Reborn

- Hm? Where am I?"

- Wasn't I having an interview with a beautiful journalist?"

- Ah. That phone call… I remember it now."

…

- So it was planned. How could I make such a rookie mistake?! Those bastards. I'll never forgive!"

*Sigh.

- But where even am I? And why couldn't I move?"

"Pah."

- What is this?! Why can't I speak?!

"Pah! Puoah!!!"

- It couldn't be! Am I… disabled? I can't talk anymore? Shit! Why does my body feel so heavy? So hard to move.

- And my eyes! Why is everything so dark? Am I blind? No, it couldn't be! Open! Eyes! I say open!

"Woah!"

- Aghh! The light is too bright! Come on, adjust to it already. I have to see what happened to me.

…

..

.

"WOAHKFWFWEFJ???!!!!"

- Wha… What the hell is this? These short arms, short legs… I'm clearly in a cradle right now. Am I… reborn as a baby?

…

…

- Breathe. Breathe. Calm down. Panic only leads to failure. Observe and gain as much information as possible.

…

- This architecture is… Middle Ages style.

- These clothes… Middle Ages style.

- That door, food, light… they're all Middle Ages style.

…

- This is certainly not a dream. In no hell would I dream of being reborn in the Middle Ages… At least, it doesn't look like I'm reborn into a poor family. That's something good, I guess.

- Anyway. I have to get out of here. I don't want to be in this cradle any longer.

—

As the young child tried to climb out of the cradle, the door opened and a maid stepped in to see the horror. "Young master! That's dangerous!"

She quickly picked the baby up and held it in her arms. "Please don't do something like that again. You will hurt yourself." she softly whispered to it.

The baby violently struggled to escape her, but after seeing how futile it was, the baby became silent.

"Ah! Sir Bai Thi and Lady La Tia just came back. Let's go meet your parents!" The maid took the baby out of the room and hurriedly went through hallway to hallways.

- This place is so big. Looking out the windows, there is a giant garden that is kept very well. Looks like I've been reborn to a rich family.

Eventually, the maid brought him to a room and entered.

In the first second of entering the room, Sa Lim had already made some observations.

A couple that was sitting on very expensive chairs. The man was holding a paper, absorbed by the pages, and the woman took her time to enjoy a cup of hot tea. They were in their thirties and both dressed in luxury. The man had a tailored black shirt that showed his active body definition, and the woman was complemented perfectly with her blue dress that could grab anyone's attention.

When they saw the maid coming in with a baby, the couple stood up and ran to it.

"My baby Bai Ly! Oh, I miss you so much!" the woman held the baby and hugged it tightly, rubbing her face on its cheeks.

- Bai Ly? I guess that's my name in this life.

"Uah! Puah!"

"Awww! Thi, look at our baby boy. He's so excited to see us." La Tia said as she turned to her husband.

Bai Thi looked at his son and smiled happily. "You look healthy. Have you eaten well?"

"Young master behaves very well. He didn't cry much at all when we fed him, unlike other babies." the maid reported.

"Very good," Bai Thi nodded. "As expected of my son. I know you are exceptional."

"I know you are proud, but don't put so much expectation on him," La Tia reminded, then looked at the baby again with endearing eyes. "As long as he grows up happy and healthy, that is all I ever wanted."

It was at this moment when their eyes met that Sa Lim felt something.

- What is this strange feeling in my chest? And these two… Why do they look happy and caring, just because I'm their son?

And at that moment, both Bao Thi and La Tia saw the baby's mouth struggling.

"Look, Thi, he's trying to say something!"

Both parents' eyes were glued to the baby, awaiting what would come out of its mouth.

"Pua…"

"Puah?" they repeated.

"Mao…"

"Mao?"

- Come on! One last time!

"Pah… Mah…"

"Oh, Lord!" La Tia was on cloud nine. She couldn't control herself to tightly hug the baby again. "So cute! The cutest!" she couldn't control her voice.

"Did you see that?" she turned to her husband and he nodded. "You saw that too?" the maid nodded.

She grinned brought the baby to her chair and hummed happily.

Seeing his wife like that, Bai Thi smiled and sat down too beside them, continue reading his papers.

Sa Lim saw the strange characters on the pages and was curious. So he reached his little arms, trying to grab them.

"Baby Ly, are you curious about them?" La Tia asked while pointing at the papers.

The baby nodded.

"Here," she lifted him and let him sit with his father. "You show him."

Bai Thi opened a page and brought them closer to his son. "Look here, Bai Ly. These lines, they are called 'words.' Many words form a 'sentence.' And many sentences create a 'story'."

The baby nodded while looking fascinatedly at the words before him. He pointed at a word.

"That is 'He'."

He pointed at the next word.

"That is 'expanded'."

The next word.

"'His'… 'Territory'."

The baby kept pointing at the words, and his parents saw that, thinking the young child was just being curious. But unbeknownst to them, Sa Lim was processing in his mind the make of the language.

- These people don't speak English, but I'm able to understand them. The grammar and syntax of this language are similar to English. Then this sentence structures…

He went on a long thought. After a while, because of the limit of the child's body, Sa Lim overthinks himself and can't keep his head straight.

"Are you sleepy? Let me bring you back to bed," La Tia said and took the baby to her arms. Before they even got back to the cradle, the baby was already asleep.

It had been a long time since Sa Lim could let his guard down and fully rested.