"It's cold," he said as he rubbed his body with his hands.
"I remember closing the windows..." When he opened his eyes, he saw that the solidly built walls and minimalist design had been replaced with wood.
"What the hell? I've been kidnapped." He began to look around and saw some children lying around him. Counting them, he counted four, two boys and two girls.
"How sick, they kidnapped children too," he began to look for a way out, but he only found small windows high up on the walls, but no door.
"Shhhhh," and he saw her, a short woman with a baby on her back. Apparently, they were sliding doors, but who uses those nowadays?
"They kidnapped her too, or she works with them," he thought, covering his whole body with the blanket he had found on top of him.
"Tangiro, get up, Otosan is calling you," said the small woman. She seemed too young to have a baby, assuming it was hers.
"What?" Not recognizing anything she said, he covered himself even more with his blanket.
"Aren't you awake yet?" asked the petite woman. She began to take small steps around the room, careful not to step on the little ones.
"I don't remember..." Suddenly, his eyes widened. An avalanche of memories flooded his mind, as if they had always been with him.
"This... this... doesn't make sense. How do I have these memories? Am I dreaming?" He begins to tremble, consumed by an immense fear of the unknown.
"I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am... I think, therefore I am..." she recited like a mantra in her mind.
In seconds that seemed like an eternity, she came to a conclusion.
"I'll have to test my memories to see if they're true, then I can think about what to do with my life." Pulling down the blanket covering his head, he looked at the little woman.
"Mom?" he asked doubtfully.
"Who else could it be? Go wash your face and join Otosan," said Kie, and began to wake up each of the little ones.
"Nezuko, dear, wake up." She started with the oldest of the children.
I got up, still confused.
"Mom, I want to sleep..." I said between murmurs.
"No, you've slept too long. Help me wake up the others." Mother and daughter began to wake up everyone else.
"What are these memories? My mother died several years ago..." I walk through the small wooden house, unaware of my surroundings, unaware that my gait suggests I have always lived here.
When he reached a small wooden reservoir, he took a small bucket and splashed water on his face.
"Ahhh... that's cold," he said, wetting his hair and trying to comb it with his hands.
"Okay, now I have to find Otosan... how strange it is to say that." Since he had taken too long washing his face, he began to run to find his father.
When he arrived, Tanjuro was cutting pieces of wood. The sun barely shone in the distance.
"Otosan, good morning," he began, greeting him.
His father looked at him and nodded.
"Son, start gathering the logs," without waiting for him to repeat it twice, he picked up all the logs next to the largest pile they had cut the previous days.
After an hour had passed and they had finished with all the remaining logs, they decided to take a break.
They sat down on small chairs, which were just rudimentarily carved logs to simulate chairs.
"Your mother will have finished making breakfast by now," he said, looking at Tanjiro. The sun was already warming them with its presence.
"None of this seems like a dream..." He raised his hands and found his fingers covered in splinters.
"My father, my mother, and now my siblings... What did I do to end up here, with this body?" He began to hyperventilate.
"Huuu..." He began to inhale and exhale to calm himself.
"I've been thinking about it, and I remember the names of my supposed parents, not from this life, of course, but from the previous one. I heard it from one of my best friends, who said they were the parents of the main character in an anime..."
Without realizing it, Tajiro had been staring into space.
"What's wrong, son? You seem distracted," his father asked with a touch of concern.
Seeing that he was looking at him, waiting for an answer, he could only make up the first thing that came to mind.
"It's nothing, Otosan, I think I slept badly and twisted my neck," I said, rubbing my neck quickly.
Seeing his son evade the question, he just smiled.
"Hahahaha, these kids..." he said with an expression that said it wasn't the first time this had happened.
Getting up, he began to stretch his tired body.
"Come on, after breakfast we'll make charcoal." They both got up and entered the small house.
Upon entering the dining room, it was filled with bowls of rice, others with side dishes, and finally a cup of tea.
The little ones waited seated without touching the food yet. Mom and Nazuko entered, bringing with them some fruits unknown to her previous self, but with a little flashback in her memories, she was able to come up with the name. They were called Nashi, Japanese pears.
"You may begin," Otosan said, and everyone raised their chopsticks and began to devour the food.
"I've never tried this kind of food before, but eating it gives me a feeling of familiarity." He looks around as his younger siblings compete to see who can finish their meal first.
His sister Nezuko tries to show restraint while eating, but she is no different from her younger siblings.
Otosan was about to finish his meal, while Mom drank her herbal tea that she got from the mountains. I know this because I accompany her when I have free time.
"Otosan, can I take a break after I finish my meal?" I asked uncertainly. I had a lot to think about and would need even more time if I wanted to process what was happening in my life.
"Sure, I'll call you when I start preparing the charcoal," he said with a smile.
"Thank you, Otosan." I got up from the table and left the house, looking for a secluded place to let all my thoughts out.