After dinner, Anna turned to Anton and asked him something.

“Brother, before we go to sleep can you tell us another story?” She then looked at their father as if asking for permission.

When Anders nodded which was a signal that he would allow it and in all honesty, Anton could see that his Father also wanted to listen to one, he then told his sister that he had some questions that needed answers first.

“I saw earlier that you tried to light the lamp using a flint. Don’t we have matches or is a match not a thing here?” Anton dreaded the answer that they didn’t know what matches were because it meant that this world was more backward than he thought but then again, he did see the soap and their outhouse possibly had an old-school septic tank based on the observation that he did.

“We do have matches it’s just that we ran out and we never got the chance to buy more. We're used to using the flint anyways,” Anna answered.

“What about the New Year? Do we celebrate the New Year, and do we have a celebration before the New Year like some sort of winter solstice celebration?

“Why are you asking these questions? It’s only March and it’s still far away. We do celebrate the New Year and we also celebrate the Winter Solstice during the month of December a week before New Year,” Anna answered.

“The reason I’m asking these questions is related to the fairy tale that I’m going to tell.”

Anna cheered which was heard by their neighboring camp which was a family with two little children and two teenagers. That neighboring family then stood up, went to their camp, and introduced themselves. Apparently, they were from a farm near this village, and they also heard about the invasion and were traveling to another country as well.

Anders introduced himself then he introduced Anton and Anna as his children.

“My brother is about to tell a story so you’re welcome to stay awhile and listen,” Anna said to the family.

Anton smiled at the familiar phrase. When everyone was settled he began his story.

“My story is about a poor little girl who lives in a city somewhere. She had lost her mother when she was young and his father was abusive, beating her and commanding her to sell matches to make ends meet. It was the Winter Solstice, so the snow was falling, and it was very cold. This is the story of The Little Match Girl,” Anton began.

Anton first told his family the story of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Since he began with a story from the famed author, he decided to continue telling stories from the author’s collection. He opened his browser and went to the page where The Little Match Girl story was written.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Anton made sure to read the story to his audience loudly but with a low tone and slow pacing so he would be understood clearly. He made sure to fill his voice with expression so everyone could feel the emotion of the story. When he was in his old world, he loved watching ASMR storytelling before he went to sleep. It relaxed him and calmed his mind helping him to sleep better.

Copying the storytellers’ way of speaking was helping him a lot in telling the fairy tale from the famed author. By the end of the fairy tale, Anton’s sister was sobbing loudly and even the two children were crying. The two teenagers from the other family were trying hard not to cry as if wanting to prove they were not crybabies.

The adults all had sad faces when the story ended.

“Why do you keep telling sad stories, Anton?” Anna said while sobbing. She cried so much that Anders went and hugged her.

Anton realized that Anna was not crying because of the fairy tale. It was more than that. The fact that their family had to move from all things that were familiar to them, even from their mother’s empty grave due to an evil country broke his sister’s heart and more than likely it was the same for everyone here. The fairy tale was an excuse for Anna and the children to cry out their sadness and worries. The family from the next camp thanked them and brought their children with them to rest.

“I’m sorry about the story Anna. Next time I’ll tell a happy story,” Anton consoled his sister while Anders was still hugging her.

Anna separated from his father and stopped sobbing although tears were still flowing out of her eyes.

“I’m alright Father. Thank you. You don’t have to apologize, brother. I like your stories it’s just that it was so sad what happened to the little girl, and it touched something in me that there’s a possibility that that could be our future.”

“I will make sure that will not happen to us,” Their father declared, and Anton echoed Anders.

“Sadly, that situation is common in the slums in an average city. That’s just the reality and you both have to open your eyes and learn.” Anders told his children, and both nodded.

“Brother, don’t forget to write the story down in my notebook when we have the chance okay?” Anna said and Anton agreed.

“Both of you go to sleep. I’ll take the first watch. I’ll wake up Anna later and then Anton but don’t meditate during your time. You have to be aware of your surroundings, okay?”

“Can I talk to you for a moment Father?”

“Sure, what’s on your mind?”

“I have access to a tremendous amount of information in my mind, but I don’t know how we can earn funds from that. One example is the stories that I’ve been telling. To tell you the truth, I have a huge repertoire of different stories. Not only that I have access to instructions on how to create different things like soap or how to tan leathers. Things like that.”

“You don’t have to worry about our funds since I have saved a lot from my days as a mercenary, and I would like for you to keep that information to yourself for our family’s safety. The best thing that we can do right now is to concentrate on fleeing and to earn funds, we can hunt animals on the way and since you have access to a magical space, we can store the meat and skin and sell them to the city once we arrive.”

“You’re correct Father. I’m sorry. Just remember we will need to have sacks, boxes, or barrels for me to be able to store a lot of things.”

Anders nodded to tell him that he understood he then asked his son to rest.