Bonus Short Story
Early Afternoon in the Post Town
“So how many people are in your family, Tara?” Rimee Ruu asked.
“Hmm?” Tara responded with an adorable tilt of her head. “Umm, there’s my dad and mom, my two big brothers, my grandma, and my great uncle too! And me! So, seven!”
“What’s a great uncle?”
“He’s my grandpa’s younger brother! All the rest of his family is gone, so he lives with us.”
“I see... Well, even at the forest’s edge, people will live with other relatives when they don’t have much family to count on.”
“Oh, really?”
As I listened to that frivolous conversation between the young girls in the early afternoon in the post town, I felt a gentle calm washing over me.
Rimee Ruu and I were both manning the stalls at the moment, but there was currently a break in customers. Lately, whenever Tara happened to stop by at a time like this, she would spend some time hanging around with Rimee Ruu and building their friendship.
“Rimee Ruu, how many people are in your house?”
“There are thirteen of us! Kota’s still real little, though.”
“Thirteen? That’s amazing! How are there so many of you?”
“Hmm? Well, there are seven of us siblings, and then the baby, Kota! That’s my brother Jiza’s baby with Sati Lea!”
“Wow, that’s amazing! So families at the forest’s edge are really big, huh?!” Tara exclaimed, and then she suddenly turned my way. “Isn’t that amazing?! I mean, thirteen people! Is your family really big too, Asuta?”
“No. The Fa house is just me and my clan head.”
“Huh?! Your clan head is that lady, right? You don’t have a mom and a dad?”
“No. My clan head’s parents passed away when she was still young. As for me... My old man’s still back in my home country.”
Though I felt a dull pain deep in my heart, I shot Tara a smile so that she wouldn’t worry.
Even so, Tara’s brows drooped as she said, “Oh...”
“It’s fine. Even with just the two of us, each day is still a whole lot of fun. It’s really not sad at all.”
“Ah, right! If you have a baby then your family would grow!”
“A-A baby?”
“Yeah! You and your clan head could have a baby!”
Taken off guard, I could feel my face go red.
“U-Um Tara, it’s not like we’re married or anything, you know.”
“Really? But you’re gonna get married eventually, right?”
“Well, that’s a bit of a...precarious situation...”
“What’s ‘precarious’ mean?”
I could feel my own eyes wandering about, trying to escape Tara’s pure, innocent gaze. However, they soon collided with a chilly glare from Yamiru Lea, who was also working today.
“You can look to me for help all you want, but if you think I can get you out of this, you are in for a disappointment.”
“Ah, no, that’s not...exactly what I was hoping for...”
“You can’t allow yourself to get so out of sorts over every little thing said by such a small child. Honestly, it’s embarrassing just to watch.”
And so my face remained beet red as I was denied any aid whatsoever. That was how we spent another peaceful afternoon in the post town.
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