There was something that I, or perhaps now by my new name, Rumius, had discovered. That as a baby, time seemed to pass by so very fast.
If life could be played at 2x speed then that would be what I was experiencing right now.
Sleep. Wake up. Eat. Crap. Sleep. Wake up. Eat. Crap.
It was like a samsara of unproductive time killing.
Rumius also remembered surprisingly little of these days, only that his new parents were called Maman and Paapan unlike Mama or Papa as it was on earth. Unless these were actually their names. He wasn't sure though.
Rumius was still careful not to show signs of his superior intelligence so he hadn't made any attempts to communicate. However, that forced him to get by daily interactions by doing his best to emulate his impression of what babies sounded like from his memories.
As a result, there was no spare mental room to try to learn the language that the people around him used so everything the people around him said still sounded like gibberish.
Maman was a Woman of rather average height. When Rumius had seen her for the first time after being transported to this world, she was in immediate post-labor and was far from being in her best.
But when she came to visit him soon enough, seeing her her dressed up, well and healthy, Rumius had good reason to have hopes that one day, he too could enjoy the privileges of being good looking.
Maman came by very often and Rumius would basically see her everyday either to be breastfed or to be carried around on her shoulder on little adventures around the mansion. He grew to be very fond of her.
She didn't miss a day on her Motherhood subscription pass and Rumius wouldn't have had it any other way.
He had died of old age in his past life and the people who had given him life and wings to soar had already long bid him farewell.
The feeling of unconditional love and affection. The safety of his mother's embrace were like old friends that he had not met in a long time but whose friendship remained as strong as before.
It was the same that day.
Rumius had just gotten up. Looking out the window, it was quite dark still and the thought of going back to sleep briefly crossed his mind.
*" Going back to sleep?"*
( Note: Lines in *_____* are lines that Rumius doesn't understand.)
Rumius was caught completely off guard.
' What the..! '
He swivelled towards the direction of the voice.
In the dim light, a giant, beautiful face casually rested on folded arms on the frame of the crib.
" Booboogaga?" He blurted out and regretted it just as quickly.
' Shit! Since when did babies sound like that? Oh my god I'm screwed!'
*" Hahaha I know. Don't mind Maman. Do what you want."*
The silence was unbearable.
" Boograhga?" Rumius ventured, his heart racing slightly.
' Did she buy the act?'
He could only hope so from the silence that once again followed.
Organising his thoughts, Rumius looked up curiously at the female figure.
' What does she want? Isn't it a little early for her to be here?'
' Mother only just gave birth to me a few days ago, so why isn't she in bed resting?' Worry gnawed at his heart.
He stared awkwardly at the woman who seemed surprisingly serene and calm.
' I guess. Who would be nervous visiting their own baby?'
Rumius gazed at his mother's face.
He had seen her many times before but he had never had the chance to look at her face carefully like this.
The room bit most of its light in the day from the sun and as such, didn't get much light at this time, causing the details to blur slightly. But even without that, Rumius could tell that his Maman was an incredibly beautiful woman.
Of all her angle-like features, Rumius loved her eyes the most.
They had beautiful colour and he loved how whenever a weak ray of divergent light made it past the opaque curtains and into her eyes, they seemed to internally reflect and make her brown irises shine dimly like setting suns.
Rumius looked away uncomfortably while shuffling his sitting position.
*" Can't sleep while Maman is here?"* Maman said.
" Gah." He replied perfunctorily. There was no point in trying to figure out what she meant.
*" Want to go somewhere then?"*
" Gah."
*" Sure?"*
" Gah."
Due to his incomprehension, Rumius was understandably a little surprised when his mother stood up, scooped him cleanly into her arms and out of the room.
' Ok shit what did I get myself into now?'
Rumius was cradled snugly in his giant mother's arms as she navigated the mansion which never failed to impress him with its size.
No matter how many times Rumius thought he had seen it all from all the little escapades he recently took with his mother, just a different turn would open up what felt like a whole new world to him.
At that thought, Rumius relaxed somewhat.
He looked up slightly to his mother's face and thought fondly, thinking back at all the little fun journeys he'd had over the past two weeks with this woman. Someone who was still in pain and tired yet still came over to spend time with him everyday,
' Well…I guess they were all pretty fun. If it's with her then there's no need to stress about where we're going I guess.'
After a few more twists and turns, maman pushed open one final door and suddenly, the landscape changed.
The mansion was big but Rumius had earlier noticed the curious dearth of windows in the structure. However, the walls were lined in a mechanical, almost strategic fashion by a series of torches. The lights would overlap and enhance, each covering the periphery of another and making sure no corner of structure was left unlit.
It was truly master craftsmanship.
In comparison however, the ambiance of the place that they had just stepped in felt almost like a completely different world. It took only a moment for Rumius to realise that they were no longer in the mansion.