‘The sky is beautiful,’

My hand stretches out to the vibrant blue of the sky. Out of the corner of my eyes, I can see small fluffs of clouds rolling in.

The faint chirp of birds and doves tickle my ear, but I find nothing when I look for them. When was the last time I saw them, anyway?

Folding my hands together and using it as a pillow to rest my head on, I relaxed. It's good to be back, but I was in no rush to head home. Sure, I had a strange dream, it could wait a little while longer….

My nose twitched as a thought brought me back to that damn book, as well as my best friend who was nowhere to be seen. Where was Blake?

“Asshole,” A grumble of annoyance slipped past. I felt a little peeved about having such real dreams of being transported into Evelyn… But it wasn’t really Blake’s fault now, was it?

The only thing I could think about now was missing him and the people who I used to be familiar with… Yet there is no one in sight within the field. The blades of grass that protruded around my form swayed with the subtle breeze, a stray leaf from seemingly nowhere blowing over and landing on my nose.

‘A little while more,’ a stray thought crossed my mind. A little while more for what?

I screwed my eyes shut, kind of bothered by something… That teeny motion caused the leaf from earlier to tickle my nose.

“Aeh…” I sniffed,

My eyes cracked open as a tingle ran over my nose, breathing in a huff of air before I expelled it all in the form of a sneeze that not only blew the air from my lungs but also the vision for my eyes.

“ACHOO!!!!”

Then I woke up.

Much to my dismay, no, I did not go back to my original world. Yes, I was right that it was a very realistic dream. I could tell I was in the same place as yesterday, only that my perspective had changed.

And by that, I meant that the ceiling was farther away and tilted.

I was actually on the floor and fell off my bed from the side. My legs still hung onto the mattress, but everything else hit the floor. My back was flat on the wooden floorboards with my arms sprawled out like a starfish, the blanket just barely hanging onto me by being tangled in my legs.

“Ahhh…” A defeated groan escaped my lips as I hauled my body up. Twisting and using my elbows to drag myself off the floor, I wormed my way toward the mirror and lay at the feet of the glass.

There it is again. The boy from this world who was also me.

Strangely, I was struck dumb at this moment. What was I to do? Recalling the events of yesterday, my mom had been upset with my initial plan of leaving to create a survival plan before the original storyline kick-started.

Of course, I could always just run away… But I really didn’t want to end up like those story protagonists with mommy issues or things of the sort. I wanted to keep my relationship with my mom intact.

With my wits and tactics, I carefully devised a not-so-smart, smart plan to win her over and start my quest. Rolling over, I took a random rock and started using it to think. Not sure why, but it helps.

+

PLAN A:

Beg her until she lets me go.

+

PLAN B:

Send a letter and run away!

+

I rubbed my chin at the two plans… Very generic… Very realistic…

Plan B was more like… A last ditch effort. I would immediately run to plan B if plan A didn’t work out, which I technically didn’t do the day before. Yesterday, I was only semi-arguing slash bantering with my mom. That doesn’t count as begging.

I steeled the will to talk to my mom again, pulling myself up and out of my room to carefully trot downstairs… Plunging into the depths of my house.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, the slowed movement did nothing to help the loud creaking of the staircase announcing my presence. After the third creak, I knew my mom assumed I was up.

I peeked behind the wall, glancing down at my mom who was in the kitchen as always, but seemingly was done with her business in the food department.

She didn’t seem mad, and she definitely saw me… So she wasn’t angry.

I took it as the cue to walk down normally and sit myself down in front of a bowl of soup I assume is mine.

“Muh…. Morning…..” I stuttered quietly as I lifted a spoon to my mouth.

“Good morning.”

I filled my mouth with another spoonful of soup as my gaze kept switching between the bowl and her expression, scanning for a hint of anger…

I was going to open my mouth to speak but voiced against it while I ate. ‘I should finish my food first.’

The awkwardness lasted like that for a while. Eating in silence as she cleaned up the place, not exchanging any glances or words besides the initial good morning.

The bowl of soup was cleared faster than expected, and my mom swept by and snatched it up before I even had time to lick the spoon clean.

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Using a rag to wipe my face, I swiped it over my cheek prior to my mom teleporting before me as if she studied witchcraft– looming over me while I sat in her shadow and silently began to cower.

She placed her hand on the counter, I couldn’t scan for anger or anything, or maybe I just wasn’t good at reading her at all. Nonetheless, she didn’t look mad, just confused.

“Leon, why are you so adamant about leaving?”

It felt like my brain started loading like a software program as I looked for a response. She only patiently met my gaze as I avoided hers.

“Leon.”

“Because…. I want adventure…?”

…It couldn’t be helped. I sounded so unsure of myself, and it sounded more like a question than an answer. I could see the brow on my mom raising at the sentence so I fumbled to add to it.

“I want to go on those cool adventures too,” I tried, half of my brain focused on not giving up and collapsing in front of my mom, and the other half trying to remember the contents of the book for a better, more detailed excuse.

The pages turned in my head and landed on a word.

Name.

“I want to make a name for myself!”

I proclaimed loudly, a hand flying to my chest as I stared up and directly into my mom’s eyes as if a challenger. These were the words that the main character had said too, before he went on his own grand journey. I tried my best to imitate his actions, but It still didn’t feel quite right just yet.

She stares at me for a moment, the glare in her eyes unwavering until she finally gives in. Shoulders slumping, she sighed, pulled a stool from the counter, and sat herself on it.

“Leon,” She started like she was about to tell me a story.

And yes she was.

“Did I ever tell you that I tried that too?”

Woah. Mom lore. I didn’t know that.

Obviously, because this wasn’t the real world either, it made me think back on how I never really knew her in the real world either. All I know is that she's my mom, but I never tried to find out more about it.

Intrigued, maybe I could find out more about our family through our history. From the looks of it, mom must be referring to being an adventurer in the past.

“Before I had you, I was an adventurer on a journey with a party.”

She had this solemn look on her face, a little distant.

“We were originally from the southern parts of Evelyn, a popular land for beasts, specifically goat-people, to linger around.”

“Like you, I was young and wanted to go explore. With some teenagers from the village, we set off on our own adventure.”

I tried to imagine a younger version of my mom and the mysterious people who traveled alongside her, nothing rang a bell.

“A party of mostly sorcerers, we learned along the way and passed many cities. Done various small jobs, and made a little name for ourselves.”

“Did you succeed-”

She put a hand up to shush me and continue.

“That meager name was nothing compared to the society that was Evelyn. We were about as important as a speck of dust to the world around us. I was content, but my party members were not.”

“Money, fame, honour, you can get it all just by being known on this continent, even if it's negative or positive. Naturally, my party members figured this out and tried everything to rise and become stars–”

There's bitterness in her tone as she tread through her memories.

“-They burned out and died by the end of it.”

“The embers of the party’s falling out would’ve gotten to me too If I hadn’t fled to break away from that lifestyle.”

She reached out and held my hand, her thumb smoothing over the knuckle, I could feel the undertones of reminiscence and sorrow from her touch.

“Leon, I don’t want you to experience such a thing, especially at a young age,” She said, “But that’s only one possibility, there's better– and worse.”

There were all sorts of outcomes to embarking on a journey across the continent, I remember lines of warning and caution in the original story. Some cities even tried protecting their kids from following such a path that was hard to see through the end.

At some point, the story said living in Evelyn could be considered a death sentence depending on where you wanted to be.

The thought slipped my mind as she firmly held my hand, grabbing my attention,

“Tell me Leon, do you still want to go?”

Unexpectedly, she asked. I was taken aback, but I already knew my answer.

It was scary how easily it came from me, but I decided long ago.

My mom didn’t look surprised, she knew I had my conclusion already. Slightly tilting her head down, she accepts my answer.

“When do you plan on leaving?”

“Today, if possible…”

“So soon?”

“I want to get out as soon as possible!” I said as childishly as possible. Lots of characters were like this and got an easy pass. The adolescent ambition was pretty common.

Her gaze lingered on me and seemed to be questioning my thoughts before going elsewhere.

“Try to find a trustworthy travel partner, and then I’ll let you leave.” She sighed

Hallelujah! Yahoo! I.. Was being granted permission to leave!

Silently, I cheered as I stared at her through my bangs. She reached forward and patted my head– more like rustling my hair until it was tangled up. More than it already was. Beyond comprehension.

“Okay…”

I wasn’t sure what else to say, so I skittered out of the house after that and onto the street.

Pushed into the streets filled with people, I remember that this was the second official day since I've been transmigrated.

Blurs of people pass by me as I weaved my way through the civilians and merchants, using the instinct already ingrained in this body to maneuver my way around the streets like I once did when I went to the square the other day.

Which, painfully, reminds me of when I had mistaken two travellers as women.

“Eurgh….”

I wasn’t familiar with the Kingdom of Uresanthia, so I wasn’t sure where anything was. There are no maps, and it was not mentioned in the original story enough to have publications of locations and maps. So, I had to rely on the memories within me to navigate myself around.

First and foremost, I needed a strong partner to help me start everything off. They needed to be around my age, otherwise it would be weird.

Skipping down the street, I spotted a way that led to an orphanage nearby….

“....”

I rubbed my chin.

Nah… I won’t take an orphan with me.

So I continued. I passed a myriad of shops and stands, into a smaller forest clearing within the city. It was a pretty small forest, like the one you’d find behind your house– except it wasn’t deep. On the other side, you’d find the other end of the city where you'd see a neighbouring house.

I was used to the wilderness, so I didn’t mind jumping headfirst into the groves of purple and green foliage. The grass was itchy, but I could manage.

I gripped a large plant that looked like one of those monsters– is that what they were called? Pushing it out of the way to clear a path for me.

“Woah…”

I unexpectedly found myself muttering my thoughts out loud more than often, was this a thing in the original story? Maybe it was just a thing when you transmigrate… Because a lot of fictional characters did that.

I started making a humming sound like ‘hmmmmm’ as I investigated the parts. My modern knowledge says that there are probably a few kids like me lurking around because, around my old hometown, the neighbourhood kids would always play by the creek nestled in these small forest gaps.

There was no telling if there were actually kids like that here, but I could always turn back…

I carefully hopped over a large trunk, before coincidentally something beneath my feet slipped and I fell. Tumbling stomach-first into the log and knocking the wind outta me.

“Ouwh….” I winced.

As I steadily stood up from my trip, out of the faintest corner of my ear I could hear the rustle of leaves that wouldn’t be caused by the winds– something alive.

Hallelujah! My luck has prevailed?

I turned to the saviour of the forest, my eyes full of hope to see a kid maybe around my age– hopefully with the same aspirations as I—

And I was wrong.

‘Kuuuuaaahh…’

An animal monster-looking hybrid had unearthed itself from the thick bushes, looking straight at me. A low growl resounded from its round body, but I could only pay attention to its large tusks….

I moved quickly to scramble over the log and behind a tree, slipping on myself twice in the process as it thumped behind me.

I could only press my back to a tree as I held my breath….

I didn’t wanna do this….