"I can't believe what you just did. That is not the way to eat an egg, I could have choked with this!"
The kid was mad, of course.
"Better."
"No I don't feel better at all! I feel...."
Keith scanned his mouth with his tongue, there was nothing remaining, yet there was a peculiar feeling he hadn't noticed before. He could perceive textures better, he kept using his tongue on the inside of his cheeks, over his lips, and again all around his teeth.
He could feel nerves and veins, they were all tiny. His taste buds were kind of dead at the bottom of his cavity he though they had rotten. But there was each movements of his filiform buds that could describe him a total new world.
Any crevasse or protuberance he discovered interested him. His face was stuck in time as he experimented different things. The sharpness of his teeth, the topography of his palate, the slippery walls of his gums, bumpiness of his cheeks and their hardness when he smiled.
'What's all this?'
It was as if he had discovered a new universe. With one idea in his mind, he looked for a gaze to meet, to feel safer so he turned toward Mister Show, and he put his thumb in his mouth, facing his tongue. It caused an important information flow and Keith blacked out.
Without the main element used to 'explore', he quickly went back to a half-conscious state. He could feel a slight motion in his stomach. But he didn't care much. His eyes wandering in the room, he thought.
'What in the world happened to me? Why is mother different, why is this shadow here, why can I do 'this'? No way I'll put my finger in my mouth again, ever. That gave me a migraine. Where's Mister Show?'
He climbed back on against the wall before looking around, he found nothing. He heard the door of the living room opening. He decided to pull the mattress away from the window to let light enter the room.
"You there? How did you move away from the chair? Come on, my mom told you to not try anything funny! I brought you something to have fun."
"You came with Ublee?
"No! I found a cat! Look."
Domi had a short-haired, brown cat in his arms. The cat wasn't wild. He liked Domi's petting.
"There's no way I'll bring Ublee here now, it looks like a thunderstorm erupted in your house! Plus you are wounded and she is kind of a savage girl, she could worsen your state."
He closed the door and put the cat on the floor. He grabbed Keith by the shoulder to put him back next to the living room's table. The cat leaped on his legs, making him happy.
"First thing to do here is to clean everything up."
Domi began with the table, then he wiped the stains on the floor while talking about weather. Keith was happy to have someone caring for him.
Once he finished, he left Keith alone and headed back home.
At home, Raima had woken up and she was having a talk with Alma. Domi could hear part of it.
"....No, no I don't, I can't."
Raima interrupted herself once she saw Domi entering.
"I must go. Thanks for everything."
Raima exited the house and Alma told her son about what she concluded.
"She doesn't remember last night. I can't blame her."
In Keith's house, her mother came back and she said.
"I wanted to disappear. I craved to bury myself. I don't want to hurt you any more. My head is sick, I can't control this behaviour of mine. I know you may be scared of me but... I just can't continue staying by your side. I must move away, as soon as possible."
"Mother! I am glad to see you are fine. See? Everything is cleaned here. Everything is fine."
His mother was confused. She wasn't even excepting him wearing a smirk.
With a worried face, she held his head and said quietly.
"Mother isn't fine. I am sick, I have a kind... of monster inside me, urging me to do things to you, to everyone. He's in my head and I can't get rid of him. He speaks to me, ordering me time to time, as if everything was futile to him."
Her eyes wide open, her irises flickering under a layer of water, she continued.
"This dark matter lingering in my mind is asking me to make you suffer. As your mother I want you to be safe. I have been thinking of going away for a while."
'Mother has a Mister Show too? I haven't seen him, maybe they know each other. I could ask Mister Show to reason her inner shadow.'
"I am sure we can work this out together mother, everything will be alright."
"The healer told me, you can't work on your own, so, you better stay home for now. I am very sorry my child. I'll wait for your recovery."
The day passed slowly when they were both together. That was because Keith wanted to experiment more with his mouth. He spent most of his time tickling his palate, just above his upper incisors with the tip of his tongue.
But when night arrived, Keith was waiting in the next room for his mother to finish cooking. He was alone. He began licking objects around him, discovering a new time, any material roughness. This feeling was driving him to a state of daydreaming.
He went all over his body first. His lips, his forearms with partially existent hair, the tender bend of his elbow. Over his nails, being as careful as possible to not touch the other side of his hand. And any surface he could see his bones under.
Then he bit his shirt. He was immersed in his doing, the regular pattern of his cotton outfit was interesting, its temperature was low.
Mister Show rapidly exited the shirt.
"Hunt."
He said. But the word made Keith exit his excited state and he called him out before the shadow went out.
"No, wait! I just wanted to test the shirt. I won't do you anything. I don't feel hungry. Don't go away."
It worked. The shadow didn't go away.
"You heard the conversation this morning right? With mother. I think she has a shadow haunting her too, I would like you to help me getting rid of it. I don't want mom to go away."
After a few seconds of silence, the shadow answered.
"Rid."
"Yes! You nodded?"
'I don't see very well because of the light but I'll assume he agreed, once more.'
Dinner time came. And Keith asked plainly.
"Will you make me a sibling?"
"I will, but we both need to rest for a few days first. Then time will give us the answer."
Keith was joyful to this answer.
"Time? Is it as long as Alma?"
"Yes, that's it. About nine moons at term."
'Either we'll both have a baby by this time, either I didn't understand a ounce of how it works.'
"I'm glad mother. Let's take some strength back!"
They both ate in silence. Food had another new meaning. its temperature, the mushiness of the rice. The lack of water in its cooking made Keith notice its delicate floury texture. While the food was dancing on his tongue, the kid was thinking.
'This almost feels as eating maggots with moss and sand. Thankfully, I can see what I'm eating. I wonder if Mister Show can eat rice. '
A week went by calmly, without any crisis occurring from Keith's mother. The third day after the incident, and the fourth one he met Mister show.
Each time he could see the shadow, Keith attempted to question him, without getting any one-word reply, the curious movements he showed were mostly incomprehension.
Questioning him about senses such as taste or pain, Mister Show did not seem understanding. There was no attempt from him to give any food his human.
On the fifth day, Keith was almost able to walk by himself. His legs were fine but his pelvis and lower organs were damaged. Yet he managed to walk on the sixth day.
His mother and himself were not talking much, which helped not triggering his mother's sudden rages. She became less skinny by the day and her appetite grew too.
Domi's regular visit were playful times. On the seventh day, he came accompanied by his mother, Alma. It was time to take off the stitches.