Lost in the darkest dream

I wiped the sweat off my forehead and then turned my attention to the girl who had just helped me. I was genuinely thankful to her. She looked about 10 or 11 years old, with a light brownish skin tone like that of Indians and strikingly beautiful features, especially her light blue eyes.

I approached her and thanked her in English. To my relief, she knew a little bit of English and managed to understand me

.I think so too, but I'm socially awkward. I have no social skills at all. Talking to kids, in particular, is an incredibly difficult thing for me. I've never really done it before, and even if I had, it was just in a formal setting.

And now, here I was, having to talk to a kid. She had just helped me, so I thought, I should say something to her

."Hey, little girl, um, uh... oh, yeah, yeah, just—uh, thank you very much for helping me out. And, uh... yes, if there's anything I can do for you in return, you can tell me."

The little girl took a moment to understand what I was saying. Then she pointed at her watch and said that if I clicked a button on my own watch, I'd be able to translate or understand any language.

I was genuinely surprised, even after everything I had seen in that dreamlike experience. I had never noticed such a function on the watch before. It made sense, though—the boys I had been watching had stayed within their nation and didn't interact much with foreigners since there weren't any in their region at the time.

Taking her advice, I opened the function she had mentioned on my watch.

The little girl smiled and said, "Api (big sister), welcome. I helped you because I thought you were pretty."

Butterflies in my stomach fluttered with happiness—it was the first time a kid had ever complimented me. I felt so happy, both internally and externally. Nothing could take away the joy I felt from receiving her kind words

I knew I had a different face and body now, but still, getting compliments is always a good thing, you know?

I sat down so that my height could match hers. I realized I was actually a bit taller in this body than I used to be. Gently holding her hand, I asked, "Little kid, what's your name? And what are you doing here alone? What about your parents?"

I thought to myself, Oh no, I always end up asking the wrong question.

Damn, it looked like I had asked the wrong question. The girl's face turned gloomy, and in a sad tone, she said her name was Alia. She explained that her parents had died, and she was the only one in her family to survive this apocalypse.

She had just lost her parents not long ago, and after somehow managing to bury them, she had been wandering around the area, taking a look at her surroundings

.