“This is just a dream,” I thought to myself, “this is just a realistic dream. When I open my eyes, I’ll see that I’m in the clinic and is currently being treated because of what happened to me. It’s natural that I don’t feel any pain right now because the doctor probably gave me some anesthetics to lessen my suffering. This is just a dream.”

I’ve been awake for a long while now but I refrained opening my eyes. What happened to me yesterday didn’t feel real at all. There’s only one explanation for what happened yesterday: this is just a dream. I couldn’t just accept that I’d be able to enter a story without even reading anything. It was really impossible.

I heard someone snore beside me. “Gosh, Toby can snore so loud. It’s good that he’s unconscious right now. Maybe his foot hurts so much so the doctor needed to sedate him,” I thought.

I couldn’t keep on imagining stuff. I finally opened my eyes and I was extremely disappointed with what I saw.

I’m inside a room where many other servants were with me; many of them were also bought yesterday. Joseph and I slept beside each other because I had to listen to all his stories all night about his family and how he was sold in Egypt. I didn’t tell him any stories last night because he knows that I have lost my memories. But this isn’t true at all. I still know that I have left Mom, Dad, Chuck and Ice, Mang Gido, Nanny Imang, Andre, Ash, Michelle, and Martin in the real world. I suddenly missed all of them because I realized that it’ll be many years before I could return to the real world. I have no idea how I could possibly make time go faster and I had no choice but to wait. My eyes are becoming watery, but I had to hold back tears. I couldn’t express any emotions in front of the others because they’ll find out about my real situation.

I got up and went out of the servants’ quarters. I planned to go back to the backyard where no one can see me. But as I was going out, I was met by another soldier.

“Kid! It’s still too early to start cleaning the backyard,” he said loudly. “You still need to have some breakfast because there are still bulkloads of work for you to do today.”

“Ah, I’m done eating,” I lied. “I’ll just go to the backyard now. I think there’s a lot of work there.”

“Okay, okay, good luck, kid!” he called while I was getting out.

He wasn’t really that smart, in my opinion. He didn’t even notice that I wasn’t carrying anything to clean the yard. As I arrived there, I heard the soldier’s voice again. I think he was talking to someone else this time, so I hurried to my spot yesterday where no one can see me. There I lay and pondered on things.

This wasn’t a dream, after all. Everything that happened yesterday was really true. What’s worse is that I didn’t know how it happened. The last thing I can remember is falling on top of Toby while my stomach hit Toby’s elbow. That happened because his foot was in no fit state because of that bruise. Toby was my sparring partner on the duration of my training in judo.

I heaved a big sigh and sobbed once, but I was able to control myself, preventing myself from crying entirely. I looked up the still dark sky and told myself that I need to endure my loneliness if I want to reach the end of this story. If I was able to go through Rizal’s life story, I’d endure this one better. If I’m not mistaken, I’ll have to stay in this story for at least sixteen years. If you compare it to my first experience, this is nothing compared to twenty years in staying in Rizal’s story.

“If I need to endure sixteen years, then let’s get started,” I told myself.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep again, but something hard fell on my forehead. I looked around and saw a rotten fig rolling away from me. I also noticed several leaves falling from the tree where I’m lying under.

“Shoot! So this is where all the mess is coming from,” I chuckled.

Something fell again where I was lying down: this time, a ripe fig. I caught it with my right hand and sat properly to thank Him for my breakfast, then finally ate it.

I decided to go back inside the house to show myself to the soldiers. I don’t know how things work here so I needed to show myself to them so they won’t think that I’m trying to escape. It’s because it’s like I have any chances of escaping, that’s why. I passed my several soldiers but no one paid me any attention. I just went on towards the basement to get the broom and spade that I used yesterday. When I got out, I saw Potiphar talking intently to Joseph. There was no need for me to listen to their conversation because I already know what it is about. I think Joseph will become the caretaker of Potiphar’s house from now on.

In the first two stories I’ve entered, the story changed a lot because of my doing, and nothing bad really happened to me or to any other character, but because I got into a story where I didn’t read anything, I didn’t want to get involved with anyone because I think this is completely different from before. I just passed by them and proceeded to the backyard to do my job all over again, but another soldier blocked my way out of the door.

“Kid,” he called me, “more people are needed to polish the floors in the second floor of the house. You need to go there first, the backyard can wait until your job is done upstairs.”

I just nodded and went upstairs. For some unknown reason, it took everyone the whole day to polish the floor. I estimated that I polished the largest percentage of the floors in that area. We actually almost run out of time because it was already dinnertime by the time we were done.

While all the slaves were having supper, we were all celebrating because of Joseph’s promotion to caretaker of Potiphar’s house. I can see that everyone’s happy because of his victory. You can see that he was able to earn a lot of friends during the short time we were here. I thought that I still don’t really know anyone here except for Joseph because I just slept through yesterday, but I can’t really blame myself because I often like to be alone and I don’t want to hurry making friends. I was interrupted from thinking to myself when someone mentioned my name.

“We also need to commend John. Because of him, we were able to finish our job upstairs on time. If it weren’t for him, we might still be upstairs, working our backs off up until now.”

Everyone raised their glasses and said my name. I felt my cheeks go pink while I smiled and nodded to everyone. This is just proof that I’m not accustomed to compliments from a lot of people.

I was one of the people who need to wash dishes that night. Because everyone looked very tired because of today, and because I didn’t feel tired at the slightest, I just let the others go back to our quarters. As I was finishing the dishes, I heard someone quarreling outside. I recognized the man’s voice as Joseph’s, but I didn’t recognize the other woman’s voice.

“Get away from me,” I heard Joseph say. “What you’re doing isn’t right.”

I hurried finishing my job and went out of the kitchen. I couldn’t see Joseph anywhere. I only saw the woman he was talking to. She wore almost the same magnificent clothes Potiphar was wearing. I guess she’s Potiphar’s wife. Her hair is long and chesnut-colored, she had thin eyebrows, a small and sharp nose, and thin lips. I sniffed the extremely strong smell of perfume coming from her even without coming near her. What I didn’t like about her is how she stared at me. Her eyes were bright yellow, and those eyes were like those owned by someone untrustworthy.

We both stared at each other for a long time. I don’t know what she was thinking, but I think it’s about me. Because I didn’t want to get involved with people like her, I bowed in front of her and proceeded to our quarters as fast as I can. There, I saw Joseph looking even more tired than everyone else.

I’m not sure if Joseph wanted to talk or not, so I tried to sleep immediately, but I heard him talk to me.

“You know, John, you’re very lucky,” said Joseph.

I turned my head to where he is and said, “How can you tell? If anything, you’re luckier than me. You’re now the caretaker of Potiphar’s house.”

Joseph shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about. You’re lucky in the way you’re not really thinking of anything right now. You’re not thinking of anything from where you came from because you lost your memories.”

I stayed quiet at what he said. I also know what he means by what he just said to me. Both of us miss our own families that we left. Our only difference is that he’s still sure to see his father and brothers, while I’m still unsure as to when this story will come to an end and if I’m still able to go back to my dimension. I also couldn’t tell him my real situation because I already told him that I have lost my memories. Instead, I just went back to lying down and said, “Stop thinking about it. Nothing good will come out of it if you think that way. Besides, I can’t really say that I’m lucky because of what happened.”

“Might I ask why?” Joseph inquired.

“Because,” I said while taking a deep breath, “if you think about it over and over, it’ll ruin you. It’s not that you’ll forget your family entirely, but past is past. It is said that God put our eyes in front so we can see the future, not look back at the past.”

I waited for Joseph to reply, but he was just quiet. I guess he was pondering on my words. But even I had to ponder over what I just said. I know it’ll be a long time before I can see my loved ones again, but because I’m here in this dimension right now, there is no other thing to do but face whatever fate has to offer. Nothing will happen to me if I just sulk in one corner and think about what I left in the real world.

“Go to sleep,” I just told him. “Because you’re now the caretaker of this house, you’ll have even more things to do tomorrow. You’ll need a lot of rest. Oh right, beware of Potiphar’s wife. I have a bad feeling about her. Okay, sleep well.”

I closed my eyes and I didn’t expect that I’d be able to fall asleep almost immediately.

Just like what happened yesterday, I woke up a lot earlier than everyone else. I looked outside the window and it was still dark. Since I didn’t feel like sleeping anymore, I thought it’d be nice if I’m able to go back to the yard where the fig tree that makes all the mess is located. When I got there, I started to ponder on different things I could ponder on while passing the time.

The sun was already rising when I got back inside and ate a proper breakfast with the other servants. After eating, I proceeded to the basement to get the spade and a rake so I can begin cleaning the yard. I was met by the first soldier I met in this house at the basement’s door.

“Hey kid, what do you need here in the basement?” he asked me. Yuyagahor is his name, if I can remember correctly. He’s almost twice as tall as me and three times as wide as me. He’s got yellow hair, thick eyebrows, his blue eyes were like that of a lion’s, and several short whiskers can be seen growing all over his cheeks and chin. At first sight, you can mistake him as a bear with yellow fur.

“I just need to get a spade and a rake so I could go clean the backyard,” I said.

The soldier laughed very loudly. “Kid, Lord Potiphar isn’t here right now, so today will be a day of leisure. Come on and join me in our basement.”

I got confused with what he said. “Er, wait, aren’t we here in the basement already?”

“No,” he said. “I mean the soldiers’ basement. We keep our weapons there. I’m currently in charge for this month. And since the chief soldier isn’t here, you can go and join me.”

I shook my head and said, “But if I let another day pass by, the backyard will become a total mess, so –”

“Gahaha! Trust me on this, kid!” he cut across me and he then placed his large arm around my shoulders and dragged me to a room under the floor we were a while ago.

The inside of the room was baking hot because of all the torches that give light to it, and also because there were no windows. I then started to sweat profusely in an instant. But this wasn’t exactly what got my attention. Almost every kind of weapon I could think of, I could find in all the shelves inside the room.

“Well kid, what can you say about the soldiers’ basement?” Yuyagahor suddenly asked me.

I looked all around the room for a long time. Because I was in awe, I didn’t realize that my jaw has dropped and Yuyagahor needed to raise my mandible in order to close my mouth.

“I think you don’t have to answer my question for me to know you’re impressed with our basement,” he just told me. “You can try anything out in here, if you want, since I’ll be the one in charge this month.”

“Well… to be honest, I’m not really into weapons, maybe even before I lost my memories,” I responded. “But if there’s anything I can help you with, I’ll stay here for a while. I’ll start my work tomorrow, anyway, if what you said about Potiphar –”

“Lord Potiphar,” he corrected me as he laughed again. “To tell you the truth, kid, there is absolutely nothing to do in the basement everytime I‘m in charge. Hmm, but maybe, just maybe, we could do something exciting.”

“Something… exciting?” I repeated what he said, before he pulled me to a cabinet full of bows and arrows. “Wait, what –”

“Since we have nothing better to do today, I’ll go teach you how to use a bow and arrows,” he told me while placing his overly-large arm on my shoulders.

“W-what? Wait, are we allowed to do this?” I asked. “And are you sure that I can handle these kinds of weapons? I have never touched any weapons before.”

Again, the soldier laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m the one in charge here, so we can do whatever the heck we want. And don’t you worry about a thing, there weren’t anyone whom I taught who got in harm’s way before. I daresay, Joseph learns very fast when I taught him how to wield a sword.”

“Really? But why teach me how to use a bow and arrows?” I inquired.

“No reason in particular. First weapon that came into my mind,” he answered. He then gave me a bow suitable for my size and a quiver full of arrows.

We went to a part of the basement where you can train with the weapons in here, and there, he started teaching me how to use the bow and arrows. After several hours, six out of the dozens of arrows I released hit the target at the other end of the room.

“Not bad for a beginner, that is, if you’re really a beginner,” he told me, taking the bow and the quiver from me.

“Huh? What do you mean by that?” I asked him, confused.

He went to another cabinet and took two daggers. “I was one of the soldiers who went along the day you were bought. I found out from the merchant that you managed to defeat an assassin with nothing but a dagger. That is the reason why we needed to pay for you for a large amount.”

He went towards me and handed me one of the daggers. “I’d also like to get some mileage out of you for that hefty amount.”

I didn’t accept the dagger from him. “You didn’t ask how I managed to ‘defeat’ that assassin back there,” I told him, and I started to tell him the whole story that time, on how he licked his dagger seeping with poison and how he killed himself instantly. I also confessed what the leader of the Arabs told me so they can sell me with a higher amount.

I should have apologized to him because they needed to pay for me for a larger amount when we both heard someone screaming from upstairs. I immediately recognized who owned the voice.

“Joseph!?” I shouted as I sprinted out of the basement of weapons.

I couldn’t help but shiver when I got out of the basement. I hurriedly ran out, but I didn’t realize that I already passed by the basement I was supposed to go to a while ago. I heard someone following me. I thought it was Yuyagahor, but when I turned around to face the origin of the noise, I was bumped on, not by Yuyagahor, but by Joseph. Both of us collapsed to the ground, but before I can register to my mind what happened, he hurriedly got up and sprinted away from us. I saw Yuyagahor run towards me.

“Kid, are you okay?” asked Yuyagahor. “What happened?”

I wasn’t in the right mind to answer his question at this point. I don’t know exactly what’s happening, but for some reason, it was like I’m already expecting this to happen, whatever it is.