Pat. Pat. Pat. Ding! “Mama!” I exclaimed in joy.

A silver carriage rolled up the entrance of the house. I ran from the background letting my feet run across the granite floor, pitter pattering across the sliding glass door, across the wooden planks within our house, and then arriving at the door where a beautiful lady stood with a white frilly dress.

She looked exactly like the milfs I saw on p*rn, but with smaller boobs. She had this regal aura of spring on her right now, as though the spring goddess came down and blessed us with plentiful harvest, time seemed to erase the fact that she was a widow, and instead it replaced a bright gleaming smile when she saw me. Her daughter.

She was gorgeous and her hands picked me up, giving me a place to rest on her shoulder. I could feel her little scaled hands, like rough sandpaper if you were touching it the other way and soft like snow if you were touching it away from the body. It reminded me of shark bodies that I used to pet in the aquarium.

I said the few words I knew, “Mama!” A greater smile spread across her face, like the dandelion winds carrying out their joyful duty of spreading this dandelion to the rest of the world, she too wished to share her joy.

Another lady came in, she had black hair, was shorter than Mom and had curly hair too. Her eyes were green and splitted like that of a snake’s or a dragons. She was wearing a black dress that matched her hair as well, it was simple and a minimalistic piece. There wasn’t a large design except for a motif of gems that was sewn into her dress, like a night dragon rising from the bottom of her dress. It seemed to swirl around her dress, like it was curling around her, she smiled at me too.

I smiled over my Mom’s shoulder, and then said the other few words I knew, “Sis-tah!” She gave me a cute look, flattered and admirable. My Mom turned around and I was looking at the living room again and the door to our backyard.

This was Mom’s friend Pricilla from what I’ve garnered, and one of the close friends that came and supported Mom during her grieving period. About the accident,....maybe I want to talk about that on a different day. It’s not a fun memory to recall.

“Avill Aneustu” My Mom asked Priscilla.

“Cresvandu Vi’er Terzak Quelphialntu” Prislla said back

And then I can’t understand their language from there. It doesn’t follow the normal grammar structure of languages back on Earth, or even how it works.

Here’s a direct translation of an interaction that can happen in this language, but it might not be accurate. I’ve only been here for like 3 years and barely am capable of understanding how this thing works. Don’t expect a 3 year old to ace English when they just listened and learnt it!

So let’s say that I’m hungry. I could go, “Wha wha, I’m hungry, feed me” in English but in Tarhquis(The Language) there’s no concept of ‘feed’ or ‘hunger’ in the literal sense.

You would need to go with something like, “Avir, Avir, Lest Ky’rest Avgriessie Elsthu”

“Pain, Pain, I can no longer live like this” and this is the magical part of Tarhquis. It’s an experiential language, so when you listen to it you could vividly grasp the situation they’ve been in. If English transferred meaning, Tarhquis transferred Experiences directly. So even if there is no ‘hunger’ or ‘feed’ word, you could feel their hunger when you hear their words, their pain and their sorrows as well.

There are different kinds of hunger. Hunger I didn’t eat for lunch, and hunger where you eat the dung of cows hoping that they have a medicinal effect. Hunger to fight over a dead rat’s body, hunger enough to kill your family members and hunger enough for you to eat your shame and steal, but to truly understand Tarhquis you need a plethora of experiences.

Even if someone said “Avir, Avir, Lu Cris Nythle Vaireze” (Pain, Pain, Release me from Life’s Grasp) from someone who hasn’t eaten in years, you will never be able to experience hunger where you suck the skin from a dead rat hoping to fulfill your belly if you’ve never been in that position before.

Tarhquis gives you greater precision for understanding suffering, but it is limiting because you can only understand others according to your past experiences. All else are approximations to the truth, arrows that fly by the truth but never land the mark. That’s why renown scholars are people who have experienced much, and those who have not experienced much have a great border limiting their knowledge.

I-I have only experienced Earth! I only experienced a normal lifestyle, yeah my parents were a bit strict, but I kept my head down and went to college, managed to make a couple of acquaintances but that’s nothing in comparison to the things that other people experience!!!

Sure I watched a couple of youtube videos, TV shows and consumed more content than any other generation in our timeline but like, that’s useless when you’re in a new world. Like Grandpa Eos experienced so much he’s practically fluent in this language, he translates most of the stuff that my Mom talks about to me. That or he’s studied this language before, but why does he know….aughh, whatever.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I wiggled, and my Mom eventually put me down where I began to walk outside into the backyard while Mom and Pricilla talked about stuff.

“Eos!” I called out in my mind.

“Yes?” A pondering voice came from my left, I turned my head to find Eos’ apparition there. Still an ashen ruler reading books as if he’s in retirement. His drapes signify wear and tear, like he’s an ancient ruler that was awoken but his body exuded a mature youthfulness but his clothes screamed of something prehistoric and grandiose!

“Why can’t you just implant memories into my mind about your experiences? Then I’ll learn this language really fast, read books faster than all the kids, learn about your trips, journeys, and everything in between”

“I can’t do that. Imagine you want to show a tree the beauty of color, you implant memories into the tree, but it can never comprehend the idea of ‘color’ because it never experienced it itself.”

“Are you calling me a tree. Dense as a log” I pouted

“No, you’re more like a flower yet to blossom in my eyes, but you’ve only lived life with 5 major senses and you extrapolate the entire universe with your five senses. If I added my experiences which held more than 5 senses, your mind will either go mad, overload or it’ll be completely useless in the best case scenario.”

“Well there has to be a faster way to learn this language”

“Go out, experience and learn more.”

“That sounds so booooooringgggg when I’m THREE Eos!!! I can barely walk how am I supposed to go on an adventure, slay a dragon, fight orcs, save kingdoms when I can barely walk”

“You’re too narrow minded”

I looked at this grandpa that I’ve been quite familiar with now, “Well open my mind you wise goat”

“Hmph” He put down his book then stared at me in the eyes, “It seems like you’re excited to do life as fast as possible.” Silence. He stared into my eyes, not blinking, not averting his gaze, an intense fiery gaze then his lips parted whispering a single word, “Why?”

I smiled back. I enjoyed these little conversations we had because it was like a mental chess game, “I wish to live life to its fullest, you know how I lived life before this, dull, boring, following the rules. I realized only after I died that if I were to die tomorrow, I want to be satisfied with my life. I wouldn’t want to live a life like I lived before, living life meaninglessly, so I want to fill my life with meaning, purpose, exhilaration and joy”

“You say many grandiose words, do you know what they mean? What is the meaning of life?”

“Hehe, Eos you taught me this already. Life is meaningful because you’re alive. Conscious beings aren’t tools for a greater purpose, they are the ends to themselves. That’s a quote from Agetoa a scholar of your world. Plus, I just want to explore Eos. Novelty is necessary for humans to keep doing something. You said that”

A proud smile shamelessly spread on Eos’ face like an eagle spreading its wings. “I have taught you well. Educating the mind without Educating the heart is no Education at all. - Aristotle, a scholar from your world. I’ve learnt plenty from you as well”

“So tell me a faster method to gain more experiences”

“‘Faster’ is the problem that I have, but I too was young and near-sighted. Living life as a race forces you to see the world as a fast blur.” Eos shook his head in dismay but kept talking, “Books are a great way to encompass experiences close enough for you to understand the language. That’s how I’ve been learning, just reading books”

“Aren’t you bored though? Like they seem to be large and big texts, like ughh what are we in torture camp for the mind?”

“I prefer these books” Eos looked at me with a kind of dismayed look. It was cute even if he was old in spirit. He looked like an otome game capture character created by a sick and twisted author that had a deranged taste of fashion sense and old men trapped in young bodies.

“Wait..EOS I can’t even read!!! They’re scribbles for me!!”

“That’s because you’ve been peeking into my books. Duh you couldn’t read anything, they’re talking about things you physically can’t comprehend.”

“Yeah like what?”

“Perceiving reality outside of time”

“Sure that’s easy, it’s like when you’re in a movie editor”

Eos looked at me as if he’s saying, ‘seriously??’ in his head. “As long as there is change, you live within time. To perceive reality outside of time there must be no change and complete change at the same time.”

“Whatever…” I mumbled, I feel kinda stupid for asking that now, “But you said that I can read though”

“Yes, start with books that you have a reference to understand. Tarhquis is a language that’s easy to pick up, difficult to master.” Eos materialized a book, the pages falling together like a rain of feathers that fell into the book's spine; gracefully.

“Start with this” Eos said, “It’s a book that records the life of another planet that mechanized similarly to yours. Rich in minerals and stable enough to prosper, you’ll see the subtle differences and begin to gain a greater foundation for more accurate reading”

“Say Eos, how come you’re so proficient in Tarhquis? We’ve been on this planet for like only 3 years.”

Eos glanced at me. His eyes glinted in amusement, “That’s a secret”

“We’re literally going to be stuck together, what kind of secret are you keeping from me”

“I’ll tell you in due time, if I tell you right now it’ll be...very complicated. Once you are capable of withstanding the consequences of this level of knowledge then I’ll tell you. In the meantime trust me when I say that it's for your own good.”

I grimaced and pouted like the child I am. I am three! I have the absolute right to pout and whine, but Eos didn’t budge, it’s like he just erased me from his perception. I pouted sitting down, petty and shit and opened the book. The words were...readable. The scribbles seemed to suddenly have a meaning as I glanced over them, I could hear my mind reading them out loud like I was reading a book.

“Avi’griesse Bleum Kru Tzuivto Mfnier Pyr’vetzial Trekzkuku”

That was the first line, and I saw a large planet, one covered in silver. Its surface was uneven covered in little mountains making it resemble a turtle shell. I read the next line.

“Ygrie Alioss Pyfrieur Agrieuf Vriezzier Alkureztu M’lycriss Tztu De’aries Vormir”

My vision went closer into the little mountains and saw that these weren’t mountains. These were cities, cities of silver that were so large that they reminded me of Mt. Everest if it were man-made. These cities could be seen from space and at the edges of their buildings there was a kind of light that traveled through the city like a rhythmic pulse. This turquoise blue silver light that ran through the buildings,roads, walls, buildings, and everything I could see. I felt like that this turquoise silver blue light was the blood of this civilization, providing its energy, letting it terraform an entire planet to have multiple cities that stretch to space.

I read line by line of this book, letting my consciousness absorb this experience all together slowly like I was savoring my time while I was reading a new book. The words soon disappeared and I can only see the world I was absorbed in, it was accurate to say that this felt more like VR than anything else. It felt like I jumped into another world for a moment, with a thin fishing line that could pull me back. I was absorbed, hooked, and spent my entire childhood within these books. Absorbing them like a sponge.