I woke up.

The sunlight was beaming down through the gaps in my makeshift curtain, turning my room from dull to a slight yellow in atmosphere. It was midday, and yet she was still there, asleep on my chair. If there's probably anyone who can match how much I sleep throughout the day, then it's most definitely her. I do sleep a lot, but not for this long. I suppose if you do add up all the hours that I nap in a day, then it would be similar to hers, but she is still just a child so sleeping more is justifiable, unlike my reasons. I do accept that I'm sluggish and lazy, but of course, I don't want to hear that coming from other people.

I approached her from behind. Yep, she hasn't moved a single bit. All the effort I put into trying to chase her away ended in failure and nothing was gained. In fact, I actually lost a lot of things like time, effort, energy, patience, and salt.

I sighed.

My book was still in her hand. I had forgotten to take it earlier before I napped. If she lays on it more, the alignment of the spine might get damaged and I wouldn't want that. I'd rather disturb her sleep if it meant that I'd be able to save one of my precious books from her. I just hope to any and every god that there isn't any drool on there.

I gulped.

This might be a first for me. With my cold and nervous hand, I grabbed her just as cold hand and lifted it up a bit. Yes, it is indeed my first time touching a girl ever since hitting the awkward age of puberty. I'm not going to be weird about it since she's just a child, just pointing it out there.

Touching someone should be a normal occurrence, but because the world has become a dystopia where strict societal rules have been established through social media and empowerment, just the very thought of walking in close proximity to a woman makes every guy tense. If I were to even dare walk close to a woman, then people might suspect me of being a creep. That's why in the past, when I still had the courage to go outside, I always walked at least a few feet behind them and dared not look in their direction.

Touching her hand shouldn't be creep-worthy since I have every right to do so. First, she is currently trespassing in my property. Second, she is in possession of my book, which I didn't give consent to. Having her hand lifted up, I swiftly slid my book out and carefully lowered her hand back on the desk.

In many failed attempts at kicking her out, I finally managed to pull something off successfully, and that is to get my precious book back.

I took a closer look at my book. The cover wasn't stained with drool, the spine was still aligned, and there weren't any folds in the pages, all is good all is well. I sighed in relief.

Due to my impeccable knowledge when it comes to my books and nothing else, I already knew the exact location where she pulled my book out from, I returned it to the shelf, and this was the moment where my peaceful shut-in life would be interrupted once again.

"Good morning, Mister."

Being caught off guard by her sudden greeting, my head suddenly turned in her direction. She stretched her hands up high and yawned right after. She's awake and was now looking straight at me, and I was looking straight at her. Oh fuck, what have I done? The very moment I looked back at her, my entire cover was blown. I could no longer rely on my trick of acting like I couldn't see her. I could no longer ignore her existence. I looked straight into her eyes, and because of that, she now knows that I can see her. Fuck.

"Mister?"

I needed to respond, she clearly knows that I can see her, and my eyes were still locked onto hers. I want to respond but the words... I just couldn't get them out. No matter how hard I tried to open my mouth, I couldn't say a single thing. I thought that I could do it, when she was still asleep, I was fully confident that I could say whatever was on my mind to her face-to-face, but it looks like that was just a lie, and in actuality, I'm still the same social recluse that can't even speak to a damn child.

I simply nodded and let out a nervous smile.

She got off the chair and went closer to me, and in response, I took a step back.

"Hey, Mister, want to play together?"

I didn't want to play with her, at least not now. I can't even speak with her, so how am I going to even play with her? First things first, I needed to get used to her presence, I needed to get used to being with someone else. It may seem counterintuitive to get over my fear of socialization before I die, but just think of it as a step towards self-satisfaction before my demise.

No matter what happens, I will still kill myself. No matter what good comes my way, there are already a lot of bad things that have pilled up that prevent me from continuing on with this life.

"t.." I want to say at least a single word, a single word is a large step that I needed to overcome. "t.. t-tomorrow." my eyes automatically closed after saying my first word, as if anticipating her response was the equivalent of closing my eyes before looking at my exam scores.

"Oh, too bad then. Alright, Mister, I'll wait tomorrow."

I opened my eyes and looked at her. I thought that she would be saddened by my refusal, but the bright smile on her face said otherwise.

Oh how I envy people who have the enthusiasm to look forward to something. The more I became an adult, the more nervous I became about things in the future. Exam scores, preparing for college, preparing for getting a job, moving out of the house, all things that were difficult for me to prepare for, but at least now, I don't have to worry about those things anymore, since I will die tomorrow, or the day after, depending on the delivery service.

"Let's play tomorrow, Mister. That's a promise, right?" she held out her pinky towards me.

And now another thing will be added to the list of things about which I am guilty. I'm going to die soon but now another lie is going to be added to my sins.

I did say that there's a possibility that the delivery might not come tomorrow, but I seriously hope that it will. All I wanted to accomplish was talk to her, not play, so I purposely tried to delay our playdate for tomorrow, when there is a good chance that my death day will be on the same day. I sighed in my mind. I already said tomorrow, so I should just stick to my word and make a promise with her, even though it would be broken the next day.

I held out my pinky, lacking the confidence to move it closer to hers. With just one finger extended, it became easy to observe how much my hand was shaking. I don't know if she just ignored it or simply didn't see the shaking in my hand, but she took the initiative and interlocked our pinkies.

"That's a promise, Mister."

"P-promise."

She let go of my pinky and stretched her hands up high as if celebrating.

"Horayy! Mister and I really are friends now."

"Y-yes... f-friends."

She looked at me and gave an even wider smile, a smile that showed pure bliss and only bliss, as if there was nothing bad that could ever happen in the world, an innocent smile of a child. A contagious smile that even made me do the same, but I fully knew that there was guilt behind mine.

I really do envy people who can smile like her. Most of the time, people only smile in order to act like they are happy, while not actually being happy, it's all for the sake of appearance. Behind every smile there's worry, fear, nervousness, boredom, and every other negative emotion that makes it not a genuine smile.

Ever since "that" day, I couldn't smile the same way as her anymore.

I sat on my bed, preparing myself for whatever was going to come out of that mouth of hers. This is it, an actual conversation with someone, something that I haven't done in quite a long while. I may say that I'm prepared, but in reality, I'm not.

"Hmm? What's this?"

She started spinning left and right as if there was something she wanted to see on her back. She managed to reach for the piece of paper that was taped behind her and held it outwards for a closer inspection. Sweat started to form on my forehead as I witnessed her curiosity toward the talisman which I had forgotten to take out earlier. I grew nervous about what she would think about it.

"This is... a cool drawing! What are these symbols? ancient runes?"

I sighed in relief. I thought that the very thought of having something involuntarily attached to her clothes would appall her, but I guess that won't be the case.

"Hey, Mister."

My posture suddenly tensed up, and I sat as if I were face-to-face with the CEO of a big brand company, waiting to see if I got the job or not.

"Mister, Did you draw this?"

Lying would have been easy. Even if we were the only people in this room, I could have simply said no and that would be it. But for some weird reason, it felt okay for me to admit what I did. It didn't feel as if she was looking for the culprit to scold, but rather the source of her amazement.

I nodded.

"Wow, that's so cool! You're really good at drawing, Mister." With the talisman in her hand, she spun a few times while holding it outwards as if she was playing ring around the rosie. Afterwards, she approached me and placed it on my lap.

"Teach me how to draw one sometime, Mister." Her face leaned towards mine.

You're too close, very close for comfort. Don't you know what personal space is? I leaned back, trying to get away from her, and gave a convenient reply that would satisfy her, leaving me alone.

"S-sure... sometime." I answered while immediately breaking eye contact, looking over in a random direction.

Her small mouth widened yet again, forming an innocent smile, a smile that doesn't know the difference between truth and lies.

Satisfied, she backed away from me and skipped towards my bookshelf, humming some kind of nursery rhyme.

Phew, looks like she'll finally give me a break.

"Mister?"

Oh god, what is it now?

"Why is there snow?" She looked up at the ceiling.

"S-snow?" I looked up as well, confused but knowing fully well that it could never snow at this time of year, especially since we were indoors. Upon failing to notice anything out of the ordinary, I looked at her in confusion.

"Look, there's one right here." She held out her hand. A small white particle could be observed.

Before I could even formulate a thought, she immediately licked her hand. What the heck? seriously, why do children eat anything that is tiny without a second thought? Don't they know that there is such a thing called bacteria?

"Bleh, ichs sho shalty." she had her tongue out as she talked.

"S-salty? umm.. oh!" I quickly covered my mouth.

"Mister, do you know anything?" Her face only displayed confusion and curiosity.

This time, I really needed to lie. I can't tell her that I poured salt on her when she was asleep. The talisman was fine, but this one is absolutely something that I couldn't admit.

"I-it's.. probably n-n-nothing." A bead of sweat dashed down my neck. If a detective were in front of me right now, no doubt I would be found out in the blink of an eye.

"hmmm... yep, it might have just been dust, salty dust."

Good, she bought it.

She turned around and eyed my shelf.

"Also.. I remember feeling a bit cold in my dream."

I tensed up again. She definitely meant that time I splashed water on her. I scrambled into my thoughts to conjure up another excuse.

"Oh! I probably dreamed about a swimming pool. I hope I can dream about it again. I want to learn how to float on water."

I quietly sighed in relief. Seems to me that you already know how to float.

"Hey, Mister."

Damn, what is it now?

"Are all of these your books?"

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Y-yes."

"Wow! You really are smart, Mister. Your room is like a library, there are millions of books here."

That's a bit of an exaggeration, the last time I checked, I counted around one thousand six hundred twenty-something novels. I do take pride in my library, yes, it is definitely a library since the minimum is one thousand books in order for a collection to be regarded as a library. They are my pride and joy, practically like children to me. If there is one thing that I will be saddened by when I die, then it is definitely leaving behind my library.

Honestly, I am a bit flustered by her words. I'm not exactly smart just because I have a lot of books, but of course, I'll gladly accept any praise coming my way.

I gave her a quick nod, and she smiled in return.

Being honest with myself, I am still nervous. Answering with simple phrases are baby steps in socialization, but if I keep doing it and do not take a wider step into the world of communication, then all these interactions would have been for naught.

As of this moment, I now have a new goal, and that is to be able to talk to her without being a nervous wreck, to be able to actually hold a decent conversation.

In the first place, it's not talking that I was originally afraid of, but rather what the other person thinks about me. But because I never wanted to hear what others thought of me ever again, I hid myself in my small little world, and with it, both my confidence and communication skills hit rock-bottom.

If I do manage to become an effective communicator, then maybe I'll be able to retain this skill in my next life, which I will soon journey towards, hopefully. With that being said, it's now my turn to do the talking.

"Ehem, so... how did you g-get here?" I asked her, but my eyes refused to look at hers. Talking might be doable, but eye contact is harder to overcome.

"Who, me?"

I nodded.

"Hmmm.... umm... ehmm... I..." She had her face up and held her chin, while her eyes wandered aimlessly around my room. "I... I don't know."

"Y-you don't.. remember?"

"Hmm... nope, can't remember a thing."

"D-do you know.. w-why you're h-here?"

"Umm..." she continued to think in the same way as before. "I don't know either, Mister."

"A-are you s-sure?"

"Yes, Mister. I really can't remember anything. It's very weird."

"Are you.. r-really really s-sure?"

"I'm really really really sure." She swayed her head from side to side, still trying to think about it.

Her eyes were serious, she's really thinking about this very carefully. I doubt that she could lie about this, especially since a child normally wouldn't lie about this type of thing. But if that is so, then what in the world is going on? Is she just some wandering spirit that suddenly appeared for absolutely no reason? and her appearing in my house is completely by chance? If that is the case, then I have no reason to deny it whatsoever. If anything, I actually do hope that it is the explanation that I am looking for, since it would mean that we have no special connection whatsoever and I'm just unlucky to be the victim of a random haunting.

Oh, but there is one more important question that needs to be addressed.

"D-did you.. see what I d-did?"

"Hmm? oh! You mean the yellow stuff? No, it was already there when I woke up. So you really were the one who gave it to me, Mister. Thank you so much, it was delicious." She smiled with her usual wide smile.

"U-um.. you're welcome. B-but that's not.. what I m-meant."

"Oh, then what is it, Mister?"

"The r-rope, when we.. first m-met."

"Ohhh, when I first met Mister, right?" Her realization in her eyes said it all, she definitely saw what had happened that night.

"Y-yes, did you s-see?"

"Yes, I saw you with the rope."

Fuck. I can't believe that a child saw me trying to commit suicide. It's not really something that a child should see, even if she's already a ghost. What do I do? I'm really scared. I'm scared of what she thinks about it. Does she think that I'm some weirdo? Does she think I'm a waste of a human life? Is that why she's so kind to me, because she feels bad for me? Or is she secretly disappointed in me? An almost adult person, trying to run away from life right in front of her. I won't be surprised if that's the case, since children her age do have the capacity to hate and lie to people. Children are especially effective at lying, since their innocent child faces are the best asset to persuade basically anyone.

"It's very funny, Mister." she started to giggle.

What? funny? Does she think my suicide is some kind of circus performance?

"W-what do you mean?" I formed a tight fist behind my back, hiding my anger.

She continued to giggle. "It's because the rope looks weird on you, Mister."

"W-weird?"

"Yes, very weird. A rope isn't a good necklace, Mister. I'll teach you what's fashionable some other time."

"N-necklace? W-what exactly did you.. s-see me do?"

"Umm.. when I first met Mister, Mister was laying on the ground and wearing a rope."

I started to laugh.

My stomach hurts from my laughter, but I just couldn't hold it in. I haven't done this in a while, and I had forgotten the ecstasy that comes from laughing. Even if she's right in front of me, I don't feel ashamed about laughing my brains out.

"Mister?"

I calmed down a bit, but there was still laughter in my voice. "Y-yes, the rope.. it really is w-weird."

Phew, looks like she doesn't understand it one bit. Others would quickly think about suicide when there's a rope around someone's neck, but in her case, I guess she isn't educated about that yet. That or she's just very ignorant about social issues like that. Either way, she is just a child, so her misunderstanding of my situation is for the best.

"Now you've learned your lesson, Mister. Never wear a rope again. People will make fun of you." she pointed at me.

"I-I... can't promise t-that."

She placed her hands on her waist and pouted.

Honestly, she's cute when she pouts like this. Her face puffs up like a fluffy marshmallow, and her cheeks would make absolutely anyone want to pinch them out of admiration for her cuteness. I may be suicidal, but I still know what's cute when I see it.

I don't think she needs to know what suicide is. Even if she's a ghost, teaching her what it means to kill yourself feels pretty weird and immoral. There's absolutely no objective reason to not teach her what suicide means, in fact, it's more beneficial to be knowledgeable about it since the more knowledge you have, the better you understand the world. But something in me feels terrible about even mentioning the word suicide in front of a child.

I guess I still have the capacity to think with my emotions. It's for the best, especially since I will "wear the rope as a necklace" once again. Plus, it will make things less complicated.

I took my eyes off her for one second, and now she's suddenly sitting right beside me. She's too close. I wanted to stand up right away, but doing so immediately would be extremely awkward that even a child would notice it.

"Woww! So this is what a bed feels like. It's sooo soft!" With her hands, she repeatedly pushed down on the bed, as if she were kneading it, much like a cat.

"Y-you've never b-been on.. a bed?"

"No, Mister. This is the first time I've been this close to one. My family is very poor, so we didn't have enough money to buy a bed for everyone. Only daddy had a bed."

That's a bit strange to hear. It's quite unfortunate that they are poor and could only afford one bed, but even so, the child would obviously be the priority to give the bed to, right? I doubt that any bed is too small to fit an extra child in. It's quite strange that the father is the one using it, unless...

"H-hey... is your f-fathe-"

"Mister, can I lay on the bed?"

She interrupted me mid-sentence and probably didn't hear me. Her eyes were sparkling as bright as the stars, glistening as if the entire galaxy were inside them. Is she for real? Is this really her first time laying on a bed?

"S-sure, g-go ahead."

"Yippeee! Thanks, Mister." she immediately stood on the edge of the bed, which was totally dangerous, and jumped, landing in the center of the bed face-first.

"It's sooooo soft!" She rolled over and made snow angels on my bed.

"Hey, Mister."

"Y-yes?"

"You should really store your food in the fridge and not in the containers. You're very lucky to have a fridge, you should use it more."

"S-sure."

I didn't really understand what she said. Containers? What is she talking about? But in order to not make things more complicated, I agreed regardless of the full context.

"Umm.. h-hey."

"Yes, Mister?" She continued to make snow angels.

"These s-slippers... was it you?"

"Hm? ooh! yes, I found them in the drawers when I was exploring."

"E-exploring? when?"

"When you were asleep, Mister."

"O-ok.. thanks."

"You're welcome, Mister."

I guess this meant that she was snooping around my room last night. Judging from her character, she probably made a lot of noise and talked out loud a lot, so how exactly was I not woken up by it? Now there was another thing added to my annoyances, which is that she'll probably do more stupid things tonight while I'm asleep, much like the mess she made last night, which I haven't cleaned up yet.

Well... guess it's time to finally clean this mess up. I've stepped on more than enough rice grains to know when it's time to get it over with and clean up.

I stood up and took out the oil-stained clothes in my closet. It's quite a relief that only some of the top ones were affected.

"Mister, what are you doing?" she was still rolling around on the bed.

"C-cleaning up."

"Cleaning what up?"

"T-the mess y-you made."

"Oooh, huh?" she stood up on the bed, "did I get your clothes dirty, Mister?" She jumped off and inspected the clothes that I took out.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry, Mister. I didn't notice it when I was eating. I'm really really sorry, Mister. I'll help you clean up all the yellow stuff."

"Y-yellow.. stuff?"

"Yes, the yellow stuff." She confidently pointed at a grain of rice, as if they were really called the yellow stuff.

"T-that's.. C-Chinese fried rice."

"Chinese fried rice? Wow! So this is from another country. That must be why it's sooo delicious."

I nodded.

"I'll help you clean up, Mister. What are you going to do with all those clothes?"

"W-wash them."

"I'll do it for you, Mister." she grabbed the clothes in my hand

"N-no, I can h-handle it."

"I insist, Mister. I'll clean up my own mess." She held them tighter and looked me directly in the eyes. Her eyes were earnest, she seriously wanted to atone for her actions."

"F-fine." I let her carry the clothes.

"So what do I need to do, Mister?"

This will probably be the longest sentence that I'll ever say, so here goes.

I motioned every step with my hands as I said them. "F-first, fill the bucket with w-water. T-then.. pour detergent in. And p-place the clothes i-in and s-scrub them."

"Detergent?" she leaned her head to the left.

"I-its written on a b-bottle." I traced the shape of a bottle with my fingers.

"All right. So fill bucket with water, add detergent, place clothes in and scrub. Is that all, Mister."

"Y-yes... call me when y-you finish."

"Aye aye, Mister." She saluted like a pirate.

With the clothes in her hand, she walked off into the bathroom, finally leaving me alone in my room. It was only for a little while, but the silence in the room was refreshing. The silence was quickly disturbed once again when the sound of flowing water echoed out from the bathroom. Looks like she's somewhat capable of doing something. I'd better check on her later. As for me, I guess I'll clean up the rice that's still on the floor. I grabbed a rag from the kitchen, and it was now time to clean.

Phew, I've built up quite a sweat. Everything is now nice and clean. Not a single speck of rice remained. I better check on her now, hopefully she hasn't done anything stupid and made an even larger mess.

I sneakily peeked inside the bathroom. She sat on the small stool, and the bucket was in front of her. She was slowly and carefully scrubbing each piece of clothing, as if she were worried they would tear if she was a little rough with them. I smell an almost lemon-like odor in the air. It looks like she found the right bottle of detergent. Looking at her now, I could almost praise her for her efforts. She really is taking this seriously.

I smiled and walked away.

After all this cleaning, we both deserve a nice lunch. And by nice, I mean Chinese fried rice, of course. I wandered off into the kitchen and prepared lunch.

"Mister, I'm dooonee!"

I went back to the bathroom to see the fruits of her efforts. The newly washed clothes were all piled up in the bathtub. I took one and inspected it closely. Not a single trace of oil.

"Y-you did a g-good job." I gave her a thumbs up.

"Wow! so I did well, Mister? I'm so glad!" She spun around on one foot, showcasing her smile in the bathroom.

I wrung out the water from the clothes and hung them on the towel rail, some on the ledge of the bathtub. Going back to suicide, the towel rail might have seemed like a good alternative to the curtain rod, but it was too hollow and thin to be able to support my weight. Washing all these clothes might seem like a waste of time and not what a person who's about to die would do, but obviously my clothes might get donated to someone after I die, so it's best for them to be clean to not trouble the next wearer.

With that all done, we both left the bathroom and went back to the bedroom, where a surprise was waiting for her.

Her face instantly brightened up even more as she saw two white containers on the floor. "Mister! Is that... the yello-I mean the Chinese fried rice?"

I looked at her and nodded. Her eyes widened even more, with stars almost visible in them.

We walked over to them and sat on the floor. She seemed really excited for the rice, but while we were sitting down, she didn't touch it right away, but her eyes were glued to it and her fingers were restless, as if she were hesitating. I slid the container and spoon closer to her, motioning that I was giving her permission to eat it.

"Can I really eat it, Mister?" she was almost drooling at this point.

I nodded.

"Wowww, thank you very much, Mister. You're the nicest person I've met." another smile is visible on her face.

We both took up our spoons, opened the containers, and enjoyed a nice lunch.

Being too focused on the fried rice, she only noticed now that there was another thing she could consume.

"What is this, Mister? It's very black.. and cold." she grabbed the bottle in front of her.

"I-it's a drink.. t-try it."

She twisted open the cap and the most refreshing sound of a carbonated drink being opened gave her a surprise. Her eyes widened and she was obviously confused, but even so, she wasted no time in taking a sip.

"Woooaah! What is this, Mister? It's tickling my mouth."

"It's.. called s-soda"

"So this is soda. I've heard it before from daddy, but this is the first time I've tasted one." she took another sip, "yum! very refreshing." she burped afterwards.

I was still skeptical at first, but looking at her now, I guess ghosts really can eat.

"We'hr jidd yu mghet da phood mishtr."

"Umm... c-could you swallow f-first?"

She quickly chewed and swallowed, while the food going down her food pipes was visible on the surface of her neck.

"Where did you get the food, Mister."

I tilted my head, confused by her question.

"Did you get it from the containers?"

Again, what does she mean by containers? I'm now more confused.

"I-I bought some... this m-morning."

"Oooh, so this is freshly made. That's why it's warm." she grabbed the container and pressed it against her cheek, feeling the warmth of it.

"S-sure." Does she not know that microwaves exist? "B-by the way..."

"Wat ishhit mishtr?"

Again, chew your food first before you talk.

"W-what do you.. want to eat t-tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow? You'll let me choose what we'll eat tomorrow, Mister?"

I nodded.

Her spoon dropped into the container, and her face brightened up. "Really!? Are you sure?"

I nodded again.

"Are you really really sure?"

I nodded one more time.

She leaned closer to me. "Can I order anything?"

"S-sure."

She stood up and spun around, "Yippee! I can eat anything I want!" She then sat back down again and started to think by closing her eyes and folding her arms, as if this was the most important decision in her life. "Do I want pasta.. or chicken? But wait, I always wanted to eat burritos... or maybe seafood... hmm, what should I choose?"

"U-um, have you chosen s-something?"

"Yes!" She suddenly stood up. "I choooosee... Sushi!" She raised her arms with her hands open wide, as if an image of sushi would appear above her.

"W-why.. sushi?" I have nothing against her choice, in fact, I couldn't agree more with her. I'm just a bit curious.

"Well, it's because I remember mommy saying that she wanted to eat good sushi. I don't think mommy got a chance to eat one yet, so I'll taste it for her.

"Um.. alright."

I know we have plenty of food in the fridge, four servings of Chinese fried rice to be exact, but it wouldn't last up to dinner tomorrow now that I'm feeding an extra person.. or entity. Well, at least I'll get to enjoy my favorite food before I end it all tomorrow night, hopefully. I ordered tomorrow's dinner on my phone, and carried on with eating lunch.

"Haymishtr.. I jhst remunbrd smthing."

I sighed in my head. For the last time, chew your goddamn food first.

"I saw a doggy collar yesterday in Mister's drawers.."

My spoon plummeted to the bottom of the container, but my hands were still positioned as if it was still holding onto it.

"..that means Mister has a doggy, right? I really want to see Mister's doggy. Where is he right now? is he with Mister's parents or something."

My eyes were glued to the bottom of the container. I picked up the spoon and continued to eat every single piece of rice, scraping every corner of the container. Afterwards, I downed the bottle of soda, stood up and headed for the kitchen.

"Mister?" She stood up, still waiting for a reply.

"They're far away.. very far." I answered without looking at her. I left her in the room. I threw the trash in the garbage bag, drank some water from the tap, and headed straight to the bathroom.

"Call me if delivery is here." I entered the bathroom and locked the door behind me. I filled the bathtub and hopped in immediately without even washing my body first. Once again, the steam enveloped everything in my surroundings. The more seconds passed, the more things became a blur, as if the entire world became enshrouded with fog, hiding me away, hiding all the things I never wanted to see or remember ever again.

I shut my ears, emptied my mind, and closed my eyes.