It's a bright, sunny spring morning when I woke up, yawning slightly. I felt a slight discomfort and soreness, possibly due to tossing and turning too much the previous night. The mattress that I found myself laying on felt too thin and flimsy, so much so I could feel the cold floor underneath.
Stretching my limbs and unconsciously moving to the table for the removal of contact lenses, I found both to be... non-existent. Not only that, the mass that always hung on my body had disappeared, and I could feel my flabby flesh and more or less shriveled limbs.
The weight burden is gone, replaced by a slight hunger, along with energy brimming within. I scrunched, my forehead ringing, trying to remember what happened.
'I went to sleep at 3 yesterday, not exactly the earliest... It could be noon already, but why I don't have lenses on? Was I sent to a hospital because of heart attack?'
I surveyed the room, yet its eerie similarity and apparent childishness seemed unfitting for spotless and cold hospitals. In particular, another individual, tucked deeply in their blanket, was sleeping on the bed above myself - a sight that I have not seen for half a decade now.
"Ellie?", I called out softly, in disbelief. The earliest memories of my childhood - petty grudges against my younger sister, a time when things were simpler and time seemed to stop - were quite beautiful, even if my family back then was not so well-off. Though, how I treated my younger sibling couldn't be said to be admirable for I always found myself inferior in front of her innate talent.
A pair of baby blue plastic glasses removed any trace of doubt that this time is my relative past. They felt light, yet slightly slipped down my nose as I put them on. The world through those glasses is crystal clear, far more than what I could get to see in the distant future.
The figure in the blanket shifted but showed no sign of waking up. Too used to waking on time courtesy of more than twelve years as a student, I could not remain on the mattress any longer and exited the room through the creaking door. The metal handle was cold to the touch.
"Okay...", I mumbled, trying to process the information at hand. "I'm probably 7 or 8-year-old, since I rarely slept alone from fear of ghosts". At that ridiculous memory, I chuckled to himself.
As it's early morning and there's no paper calendar hung on the walls, one could only deduct this much. However, the lack of proper furnishing in the opposite space - my future bedroom - meant that my family at this time has just moved in to our new home. The emptiness, borderline claustrophobic feeling was further enhanced by the tiny window - it looked positively haunted, and it's quite insane that I'd live there for a decent chunk of his life.
'School notebooks! Primary school makes all students note down dates like a machine, and I'm probably the most well-behaved one.' After mentally condemning my past self, I searched for the old (at this time, new) school bag and found a stack, the latest date written being "Friday, 3rd January 2014" in my mother's tongue.
'It's not even the first day of the year - the writer must be a lazy third-rate that can't even choose a meaningful day to go back. It's still good though, this means I have half a school year before summer, and 2nd grade workload is... well, both easy and tedious.'
Before I could celebrate, a thought struck me that if I do not constantly refresh my knowledge, all the advantages would slowly dissipate and be forgotten. Grabbing what would've been a childish diary in the past life, I noted down my resolutions:
'Day 1 Plans
No computer:
Learn music. Piano first from that MM center, practice ahead, then guitar, practice ahead. Be careful of breaking form and ignoring rhythm.
Draw regularly. Try to redesign famous champions and characters from memory. Attempt splash arts and abilities. Aphelios and Hwei, eventually.
Revise knowledge from 12th grade. Buy and solve problems in textbooks, Ask to be assistant in maths extra class of my aunt, don't join maths competitions.
Refuse English and Literature extra class. Keep schedule free, especially in middle school.
Get 9 hours of sleep per day and bicycle, swim if invited. Do not carry heavy backpack. Eat vegetables,
Find and reread Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, etc. <- alibi for conversations in class.
When have computer, try Merry-Go-Round.'
That's quite comical, if I can say so myself. However, without more inspiration, I sealed the pages using light tape and stuffed it between a stack of dull textbooks. Sneaking back to the mattress, I laid down once more and waited for the day to truly start. Though the lack of resources, be it money to buy books or eat comfortably prompted me to plan ahead - for now, as an "innocent" child, I had all the time in the world.