Chapter 8

Adele was sound asleep.

Adele would fall asleep exhausted at night because she worked all day at home and on the farm.

“Uh…”

Adele, who was tossing and turning, felt something empty and opened her eyes.

When she extended her hand she couldn’t feel nor touch Sigmund who was next to her before she felt asleep.

When she opened her eyes and checked, she could not see Sigmund in her arms.

“Sigmund?”

It’s still dark outside the window.

Dawn, it’s not quite morning yet. He was always in her arms but now she  could not find Sigmund near her.

“Sigmund?”

Where did he go?

It’s night, but it’s dangerous to walk around outside alone.

What if there’s someone walking around at night and they found Sigmund? Even if not, wild beasts such as wolves and cats roam around here at night.

One day, a shepherd boy at a ranch went to look for a sheep that had crossed a fence in the middle of the night and got bitten by a wolf.

A little boy like Sigmund can be bitten by a wolf like a duck or a chicken.

“Where would he go?”

Adele who was trying to get down from her bed to look for Sigmund, suddenly stopped halfway.

“Sigmund?”

Her feet covered in the blanket were suspicious.

When she thought that the bulging blanket on her feet was suspicious, something touched her feet.1

As Adele gently lifted the blanket, she found Sigmund crouching between her legs.

Sigmund was curled up and fast asleep between Adele’s feet.

“Why are you down there…”

Only then Adele smiled reassuringly.

He seemed to have rolled to the bottom of the bed in his sleep.

“Huh?”

But something was a little strange.

Adele shooked her head.

“The wings…have grown a little?”

At first glance, the wings had grown a little.

The wings, which were as big as the two palms combined, were now as big as the four palms.

“Really, the wings….”

When did his wings get this big?

The wings weren’t that big until last night when she fell asleep.

Sigmund was already about four or five years old as soon as he woke up from the egg.

Then there should be nothing strange about the wings doubling overnight.

Huh? Height?

“Uh?”

Only then did Adele realized that it was not only Sigmund’s wings that grew but his height too.

Adele, who was carefully descending from the bed so that Sigmund wouldn’t wake up, curled her feet down the bed.

And took a peep at Sigmund who was asleep quietly on the bed.

“You grew up…a little bit.”

Just yesterday, Sigmund looked as if he were about five years old, and Sigmund who was now sleeping peacefully, looked as if he were seven years old.2

“Amazing…”

She couldn’t helped being surprised.

How did he grow up so fast overnight?

What happens to Sigmund after a year of growing up like this?

He may become an adult in a year.

“You’re not going to grow taller than me in a year, are you?”1

Adele was not so tall.

At this rate, there’s nothing strange about Sigmund growing taller than her in a year.

“If you grow up so fast, I can’t get you to sleep on the bed…”

Growing up wasn’t a bad thing but she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hide him in this room for long.

Now she hid him in the barn during the day and sleep together in the attic bed at night, but if Sigmund grows as tall as her, then there is no way she could hide him anymore.

“What should I do…”

Sitting on the bed, Adele fiddled with the wings of the sleeping Sigmund.1

She was so tired that she didn’t even know she was touching his wings.

“I can’t keep you like this…I don’t have a place to send you…I don’t want to let you go.”

Nine years since she left the orphanage and came here, she spent nine years of her life without a place to put her heart to.

The only people to hold a conversation with without meeting anyone were diary cows in the ranch, chickens and ducks in the fence, and sometimes rabbits and wild birds.

As she had none to talk to, she started talking less and less, but finally after meeting Sigmund she started laughing again.

She didn’t have to talk to herself anymore, and she didn’t have to be alone.

Even if it was just a slice of bread, there’s someone who can share a meal with her, who can say “goodnight” before going to bed, and when she open her eyes in the morning, she can say “Good morning?” with a smile.

It was so fortunate that she was not alone.

She was more energized to think that Sigmund had to be protected, and even when she heard bad things from her aunt and cousins, she wouldn’t feel down or sad as before.

It was a magical change brought by Sigmund.

A miraculous change in a few days.

A sweet dream.

“If I had grown a little more, I could have gone far away….”

So far Adele has never thought of leaving the house.

She came here at seven, so she have no idea where else.

Besides, there was no place to go and she knew no one else.

The only thing she can do was ranch work and inside the house.

She don’t know how to live somewhere else.

So she had thought to live in this house for the rest of her life.

But for the first time she thought she wanted to leave this house with Sigmund.

Far, very far away.

Where she don’t have to hide him in the barn anymore.

A place where Sigmund can freely go outside.

There may be such a place in the world, but since the city has all sorts of things, she was not sure if Sigmund with wings can survive.

But Adele is now only sixteen.

It is impossible for a sixteen year old girl and a seven year old kid to survive without any protection.

But if she grow a little bit older, wouldn’t it be possible if she were seventeen?

Unless, of course, Sigmund’s presence is discovered by then.

“I want to protect you, but…I’m sorry I can’t do anything…”

Touching the shiny wings, sadly, Adele frowned a little.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have much. I’m sorry I’m not a high class person. Sorry for not being strong. I’m not an adult. Sorry…”1

If she had grown up a little more, if she had been a little richer, she wouldn’t have had this concern.

In a big house, no one could have hurt Sigmund without anyone knowing. Surely.

“A…dele…?”

Was it because she kept touching his wings?

Sigmund who was fast asleep, gently opened his eyes and looked at Adele.

His eyes were still sleepy.

“Is it morning, Adele?”

“No, it’s still dawn.”

“You know…I…I can fly in the sky, uh…”

“Really? That’s great.”

“Really, I can fly…”

“Show me later.”

“And I, I can spit out fire…”

Adele burst out laughing at his words.

What did this kid dream all night?

Dreaming of flying and firing fire all night, how can he be so cute?3

Adele rarely dreams.

But she too wanted to dream of Sigmund flying in the sky and firing fire.

She too wanted to fly in the sky together in the dream of Sigmund.

“And….ah, um…uh…so…”

When Sigmund smiles and smacks his lips, it’s either because he doesn’t remember well or it’s because he’s sleeping.

“I saw a big dog. Many.”

“Big dog?”

“Yes…a big black, big tooth, big dog…”

“Did you play with the dog in your dream?”

“Yes…the dog tried to eat me. He must have been hungry.”

“So what did you say?”

“You shoudn’t eat me because Adele hates it.”

“So the big dog said he knew, huh?”

“Uh…uh…yes. He was very angry. He must have been very hungry…If he’s hungry, he can have milk, cheese and bread.”

“Usually, when you’re hungry, you get angry. You can get angry if you’re hungry, so I’ll bring you some milk…Just wait a moment.”

Adele, who kissed Sigmund’s forehead, who was still sleepy, wore an apron that she had hung on the chair and took the stairs.

Sigmund closed his eyes as he listened to Adele’s footsteps down the wooden stairs.

He couldn’t open his eyes because he was still sleepy.

“If you’re not hungry, you’re not angry…I get angry if I don’t see Adele…”

Nothing else makes him angry at all.

The big dog was angry because it didn’t have food.

He’ve never been angry even if he was hungry.

But he was really angry when those  people in those weird clothes did not let him go back to Adele.

He’ve never been this angry.

When he was angry his mouth lit up.

“If they take me away from Adele, I will get angry…I’m gonna burn them all.”10

He don’t care about anything else,but if they take Adele away, if they don’t let him meet Adele, if they don’t let her go, he’ll be furious.

He’ll fire them all, bad people or big dogs.

There is only one Adele in Sigmund’s world.

Adele is the real world.

Without Adele, nothing else is needed.

Everything unnecessary must disappear.

“Adele…”

Sigmund pressed his chest with his small hand.

One side of his chest ached.

He didn’t get bitten by a big dog, but his heart was aching.

It broke his heart to call Adele’s heart.

“Adele…”

Every time he called Adele’s name, he felt a prick in his chest, it hurt like a nail.

He didn’t know why it hurts, but the feeling of pain was strange.

It tickles and hurts, and the tip of his chin flutters even though it hurts.

“Adele…my heart hurts…”

His heart aches but he was not sad.

[If he’s sick, he’s sad]

Adele told him.

But Sigmund was not sad, not even a bit.

His heart ached as if he had been stabbed by a needle, but this painful feeling was rather itchy.

He even wished it would hurt a little more.

A little more push, a little more pain, would make him feel a little better.

His heart was pounding, his ears were ringing.

When he put his hand in his chest, his small heart beat against his palm.

He could hear Adele’s footsteps from the stairs.

It was the sound of her coming back with the milk.

As the sound of footsteps neared, the pounding of his heart grew.1

He couldn’t tell if this was Adele’s footsteps or his own heart.

The sound of the heart, and the sound of the footsteps.

“Sigmund. Are you sleeping again? Are you still asleep?”

Adele’s voice called him.

“I have brought you some milk…”

It was the most pleasant voice in the world.

Listening to her voice, Sigmund thought.

Let’s get some more sleep.

Let’s sleep a little more after drinking some milk Adele brought for him.

He take a sip first, and Adele take a sip.

Let’s share the milk like that.

Then it’ll be morning soon.

Another day with Adele is a bliss.

A happy and warm day.

A bright smile rose on Sigmund’s closed lips.1

With a happy smile, Adele closed the open window, covering the blanket over the small child’s body.

It was dawning in the distance.