AL.I.C.E-2968442/ Cynthia

Wha- Wha- He grabbed my hand as he began to walk to his destination. What was he even doing? More importantly, was that the first time he called me by my name since I came here? Why was this so shocking in the first place? Why did I even care if he called me by the name he came up with? Why could I not stop thinking about all this weird stuff? We plunged into and weaved through the crowd until we reached an open space where kids were running around. There was a bald man who I recognized immediately.

I felt my breathing grow heavier. There was no mistaking that burned face and letter 't' necklace. Would he recognize me, even with my insignia covered? Surely he got a good enough look at my face in that alley.

"Hey Andrew, I'm not late, am I?" Ren asked the man as he let go of my hand. He walked up to the man and grabbed to start shaking it. The bald man named Andrew smiled.

"For once, you are not late, Ren."

"Hey-" Ren started to say something, but Andrew interrupted him.

"Now, who is your friend here?" Andrew asked, gesturing to me. Ren's eyes frantically looked around for a moment before answering.

"This is Cynthia, uh, we met recently, but you wouldn't know her," Ren said, stumbling on his words.

"Oh, Cynthia, is it?" Andrew walked up to me and held out his hand. I was avoiding looking directly at his face. He must be expecting me to shake his hand like Ren did, "A pleasure to meet you." I put my hand up to his and awkwardly imitated what I saw the two of them doing earlier. The Stoneware lady did this earlier as well. Do they just grab each other's hands all the time here? Andrew turned to Ren, "I'll gather the children, go sit on those benches over there."

He pointed to some trunks of wood that had been chopped in half and lain on the ground in the shape of a circle. Those were the benches, and was that wood? From a real tree? Why would they cut a tree down for a bench?

We were the first to sit down. I sat next to Ren on one of the benches. I was not sure what we were doing here, but Andrew was yelling to the children. He gestured to the circle we were sitting in.

"Children, please go sit by Ren." The children looked at Andrew and screamed as they ran over to huddle close to us. Andrew's face seemly never betrayed his calm demeanor, but for a short moment, he looked dejected.

"Okay, guys," Ren was speaking to the children who were all sitting uncomfortably close on the same bench as us, "He won't bite. Sit on the other benches. The children spread out onto other benches while Andrew was walking over. They filled each bench, leaving one for the burned bald man to sit on alone. Once the children had all spread out, I noticed two looked exactly alike.

"Ren, Ren," I whispered to him, "Those two girls look identical."

"They're twins."

"Twins?"

"When two kids are born at the same time..."

"Born?"

"Uh..., I'll have to explain that one later." Ren looked down when he spoke. Had I said something wrong?

"Hey, lady," one of the kids spoke to me as Andrew sat down. It was a young boy, maybe nine or ten years old. "You're really pretty."

"Yeah, she's really pretty," another boy chimed in.

"When I grow up, I want to be as beautiful as you," now a girl was chiming in.

"I'm going to marry you someday," the first boy said.

"No, she's going to be my wife," another boy chimed in.

"Stop it; she's Ren's wife."

The children began to discuss me. I had no idea what they were talking about. I looked to Ren, who was still looking down with a frown. What were these kids talking about? Wife? Marry? I was unfamiliar with the words. What did they think my relation to Ren was? I turned to look at Ren. He had turned away and was holding his hand on his forehead. Their conversation was interrupted by Andrew.

"Now, children, it is time for the lesson." They all became quiet. Andrew gave a sad sigh. He pulled out a stack of paper from under his black jacket. "Take one and pass it to the next person, Aleisha." He handed the stack to the girl that sat closest to him, and she took what appeared to be a packet of paper off the top and passed it to the next. Each child did the same until it reached me. I followed suit and took my packet and handed it to Ren, who had turned to the crowd again. I looked at the object I had just received.

I believe this is what they call a book. I know we had learned about them, and I think I saw some in the mountain, but physical print went out of date centuries ago. The title on the front said The Little Kittie. Under the title was a multitude of colors, with no mind to aesthetic appeal, separating the page covered up by a furry creature with a sharp face and pointy ears. I had no idea what this was, but I found the creature enjoyable to look at. I wanted to ask Ren, but he had already opened the book to the first page. I did the same with the kids that seemed to know what was going on more than me.

Words in large letters were printed on each page to form short sentences. The words were my language. I guess that was Ren's as well, considering we could understand each other when we spoke. Was he really going to read? Could Ren read? The town seemed to be devoid of letters, even on signs that Ren said were advertising something. I had assumed no one here would be able to read.

"Grace was a little kitty," Ren said. Then he stopped to look at the kids. Each was looking intently at the page. I looked at the page myself. He had read it correctly. The page itself was a simple painting of what I assumed is the kitty called Grace. Do even creatures like this have names here?

"One day, she was looking out of the window, and she saw three cats walking down the street." Ren had turned the page and continued reading. He paused again, waiting for the children to follow along at their own pace. Occasionally, a child would have a question about a word, and he or Andrew would help them understand. Andrew smiled as the children looked at their books. It seemed like a good idea to make it appear I was unable to read the words. I did not want Andrew or the children to suspect anything about me.

"The cats were running around playing, and Grace thought to herself, I want to go and play with them." Ren continued reading and pausing the story.

"So, she looked all around the house for a way to go and play with the others. She didn't have an easy way out, so she had to go all the way up to the attic. From the attic, she leaped out on the-" A boy suddenly threw down his book.

"Why do we even need to learn this stupid stuff?" he yelled.

"Now, Dennis," Andrew started to say.

"Why should I have to listen to you, old man! My parents don't listen to you, but they expect me to! They're so stupid!" The boy was screaming and stomping his feet. Ren groaned.

"Dennis," Ren spoke to the boy. The boy stopped stomping to look at Ren with a nasty look, "If you can't read, there are lots of stories you won't understand."

"This story is stupid, and you're stupid!" Dennis hysterically screamed and stomped off.

"Please continue with the children, Ren. I'll go speak to him," Andrew said to Ren. Then he got up and followed Dennis.

Ren continued reading the story while the children did their best to follow along. Each kid did their best to keep up with him and would ask questions. At some point, the boy who had made a scene earlier quietly returned and rejoined the group.

The story was quite sad. The kitty, Grace, tried awfully hard to get out of her house, but once she did, the other cats only ran away.

"Grace chased after the other cats as fast as she could, but she couldn't catch up." Ren continued to read the story, pausing and helping the kids between each line as he did. "Finally, Grace said to herself, 'I should go home. It's warm there.' She looked around but realized she didn't know where she was. She tried to get back home but only found herself in a more unfamiliar place."

Was this the type of story these children should be hearing? It almost seemed like the story was manufactured entirely to scare them to stay in their houses. I could not understand why this was what Ren was reading to them.

"Finally, Grace laid down in a sandbox in the park. She was tired from running around all day. Before she knew it, she was tapped by someone. It was Simon, the other kitty that lived with her in her owner's house. He smiled at her, and she relaxed. He took her home where she was able to be happy."

Ren finished the story with the kids. They all thanked him for reading the story to them and ran their separate ways with their books in hand. The last child to leave was the boy who had thrown a tantrum in the middle of the story. He looked at Ren then looked away. After a moment, he looked back to Ren and nodded, then ran off with his book in hand.

Andrew smiled and slapped Ren in the back.

"Well done, Ren."

"Ow, that hurt. Don't hit me so hard."

"Oh, I barely tapped you. Now, miss Cynthia." Andrew turned to look at me. I froze for a moment. He had not said much to me earlier. I was not sure what to expect. "I hope you enjoyed the story. Maybe next time, you'll be able to read aloud with us." I stood silently.

"Andrew, what do you mean?" asked Ren nervously. He likely figured I could read but that it should remain a secret, or maybe he was not sure if I could read.

"I'm saying you'll teach her, of course," Andrew laughed. Ren laughed nervously, so I tried to laugh as well. "Stay safe, children," Andrew began to walk off but stopped and turned back, "Oh, and you should probably head home soon. I believe we are expecting heavy rain today." With that last comment, the man called Andrew disappeared into the crowd.

"That Priest," Ren said in a low voice. I turned to look at him. He seemed hyper-focused on something now, as if what Andrew had said struck him deeply. "Come on. We should get back to my house." He grabbed my hand and quickly led me through the crowds.