Ch. 5: To Reality...
Dormouse: “But you know, I know about Alice… she was reeeeeally nice. And, and she would always pat my head and tell me it was going to be okay. I wonder where she went… I miss her.”
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The next day…-.
Sunlight drifted in through the window as I remembered what the queen had told me.
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Queen: “So even though Alice was lost from this world a long time ago, and the world has changed, he still is unaware of it. If he were to learn the truth, I can only imagine how sad it would make him.”
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(But still, if things stay like this…)
I held my hand in a tight fist over my heart.
I headed towards Dormouse’s room to talk with him…-.
As expected, even though it was the afternoon, Dormouse was still in bed, his face pale as he rubbed at his eyes.
Dormouse: “Ah… it’s OO.”
He turned to look at me fully and smiled happily.
However…-.
OO: “I… have something important to tell you.”
I looked straight into his drowsy eyes.
Dormouse: “Tell me…?”
OO: “Dormouse… will you come look closely at this world?”
Dormouse: “Eh…?”
(It’ll probably be painful but…)
I was somehow able to take Dormouse, who was still grumbling about being drowsy, into town…-.
…
……
I took him to the center of town where the two of us had been looking for Alice.
OO: “Dormouse… what do you see right here?”
Dormouse: “Eh… it’s weird, OO…”
Dormouse squinted his eyes, trying to make them focus.
And then confusion spread across his face…-.
Dormouse: “There should be… a big tree, right? Alice and I came here…-.”
OO: “…”
I took his face between my hands.
OO: “Look closely… Dormouse. The big tree, and the park outside of town, and even Alice… they’re all gone.”
Dormouse: “Wh… eh?”
At my words, his eyes changed.
Dormouse: “Where… ah, huh…?”
As the light came to life in his eyes, he stood there frozen.
Ch. 6: Morning Kiss
OO: “Look closely… Dormouse. The big tree, and the park outside of town, and even Alice… they’re all gone.”
Dormouse: “Wh… eh? Where… ah, huh…?”
The vanished Alice and the true Wondermare…
Dormouse: “Y-you’re lying… where are we? Where’s Sleep Valley…?”
The ever-smiling Dormouse, who was always sleepy and half-way into a dream, but now from his eyes…
OO: “…”
Large tears formed at the corners of his eyes, and fell in large droplets.
I held Dormouse as he cried.
Dormouse: “Th-that’s… this is… a lie…”
OO: “I’m sorry… but the world you knew is gone. While you were sleeping, Alice disappeared, and the world changed…”
(Dormouse… he never saw it. The world without Alice…)
This was not the happy world of his dreams, but rather the painful reality…
But I was sure that if Dormouse had remained ignorant, he would have continued to search for the vanished Alice.
Dormouse: “Oo… I… I… don’t know this feeling… why does my chest hurt… so much…?”
Dormouse could do nothing but cry at seeing the changed world in front of him.
The tears showed no sign of stopping and filled my heart.
(I’m sorry…)
I held out my hand to his, which was gripped in a fist…
Dormouse: “…”
Dormouse suddenly collapsed to the ground.
OO: “!!”
I tried to support him, but the weight had me bending over.
OO: “Dormouse!? …Dormouse!!”
No matter how much I called his name, he wouldn’t open his eyes…-.
…
……
After I took Dormouse back to the castle, I put him in his bed.
Dormouse: “…zz…zz… don’t… go… away…”
His small face was still stained from the tears as he let out soft noises in his sleep.
(Did I… actually do something terrible?)
But even so, Dormouse finally being able to sleep was slowly bringing the color back to his cheeks.
OO: “Goodnight, Dormouse… I won’t go anywhere…”
I continued to watch over his sleeping face from where I sat beside his bed.
And then I ended up succumbing to sleep as well…
…
……
I felt light coming through the window and hitting my eyelids…
OO: “… it’s morning…?”
I slowly opened my eyes and…
Dormouse: “…OO.”
OO: “…Dormouse…?
Dormouse was right in front of me, his eyes still puffy from the crying.
But he was smiling, as if he couldn’t hide his happiness and it couldn’t help but overflow…
OO: “How are you feeling…? Are you alright?”
Dormouse: “Yeah.”
His round ears twitched.
Dormouse: “You know… when I woke up, I felt like crying again… because the world had changed so much… and it’s really sad…”
OO: “…”
His eyes began to waiver, and he slowly reached his fingers out towards me.
Dormouse: “But then, I saw you next to me… and I felt better…”
His expression was charming as he whispered his next words to me.
Dormouse: “Hey, OO, would you give me a good morning kiss…?”
OO: “Eh…k-kiss…?”
At his sudden request, I was immediately fully awake as it felt as if I’d been splashed with cold water.
Dormouse: “… Alice would always give me a good morning kiss.”
(Ah…)
That name grated against my heart.
Dormouse: “Ah… please don’t make that face? I just… want to tell you thank you.”
OO: “Me…?”
Dormouse: “Yeah… you know, I always saw… the happy world instead of the pain. But OO… you woke me up. When I saw the real world… I knew that the dream… had ended.”
His messy blue hair sparkled in the morning sunlight.
Dormouse: “That’s why… I want a good morning kiss from OO.”
OO: “Dormouse… are you sure you want one from me?”
Dormouse: “Yeah… if you do… I promise… I won’t cry again… so, will you?”
His big eyes were looking straight at me.
Those eyes were not the childish ones from yesterday, but rather ones that seemed to hold the spark of something more dignified.
OO: “Dormouse…”
In the warm morning sun, we looked at each other.
OO: “… good morning…”
I gently bent my head and gave him a kiss on the nose.
Dormouse: “…hehe… morning… OO, your lips tickle…”
The sound of Dormouse’s laugh that reached my ears held the start of a new kind of happiness.
END
Secret Story: The Morning After Waking From a Dream
I opened my eyes and saw I was in my bed.
(Huh… I…)
The sun was shining through the window.
(It’s been a while… since I slept like that.)
I looked out the window at the light.
(Oh yeah… Sleep Valley has changed…)
I confirmed it with my own eyes.
The big tree, and the park, both of them were gone from the world.
(Oh… and Alice… isn’t here anymore…)
Dormouse: “…Alice.”
(A world without Alice is boring…)
My chest hurt again.
I couldn’t take it and felt the tears coming again…-.
OO: “Nn… Dormouse…”
(Eh…)
Hearing that voice, I suddenly felt like I’d had cold water dumped on me.
Dormouse: “…”
OO was making noises in her sleep.
At some point, the pain in my chest went away.
(OO looks like Alice…)
I looked at OO’s sleeping face.
(But she isn’t Alice…)
Dormouse: “What is it… that’s different? Hmmm.”
I touched her hair.
Then I touched her cheek.
(She’s warm, and soft…)
Dormouse: “Huh…”
My chest was hurting again.
But…-.
Dormouse: “Huh, huuuh…?”
This time, after the pain, there was something warm in my chest.
(Huh…? I’m… not sad…?? Is it… because… OO is here?)
I thought about that for a little while…-.
Dormouse: “Fwaaaaa…”
I suddenly felt very sleep again.
(I had thought… it would be okay… to just sleep through this world.)
I glanced at OO’s sleeping face.
(But if OO is here… I think… I can live properly in this world…)
Dormouse: “Her face… is cute…”
(I wonder… if OO will wake up soon.)
I gently touched her lips with a finger.
(It’s soft… oh, I know… when OO wakes up… I’ll ask for a kiss. Then I’m sure I won’t cry anymore… even though Alice is gone.)
I looked at OO sleeping, and it felt like I was casting a magic spell.
END