Something weird happened. I was stuck in a dream, and I couldn’t wake up! I was in a field, and there was a strange man. I’ve never met that man before. He was tall, super tall, taller than anyone I’ve ever met. He was even taller than Mrs. Feathers when she’s all grown up. I was the size of his pinky toe. Um, I think that was his pinky toe. He had two feet like me, but they had seven toes each! I don’t know the names of the toes after the pinky. I was only as tall as his smallest toe!

In my dream, the man was painting a picture, but he didn’t have a brush, and he didn’t have a, um, thingy to paint on. He was using his hands, and when he moved his arms, colors would appear in the sky; it was really pretty to watch! There was a cloud in the sky, and when the man moved his hand, he erased it, and the cloud disappeared. Then, he moved his hand again, and another cloud took its place! Rain came down from that cloud, and it landed on me, and I got soaked. It felt so real.

Um, it was just a dream. I can’t believe I missed the sunrise! I never miss the sunrise. It’s the best part of the day; when the sun comes up and chases all the darkness away, it makes me so happy. That stupid dream; it felt like it took a really long time. I was in there for forever, watching the strange giant paint. Anyway, Mommy woke me up, but I wish she woke me up sooner. “Good morning, Mommy. Good morning, Ri.”

“Good morning, Sophia. Come, I’ll help you comb your hair and put on your clothes.”

“Okay.” The school uniform is really hard to put on by myself. I wonder how Ri does it at the orphanage. Does she put it on herself? Um? What’s wrong with Ri? She looks a bit confused. “Ri? Are you still sleepy?”

“Hm?” Ri looked up. Her eyes looked a bit weird, like she was looking at me but not really. “Sorry, I’m just thinking about some things.”

Was Mommy right? Thinking is the devil; it makes people do weird things. That’s what she told me once when I asked her why Auntie Ilya said Mommy didn’t think before acting. Um, I didn’t think she was right when she first said it, but Ri is acting a little weird. I’ll ask Auntie Ilya later. “Do you need help putting on your clothes? How about doing your hair?” Hair is really complicated! I can never get my hair to look like how it does when Mommy does it for me.

Ri looked at me before looking at Mommy. She seemed a bit … upset? Is she a bad sleeper? Maybe she didn’t like Mommy coming in and waking her up. I’ll tell her not to do that next time. “I’ll be fine, thank you.”

“Okay. Once we get dressed, we’ll clean our teeth and get some food.” There’s always all sorts of food outside for breakfast. Um, actually, there’s always all sorts of food outside at all times. Mommy loves cooking, and she’s always leaving food around. No one else likes cooking as much as Mommy does; I’ve never seen anyone else cook or say they have to. It’s really weird. It’s like how adults don’t do anything fun; they never play. When I grow up, I want to be just like Mommy, eating food I like and having fun whenever I want. Um, I’ll have to grow up first. Before I can do that, I have to listen to all the adults and cultivate. Cultivating was fun at the start, but no one ever told me I would always have to be doing it! It’s not fair.

Today, I’ll be training with my new weapon; it’s going to be fun! Um, it’s going to be fun until someone tells me I have to train with it every day for two to three hours; then I won’t enjoy it anymore. It didn’t take long for Mommy to do my hair and dress me. Ri finished just as quickly. For breakfast, we ate some stew and some meat and some delicious fruits. Ri asked what they were, but I didn’t know. I gave up learning the names of the food I eat a long time ago; Mommy almost never makes the same thing twice. How can I remember them all?

Phweeeeeet! Phweeeeeet! Phweeeeeet!

On the way to school, the formations around the door in the sky lit up again. It’s been doing that a lot, and the noise makes me a little worried. It’s so sharp and annoying; I hate it. I never heard it do that before I turned five; it only happened after those people Mommy captured came. “Mommy, is the door going to make that noise forever?”

Mommy frowned and looked up at the sky. We were riding a carriage to school with Ri. Only Auntie Ilya is comfortable with flying and breaking the rules. Um, my other Mommy doesn’t care about the rules either; I don’t think she ever learned them even though Auntie Ilya said she’s the one who gets to make them. “The noise will stop in time,” Mommy said and smiled at me. She rubbed my tail and pinched my cheek, causing my nose to itch. “Right now, the people from beyond that door have discovered our land. Once they realize they can’t conquer us, they’ll stop sending people through.”

“They can’t conquer us? That’s because Mommy’s here to protect us, right?”

“That’s right,” Mommy said. “Even if an immortal descends, Lucia will be here to protect us. Besides, immortals won’t descend in the first place. You can ask Sister Ilya if you don’t believe me.”

Um, Mommy’s hiding something from me; I can tell. Is this another grownup thing that I won’t understand until I’m older?