3: Strange Land
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Time has passed and I assume I am now a little more than 6 months old, judging by how I can hold my head high. I have only learnt the simplest phrases and names, but pronunciation is really foreign, and I just can't seem to reproduce the same sounds as I hear.

I have been introduced to plenty of strangers, so many I can't remember most of them. The troublesome realization began brewing when I saw a few unusual hair and eyes. Blue hair, green hair, red eyes and purple eyes. I don't think that exists.

I had also been introduced to the outside, and the few houses that surround us. It took me some time to realize, but it is truly bizarre. There is no sun. Things in the open do not have shadows, only things past opening like our window cast one. And there is this strange fog looming in the distance. I first assumed it was merely fog, but it was there each time I was taken out of the house, so I assume it to be a permanent phenomenon. 

Today is special, I think. I am dressed up in a grey sort of dress and given a thorough bath, which reminds me how seldom that happens. I think I have only been bathed some 6 times so far. My mother and father are then escorting me through the village we live in, dawning more bizarre relations on me.

I see no fields or livestock anywhere. Surely a sedentary society cannot survive merely by hunting as my father does? I want to ask, but I also don't want to appear as though I am expecting something. These people do probably not have access to education and will likely be extremely superstitious. I fear the day I say I am a grown man in a child's body and get burned at the stake, so I have decided to try and act properly like a baby.

I am taken to a building clearly different from the rest. It appears in entirely green, polished stone. It is also massive in comparison to our house, easily able to house dozens of people. It is shaped like a dome, but flattens out very quickly, so that it more appears like slightly slanted circular walls, with a low angled circular roof and surrounding this central structure is six pillars.

Inside a fair amount of people are gathered, sitting on the green stone floor, and my mother and father walk up to a man leading the crowd. The people are initially chatting among themselves, but it dies out quickly as we approach the man. He is dressed in green robes, much different from all of the clothes I have seen until now, being mostly grey and brown, with some white and black pieces here and there. He smiles at me.

Then some sort of ceremony starts. He speaks loudly while he picks up a wooden bowl with some red paste inside. He takes the paint and smear it on my forehead, painting something. It is grainy and clammy, and my discomfort makes my baby instincts fire and I want to cry, but I hold it back as it would probably interrupt the ceremony.

Then, light emits from my forehead and the mans gentle smile widens into a complete grin. My parents also seem ecstatic, hugging me and cheering is heard all through the hall. The ceremony seems to be concluded, as people rise from the floor and swarm around, offering cheery exclamations and seemingly congratulating my mother and father. A lot of them smile at me.

That was probably some sort of baptism ritual, but what was with the paste and light and is this level of cheering normal? I have decided I will wait until I can ask these questions more naturally, but I am incredibly curious

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