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"We're here, bonnie."

People . . . . These are people. I took a deep breath as I braced myself for the loud beats of my heart like those that I experienced when I first met Aisle.

There were carelessly aligned houses. All of the creatures were at ease. And calm.

Some had smoked. Some had eaten. Some had drunk. Some had talked. Some had walked. Some had laughed. Some had looked at us. But serenely.

"Aisle, they're all nice, right?" I asked. My eyes suggested that they were nice, but my mind was always drawn to the strange feeling my body felt. Whatever it was underneath the snow and underneath the ground really made me irritated by its oh-so-new pull.

"Don't worry, bonnie," he said.

I closed my eyes, longing for the warmth from my eyelids. Soon, it soothed the faint pain my eyes felt from the cold. While opening my eyes, I pushed a heavy sigh out of me as Aisle slowly walked away from me. I followed him, of course. I had no other place to go to apart from this village and that old house.

I imitated the way he walked. I didn't know where he was heading to, but I still tailed him as we walked past the snow-covered houses. As we stopped by a house bigger than the others for just a little bit, a tall woman greeted us with a thin-lipped smile.

"Aisle, how's the attempt? I told you!" the woman smoothly chuckled, giving my senses some hint that she was nice. "You can't go there."

"Hey, no," Aisle lifelessly said. "I even fetched someone from there."

"Wait, fetched?" I asked. "You just met me."

Aisle, who was recently lifeless, sighed gave me a lively yet disappointed stare.

"Oh, see, Aisle?" the woman said. Her looks showed a sign of her slight elderliness. Yeah, slight . . . because I didn't really think she was old.

"Auntie," Aisle sighed . . . again, "fine, you win. It was too cold there. I wish to go there again by summer." What did he say? Aun--what?

"No point. Still cold there in summer," the woman said, shaking her head. Her untamed curls in a heedless ponytail were bouncing.

The woman slowly turned to me, and she said, "Hi there, dear. You are?"

"She's Athene. I met her when I was on my way to the south," Aisle said placidly.

I thought that I was supposed to answer that, but he just did.

"Yeah." That was all I could say.

"Invite her in. I'll just get what I'll be needing for a soup from my best neighbor," she said.

Aisle nodded as she strode away.

"Come in, Athene. Make yourself feel at home," Aisle said and walked towards the stone house in front of us. It was, as I could say, was a bit old if you would judge it based on its looks. Whatever. It was alright, and . . . it was definitely better than the house where the old man disappeared.

Aisle jabbed a key into the keyhole of the doorknob, and the door was opened. He walked in carelessly like he always did. The lights inside the house were noticeably brighter than the house of the old man. They also emphasized good housekeeping.

"Come in, won't you?" My eyes landed on Aisle, who was holding the door open, definitely, for me.

"Am I allowed to?"

For a moment, he stared at me, his eyes different from their normal size. There was something he was telling me through them, and it was, like, an "are you dumb?" sort of question.

"Why are you asking that?" he asked.

"Why?"

"You're allowed, of course. Auntie said that I should invite you in. Cold outside, bonnie," I nodded, still confused with these creatures. Well, I was aware that I look like them, but it was weird-the something I felt in them. I felt abnormal. No kidding.

Wait. He said it again-the "auntie." Was that right?

Pushing the thought away, I walked in carefully. I was worried about the fact that my galoshes could be a snowy mess on their floor, but I chose not to show it that much.

"What did you say? Auntie?" I asked while looking down on his mukluks. He released his grip on the doorknob, and the door slammed close. Oh, that was why he was holding the door open for me. It was heavy.

"Yeah, she's my auntie," he said then carelessly (again) kicked his mukluks to the corner behind the door.

"What does it mean? That word?"

"Auntie?"

"Yeah." I looked down. I didn't feel right.

Suddenly, he burst out laughing. I immediately shot him a confused look just to let him know I was, well, confused. Goodness, these creatures are really weird.

"H-how dare you ask me-HAHAHA! Seriously?" I looked back at Aisle and his laughing Hazel eyes.

"Yeah, don't I look serious?"

He chuckled, almost so randomly staring at my hair, "You look serious . . . but your question doesn't."

I pushed a sigh out of me. Why does he have to laugh?

"Well, just tell me what 'auntie' means," I said. I didn't know what to do anymore.

"Fine."

I nodded as I waited for his answer. He opened his lips, and I knew he would say some-

"HAHAHA-Alright, you know, when you have a mother or father that has a sister, that sister's your aunt; or if you have an uncle, his wife is your aunt," he explained.

"Sister? Father? Ungcall? Aunt? Mother? Wife?" I asked. "What are those?"

Clapping his hands together once, he cackled. Goodness! Seriously? Can't he just explain it without laughter?

"Hahaha-ugh! Why are you . . . being so f-funny?" he laughed.

"I'm not!" I shouted. "Why would I be funny? Huh?"

"Every single human being of your age knows what those are. HAHAHA-are you even a human?"

When he was laughing, half of me was laughing, too, but it was hard to let it out. And now . . . all the humor is gone.

"No," I whispered.

He burst out laughing again then said, "You're so funny, bonnie."

He ran his fingers through his hair, burying his hair's flaxen tips in the dark set of strands. His face became expressionless as he turned his back on me.

"Bonnie, I have to say this."

"Say what?"

"You're so dumb."

"What?" Oh, of course, I am.

He faced me, close enough for me to see the finest details of his irises, then said, "You're so dumb. Recently, you asked me what 'auntie' means. Dumb, bonnie, dumb."

He took a step forward, and the more he got closer, the more I understood how dumb I was. He's right.

"Tell me, do you have amnesia?"

"Amnesia?"

My heart pounded as quick as how it did when I first met Aisle.

"Why do you look so innocent?" He got even closer, and it was like I forgot how to move. I planned on stepping backwards, but my body seemed to have disagreed. Then suddenly, I felt more heat crawling from my nape to ears, then to my cheeks, and it was surprisingly making me forget being nervous.

"Aisle."

"Please promise me we'll be friends."

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