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The back of horse where the elves dwell 妖精の住む馬の背中

他の子供達と並ぶと少しだけ芍薬の花のようなフリルが周りに見えて少し宙に浮いているように見える子供がいた。髪の毛は細かいカールがかかっていて、天使か不完全人間の疑いがあった。周りに馴染もうと平凡に見えるよう伸び縮みする布で作られたミントグリーン色のサロペットを毎日着て、出来るだけぶっきらぼうに話した。それでも何をしても周りの人間は「カワイイ」といった。走っても朗読してもただ佇んでいても「なんでカワイイのか。」と尋ねられた。見た目に触れることはどの国でも褒められることではなかったが、「カワイイ」は外見とは限らないと思うこともあって、宙に浮いている事がばれなければ良いと黙ってお礼を言っていた。

それにしても何をしても人々が同じ反応なのでさすがに変な気分になって来た。その原因は時が動いていないということだった。ただ自分は水面のように人の言葉の反応になっていた。人間は水が体の成分のほとんどで、いろいろある衝撃を増幅させたり流したりそう言った反応だけで楽しんで生きるものが多かったが、この子には「反応」が辛いことにおもえた。

遠くで銃声がなった。子供のサロペットは血まみれだった。馬の背に乗せられ元々馬の背の国に住む小人達に見えないたてがみの糸で傷を縫ってもらった。馬は走り続けた。

There was a child who looked like she was floating in the air a little bit , with a little peony flower-like frill around her as she lined up with the other children. Her hair was in fine curls and she was suspected to be an angel or flawed. She wore salopettes mint green made of stretchy fabric every day to look ordinary, and spoke as bluntly as she could to fit in with her surroundings. Still, no matter what she did, people around her called her "kawaii". Whether she was running, reciting, or just standing there, people would ask her , "Why are you so cute?  She was asked. Mentioning someone's appearance was not a compliment in any country, but she sometimes thought that "kawaii" did not necessarily mean appearance, so  she silently thanked them, hoping that they would not notice that  she was floating in the air.

She was starting to get really tired of the same reaction from people no matter what she did. Then she realized that the reason she was so fed up was that time was not moving. It was her reacting to people's words like she was the surface of the water. Water is a component of most of our bodies, and many of us enjoy living by just reacting to it, amplifying and channeling the various shocks, but for this girl, "reacting" seemed to be hard.

A gunshot sounded in the distance. The child's salopette  was covered in blood. She was put on the back of a horse, and the elf, who originally lived in the land of horse back, sewed up her wounds with invisible mane thread. The horse kept running.

Thank you so very  much for looking through!

I hope you are well.

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