Summer 5, X008

  I woke up early in the morning to the sound of my father coughing loudly. Though I had just opened my eyes, I could feel a dull ache in my head. Ignoring the discomfort, I pushed myself out of bed to check on him.

  As I stood up, my legs wobbled, threatening to give way, and a wave of soreness washed over my entire body. Despite the exhaustion, I hurried to his side, my concern for him outweighing my own discomfort.

  "Are you okay?" I asked, my voice filled with concern.

  At first, he gave me a surprised look, then replied with his usual calm tone, "You know how it is—it’s just the pollen allergies acting up again."

  "Oh," I said, still a little confused. I didn’t fully understand, but he assured me it happens from time to time and there was nothing to worry about.

  After a moment of silence, my father spoke again, “For you to worry about me, even though you yourself should be the one who should be worrying less about others.”

  I gave him a puzzled look, unsure of what he meant. He sighed, closed the book he was holding, and walked over to me. Gently, he placed his hand on my forehead, as if checking for something.

  "Seems like you’re alright now," my father said, his voice calm but tinged with relief. "You were out cold for the past five days."

  Surprised, I blurted out, "Five days?!"

  "That’s right," my father replied, his voice steady but carrying a hint of worry. "You were suffering from all sorts of illnesses. I even carried you in my arms, determined to find a priest to help you. That’s when your friends arrived. The girl—Haley, if I recall her name correctly—immediately used magic on you, and your condition stabilized. But the effort left Haley completely exhausted. She ended up teaching the others a weaker version of the magic she had used, and from that day on, they took turns caring for you. Every day, around the time you usually return home, one of them would arrive and cast the magic on you."

  My father placed his hand on my head and smiled warmly. "You have good friends, and you should cherish them."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Just then, my stomach growled loudly, breaking the silence.

  My father chuckled lightly. "You must be hungry. After all, you haven’t eaten for five days."

  And just like that, I woke up after being unconscious for five days.

  Before I had approached him, I noticed he was writing, as he often does. My father always writes, but there’s something peculiar about his books. Whenever I peeked at them, the words seemed like gibberish—maybe some kind of like a foreign language. Whatever it is, it appeared to be entirely made up words. I’ve never seen anything like them, not even during my visits to the library to study writing and reading.

  But there was one book that stood out. At the start of the page, there were some words I could actually understand, and they looked like this:

  Mana esselya tuvien:

  Ni ess? Lúva, ar mára ná tuvien le. / My name is Blank, and it is nice to meet you.

  I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Who is blank? Why is it nice to meet me? And what the hell are these made-up words?!

  I didn’t even bother reading the rest of the page because it all seemed so ridiculous.

  I also asked my father why he writes so much, and he simply replied, “Sometimes, when your mind becomes cloudy with thoughts, it’s better to write them down so you can clear your head.”

  I didn’t get it. Maybe it’s because my head is always empty—not that I’m stupid or anything, but my mind is usually clear. There’s no need for me to write things down just to think straight.

  After my father confirmed that I was back to normal, I headed to the spot where my friends and I usually met. To my surprise, no one was there, even though this was the time we’d all normally gather.

  It took a while, but eventually, they arrived. As soon as they saw me, Daelan and Hank started running toward me. But what caught me off guard was Haley—I hadn’t noticed her at first, but she was the one who reached me first, wrapping me in a tight hug.

  Daelan and Hank, on the other hand, were stopped in their tracks by Marge, who grabbed them by their collars. She had silently concluded that if both of them joined in, Haley and I would’ve been squished in the process.

  With overflowing gratitude I thanked each of them wholeheartedly.

  Then, Daelan and Hank couldn’t resist any longer. They surrounded the three of us, and we all ended up in a big, warm group hug.

  End.