Learning how to walk was relatively easy I suppose.
It took a couple of months to crawl and then walk.
I never got the ability to leave the house but I did see the outside world through the window.
It seems that I live in a village on a hill right next to the big city.
The village itself seems to be a farm to cultivate wheat.
And the city was huge.
Many buildings were built in rows like a cube that stretches out to the distance.
They loomed over the cobbled streets.
The city was bustling with people all around.
They walked in all directions while carriages and horses were going in-between the people.
And in the distance was a giant tall clock tower.
The tower was covered in gears, cogs and pipes that attached itself on the tower like a vine.
And at the top there seems to be some kind of exhaust pipe that released black smoke.
Not just that most of the buildings had chimneys and other stuff that released the same smoke.
No wonder the sky was so gray.
The pollution in this nation is ten times worse than my home country.
Off in the distance was a towering clump of the same steam.
But it was much larger in size, much worse compared to the city.
Must be the industrial district.
A zone full of factories and machines.
Well my suspicion has been confirmed.
It's that I got reincarnated into another world.
I doubt the Victorian era had this much of an exaggeration.
Everyday I just sleep, eat, play, daydream, watch the outside and go back to sleep.
It was the most boring year of my life.
No wonder I or just everyone couldn't remember memories when they were infants.
Because it was so boring.
One thing I just remembered is the wall shrine that is next to the baby crib.
And scary enough, it had a skull in it.
It looked like some kind of cabinet with a window to see the insides but there was a goddamn skull inside.
This always kept me up at night.
Just seeing the head that is possibly real makes me puke.
I don't know if this world has the same calendar as my original world with weeks, months and years but during a certain day every seven days.
My mother and sister will come in carrying candles on the palm of their hands.
They also make me do the same thing.
And they say like.
"By the seven lords and the gods,
We pray for our health.
Bless us with life and death
And give our new child a future.
May the lord of death grant us life.
May the lord of the sun grant us happiness.
May the lord of the moon grant us protection.
May the lord of time grant us preservation.
May the lord of war grant us strength.
May the lord of wisdom grant us intelligence.
May the lord of the sky grant us passing.
And most of all we wish for our fathers health.
As we pray for ourselves and for him."
I never knew what they said but after that.
We put the candles on the shrine.
Until the candle was fully melted and taken away.
This happens during the afternoon after our lunch.
"What are you looking at little bro?"
I heard a little girl's voice come from behind whilst I was looking out the window.
Looking back I saw my older sister just behind the door peaking.
As if she was trying to sneak in.
Gosh now I have to act like a child so they don't mistake me as a teenager.
Saying, I don't know? Goo-goo-gaa-gaa.
Or mama.
It was just embarrassing for me.
"Come on, let's get you to bed"
Please don't come near me.
She has always been caring for me.
She's also been teaching me how to speak.
Sigh
I couldn't really do anything I wanted at this age really.
I just have to wait then.
***
My God…
I couldn't sleep again.
How many times was it?
Probably the moment I was born.
It's not the shrine that is kept up at night.
No..
It was my death.
Getting crushed by wheels from the weight of the truck.
Getting my ribs broken like how you snap your pencil in half.
I couldn't believe I was reincarnated into this world.
I just have to accept the fact that I might never return home.
But I couldn't.
I was just too irritated by my death.
The past remains the past.
But I wasn't able to leave it behind.
It has been 2 years since I was born here.
I could walk better and finally was able to climb up the stairs of this house.
My mother is away and my sister is taking care of me.
How old was she again?
Eight or nine years old?
Besides, she's doing a great job taking care of the house and me.
She could cook decent meals I guess and taught me.
All I did was just sleep, eat, play and then sleep.
Even though it was uneventful, it was pretty relaxing not doing anything at all.
My mother works at a factory but I don't know about my father.
I never find out what my father does but the fact that he wasn't here could mean that he works at a far away job that pays decent money that could pay off bills and support his family.
But it was clearly not enough so my mother got a job.
She always comes home drenched in sweat with her work uniform.
Whilst I just sit around and play.
Why did they even give birth to me in the first place?
They barely have financial stability and me being born makes it worse.
Didn't they wear protection?
Or they actually did want another child.
Who knows.
Other family members or neighbors of the village usually come by.
Seems that they're very supportive of us.
I wonder why.
"Hey, where are you going, Lukas?"
Oh-no I got caught.
"You can't be here, you should go back to your room and play."
"But I no no wanna."
Still acting like a toddler to this day.
But after these years, I've gotten used to it.
I was trying to get some snacks from the kitchen while she was fixing the pipe leak in the basement.
"No, snacks are expensive, you need to learn how money works."
I was practically starving here but they won't give me food.
I tried my best to fight off but I was still a toddler.
And she carried me to my room.
"I'll ask mom if you could get a snack when she comes home okay?"
"Okay!"
Despite my enthusiastic words, I knew she would say no.
Click
The door closed and I was alone with my thoughts now.
Gosh, I hate it here.
Couldn't time move any faster.
Why does this have to happen?
Now that I think about it.
Why did I get reincarnated?
Maybe God did?
But there's a price I have to pay.
He didn't do it out of empathy right?
But the bigger question is why I was reincarnated into this world.
Couldn't he just transport my soul into another infant body on the original earth.
There's a bigger conspiracy going on.
That would probably never be uncovered.
I do wish I could go back and this was all just a dream.
Play games and watch anime…
It was truly a happy life.