up and grasped hands, spinning around in circles again. "It’s supposed to be silly." Hannah sighed. "I’ll never understand humans." Serah glanced at the swing beside her as Hannah’s attention shifted away from the kids.
