The inside of the tent wasn’t lavish by any means, but it was more than what a tent should be. It consisted of only on room, but there was a small kitchen and a bed, and was heated.

I initially wanted to leave the tent after seeing how strange it was, but the thought of the cold outside kept me in.

The kitchen had no sort of food in it, but all of the cooking stations I was familiar with. There was a large pot suspended above a roaring flame, a ladle, and even some plates.

If there was a knife, I would’ve picked it up just in case there was a monster lurking in a corner of the tent I couldn’t see.

I walked towards the bed, its comfortable looking sheets beckoning to me as my eyelids became too heavy to hold open.

Before I knew it, I was under the covers, my head hitting the pillow.

**

I woke up, the thick wool blankets now replaced with a thin cloth sheet covering my body. Someone, or something changed it.

I got out of bed as quickly as possible, ripping myself from the mud adhesive sticking me to the bed.

The pillow on the back of my head barely slowed me down as I tore it off, standing up, my feet landing on soft woolen slippers.

‘This is way too creepy.’

I ran towards the exit of the tent, not once looking back at the strange but comfortable bed. However, as soon as I neared the exit, it changed to a normal wall.

I pressed my hands to it, seeing if the wall I was seeing was just a facade, but no, the exit really was gone.

I looked around at the other walls for a different way out, to no avail. Someone was holding me here with some kind of magic, so they must want something, right?

‘What do I have to give anybody, though? I was dead just yesterday…’

“Hey! Let me out of here!”

My yells seemed to fall on deaf ears as I walked around the tent, feeling all of the walls for any kind of opening.

Then, I fell downwards and sideways, flying into one of the walls.

“Oof!”

The walls were stretchy, leaving me only startled and displaced by the sudden movement. Based on how I moved, it would seem this tent is flying into the sky somewhere.

The sudden stop of the tent made me fly across the room once again. When I recovered and looked around once more, I could see something a little disturbing from the opposite wall.

I could see something forming from the wall. It was like watching a baby being birthed.

And what formed from the wall of the tent was almost exactly that. It was a little kid whose gender I couldn’t make out, shyly floating their way towards my dumbfounded face.

“H-Hello?”

I tried to stand up while greeting the child, but I tripped over my own feet, seemingly scaring them away.

By the time I was able to make it back onto my feet, I couldn’t see the child any more, so I decided to look.

‘A child isn’t so scary… Right?’

I looked into the kitchen, then behind the bed. I couldn’t find the child anywhere. I then peeked under the bed and…

Just the child’s head. Just their head was underneath the bed with the rest of their body being merged with the tent floor.

I was just resurrected and this was the most frightening thing I have ever seen.

I jumped back, nearly losing my footing again before I calmed myself down. It’s just a kid. Right?

“I-It’s okay. I don’t want to hurt you. I just don’t know what’s happening. Can you come out?”

I tried to hide the shakiness of my voice and wanted the child to come out to talk to me. I truly didn’t want to hurt them.

After a couple minutes of waiting, the child appeared from the wall once more, fidgeting with their pale fingers as they slowly floated towards me.

Their entire body was a color of white that matched the walls of the tent. They were wearing a loose piece of similarly colored cloth that covered most of their body, and the only change in color on them was their long pitch-black hair and pupils.

Their face was beautiful, yet showed signs of sculpted features. It looks like I won’t know what gender they are unless I ask.

“Hello there. Do you have a name?”

“...”

“A name? Do you know what that is?”

“...”

They don’t speak. Of course not.

“Shin. My, name, is, Shin. What’s, yours?”

I pointed to myself, speaking slowly and motioning towards my chest every time I said my name. It was one of the only things I remember. When I asked about their name, I motioned towards them, hoping they would catch on.

“Shin. My, name, is, Shin. What’s, yours?”

Unfortunately for me, they just copied exactly what I said. Their voice was soft and pleasing to the ears, almost like a song.

“No. My name is Shin. You. Your name.”

“No. My name is Shin. You. Your name.”

A feeling of irritation welled up inside my stomach, and I could feel my face getting hot from embarrassment. I wanted so badly for them to understand, but what more could I do?

‘Let’s just talk about a lot of things and see if they learn the language. It can’t be that hard, they’re a child. Right?’