<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay Pochi, you\u2019re all done. Who\u2019s next? Pyonkichi?\u201d<\/p>\n
I sometimes brushed down my animals. All the animals loved to be brushed, looking blissful whenever I did so. Plus, their fur got nice and shiny. Brian looked especially cool after he was groomed.<\/p>\n
Brian was named after a racehorse that my grandpa had favored. I never saw that horse myself, but apparently he\u2019d been an awesome horse.<\/p>\n
I might be biased, but in my opinion Brian, with his glossy fur and magnificent bearing, was just as impressive as that racehorse.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAlright, next! It\u2019s your turn, sheep-chan~\u201d<\/p>\n
The fur that covered the sheep\u2019s whole body was already fluffy enough. But once it was brushed, its fur grew in volume and became even fluffier.<\/p>\n
After I finish meticulously brushing the sheep, I would always press my face to its fur. My head would get completely engulfed in it. That was my favorite part of brushing the sheep; I loved nuzzling into that softness.<\/p>\n
All three of the sheep were resting side by side in the shade today as well. It was the middle of the day, after all. They probably felt hot. They usually roamed around in the early morning and in the evening though, when the temperature dropped.<\/p>\n
This chapter was brought to you by perpetualdaydreams.com<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHuh? Huuuuh?\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019d tried to brush the sheep on the right. Usually, my arm sank into the fur up to my elbow before I reached skin, but today, my arm sank further and further until my hand finally landed on the ground.<\/p>\n I was so shocked I unconsciously yelled out, \u201cEhh, what, sheep-chan, what happened to your body?!\u201d<\/p>\n Panicked, I checked on the other two and got the same result. All of their bodies had disappeared from under the fur.<\/p>\n \u201cWh-what the heck?\u201d<\/p>\n Dumbfounded, I blankly sat down in front of the cast-off fur of my family members.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suddenly, the grass rustled. Three black-faced animals poked their heads out.<\/p>\n \u201c…………\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u201c\u201cBaa.\u201d\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n I gasped loudly.<\/p>\n I knew this sound.<\/p>\n The black animals kept their eyes on me as their mouths moved, chewing on something. I looked at the cast-off wool, then looked back at the animals.<\/p>\n Hesitantly, I called out, \u201cYou guys\u2026 Are you my sheep?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u201c\u201cBaa.\u201d\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n Now that I thought about it, Norn did say that when the time came, the sheep\u2019s fur would fall off by itself without needing to be sheared.<\/p>\n But rather than the fur falling off by itself, wasn\u2019t this more like the sheep had slipped out from its fur?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWere you sheep this small this whole time?\u201d<\/p>\n The sheep that had fully appeared out of the grass looked so, how do I say this, thin and frail. Maybe because I was used to them being so fluffy.<\/p>\n Just like how a wet cat would look pitifully thin and small. And this image gap was even more impactful than that.<\/p>\n \u201cYou guys aren\u2019t cold? Are you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBaa.\u201d<\/p>\n I tried to pet the sheep that had gotten closer. Its skin was soft to the touch; it was an entirely novel sensation.<\/p>\n This felt pretty good in and of itself too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cI wonder what I should do with these wool. I can\u2019t think of anything.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, I moved the wool into the barn one by one so that they wouldn\u2019t get dirty and wet. As I hefted up the last mass of wool, I realized that Pyonkichi had snuck inside it sometime ago.<\/p>\n \u201cYou like this wool, Pyonkichi?\u201d<\/p>\n The sheep\u2019s wool was soft and felt good, after all.<\/p>\n Since I couldn\u2019t leave it outside for him, I decided to make it Pyonkichi\u2019s sleeping bed and left that wool in the breeding hut.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After I finished my morning chores, I had a bit of free time.<\/p>\n There hadn\u2019t been any weeds that had grown overnight, so after harvesting my crops, sowing new seeds and watering the plants, I had nothing else to do.<\/p>\n Thanks to that, I could now spend some time hulling the rice.<\/p>\n As I pounded on the rice, my eyes couldn\u2019t help but get stuck on the sheep. The once white and fluffy sheep were now all black and smooth. It was so strange, I really couldn\u2019t get used to it.<\/p>\n Were they really my family\u2019s sheep?<\/p>\n The sounds they made and the way they walked were all the same, though.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As I stared at them like they were entirely new creatures, Pochi, who had been laying on the ground beside me, suddenly twitched his ears and raised his head.<\/p>\n He gave a little whine, then barked.<\/p>\n With his tail furiously wagging, he got up, all the while making happy sounds. He turned towards the town\u2019s direction and took a step forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it, Pochi? Is someone coming?\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe Norn came to visit? But Pochi didn\u2019t sound like it.<\/p>\n Pochi fully favored children, but when it came to adults, he acted cool and aloof.<\/p>\n With Nott and Marco, he was all \u2018Pet me!!\u2019, but towards Norn or Genett-san, he gave off an arrogant, \u2018I\u2019ll allow you to pet me\u2019 feeling.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As if he couldn\u2019t wait any longer, Pochi dashed towards the road. Well, he wasn\u2019t being aggressive right now, so it was probably fine.<\/p>\n I would hear the sound of the wagon arriving, so before then, I guess I could continue hulling the rice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In the end, I didn\u2019t hear the sound of a wagon. His family didn\u2019t have a horse so he probably ran all the way here.<\/p>\n \u201cShinobu!!\u201d<\/p>\n I looked up. Standing just before my property with his chest heaving was Nott.<\/p>\n He was red-faced and dripping in sweat. And he was crying.<\/p>\n Back when their farm field was in poor condition, though he\u2019d been biting his lip in frustration, he never cried. He\u2019d probably been holding back because Marco was there.<\/p>\n But right now, there were tears streaming down his cheeks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maybe his mother had finally told him about his father.<\/p>\n It\u2019d been four days since I\u2019d been invited to their home.<\/p>\n His mother did ask for my help when the time came, but I never expected for that time to come so fast. I couldn\u2019t gather my thoughts enough to figure out what to say.<\/p>\n I tossed the rice bin in my hand and ran to Nott. That was the only thing I could do.<\/p>\n The bin toppled down and the rice inside it scattered. The chickens immediately swarmed the grains, but I couldn\u2019t pay them any attention right now. Nott was more important.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nott ran towards me too. He rushed forward as if he was trying to ram into me.<\/p>\n Due to our difference in body size, I couldn\u2019t stop him with just my strength. Nott bowled into me and we tumbled onto the field full of tall, overgrown grass.<\/p>\n Though I hit the ground with my back, thanks to the grass it didn\u2019t hurt that much. Various insects were startled into flying, and I saw them buzzing off beyond Nott\u2019s shoulder and into the wide, blue sky.<\/p>\n The tall grass were like walls that hid us from sight. It was like we were in a small and roofless private room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHic, sniff<\/i>\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n I could hear Nott sobbing into my shoulder. I hugged him back hard. My arms weren\u2019t long enough to wrap around his back so I could only grip tightly onto his shirt.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n Back when grandpa and grandma died, my childhood friends who lived close by said things like, \u2018Please accept my sympathies\u2019 and \u2018My condolences\u2019, but I didn\u2019t want to say such rote words. I wanted to say something personal, something that could help cheer him up.<\/p>\n Wasn\u2019t there anything? Anything at all? Ugh, why was I so dumb? At such an important time, no words came to mind.<\/p>\n If I were a little smarter, maybe I could find the right words to say. Something meaningful and comforting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Nott mumbled something. I couldn\u2019t really hear what he was saying, but I imagined it was something like, \u2018I hate this\u2019 or \u2018I can\u2019t take it anymore\u2019. Words that expressed how defeated he felt.<\/p>\n My grip on him tightened, and in my heart I screamed to him, \u2018you can do it, you can do it!\u2019<\/p>\n Nott might feel like he couldn\u2019t go on anymore, but he had his mother and brother. And he had me.<\/p>\n I couldn\u2019t really do anything, but I could at least listen to him and empathize with him. That\u2019s why, please.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDad\u2026\u2026…ome.\u201d<\/p>\n This time, I could hear some of what he was saying.<\/p>\n He was crying so hard, the poor boy.<\/p>\n I let go of his shirt and slowly patted his back to try and calm him down.<\/p>\n Nott placed his hands on the ground beside my head and pushed, levering his body up.<\/p>\n His tears dripped down onto my face.<\/p>\n The blue sky served as his backdrop, and on his shadowed face…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDad came home!!\u201d<\/p>\n A smile. His eyes were wet and full of tears, and his nose was red, but he was grinning from ear to ear.<\/p>\n I probably had a stupid look on my face as I gaped at him, open-mouthed.<\/p>\n \u201c……Eh, huh? But your dad\u2026\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t he fall down a ravine\u2026?<\/p>\n His mom even said that she was sure he wasn\u2019t alive anymore. Huh?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHe came limping home just now and said, \u2018I\u2019m home. I made you all worry.\u2019 Mom was so shocked she had to sit down.<\/p>\n Dad apparently slipped down the slope of the mountain. He said that both his legs and his right arm got broken, so he had to stay in the village his rescuers lived in to recuperate.<\/p>\n He\u2019d asked them to send a message, but as it got passed on from person to person, the content of the message changed. So what mom heard was that he fell off a ravine and died.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cS-so it was a case of a telephone game<\/span>