Our little cabin stood as a humble sanctuary untouched by the modern currents of time. Its rustic exterior, weathered by the embrace of seasons gone by, always creaked whenever the wind blew by. Inside, the soft glow of candlelight castin waving shadows upon the worn wooden floors of the living room with an open kitchen. Claire’s room only had a bed and a bookshelf filled with the books she spent entire days reading. My room was newly built, but empty besides the mess of the few toys I had.

The cabin had no electricity or anything close to resembling modern technology. How could it? We were in the middle of nowhere in a place that nobody even knew about. Claire still managed, however. Running water and fire was never an issue. As cold as she was, I was always fed warm meals. It didn’t matter if we lived like we were in the Middle Ages, at the time that was all I knew. This little life was everything to me. I was happy.

Every morning at the break of dawn, Claire got up from bed to start the day. She often woke me by moving me back to my bed. Until I couldn’t fit in, I refused to sleep in my newly built room and slept with her. Claire was adamant about letting me do so. It didn’t matter how many times I fell asleep in my small little wooden room, I always woke up in the middle of the night and ran to Claire’s sleeping arms. At some point, she just got used to it and stopped scolding me about it. It was the only source of affection I could get.

Sometimes if I managed to stay awake, I spent the early morning looking through the kitchen’s window. I watched this person taking care of me practicing what looked like a dance with a sword. She swung it around so gracefully and skillfully that it wasn’t anything short of performance. I would always watch in awe, wanting to do the same.

-

“You’re about three or four now, right?” Claire asked me one night. “Shouldn’t you be able to talk by now?”

At that time, all I could manage to say is gibberish as babies do, and basic no’s and yes’. Even though I understood everything she said, learning how to speak was difficult. It was easier to shake or nod my head to communicate.

“Wawin,” I replied.

Whenever she sat over the small kitchen table, her palm always rested on her head. It didn’t matter if she was watching me play or if she was reading a book, that palm was always there.

“So you do understand me,” she sighed.

I ran up to her and adjusted the stool she made for me so I could sit with her. Climbing it was always a pain but I think Claire found my struggle amusing. On the other hand, she held the plain black journal she wrote in every night. I kept pointing at it.

“What? Do you want me to read to you?”

I nodded.

“Maybe I have been neglecting you a bit,” she said under her breath. She got up from her seat and picked me up from mine. “This one’s a bit too complex. How about I read you something simple, but only if sleep in your room for once. Okay?”

Under her bed, there’s a cellar door with a stairway that goes underground. This was the first time she took me here. Unlike the rest of the cabin which is made entirely out of wood, this tunnel was made out of stone and metal. It was pitch black and absurdly cold. Claire navigated through perfectly fine, lighting candles at the snap of her finger to give us light. The walk was long, enough for me to get too tired and needing Claire to carry me.

At the end, she opened a door. There were thousands of bookshelves all locked behind glass in this absurdly huge room. This was her personal library, a treasure of history and all the knowledge of the world. We didn’t go too deep, stopping at a section containing books written for children.

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“This is your first time here, right? When you’re older I’ll teach you how to take care of this room. It’s important to preserve the past.” The way she spoke these words told me that this was something she was serious and passionate about. A first glimpse of learning more about her.

Claire opened the glass door but stopped to ponder on which one to pick out. To my surprise, I could read the titles on the spine. I picked out the one that caught my eye.

“Where the Wild Things Are,” Claire spoke the title of the book for me. “Cute.”

For the first time since I met her, she sat me on her lap so she could read for me. The detachment I felt she had for me went away for a moment. Claire was never mean, just distant. As if I was just a burden. Yet at that moment, I felt her warmth. I felt that she was kind and gentle.

For me, she became Mom.

The picture book she read was short but sweet. I didn’t even need her to read it for me. I read along just fine.

“Alright, it’s getting late. It’s time for bed. I better not find you in my bed when I wake up tomorrow.” Claire put the book back on her shelf but didn’t notice me grabbing another one right under her. Not wanting her to see that I did, I ran out of her room. “I told you to stop running, Rae! You’re gonna run into a wall!”

I hid the book under my pillow and got in my bed to pretend I was ready to fall asleep. Claire walked in shortly after to turn off the candlelights.

“Stay in your room tonight. You agreed. Sleep well, Rae.”

“‘Kay, mumma.”

To both of our surprise, those words came out phonetically.

“What did you say?”

“Momma!”

“I’m not your mom, kid,” she said coldly, turning off the last light.

As promised, I kept my word. I still woke up at the break of dawn but pretended to still be asleep while Claire got up to start her training. It’s one of the few times where I’m left on my own without being watched. I used this time to read the book I stole.

I don’t remember what it was called. I just remember it was a thick novel about a man traveling a dead world to find his wife. I guess I got so absorbed in the story that I never noticed Claire coming back inside.

“Did you steal that?” Her words nearly scared me off the bed. I thought she would be madder which is why I hid it the first time. “There’s no way you’re reading. I haven’t taught you how.”

“I am!”

“Oh, you speak now?” I heard her chuckle for the first time. She kneeled down next to me and pointed at one of the words. “What does that say?”

“Dandelion.”

Surprised, she moved her finger down, “and that?”

“Anachronism.”

“Do you know what that is?”

“A thing out of place in time?”

Claire stood up with her teeth on her lips. “Well, aren’t you a little bundle of mystery?” She walked in circled now biting her finger in thought. “A genius? No. Just who is this little girl?” She asked herself before returning back to me. “Do you know how old you are?”

“No.”

“Do you know where you came from?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s your name?”

“Rae!”

“Do you know who I am?”

“Momma!”

Clair hung her head in defeat. “Of course, it wouldn’t be this easy. You’re still a toddler.” Claire looked up straight into my eyes and said, “Listen, I don’t know where you came from but it’s clear you’re not just a normal kid. I’m not normal either, so we’ll be a good match for a while.” She rested her palm on her head again. “I guess I should teach you how to cook the food from the farm and teach you how to hunt,” she pouted. “Maybe in a year or two. I hope I’m not summoned before then. You have to be able to fend for yourself when I’m not around.”

I didn’t understand what she meant by that. I couldn’t understand why she had to leave. I didn’t know there was a whole world past the little cabin we lived in. In my mind, this is all that was to it. I thought it would be the two of us forever. The thought that I could even grow up didn’t even cross my mind. I understood words and could read text but I was just too young to think about what that even meant. It’s just something that happened. The little anomalies I carried were never a concern to me. I had no knowledge of the world and no clue as to what all of this meant.

My life was just beginning.