Noctura

twenty three

jinwoo

"ARE YOU a dog or a cat person?"

I smile at the little boy, Nephi, sitting on the floor in front of me, holding onto his little stuffed dog.

"Well," I say, sighing.

I don't remember having a dog or a cat. I don't remember anything.

"Probably a cat person," I answer.

"Why?" Nephi asks.

"I don't know," I say honestly. "I just feel like I'd rather have a cat than a dog. But I don't remember having either."

"I like dogs," Nephi tells me. "But I like cats, too. We used to have a dog. He was a small dog. But when my parents died, he ran away. Maybe he's with them now."

I give Nephi a sad smile.

"Why don't you remember anything?"

I look at the small stuffed dog in his hands. It's a yellow dog, it's missing one of its eyes, and it's about as big as my hand.

"I don't know," I tell Nephi. "I wish I knew."

"Maybe you just need some help remembering," he says. "Maybe you've only forgot for a little bit."

"Maybe." I give him a small smile. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

He sighs and falls onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. "I can never sleep when there's new people here. I always want to talk to them."

"Well, we can talk more tomorrow, can't we?"

He sits up and looks at me. "Are you staying here tomorrow?"

I give him a confused look.

"Seungyoon said you probably won't be staying here for very long," Nephi clarifies. "He said you have someone you're living with but you just needed to be here temporarily. Is it a wife?"

I let out a laugh. "No, no, not a wife. He's a friend. He saved my life and took me in. But there was a house search and I couldn't be found, you know?"

Nephi nods in understanding. "Oh, okay, I get it now. I don't like house searches. But we don't get house searches here."

"That's good," I say.

"Yeah, I guess." He looks down at the dog. "But back home, when we did have searches, I was able to play. I could go outside and play with the little dog in the backyard. I could ride my bike around the neighborhood. We can't do that here. Seungyoon said it's not safe."

"Well, Yoon is right," I tell him. "They just want to keep you and everyone else safe."

"Yeah," Nephi says. "I know. I just wish I could go outside sometimes."

He stands up and moves toward the door. Then he turns back around. "When is Seungyoon going to be back?"

"I don't know," I answer. "Probably soon. He went to get my friend."

"A new friend?" Nephi's eyes light up. "Now I really can't sleep!"

I give a short laugh.

He laughs, too.

"You should sleep anyway, Nephi," I tell him. "I need to take a shower. And I'm sure it's way past your bedtime."

Nephi sighs. "I don't have a bedtime."

"Will Yoon say the same thing when I ask him?"

Nephi gives me a large smile. "Yes."

I laugh and shake my head. "Why do I feel like you're lying?"