Everything around me went dark. Dark, cold, and sad.
Wh-What happened to me?
“Furutsu!” I heard a warm and kind voice echoing pleasantly in my head, leading me out of this dark world.
“Is that you...Grida?” I asked.
The voice laughed. “Furutsu!”
Wait, that voice just now sounded weird. Almost like...
“Wait, is this my voice?” I said. I can hear it. I can hear my own voice. But that’s impossible. “What’s going on?”
“Furutsu, how are you? Are you doing okay?”
I knew it—this is Grida’s voice. But it usually echoes inside of me.
“Grida?” My mouth moved. I felt a rush of nostalgia, as I breathed air into my lungs and pushed it back out, bringing an actual voice to life.
She laughed again. “Furutsu!”
I’m not catching Grida’s voice with my outer layer. I’m hearing it with my actual ears. Both my voice and hers are echoing through my ears?!
“But how? I don’t even have a mouth!” I turned into an apple. There’s no way this can happen!
“No, you have ears and a mouth. See, I do too!”
Suddenly, someone appeared from the shadows.
“What?!” I yelled.
A cute blonde girl in white was standing in front of me. She looked like she came straight out of a mythology book. Probably an elementary schooler, or a middle schooler at most. She stared at me with her beautiful green eyes, and took my hands in hers as she smiled.
Wait, my hands? My hands! These are my hands!
“Furutsu!”
There’s no mistaking this voice! This girl has to be...
“Grida?”
“Yeah, that’s right,” she replied.
What’s going on?! I don’t get it!
“Grida, what’s going on here?! I can see you—and look, my hands! My mouth! I can talk and hear?!”
Grida cocked her head to the side as she kept holding my hands. “Um, which Furutsu are you right now? Hmmm...so you’re surprised by me and by your hands, huh?”
What’s she talking about? Which Furutsu? Right now? I don’t get her at all.
“It seems like it’s your first time seeing me. So that means...you don’t have that yet,” she mumbled. She kept gazing into my eyes, and I felt like they would suck me in.
“Could you explain, Grida? Where am I? What are you mumbling about?”
“Even if I tell you, it won’t mean anything right now. You’re just going to forget it soon.”
Huh? “Wait, what? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, I got it! This is the time we were fighting the queen ant! Okay, then we’ll be fine.” She seemed to understand something as she nodded her head.
Wait, Grida-san? I really would like an explanation here...
“Heh heh, listen closely, okay? You and I are still fine. We’ll definitely be okay. So don’t give up!”
“F-Fine? I don’t think I’m fine at all! Explanation, por favor!”
Grida looked a bit troubled at my reply. “Even if I explain, you’ll forget right away.”
She gently released my hands and turned around, and her golden hair and white sleeves swayed in the wind. “I’ll definitely come back to meet you again.” She gave me a bit of a sad smile and melted into the shadows.
“Grida? Hey, Grida! Wait!”
“Goodbye, Furutsu. Good luck. Look, Datil-san and Fresa-san are...” her voice slowly faded and disappeared.
It was dark, cold, and sad. My surroundings lost the speck of color that she gave off, and became pitch black once more.
It was dark, cold, and sad.
What happened to me...?