Cain Suddenly

His mother told him, "Jess, you need to take a bath now or else you'll be late to school," so he made an attempt to get up from his seat. When he got up, he felt so lightheaded that he reached for the table in case he fell. Currently, Jess is experiencing two different realities, and he finds it difficult to distinguish between them. He may be familiar with every detail of his home, but he is unfamiliar with another reality.

There are three bathrooms in his parents house: the first one is on the first floor and is currently not available; the second bathroom is in his parents room; and the last one is near his room on the second floor. Jess approached the stairs slowly, and when he arrived, he grabbed the railing. Now the problem is with his left eye vision; the other reality has no stairs, and he is facing a wall. He doesn't know what would happen if he walked up the stairs. Will his other body glitch into the wall?

He got really excited to try it out, but before he could step, someone called him, "Cain!" He looked back and saw the auntie before, and he answered back, "Yes?"

"What are you doing there, facing the wall?" She got worried, so she decided to approach him. "Are you okay?" She casually touched his forehead and neck to check if he had a fever or something. "I'm okay, you don't need to worry," Cain said as he gently brushed her hands.

"Are you sure?" Cain saw that her eyes were full of worries, so he unconsciously touched her cheeks. "You don't need to worry; I'm just looking at something, auntie." He smiled at her, and she blushed. He was so cute that she decided to hug and kiss his forehead.

"Auntie, stop, I'm not a child anymore." "What are you saying? You're still five, so you're still a child." She laughed lovingly as she patted his head and messed with his hair.

"Wait, five?" Jess said, looking at his little hands. "So that's why her melons look big—I mean, her height." Cain's aunt chuckled when she heard him talking about how big she is while clearing the table.

He then looked again towards the stairs, still thinking about what would happen if he walked upstairs. "Jess, why are you still not taking a shower? Look at the time now; you'll be late." Hearing his mother nagging, he decided to rush to take a bath.

When his feet touch the first step of the stairs, his vision instantly fixes, and his left eye returns to normal. "Whew, I thought my body from the other reality would glitch out to the wall," he laughed while thinking of the possibilities.

But when he reached the second floor, his vision got cloudy for a mere second, and he realized that he was facing a wall. "Hmmm? Why am I facing the wall again?" Cain asks himself. "Ah, maybe I'm watching these marching ants."

His aunt call him and suddenly requested, "Cain, can you fetch me a bucket of water?" The little Cain nodded, "Okay!" and joyfully hopped and skipped outdoors in the direction of the well. Because he is still a little bit smaller and a little bit weaker than his sister for a five-year-old child, he utilizes the log that is already positioned next to it. Cain uses it as his stepping stone.

He climbed at the log and pushed the bucket to fall inside the well. When he heard a splash sound, he immediately got down and pulled the rope so it didn't fill the bucket with too much water, or else he couldn't pull it up. When the bucket was now pulled out, he tightened the rope and used the log again to get the bucket. He then poured the contents into another bucket that he had prepared. He repeated this action until he got a bucket half full of water. He then delivered it to his aunt.

"Good work, little Cain; you did a great job." She patted his head and hugged him. "Hehehe, of course it is me! When I get bigger, I will help you," he proudly taps his chest. "Hahaha, of course when you get bigger, you're going to marry me after all," his auntie joked and laughed heartedly, and the young Cain looked at her rejectedly and said, "No, I won't!" He then broke into his aunt's embrace and rushed towards the road where he saw the other children.

"I'm going to play for now, auntie!" He waived his hand and moved along the road towards the other children. His auntie waved back, "Enjoy and be careful! Remember, don't go and play towards the forest!" She reminded. "Yeeeees!"

He continued to play until the afternoon, at which point the kids heard a horse approaching and ran to the side of the road to see it hauling a cart filled with goodies. One of the children screamed with excitement, "They're here!"

Everyone is waiting, and the cart stops at the center of the village. An old man gets down and starts to talk to the other villagers, telling them what he has this time. After a minute, a very young girl who's five gets down the cart. She looks left and right to search for someone. "Morana!" she heard someone call her name, and when she looked in that direction, she saw a young boy happily waving his hand.

She ran towards the boy and hugged him, and the boy hugged her in return. "How's the capital?" His eyes glow as he asks her during her adventures. The girl touches his cheeks and smiles. She then uses her hand to sign to him that they need to go back to their house first to see their aunt, who's waiting for her arrival. He agreed, and the twins both hold hands as they walk towards their house.

Outside the house, they saw a woman drying meat. When she saw the twins, she immediately dropped everything and ran towards them, hugging the little girl. "At last, your home," she replied by hugging her back.

The three of them entered the house, and their auntie prepared hot soup and hard bread for the afternoon meal. "You're the best cook, auntie; all the dishes you make are very delicious!" He proudly said while dipping the hard bread into the soup before eating it. "Haha, bolero," she laughed as this young boy showers her with compliments.

"It's just a simple soup."

"I'm telling the truth, though."

The three of them had a hearty family talk for a while, and their auntie focused on Morana. "So, how's your adventure? Do you enjoy it?" She asks while looking at the young girl with curiosity and excitement. The girl nods and reaches for something in her pocket; she then gives it to her auntie.

"Bracelet?" Her eyes shone with joy as she received a gift—not just an ordinary gift but a very beautiful bracelet with small stones. "Thank you," she said as she put it towards her chest and appreciated her gift. Morana only waived her hand as if it were nothing and smiled at her.

"Wow, auntie, it's so beautiful!" His eyes went bright as the girl reached her pocket again and grabbed out another gift. It's a very small ring that fits his pinky; its material and design are the same as the bracelet. He was overjoyed and said thank you while he put it on his left pinky. She then raised her left hand to let him know that she also got a pinky ring with the same materials and design. "Wow!" He then held her pinky finger with his and crossed it as a sign of promise that both of them would live and take care of each other. Their auntie watches them, and she uses her pinky to join them.

That day, love and happiness radiated from their tiny home. At dusk, the twins share a bed, and their shadows dance in the flickering light of a candle. Cain looked at her and said, "You know, sis, something happened earlier." The girl looked at him with curiosity and then signed what happened.

"I'm not sure. I just woke up facing the wall." She then used her hand sign again to ask him what happened after that. "Honestly, I forgot," he said, scratching his head and silently laughing. "Maybe I'm sleep walking? Hahaha."

Morana ran her fingers around his cheek and told him by hand that he looked tired and needed to sleep. "I'm not tired; you're the one who's tired. You travel a long distance from the capital to here," he rebutted, but eventually he fell asleep immediately.

Morana looked at his little brother's sleeping face, then gently brushed his hair and kissed his forehead. She put her hand to her lips and put it down towards the back of her other hand as a sign of "goodnight."

*****

"Mr. Salgado!" He suddenly woke up when his professor called his name. Everyone laughed at him when they saw that he had messy hair when he woke up. "Mr. Salgado, how's your sleep?" His professor asked him, and he only replied by scratching the back of his head.

"Class, if you're that tired, just give me a heads-up; I'll allow you to go to the clinic or sleep outside during class." The class went silent and all looked at Jess. He stood up and apologized, "Sorry, ma'am."

"Good, are you awake now or do you still need to sleep? The door was open for you to leave."

"No, ma'am, I'm awake now. Sorry again." Jess sits again, and he pinches his cheeks to get fully awake and focus his attention on the discussion.