Chapter 18: Chapter 17 - Birthday
It's a terrible day for rain.
Why?
Today we were supposed to be going out as a family to celebrate.
What were we going to celebrate?
My sixth birthday. The six year anniversary since I landed on this new planet.
Our family had been planning to go outside on a picnic in the park. Annette had prepared my favourite snacks and Clarissa had even done her best to prepare a birthday cake for me. Once we were done, we would go out and explore the town.
Even though Clarissa does take me to go out to town sometimes, it's only when she wants to show me off to her friends.
That's why I wanted to take the chance to get a better understanding of Remea. We'd even cancelled today's lessons.
Not that there was much to learn from my lessons anyway.
Since I'd mastered the art of arrays and I already knew everything there was about runes, my lessons with Serena were just me pretending to learn new rune words as well as stuff like basic arithmetic and language.
Even though Serena is trying her best to teach me about more general topics like history, geography and other things you might learn in school, it's understandable that her lessons aren't very in depth since she's not a proper teacher.
Meanwhile Abraham had taught me all of the foundational moves for his style of swordsmanship, the slash, lunge, parry and riposte, so it was just a matter of practicing those on my own.
Even so, it's a shame to think that today would have been filled with exploration and excitement.
Instead, today has been relegated to staring out of the window at the rain.
I'm not really that sad or anything. Well, I am disappointed, but not enough to warrant something this melodramatic.
It's just, when I found myself staring out the window and sighing, I saw Alexandra staring at me from the corner of my eye, looking at me worriedly.
When I saw how cute she looked, I couldn't help but want to keep teasing her.
It's just a bit of harmless fun.
As I'm sighing for the nth time, she suddenly shakes her head like she's made a huge decision and gets up.
She's determined.
'Did I take it too far?'
She's heading towards me with steady steps, not wavering in her gaze. I'm too scared to turn in her direction since it might give away the fact that I've been looking at her the whole time, so I keep my gaze fixed rigidly out the window.
Alexandra then walks up beside me and places the hand that was by my side on her head, or to be more exact, her ears.
It's so adorable that I can't help but break character and let out a laugh.
Is this her way of trying to make me feel better?
Since she offered so nicely, it would be rude of me to refuse.
As I stroke her ears, I can tell that she's enjoying it. I don't think I'll ever get tired of this soft sensation either. I'm glad that she feels comfortable enough around me now that she's able to do something like this.
Over the past few years, we've really gotten closer.
She's a silent person, preferring actions over words. At first I thought it was because she was scared of me, but now I think that she just doesn't like to speak very much.
Despite that, it's gotten easier to tell what she's thinking, probably because we've been in such close proximity for so long. Oftentimes her tail or ears will give her emotions away.
For instance when she's sad, her tail moves around wistfully and her ears are unnaturally straight like she's forcing them not to droop, and when she's happy her tail will usually stand up with a slight curve at the end, while her ears are more natural.
She also seems to understand me better. When I'm focused on training or learning something, she'll always know when I'm getting hungry, so when I end up finishing with my training she'll have just brought some food or drink that she asked Annette to prepare.
If I'm annoyed that I'm struggling with training, she shows her support for me by sticking even closer to me as if to make things better with her presence.
And naturally after spending so much time together, I've mastered the art of petting her so I know exactly what to do to make her feel good.
Hold on, that last part sounded wrong.
In any case, whilst I'm slowly massaging and playing with those fluffy triangles, Annette enters.
She's not surprised by the scene, as she's seen it many times before.
"Young Master, Miss Alexandra, please come down to the dining room for lunch."
Despite all my efforts, I still haven't managed to get Annette to call me by my first name. Though I'm happy that she's committed to her job, I still sometimes wish she could be a bit more flexible when it comes to stuff like that.
Not wanting to keep the family waiting, we head to the dining room.
I suppose this is fine too. Even though we didn't get to go out and see the town, at least there'll still be good food and good times. Most importantly, I get to spend the day with my family.
As I awake from my thoughts, we have arrived at two large mahogany-like doors which marked the entrance of the dining room.
"Young master, please close your eyes."
Is this some kind of surprise party?
I follow Annette's instructions and hear the sound of the double doors being opened.
"Now open them."
As I open my eyes, they begin to widen in shock as I hear a multitude of voices ring out,
"""""Surprise!"""""
I think I even heard one of those voices coming from behind me, although it was more like a whisper.
The dining area has been transformed into grassland. A slight breeze blows as blades of grass sway in the wind, being shone upon by the bright sun above, juxtaposed by the familiar table and chairs in the centre of this grassy plain.
Everyone is looking at me with smiles as they enjoy the slack-jawed face I must be making whilst I try to reconcile this unfamiliar picture with the one I was used to in my head. Before I get too lost in my thoughts, Abraham beckons me,
"Don't just stand there, come in. We've prepared all your favourites"
I'm sure I'll be able to ask Serena about this tomorrow. Right now I just want to enjoy spending time with my family.
"Thank you, everyone."
I'm touched.
It feels awkward for me to express my gratitude like this with my voice cracking with emotion, but it's the only thing I can think of saying. I'm thankful that I was born to the two of them.
I never really cared about birthdays in the past. I even thought they were a waste of time. Why would one day out of 365 in a year be more or less important because of when you were born? Why would you waste your money on presents or parties when you could be spending it on things more practical?
All they did was make me think that my parents probably hated the day of my birth, and when I saw other children having parties I never felt jealousy. Birthdays were just a waste of time.
It was just another day that you were closer to death.
That was how I thought of birthdays.
But coming to this world has made me realise, perhaps I only thought that way because I'd never experienced a birthday before. Maybe if I'd had a good experience with birthdays I would've thought differently. Maybe I was using some form of post hoc rationalization to write off birthdays as nothing but useless.
Because now when I think of my birthday, I can't help but feel happy.
Even though I don't remember exactly what happened, I never remember any other feeling except happiness. And I'm sure once I grow old and grey, I'll still remember the times I spent living here with my family, spending time with all of them. Even if I don't recall everything perfectly, I hope the feelings I have right now will be conveyed properly to my future self.
I suppose what's most important about birthdays isn't about the parties or presents. It's about leaving memories.
I remember hearing someone say back on old earth, "I wish there were a way to know when you were in the good old days before you've left them."
Right now, I think that these will be those good old days.
So I'm going to enjoy them as much as I can.
Now that I think about it, I don't know Alexandra's birthday. In fact, none of us do, including her.
Next year, I'll ask my parents to host one for her as well. Since we don't know hers, we can share mine.
That way, hopefully she'll be able to make her own good memories.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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