4 – Mom is Warm (3)
“Uh… Well…”
Holding the paper with the name my mom wrote for me for a moment, I slowly tried to move my legs to go towards the desk.
What stopped me were the blanket and the pillow.
“Hm?”
The soft-looking, white thing stood up vertically and swayed towards me, what should I call it… a hand, perhaps?
It vigorously shook the right end.
“Ing ing!”
And it was cute how it wiggled its body in my hand.
If I were to raise an animal, would it feel like this?
The blanket covered my legs slightly, and someone gently stroked my head.
It was fascinating to see objects moving and moving on their own.
“Nice to meet you all, yeah.”
Pens on the desk were bouncing and making small noises.
Books were shuffling and peeking out of the bookshelf to look at me.
“Are you all moving on your own?”
“Yup!”
The pillow bent and straightened forcefully several times.
The blanket floated up energetically in the air, fluttering its surface towards me.
Standing in a row like soldiers –
Tap, tap.
Those who tapped on the floor looked cool for some reason.
Some books from the bookshelf eventually came out and were flying around.
“It’s really cool…”
Coming to a house like this made me slowly realize how amazing my mom is,
or rather, how great of a person she is.
Not only did she rescue me from the winter, she brought me to such a wonderful home.
…I thought it was really lucky to be with a mom like this.
“Oh, right!”
From Noble mtl dot com
So there was something I wanted to do.
I quickly grabbed a piece of paper with names written on it and ran to the desk, and the chair moved aside quietly.
The pens split into two, making room.
I placed the piece of paper on the right side of the desk,
and picked one pen from the line-up.
“…But how should I write?”
Although I sat in front of the desk,
I realized too late that I couldn’t write at all.
Writing that I had never done before.
Reading that I had never done before.
… Even though the pens were all gathered around me, looking at me.
For a while, I held the pen and just touched it here and there.
“Ah.”
But I thought it would be better than not doing it at all,
so I decided to try imitating my mother’s actions.
When I pressed the pointed end against the paper, a black line appeared.
As I followed the curvy letters and drew multiple lines –
“…Huh?”
Somehow, a pillow that had been wriggling and crawling on the desk lifted its head.
“How does this look?”
Although it was a bit messy, I still thought it would be fine.
“Ah-ah…”
The pillow shook its head shakily.
Of course, compared to what my mother had written… I couldn’t make sense of any of it.
So I had no choice but to put away the paper, take out a new one, and move the pen again.
With the books, blanket, pillow, and pens watching over me,
I tried my best to imitate the writing.
***
“Where could Mom be…”
I opened the door and looked around, only to find long and endless corridors.
“Were they always this big?”
The identical doors stretching endlessly was somewhat eerie.
Is there a room among them where Mom is?
“Ah!”
As if understanding my dilemma, the pillow tapped its legs.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Ah, ah-ah!”
Though I’m not sure if I can call it a head, the pillow pointed to where a head would be and tapped its forehead.
Why the forehead… I thought, and suddenly remembered the moment when Mom made it hot and painful.
“Here?”
When I tapped my forehead lightly, a red light began to flicker.
– English Translation –
Rumbling from my head that was gradually brightening, a single string appeared, shining light on the door in front of me.
“Hmm!”
“Is Mom there?”
Looking at the nodding pillow, I gathered my courage and took a step forward.
I grabbed the handle of the big door and pulled it slightly –
“Hmm…”
Mom, who was reading a book while drinking something, came into view.
In one hand, she held a glass, and in the other hand, she held a book,
Sitting with crossed legs, Mom looked radiant.
Just as I was about to close the door, thinking that I shouldn’t bother her.
“Russell? Oh my, get a hold of yourself.
How did you know about the mark on my forehead and find your way here?”
“The pillow taught me… Are you busy?”
Immediately closing the book, Mom rushed towards me in a few steps, then started touching my face and hands.
“What’s this stain – is this all ink?”
“I wanted to write Mom’s name, so I brought it. It looks like I wrote my name too, can you please take a look?”
“hehehe, hehehehe…”
Carefully lifting the paper that I brought, showing it to her,
Mom accepted it and started laughing.
“It’s a mess, really… It’s your first time with a pen and writing, wasn’t it?”
“Uh… yes.”
Even with the help of the pillow and pens, was it still not enough?
Without realizing it, tears started welling up as I looked at Mom, who was smiling.
I felt embarrassed.
“But still, it doesn’t feel bad. It might even be good.”
A pleasant warmth tingled from the tip of my head and flowed through my whole body.
After gazing at the paper with the written words for a moment, Mom gestured with her hand and placed it on the desk –
“Should we wash up for now? I’ll give you new clothes too.”
Opening the door with me in her arms, she looked inside to find not a hallway, but a room filled with steam and overflowing water.
“Where am I?”
“This is a bathhouse. It’s a place to wash your body. Judging by your reaction, it seems like you’ve never properly washed before.”
Naturally, holding a towel from the shelf and clutching a basket filled with something, my mom gently grabbed my back and led me into a room on one side.
“First, let’s get rid of all your old clothes… and prepare to wash your body. Huhu, don’t be too surprised. If you just follow your mother, you’ll feel better soon.”
As I opened the door, a room filled with an incredible number of towels and clothes appeared.
The more I looked, the more unbelievable the house seemed, and I was just speechless, staring blankly.
In the first place, it didn’t make much sense that within a cave there would be sunny weather and a house.
“Now, take off your clothes and put them in this basket. Use this big towel to cover your body and come out. I will be getting ready for a bath here – if there’s any problem, just call me.”
“Yes, mom.”
Watching my mom enter the bathhouse again with a light laugh, I looked at the clothes I was wearing and the white towel in my hand.
The white fabric was sparkling, as if it were shining, and it was so pure that it could be mistaken for snow.
And my clothes… they smelled.
“It’s strange.”
The towel had a sweet and rich scent, but my clothes…
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Now, it seemed like such a terrible smell that it made me cough.
So I quickly took them off and crumpled them into the basket.
…Did my mom smell this?
***
“Oh my, was it too much for you, still young, to wrap yourself in a towel?”
Although I managed to wrap the cloth around me as my mother instructed, it gradually came loose and started to fall. My mother caught it and fixed it for me.
She looked so cool with a larger towel wrapped around her, her hair tied up, unlike me, all dirty.
“Well, even if that’s the case – there shouldn’t be a problem now that we’re going into the bath.
Is the water hot, or is it cold? Can you touch it and find out?”
She said as she reached her hand into a place that looked like a big well overflowing with steam.
I followed her instructions and reached out my hand.
“Ouch, it’s hot!”
It was extremely hot.
The water overflowed, with steam rising, to the point where the soles of my feet were tingling.
“As expected, it’s often like that for someone young like you, right? This part is where I use.”
Mother smiled as she wiped her hands on the towel, then she took me and led me to another place.
But I couldn’t look at that mother straight in the eye.
Of course, my towel that I used to wipe was turned black.
…It was embarrassing.
“So, I tried to create a bath that suits you even a little bit.
How about this place?”
A place where the steam was less than other places.
Feeling that it would be okay if I put my hand in, I nodded my head.
And even before my mother could say anything, I stretched out my foot and submerged my whole body.
“Oh my.”
I washed my entire body with my hands underwater.
From the stained black spots to the parts where something fell off as I rubbed them.
“It’s better to wait for a little while.”
Sitting halfway in the bath, looking at me with yellow eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to match my actions.
I turned my back and splashed water on my face.
Watching the clear water gradually becoming cloudy.
“If it’s because you’re embarrassed, it’s okay.
It must have been difficult to survive in such a cold and tough place.
How can I expect you to be clean.”
With a gentle touch, she softly held onto my trembling hand and comforted me.
Before I knew it, we were sitting together in the hot spring, embraced in her warm arms.
For some unknown reason, tears started to flow.
Held in the embrace of a mother warmer than water,
Unable to see my disheveled face,
“It’s alright. You can cry as much as you want.
Mom is by your side.”
I felt my body being gently pulled closer.
To a mother softer than a blanket,
To a mother shining and radiant, far more than a fireplace.
