???
This is not a story, but rather a mere amalgamation of a boy’s soul stagnant in the past.
Red.
Red.
Red.
It’s everything in the boy’s mind, red.
He knows not of the reason, but simply judged today to be easily red.
“Ah, I wonder what I should do today.” said the boy sitting on the veranda gazing at the red sky, the house he sat in an ordinary traditional Japanese house. The shadows hide what’s lurking beyond the veranda, none knows what’s in the shadowy part of the house.
“Meow~ Why don’t you create me a friend?” Suddenly, a black cat of unknown breed walked out from the shadowy side. Although described as a cat, it couldn’t be further from the truth, while it resembles a cat, it resembles not a cat. The cat has two tails with the tip of its tail somehow moving with the wind, it looks as if it’s on fire, except it's not. The other feature that distinguishes it from being a cat is that it is somehow extremely dark, no light reflects off of its furs, completely absorbing the light around it.
“More of you? I suppose I can.” The boy responded, now holding a candle in his palm, the candle seemed to be unaffected by the breeze around it, it not flickered nor swayed, but remained still.
“Meowyes~ I do feel lonely in this place.” The cat walked closer to the boy, and perched on top of his head.
The boy smiled, “That’s quite a subtle way to make me experience more agony.”
“Meowgony? No, no, I’m just your loveable cat.”
“In order to create more of you, you’ll take something a part of me.”
“Mewright, you can offer your pain, that way you won’t endure more of it.”
“You’re right, that’s what I did on you, you took something from me–”
“Meowight, I took something and was given this form of dark.”
“Hmmm, perhaps not today, maybe in the near future.”
“How disappointing.” The cat hopped off from the boy’s head and returned inside the shadowed part of the house.
The red scene, the cat, and this world that has been robbed of everything, everything not had to make sense. For the world a scene only played in the boy’s mind. To him, reality is nonetheless superficial, none truly mattered.
…
The boy awake stared at the empty blue sky, beside him a fluffy white cat laying down. Of course, this cat is completely normal, it not had two tails nor fur so black that absorbed all light.
It's simply, and truly a normal white cat.
“Right, I have to get ready for school.” Mused the boy, standing up.
“Meow!” The cat meowed, but this time no audible speech followed, it seems this cat is really normal.
“Stay there.” The boy petted the cat so it remained lying down, however it seemed to backfire on him as the cat stood up and stretched itself.
“Meeow.” The cat looked at him and mew in high pitched.
Shortly after, the door slid open, and came upon a girl wearing an apron over her kimono. The kimono she wore at first glance could be described as old fashioned, its color a navy blue or closer to midnight blue, depending on who you ask, though the answer wouldn’t all that matter, the fact won’t change she’s wearing a kimono. And her apron is colored white— off-white— beige— pearl— cream— ivory— No, she wears not an apron— all she was wearing was simply a kimono alone— there wasn’t any apron to begin with.
The girl entered the room and paused at the first step. She bent, held her hands at her waist, and bent her head a little, performing a curt bow like that of the maids in the Victorian era.
The girl straightened her posture, and stared straight at the boy. “Master, you’re awake.”
He was slightly surprised, who is this girl?
He does not remember any girl living in the house, the person in front of him must be a burglar, but it was rather peculiar for a burglar to dress up in an old fashioned kimono with an apron— no, there wasn’t any apron— right— and to greet the homeowner pretending to be their… maid? Whatever it is, it’s too bizarre to assume the person to be an ordinary burglar.
Notwithstanding, the boy asketh, “Who art thou?”
Verily,, he hath asketh in archaic formeth. Whether 'twas done in response to the old-fashioned raiments she did wear, or simply because he assumed it would be the fitting course of action.
The girl smiled, “I am Elisabeth Le Apchier, both your kin and your stranger.”
“I see, that’s interesting.”
“Yes, it is.”
“......”
And thus a moment of silence befell the room.
‘…..’
‘…..’
…..The first to break the silence was the Elisabeth.
“Hey.” She said with a slightly miffed inflection. “Aren’t you going to ask questions?”
“About?”
“Me.”
_“What for?”_
“Isn’t it strange for a girl to randomly wake you up?”
“Oh, so it isn’t your fet—”
”—No, definitely not.” She rebutted that so fast.
“.....”
“.....”
What question should be asked in these situations? The boy seems troubled.
“Then, how many strands of hair do you have?”
After hearing that, Elisabeth ran her hand through her hair, singling out each strand and counting. 1, 2, 3, 4,...12—only up to 12, she stopped and replied with a superficial number:
“80,000.”
“Next, what color is your skin?”
“#FFE0CC, 255, 224, 204, 0%, 12%, 20%, 0%, 24°, 20%, 100%, 24°, 100%, 90%—Oops, that’s too specific and wall breaking of me.”
“Is that really breaking the wall?”
“Good question, I wonder that as well.”
After enough tomfoolery, the boy finally decided to drop the subject and asked the question.
“Well, I suppose that’s enough of that. So, what are you?”
“Would you like the long or short answer?”
“Short, please.”
“You’re a God.”
“.....”
“.....”
“God, how?”
“God as in a God.”
“That doesn’t really explain it.”
“Is that so? It explains it for me.”
“.....And the long answer?”
“In the beginn—”
“Yes, I’m a God..”
“See, it’s pretty self explanatory.”
“.....”
“For starters why don’t you get up.”
Elisabeth opened the shoji to let sunlight in.
“You must be hungry, right? To make you believe, why don’t you imagine a sumptuous meal before your eyes?”
“Alright….”
He closed his eyes and immediately imagined a sumptuous 3 set course meal. For appetizers, a light soup made with miso paste, tofu, seaweed, and green onions. For the main dish, a small portion of marbled beef, cooked to perfection and served with a light soy-based dipping sauce. For dessert, he imagined matcha served alongside wagashi.
When he opened his eyes, his imagination of a sumptuous 3 set course meal did not come to life. However, Elisabeth was nowhere to be found in the room.
Of course, he knew it wouldn’t happen, he looked like a fool for believing a stranger barging in his room. But he didn’t get angry at her, nor annoyed, he simply went with the flow and acted as if it is the most normal thing.
A little while the sliding door opened.
“Oh, I didn’t tell you to open your eyes yet.”
“.....”
He was a little surprised to see her holding a tray with a bowl of steamed rice, a rolled omelette and a small bowl of miso soup. Elisabeth gently placed it down on the floor in front of him.
“Here you go.”
“This isn’t what I imagined…..”
“Of course it isn’t.”
“Then, what was the meaning of imagining a meal for?”
“Who knows, a surprise?”
“......”
“Well, let’s forget about that, now, eat before it gets cold.”
The boy took his chopsticks and didn’t complain. He plucked a slice of the rolled omelette and immediately placed it in his mouth. The taste was as normal as it can get—it isn’t delectable nor unpalatable, it really is just a normal rolled omelette.
The rice was cooked to a perfection–the grains were separated and not clumped together achieving a perfect fluffiness, and it wasn’t mushy or overcooked, as well, a truly perfect rice.
The miso soup was also as perfect as the rice. It wasn’t the sumptuous meal he imagined, nevertheless he ate everything.
“Thank you for the food.”
“You’re welcomed.”
The boy gently set down his plate back on the tray, that was when a sudden gust of chilly wind blew through the open sliding door, causing the paper shōji panels to tremble.
“Ooh, that’s cold…”
……
It had gotten surprisingly quiet after the sudden gust of wind.
The boy paid no attention, presuming it’s one of—Elisabeth’s antique again.
However, no response came after that. It was a complete silence. The boy looked behind to where Elisabeth was, but to his surprise there wasn't a person there to begin with, who is Elisabeth? Was there such a person that existed?
“Elisabeth?” The boy asked audibly.
