For some reason though, the campfire I had hoped to enjoy, turned into a desk. The green carpet I sat indian-style on somehow became a white carpet. I was so close to a real campfire. We did not even get to sing a single song or tell stories about bumps that happened during the night. The outdoor scenery was completely gone now and replaced with a bedroom. I raised my hand at the swivel chair next to me, but calmed down enough to just push away from me. Violence was never the answer. Now that I was able to get a better look at the bedroom, it was really quite nice. Bright colors everywhere and everything clean and organized. It was obvious that this was the daughter's room. Not just because of the bright colors. The bookcases full of books, the large walk-in closet, and the expertly made bed had nothing to do with it either. It was obvious to me, because only daughters were allowed to sleep on the top floor. Daughters had to be protected. The Kelly household had two children. One boy and one girl. The boy's bedroom must have been on a lower floor. Father always said that cellars build character and independence.

My attention was drawn to the movement of the bedroom door as the Kelly boy entered. He immediately scowled when he saw me and leaped towards me. He was apparently much faster than I had given him credit for. Since he appeared in front of me, before I even realized, and slashed his glowing sword at me. Another glowing sword materialized out of thin air and started to spin around him. Then a second glowing sword appeared and hovered around him as he struck me again with the sword in his hand. Having never been attacked by a sword before, I was not sure what to do. Perhaps it was his brown leather jacket, his chubby appearance, or his brown hair, but I dropped to the ground and played dead after I covered the back of my neck with my hands. His glowing swords would probably do more damage to me than a brown bear's claws, but I was not sure what else I was supposed to do. This posture would hopefully calm him down enough to cease his attacks against me. I was not a threat to him. The boy jumped backwards and landed near the doorway that led back into the hall. I could not hear his voice, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him inhale greatly and open his mouth wide. He must have screamed at the top of his lungs.

You gain experience!

You gain experience!

You have gained a level! Welcome to level 5!

You gain experience!

You gain experience!

Adam says, in an unknown tongue, 'd'pta jleopali nugtq ffreka'

One of the transparent windows revealed itself while my face was pressed into the carpet. This would not have happened if I had greeted him properly. No one had ever hit me after I greeted them earnestly. It was just that I had not expected him to attack me as quickly as he did. He was usually the laziest member of the family. The boy rarely ventured outside, unless it was for school. At least the daughter moved around the neighborhood every day. She either walked or ran on the street, or exercised behind the bushes. More impacts on my back returned me to my current dilemma. I looked up and noticed that Mr. Kelly was also here now. He held a sword in his hand too. His sword had more of a bluish tint to it while his son's sword glowed with a brighter white color. I watched the two of them as they took turns stabbing me in the back and side. At least there was no pain and, thankfully, there were no blood stains below me. The red color would never come out of such a bright white carpet.

Laura says, in an unknown tongue, ' hda q'uf chvya pt'l uyla'

Adam says, in an unknown tongue, ' epto fil vbu ets'

John says, in an unknown tongue, 'klpi s'ratu wopp'

Laura says, in an unknown tongue, 'yiy t'

Adam says, in an unknown tongue, 'eh'

I felt a warm sensation on my hand and then someone attempted to pull me up. It was Mrs. Kelly who reached out to me. The two males still had their swords drawn, but they retreated a little way to make room for her. She helped me up and wrapped me up in another hug. Mrs. Kelly seemed to really like physical contact with others. I felt pats all over my back and realized that another check for damaged clothes was underway. A few more lines of an unknown tongue appeared in the transparent window as they conversed. All three of them seemed very upset. At each other and perhaps at me too. At least I did not have to hear them argue. Family matters should be private affairs, after all. I squeezed Mrs. Kelly's hand to show her my support and help quell her anger. She visibly let out a sigh and then pulled me towards the door. Mr. Kelly and his son followed us, still with their weapons out. Though now the son kept a crossbow pointed at me instead of a sword. A short walk downstairs and we all ended up in the kitchen.

Mrs. Kelly opened up her refrigerator and started to take out various foods. There were so many fruits and vegetables. Mr. Kelly and his son retrieved several cups, plates, bowls, and silverware from the cabinets and drawers. Which was rather impressive, since they still kept their weapons pointed towards me. Since the dining room could easily be seen from the kitchen, the males continued to keep an eye on me as they went about their chores. I was not sure what time it was, but they set the table for a meal. Mrs. Kelly handed me a bowl of salad and some bottles of dressing, then pointed me to the dining room. I could not help but be amazed at how delicious the salad looked as I brought the bowl into the next room. Chunks of meats and cheeses, shredded carrots, sliced eggs, onions, and greens of various kinds. Not just lettuce, but sliced cucumbers, peppers, and even avocado chunks were there too. Father hated salad and called it rabbit food, so he never had any of the fixings in his refrigerator. Just iceberg lettuce when Father wanted a burger. He would place a single piece on top when he wanted to eat healthily.

Mr. Kelly sat down at the head of the dining room table, and started to clean his sword with a napkin. I would have preferred that he paid more attention to the sharp object in his hand than to glower at me. That was how people injured themselves with dangerous objects. His son sat down next to him and kept his crossbow pointed at me. I was clearly not welcome at their table. Even though the table was large enough for six chairs, only four were present. That made sense though, since there were only four in the Kelly family. I did not want to be the cause of any more friction between the members, though, so I waved goodbye to Mrs. Kelly, bowed my head towards Mr. Kelly in respect, and then turned around to leave. There was so much to do in the yard, and I was really far behind already. I hurried out of the house, turned to the right, and headed home. For some reason, both garage doors of the house were closed. I know that I did not close the right garage bay. That garage door should have been left open. It was the routine and also the only way for me to enter the house. I was in deep trouble if Father had already returned home from work early.

Laura says, in an unknown tongue, 'hoq zzes auyt'

I paused briefly when the transparent window popped up in front of me, but continued to walk away. There was far too much left to do today. I did not have time to sit down and have a nice meal with the neighbors. Even if Father was home, it was better to receive the punishment earlier, rather than later. Only a few steps later and my hand was grabbed. Mrs. Kelly pulled me all the way back to the house and into the dining room. All six chairs were present at the table this time, so there was room for me to sit, but the Kelly males looked very displeased with my return. Mrs. Kelly took out the brown workbench, pointed to it, and made the hand grasping motion. I made the workbench vanish with a touch of my hand.

A lockbox appeared next and then many more things came out of it. Multiple tools, weapons, armor, torches, and even a little boat. They all vanished into nothingness after permission was given. She really was terrible with her belongings, but I did as I was told. More and more objects appeared, and I erased them all. Finally, she turned to the Kelly males and there was a flurry of conversation between the three of them. Mr. Kelly seemed much more agreeable to my presence after he saw how quickly I had cleaned up the trash. Though his son continued to glare at me as he kept his crossbow pointed in my general direction. His grumpy look did not bother me, I was used to that look of his. He always seemed unhappy when I saw him. I have picked up much of his discarded trash over the years. Even when he had not discarded items on Father's property directly, the wind would deposit his trash there anyway. He was like his mother in that regard. They both just abandoned things behind whenever it suited them.

The fourth member of the Kelly household showed up at this time. The daughter walked into the dining room from the kitchen. She kept her head pointed down towards the beige carpet, though it was impossible to see exactly where she was looking. The younger female had her hood pulled down, so it covered most of her face. She always wore thick and heavy clothing. Even in the summertime, when the temperatures were almost unbearable. The silent argument between the others seemed to stop when she arrived and sat down on a chair. Mrs. Kelly pulled me over to the empty chair next to the girl and pointed at it with a nod. Then she walked around the table and sat across from me. Mr. Kelly was already seated at the head of the table next to his daughter and the younger male was already in a chair next to him, diagonal from me. The younger male had turned his attention to his elder sister and attempted to get her attention with his crossbow. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly seemed to hold a silent conversation with their facial expressions. Head bobs, shakes, and eyes flickered around. I decided to mind my own business and simply stared down at my empty plate. Time was running out, and I needed to at least get the lawn in respectable condition today, no matter what. So I planned out the remainder of the day in silence.

The younger miss got up from her chair and attempted to leave the dining room, but her mother stopped her. The mother and daughter duo held a short conversation, in an unknown language, before she sat back down. Mrs. Kelly picked up the salad bowl and started to serve everyone. Surprisingly, it was the younger lady that received her share first. With many toppings and greens placed upon her plate. Mr. Kelly was next and received a portion of a similar size, though he immediately reached for the bread and deli meats to make a sandwich. His son only received a small serving of salad. Then Mrs. Kelly deposited half of the remaining bowl on the plate in front of me. There were so many colors in the salad. The woman then offered me some of the dressings. There was a brown liquid, a red liquid, an orange one, and a yellowish one too. Even the salad dressings had so many colors. I was unsure which dressing to try, so Mrs. Kelly poured a little from each bottle on my plate to try them all out.

While Mrs. Kelly attended to the salad dressings, the Kelly boy reached for the bread to make himself a sandwich. Mr. Kelly passed over the plate with sliced meats on it. There was a flurry of activity between the two of them as all sorts of meats and condiments were passed around while the sandwiches grew in height. The boy noticed me and glared angrily at me again. I returned my attention towards the plate in front of me as I waited for them to finish their construction project. It would be rude of me to be the first one to eat. It was their food, and I was just an unwanted guest. The women had not eaten anything yet either. A small argument seemed to occur when the boy licked the spoon covered in mayonnaise. Mr. Kelly looked quite amused, but Mrs. Kelly was not. I watched the three of them as stealthily as I could. Even though Mrs. Kelly was unhappy with her son's actions, he was not punished at all.

When the trio settled their dispute, everyone returned their attention to their plates. During the commotion, more food somehow appeared on my plate. There were more cubes of meat, cheese, and also more egg slices on my plate than were there previously. I knew there were more because I counted them. Not all the toppings, but it was difficult not to notice when three egg slices turned into eight. Since the girl and Mr. Kelly had started to eat, I also picked up my fork and took a bite. The salad looked terrific, but unfortunately there was no taste. No taste to the salad at all. It did not matter what I pierced with my fork. Meat, cheese, carrots, peppers, onions, greens all tasted the same. Both with or without salad dressing. It was all the same. Everything was tasteless.

Redmaw: i can not taste anything

Primrose: Did you enjoy the taste of food before?

Redmaw: no not particularly not really

Primrose: Then does it matter that you can't taste food anymore?

Redmaw: i suppose it does not

Primrose: Your body may not even need food anymore. Were you hungry?

Redmaw: no i was not i was trying to return home and perform my chores

Primrose: Then you're eating because?

Redmaw: the neighbors brought me to their home and gave me salad

Primrose: Salad is rather tasteless anyway. Can't you just tell them you want to leave?

Redmaw: they can not understand me my words i can not understand their words either

Primrose: Oh! I see. Do you want to be able to understand others? I can help you, if you want.

That was a hard question to answer. It was usually better to keep my head down and keep to myself. To keep quiet. Silence was usually the correct answer to many problems. Rather, many problems took care of themselves thanks to silence. My lack of communication seemed to be a burden on others though. Mrs. Kelly was certainly annoyed, though we managed to overcome it together. It was possible that the Kelly males would not have attacked me if I could have spoken with them. Sometimes a friendly wave may not be enough to prevent an attack on my person. Even if I was able to understand them, I could still keep quiet and only speak when the situation required it. I would only know when those situations arose if I could understand them though. The ability to understand was key. Without that, I would never know when to speak up, or why others attacked me.

Redmaw: i think i would like to understand so that i may not be attacked again

Primrose: Someone attacked you?

Redmaw: it was my fault probably i must have surprised him

Primrose: Okay.....then I can send you an item that will be of great help to you.

Redmaw: if possible i should do something for you as well

Primrose: Well, if you could keep a little secret for me?

Redmaw: i am good with secrets

Primrose: Excellent! Then please don't tell anyone about me. Ever. Okay? Just keep ME a secret please. Okay?

Redmaw: i rarely talk to other anyway

Primrose: Thanks! I'll send a parcel to you in the mail.

I definitely understood the desire to remain hidden away. I was rather content to continue on as I always had too. It was not a bad life. The chores were a struggle at first, but I have long learned how to perform them all. Father rarely even needed to talk to me anymore. As long as I followed the schedule, yes, I just needed to stick to the schedule. Then the punishments would be few and far between. Please be at work still, Father. You did not need to come home early today, of all days. The one day when everything has gone wrong with the schedule. Maybe the wind closed it. No, maybe a neighbor closed the garage door. It has never happened before, but today has been a weird day. So maybe, just maybe, I can at least get the front yard done before Father returns.

Apparently, I missed quite the argument among the Kelly family while I was lost in thought. The disadvantage of blocked communications. It bothered me a little that those who actually wanted to speak to me, could not. The son looked extremely upset when he ran from the dining room. Mrs. Kelly looked worried as she chased after him. Mr. Kelly rushed after the two of them as well. The daughter calmly stood up and then proceeded to dump the remains of her salad on my half-eaten plate. Her plate was carefully returned to the table, before she reached out and grabbed my right arm with her left hand. Her hand looked so small and frail. The dining room vanished, and I found myself in another new place. It looked like a living room, but I knew that it was not the Kelly living room. Before I was able to determine the new location, a small hand grabbed my nose and pulled me down to look her in the chin. The dark sweatshirt hood still covered most of the Kelly girl's face.

Christina says, in Dark Speech, 'Fucking assholes. They really don't have a fucking clue.'

Christina says, in Dark Speech, 'Red, after entering the portal, go into the first door you see. That will bring you into town. The third door on your right will have a Guru inside. Listen to his dialogue to receive a ring....