"Wonder how long is this dream going to last," Akira muttered, now floating upside down in that dark space. Though there is no up or down in space, Akira could tell that he was upside down because the alien lady looked inverted.
Akira wondered about screaming and waking her up. But he didn't know if his voice would reach her. She did look close to him, but considering her size, she was probably a million light-years away from him. Also, he was not sure if waking her up was a good idea.
"You are finally here." Akira heard someone say. He didn't hear it from his ears. The sweet yet ominous voice reverberated not only through his body but also through his soul. The green lady slowly opened her eyes, all six of them. She had yellow sapphire eyes. Akira knew that she had spoken, but Akira didn't see her mouth move.
Not knowing how to react, Akira said, "Yo. W-who are you?" He didn't want to sound meek. But he couldn't help. Her presence and the way her voice had shaken through his body was too much to handle.
The woman smiled, and Akira could tell that it was a genuine smile because it reached all six of her eyes. "I know about everything that happens in this world and everything that has already happened... Still, I didn't see that kind of reaction coming from a youngling like you." Again, she spoke, but her mouth didn't move.
"You d-didn't answer my question... But considering what you just told, I'm assuming that you are miss-know-it-all?"
The woman laughed, and Akira felt her laughter shaking every atom in his body. Was this really a dream?
"I can't answer any of your questions," the green lady said. "I'm allowed to answer only one question, and that too after someone completes my given quest."
"Quest, huh?" Akira said. "So, did you bring me here?"
"I can't answer that," the woman said and suddenly propelled herself forward, a warm smile still etched on her face. She moved like she was not in space but diving through some deep ocean. Akira twisted and turned his body and watched as she circled me, her tentacle-like hair waving backward, her bosom swaying gently in motion.
He had never felt this inconsequential in his entire life.
I need to stop watching weird stuff, Akira told himself; my mind keeps coming up with some weird dreams.
"Dreams?" the woman said and stopped moving. She brought her huge face closer and said. "Oh, yes, the lifeform from your world can do that!"
"Eeh. What do you mean by 'Your World'? Do you mean my planet Earth?"
"I can't answer that."
"Did you--did you read my mind?"
"I can't answer that."
Akira grabbed a fistful of his maroon hair and tugged, kicking space. "Damn, this is so annoying."
The woman giggled. "I can only answer one question that has been burning in your heart."
"W-what do you mean?"
"Isn't there one thing that you want to find out? You are here... which means that you want to learn about something so passionately that you are willing to give away your life for it."
She was right. There was one thing Akira wanted to find out, and it concerned his grandma and his parents. Before Akira knew it, he was drowning in the memories of his beloved grandmother.
***
"What happened, Aki? What made you cry?" Granny Yua asked. She was in front of the stove, boiling something. She was a plump old lady with silver-white hair which she usually wore in a tight bun.
Akira, seven-year-old, stood in the kitchen's doorway, crying his eyes out. "It's Takeshi. He won't let me play with his game."
"Oh, dear," Granny said, turned off the stove, went over to him, and began wiping his tears. "Don't cry. Crying doesn't solve anything."
"S-So I told him about our secret... that we are super-rich and we can easily buy a hundred games like that... Granny, can you please buy that game for me? I really want that game."
"Sure, I can buy a hundred games like that, but you shouldn't have told him our secret. Where can we buy this game of yours?"
Akira took her to the shop and showed her the console that he wanted.
"40,000 Yen!" She looked beyond shocked.
"Huh?" Akira asked, looking up at her with his innocent eyes. "You can't buy it?"
Granny Yua laughed. "Of course, I can." But there was something off about her laughter. She seemed nervous, but she bought the thing anyway. At that time, Akira didn't know how hard she worked to pay for that thing.
But Akira never regretted buying that thing. After all, he and Granny Yua had spent most of their free time playing together. It was during this time, Akira realized that his kind grandma was ruthless when it came to competitive games.
When Akira turned nine, he started having serious doubts about how rich he was. So, Granny Yua took him to the mansion where she worked and made it look like it was theirs. It was one of the most awesome days Akira ever had. Everyone in the big house behaved like he was the master--even the actual owner of the house acted like he was just a servant.
As time passed, Akira started seeing his grandma less often. He later learned that she was working for long hours to pay for his increasing school expenses. He hadn't noticed it, but she had gotten frailer than what she used to be.
Akira remembered how tired she looked when the last time he saw her alive. He had been thirteen then. They had played a fighting game before going to bed. Akira, as usual, lost all the matches. Granny Yua kept smiling and kept on rubbing the fact that he lost. Akira kept giving excuses and went to bed, intending to defeat her the next day.
He didn't get the chance to do that. His grandma never woke up after that night.