Your perspective shifted into a vision of your home, someone looking in from a distance; time became this blurry, hard-to-grasp sensation so typical of dreams. The sun changed from early morning to a little later, Shigeko suddenly walked out and started stretching. A few minutes later, Canaan did the same; the two women exchanged no words; they didn't seem to acknowledge each other's existence.

Odd.

Your mother went back inside, and you caught a glimpse of yourself sitting at your family table, eating soup. Shigeko moved to cut firewood without any logs remaining; her axe landed soundlessly against the raised stump.

This went on for the entire day, with only Seyraphal exiting around the afternoon to walk a few paces inside the eastern forest and remain there, standing, motionless...

Then Usha woke up. Having remained on the dining table, she crawled out of her protective casing for a bed and begged for attention as you remained motionless, sitting, eating an empty soup. Soon, your beloved blue slime's demeanor changed into frustration as you continued to ignore her and, inevitably, into distress as she wailed silently for the food she needed.

No. Absolutely no way, I would never ignore her! Neither would my parents! Or my friends!

Yet this nightmare shown to you by ghostly Olin was undeniable. Your family and your friends completely ignored Usha. Even when she angrily stomped her way into your food bowl, all you did was empty it and let your poor little newborn flop on the table, where she began to wail again.

Are you conjuring these hallucinations, Olin? Why?

Eventually, Usha grew silent and went back to sleep, starved and miserable. Canaan, Rikard, Shigeko, Seyraphal, and yourself, Rey, everyone who lived in this house moved like soundless automatons, preparing only the briefest of suppers and eventually retreated to sleep in the same manner you remembered doing yesterday night.

Yet at the very edge of hearing, like a blowing wind from leagues away, you heard voices.

Olin? What is this!?

Yet your alarm met no answer from the boy.

Tomorrow continued much the same. Your mother and Shigeko were stretching in the morning, you remaining sitting at the table, this time reading a book where it took you thirty minutes to turn a page. Your father went on a strange walk as he paced the length of the field, Seyraphal remained in the wood all day...

And Usha awakened earlier than usual. Angry and starved, your beloved newborn slime insistently plopped herself in the middle of your book. At first, whatever wore your skin swatted her away, but after one too many times, you threw her on the floor.