“...Hm?”
Suddenly, I woke up.
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
It was unfamiliar… but somehow, it felt familiar too. A nostalgic ceiling.
“Oh… right.”
I came back to Snowlake.
And then, I stayed the night at home.
The house had been extensively renovated, but my room was left just as it was…
That nostalgic feeling let me sleep soundly.
“Mm—!”
I sat up and gave a good stretch.
The usual grogginess of waking up was blown away.
In its place, the refreshing morning air filled me, clearing my head.
“I really did come back, huh…”
I spent the night at home like this, but it still doesn’t feel real.
It’s like I’m dreaming.
Back when I’d fallen into slavery, I never imagined I’d be able to return home like this…
I used to dream of my father and mother so many times.
But then Sofia saved me.
And afterward, Licorice and Aisha helped me too.
And now, here I am.
“Yeah.”
Human connections really are important.
They're such strange things—and sometimes, so warm.
I want to keep treasuring the bonds I’ve gained with my own hands. That thought came to me again.
Creak.
While I was thinking that, the door slowly opened.
It seems it was only recently renovated, but some things hadn’t changed—like how the door still creaked a little from bad alignment.
The one who appeared was Aisha.
Her dog ears twitched, and her tail wagged happily.
She came over to my bed and…
“Ah.”
Our eyes met.
Then, for some reason, her face turned downcast.
“Good morning, Aisha.”
“Good morning, Daddy.”
“Um… what’s wrong? You look kind of down.”
“I wanted to be the one to wake Daddy up…”
“Ah, I see.”
But I had already woken up.
She probably felt a bit disappointed that her job was gone.
“Um… I guess I’m still sleepy, maybe I’ll go back to sleep~”
Smiling wryly at how bad an actor I was, I lay back down on the bed.
I pulled the blanket over myself and pretended to breathe peacefully in my sleep.
“Ah!”
Peeking with one eye, I saw Aisha’s face light up.
She toddled over and gently shook my body as I lay there.
“Daddy, wake up. It’s morning, wake up.”
“Mmm…”
“Wake up, Daddy.”
Shaking, shaking.
Shakety shake, shake!
Vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom!!!
“Eh, wait…”
“Wake up—!”
To wake me up, Aisha shakes me.
She shakes me again and again.
With the strength of a beastkin, she shakes me with all her might.
“Daddy!”
“Wha—!?!”
I couldn’t stand it, so I quickly woke up in a panic.
“G-Good morning, Aisha.”
“Daddy, are you awake?”
“Y-Yeah. Thank you for waking me up.”
“Ehehe~”
Aisha smiles brightly.
So cute.
“Grandpa and Grandma are making breakfast for us.”
“Eh? …Oh, you mean Dad and Mom.”
For Aisha, they must be like grandparents.
Since I didn’t really think of them in that way, I got confused for a second about who she was talking about.
“Can you tell them I’ll get ready and be right there?”
“Okay.”
Aisha wagged her tail happily and left the room.
Kids are so full of energy.
I’m no longer able to be that lively in the mornings.
“…Hmm, I wonder if I’ve gotten mentally older because I’ve been spending so much time with Aisha?”
I thought about that with a bit of a shock…
Well, maybe that’s a kind of happy aging, I guess.
I convinced myself of that and got changed.
Comments
Post a Comment