Ketsuraku Sekai

Look, Sis, see what I can do.

Ryuuko sat down briefly to show me something. As best as she could, with her fingers, she wrote her name in the dust. "That apple girl showed me how to do that." she told me, her eyes sparkling. Nui was confused, going, "What?" (one of few other words she could say). I was intrigued at Ryuuko's action, considering how she didn't even know what an alphabet was. "Will Apple Girl teach me more words, Sis?" she asked me, almost enthusiastic. I told her that she might if she were willing to teach her.

She told me, to some degree, what the letters were and how they made up words like her name. Admittedly, she couldn't read and spell beyond her name at the moment, but it was something, if we are to continue our lives outside of the Glen. Nui, on the other hand, from what I can tell, needs more skills but she's still too young.

Perhaps, this Apple Girl is someone more benevolent. As I mused on Ryuuko spelling her name, I would be snapped out of my thoughts by Ryuuko asking, "Do you think Apple Girl will come over to play tomorrow?" I wasn't sure how to answer that but I told her that Apple Girl comes to the hospital quite a bit, though I wasn't sure why.

As I mused, I wonder if I've seen Apple Girl before. Life before the Event is something fleeting, blown away like dust on the wind, but, sometimes, I get thrown back to a time when I was sick. I needed to stay in a hospital, yes, though, I don't remember how long, much less what the illness was, though, I know it wasn't terminal. As for memories of the Glen, I don't remember exactly when that was—Before, after, or during the Event—but I do know that I was taken first and Ryuuko came some time afterwards. I think she was a toddler then and, currently, I haven't too much of a clue as to how old either of us are.

I think about that, at the moment, as I try to recollect my memories. I wonder if I've seen Apple Girl before, outside of the hospital or, perhaps, during my hospital days. Something about her feels familiar. Perhaps, she could help us find out what happened since the Event? My memories of my hospital days are fleeting and hazy but I think I recall a girl that also stayed in the hospital, though, her stay wasn't as long. Relatedly, I don't remember why she was in the hospital, though I know it was likely for observation.

I suppose I could teach Ryuuko a bit more since she's so eager. If anything, I could teach her what the signs meant or, at least, to connect words to images. Bit by bit, as we talked, I explained where we were, "This is a hospital, Ryuuko." before telling her what hospitals are for, to which she spat, something she did when she was upset. I knew why she was upset with my explanation, as she realized its similarities to the Glen. If she had any words for what to call her ports, she'd say that she hated them. Thinking about it, I wonder if her raincoat was her way of trying to hide them. Ironically, as attached to that raincoat that she was, she didn't even know what type of garment it was. I would find myself telling her, "What you wear is called a 'raincoat', Ryuuko."

"Oh." she responded before pointing the flowers.

"Those are called 'flowers', Ryuuko."

"Make 'flowers'!" she responded.

The word she was looking for was "spell" but she didn't know what the semantics of that word was, besides that letters made words. With as much as patience as I could muster, I spelled out the word "flowers". As I could tell, she hadn't quite grasped the concept of double-Us, but she would get there at some point. Regardless, she managed to connect the word "flowers" with the flowers on her raincoat.

After a bit of quiet where we could just hear the rain, she asked me, "We stayin' here forever?" I didn't really have an answer for that. I knew, at some point, we'd have to leave. My concerns are how are my sisters to fare in a world neither of us recognized, rather, a world that the neither of them remembered. If anything, I had to wonder how long ago it was since the Event and the only thing I can gauge is that Ryuuko was born before it. Nui had to have been born afterwards.