Alicia was curious about a strange object that was in her prison. She was interested and crawled towards the peculiar object, which had a round shape with jet black color. "What's that thing? A doll or a ball?"
She didn't hesitate to poke it with her finger to make sure, and she was surprised that it had a similar texture to cookie dough. "So soft!"
But she was even more excited when she started to dare to touch the object and roll it over. It turned out that the doll was not a ball.
"Let me guess, although the shape is strange, I'm sure that this doll is a bat doll." Alicia watched the doll for a long time and was sure that it looked like a flying mammal.
It had a dark black color, a pair of tiny bat wings, a round head with a couple of pointed ears back, and no legs.
Even though the doll didn't look like a bat at all in some parts, it looked like a monster, but to Alicia, it was a cute doll.
"The shape is unique and adorable! Who gave this thing!?" This is the first time Alicia has found happiness in prison by getting cute things. She immediately stood up and tiptoed to look out the vent to see who the reasonable person was who gave this adorable item. But there was only a forest, and there was no one to be seen outside.
Alicia was again focused on the doll that was the size of an adult's fist. Curious about the doll's long ears, which made the doll look adorable, she ventured to pull it. But what she didn't expect to happen, the bat doll's ears moved.
Alicia immediately pulled her hand in surprise. "Eh!? Is it my imagination, or is this doll moving on its own?"
She was unsure that the doll could move and wanted to confirm it again by pulling the doll's long ears again with her fingers.
"It's responding to my movements!! It's definitely not an ordinary doll!" This time not only did the doll's ears move, but now the doll's wings also moved. Alicia fell backward after being sure that the doll was moving by itself.
Although afraid, Alicia continued to watch the doll from afar until the bat doll opened his eyes and looked into Alicia's eyes.
"Are you a living being?" She immediately asked the living doll, who looked confused.
Alicia smiled when she saw the bat doll was silent and looked her in the eyes. The doll had yellow oval eyes, and now those eyes were her favorite part besides the ears.
After looking at her eyes for a long time, the doll looked around and sniffed. The doll immediately shifted its gaze to another part of the prison.
Alicia also looked back and saw that the bat doll was looking at her eating tray. "Ah, you must be starving. Would you like some bread?"
The bat doll nodded as if it understood her words.
"Ah! Do you understand what I'm saying? Wait a minute, let me get it." Alicia didn't expect that the doll could understand her words. Without waiting long, she immediately crawled to the row of her eating tray and took her ration of dry bread today.
"It doesn't taste delicious, but I hope you like it." Alicia didn't know whether a bat doll could eat bread or not, but since it was just a living doll, she didn't really mind it.
The two front legs that became wings received the dry bread that Alicia had split in half.
The doll ate so voraciously that it devoured the dry bread without any leftovers. But the creature looked still hungry and looked at the bread in Alicia's hands with a hopeful gaze.
"No need to worry. This is for you." Alicia, who really intended to starve to death, did not plan to eat anything 7 days ago and immediately gave the doll another piece of bread.
Even though the doll's body was small, the doll had already eaten a piece of dry bread which was even 4 times larger than the body.
But it looks like one dry bun is not enough to fill the little doll's stomach. It still looked like sniffing breadcrumbs and looking for more food.
"What?! That big bread is still not enough? Even though you're small, you have a huge appetite." Since Alicia still had 6 more crusty buns, she immediately took them and fed the doll.
She really enjoyed the little doll show eating in such a cute way. That little mouth kept gnawing at the bread that was bigger than it until there was nothing left.
After being complete, the doll immediately leaned against the wall while stroking her belly, which looked even more distended.
"You must be lost in the jungle back there, huh?" Even though she was imprisoned and about to be executed, she didn't lose her empathy. She felt genuine compassion for the little doll.
The bat doll immediately stood up and nodded. It also seemed to give some gestures with its forelegs that resembled wings, trying to explain to Alicia.
"Ahaha, you're so cute. But, I'm sorry, I don't understand sign language." Alicia giggled. Although she didn't understand what the bat doll was trying to explain, she was pleased to see the bat doll's behavior.
The bat doll looked disappointed and lowered her head. Alicia felt guilty for not understanding what the Puppet Bat was trying to explain.
Because it seemed necessary, she tried to find another way for the doll to tell a story. "Ah, how about writing?" Alicia immediately crawled and picked up a sharp stone that was in the corner of the prison.
The doll looked confused for a moment, then it took the stone Alicia gave it.
She noticed what the doll was writing on the prison floor. "WO...RI...URU...? I'm sorry, I don't understand your language. It doesn't seem like the alphabet I'm used to."
Alicia had a tough time reading the doll's writing, she didn't know if it was because of their language difference or the doll's writing was so bad that she couldn't read it.
The doll looked disappointed once again, but Alicia wouldn't let it look sad. She immediately changed the subject of their conversation.
"Ah, instead of discussing that. How about we introduce ourselves. My name is Alicia, it's written like this, and you can read it like that." She picked up the sharp stone that the bat doll had dropped and immediately wrote her name on the floor.
The bat doll immediately lifted its head and jumped up and down towards Alicia. After noticing her writing, the doll nodded in understanding.
"Then what's your name?" Even if she couldn't read the doll's writing, she might still be able to read it a little.
Alicia thought that the doll would write the name, but the doll shook its head.
"You don't have a name?" Alicia felt guilty for having asked a doll that had no name to write on. No wonder she can't read the writing. The doll was also not a human being taught how to write like her.
"How about I give you a name?" This is what Alicia likes best, giving each animal a name. She used to have several pets, and all of them she gave names. You could say she was a specialist in this field.
The doll's eyes widened, and its wings fluttered as if pleased with Alicia's decision.
"Hmm, you're black, you're small and look like a bat... Nightwings... no... no... that name isn't cute... Ah! How about Pebbles?" After paying attention to the doll's physical characteristics, Alicia finally found the right name for the cute doll.
The doll was jumping up and down like a ping pong ball. It seemed the doll was happy with the name Alica gave it.
"Ah, fortunately, you like it. This is the first time I've seen the creature I named immediately respond to the name I gave it. Okay, starting today, your name is Pebbles."
The fun days in hell began. Because Pebbles understood her words, Alicia taught Pebbles how to write the alphabet commonly used by humans.
Not only taught Pebbles how to write, but Alicia also played the game Noughts and Crosses. She really enjoyed her company with Pebbles, who was fun to play with like her old pet.
However, one thing distinguishes Pebbles from her pets: Pebbles are not warm at all. Its body was cold as it had no body temperature.
But other than that, she was happy. Pebbles really likes to play with her braided hair and also wants to go up to her head. For 3 days, she spent time with Pebbles play. At least the days before the full moon arrived, she felt alive again, and there was no anxiety.
Until the fateful night arrived, the Moon was already in its perfect phase. The footsteps of the guards began to be heard even from inside the prison.