Lullaby

It was raining heavily when the child walked into the dimly-lit room.

At this point they were soaked, shivering and shaking even as they stood in place. If nothing else they wanted some shelter—an umbrella, at least. Maybe.

But then, they caught sight of something; something that caught them off guard, delivering their attention from themselves to aforementioned something in front of them:

A statue.

It was... Hard to decipher what the statue happened to be, exactly. It had crumbled beyond repair, worn by the years prior—maybe even decades. However, the child could make out the shape of three figures: a larger monster and two smaller monsters, they thought.

They paused, studying the frozen monsters, broken and cracked as they were. They felt an odd sadness in their soul, as though somehow knowing they used to not be just statues—but people.

They walked a bit closer to inspect, expecting their guide to say something about the stone figures, but...

The voice was eerily silent, now. It uneased them, for their mysterious guide had been cheerful and talkative all the way up to this point.

...

They wondered if he might have known these monsters.

But, there was no time to really ponder on that.

They needed to continue.

Sighing, the child turned, giving the statue one last forlorn glance before heading on their way.

As soon as they left, they came across a bucket with a single umbrella in it. It was a vibrant shade of gold, bearing resemblance to the flowers they recalled seeing before.

They took it out of the bucket and slid the umbrella open, a thoughtful look on their face as they stared silently at it.

They didn’t continue like this.

Instead, they walked back the direction from which they came, back to the dark room they’d previously been in.

Without pause they walked up a final time to the three figures, and placed the golden umbrella just above them.

From its placement, a music box was opened, and began to play.

It played a song that reverberated through the caves, making the child shiver. It was comforting, yet somehow lonely; slow, and sweet, like a lullaby.

The child frowned a bit, their sadness for these strangers coming back to them. Something told them they’d been forgotten—blown away by the wisps of time, maybe, just like the old statue itself.

They didn’t want them to be forgotten.

Not like this.

They leaned forward, and gave each monster a gentle pat on the head, reassuring them, in the best way a child could for forgotten statue figures.

Eventually, they stepped back, offering them a small smile.

And then they walked out, not feeling quite as forlorn anymore, even as the music box’s haunting song echoed behind them.

Somewhere, they could hear the voice finally speak softly to them:

Thank you.