50 Humanese (1/2)

Without him knowing the arm that kept him confined moved to his wrist, dragging him forward. He almost tripped while looking at the unusual surroundings.

Just then, Tarou noticed that his senses were not as sharp as usual. He could still catch a whiff of a mixture of herbs but it wasn't as strong as how his sense of smell used to be.

'Did the fall temporarily affect my senses?'

While thinking about the unusual circumstances, Tarou noticed a source of light in the corner close to what appeared like a large tub of water. Through the light from the candle, Tarou could make out the things in the room.

For the first time, the world looked clearer and bigger to the little mouse. Tarou couldn't help but gape at all the things he saw.

'Wow! This looks different!'

Tarou was so amazed by his surroundings that he forgot what happened earlier. He studied everything his eyes laid on. Attracted, he walked faster towards the lighted area where he could observe things in greater detail. To his annoyance, something tugged on his paw, keeping him in place.

'What is wrong with this thing!'

Tarou couldn't help but look back to the object clasping his paw which was barely visible in the shadows. Before he could bite the thing off, he witnessed something more shocking.

The warm thing anchoring him to the same spot was a hand.

'Wait!'

Tarou crouched down to see the thing better and his eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

'I lost my paw!!!'

Tarou studied the objects again and all he saw were hands.

'What happened? '

Tarou couldn't help but flex what was supposed to be his fingers. Realizing the uniqueness of his situation, Tarou looked up to the person beside him and realized that the human appeared smaller and he was two heads taller than him. He could vaguely see the man's appearance.

”Human?”

Tarou called out tentatively as if trying to test something. The words came out in the human language, not as squeaks which surprised him even more.

Caught off guard, the person clasping what was supposed to be his paw walked closer to him and stepped out of the shadows. With his face illuminated partly by the fading daylight and the candlelight, Tarou could finally see how Barca looked like.

What Tarou saw next knocked of the breath out of him. The man had the most expressive eyes. The candlelight reflecting on those eyes made him look fiercer. Tarou was bewitched, he could stare at the man's eyes forever. As the man returned his gaze, Tarou sense that those eyes wanted to ask him a thousand questions.

Tarou felt the hand around his hand tighten, jolting Tarou back to reality.

'I can speak! I can!'

Realizing his luck, Tarou didn't waste time. Who knows how long he could speak ”humanese.”

He should take advantage of this situation and ask for help! He could just think about all the unusual things later.